Two and a half

Leo has just passed the 2 ½ year marker. Hard to believe at times, but the little baby is now almost completely gone, and in his place is this disarmingly cute little boy.

Physically there's not been too much change in the past 6 months – he still runs, jumps, climbs all over the place. Still loves to swing from stuff and be thrown around and up in the air. Accepts any chance he can get (no matter if he's never seen the person before) to ride a horse with someone. His throw keeps getting stronger and more accurate.

His coordination is certainly heightened. He can get into far more complicated devices and wrappers than before. He can take off shoes and socks (always putting the socks inside each shoe), and is starting to tackle dressing, or should I say undressing.

He's very tidy and organized and will always put his toys back in their exact places. He also has a fair amount of respect for things that aren't his. That's not to say that he doesn't mess with our things, but he USUALLY asks you first.

Verbally is the biggest change for sure. His language skills have taken off. Having spent 10 days with a bunch of Brits, his pronunciation, especially of “t”s, has gotten a lot better. He will repeat a word back instantly (not always clearly, but he's trying). He also forms pretty good sentences now, with noun, verb, adjective and object. Hasn't yet used any prepositions or adverbs, but hey, he's just 2. And something that is super cool is his Spanish. This week Abe and I have been working hard on the bathroom, and Leo has been spending time with Armando and Estela. In just three days, he is now saying over 15 words in Spanish and learning more each time.

He now knows every letter (except X) of the alphabet, and at least two words for each letter. He can repeat back to you the numbers 1 to 10 in both English and Spanish, though only does 1 to 5 in English independently. He knows all his basic colors and uses them correctly.

He is also exceptionally observant. Abe's the same way, he sees things I wouldn't even think to look for, and Leo has inherited this very useful gift. We'll be outside at dusk to see the first stars come out, and I'll point out the bright ones (planets). Leo will then point to something and say “baby star”. When he points it out I see it, but wouldn't have done before. The same goes for horses, cows, birds, etc. that he can see on the surrounding hills or skies.

Personality-wise, he is overall a very sweet and loving boy. He is curious about everything and generally enchanted by life. He does throw little fits of course, but generally not too bad. He lets out a little frustrated scream whenever he's trying to do something and just can't, but I think we can all sympathize with that.

Right now he wants to go play with other kids all the time. He still asks for his little cousin Timmy, and then he remembers that “T-Tim gone home white car.” I have a friend who has 3 boys, the middle of which, Martin, is just 5 days older than Leo. I go and see her whenever I have some spare time, and Leo loves to play there. He is not as advanced as Martin at sharing toys, but I'm hoping that will improve with practice, not to mention a new sibling next year.

His play is getting more entertaining for us. He will entertain himself for longer periods of time now, especially if you are close by. And some of his antics are so funny. His latest thing is teaching his toys how to talk. He'll line up a few of them in front of objects like “Juice” “water” “car”, etc. and repeat each object clearly to his toys. They are not quick learners, but Leo's patience with them seems endless.

I'm sure there are a million other things I'm leaving out, but when you see him every day it's very hard to realize what's new and what's not. Some things we hardly notice as anything special until someone else brings our attention to it.

I haven't taken any photos of Leo since getting back from vacation, but I will try and amend that. I will be putting any photos and videos of this month here.