20 months old

Another month has passed for Leo... already. Goes so fast, but he does seem to pack it in.

Communication is improving, word by word, though still fairly slow. He has now said his first Spanish word - "huevos" or eggs. He will also repeat the alphabet and numbers when you say them to him. His attempts are pretty incoherent, but great to hear him trying, and he gets so proud of himself!!! He seems to be into a stage when he will repeat things back to you. I guess it won't be too long before he starts to commit the things he says to memory and then come out with them independently.

Physically, he is progressing leaps and bounds... literally. He has loved getting on things and jumping off them for a little while, but now he's trying to jump up in the air from flat on the ground. It's great to watch. He is also developing a pretty good throwing arm, hurling a ball clear across the room. He is starting to catch too (by catch, I mean he puts his hands together and you throw a ball into them!). He seems to be getting stronger, taller and heavier by the days.

The favorite toys this month are balls, legos (which he likes to stack in one teetering tower), one particular book (which he'll put on your lap - over and over again - and point and say all the things in the book, like the dogs and cat and eggs and water and hat, etc.), his tractors and farm animals and three cuddly toys (a kangaroo, rabbit and bear). He will sit for a long time lining up his toys, and then rearranging them, and then putting them back how they were. It's quite strange. He is also getting more imaginative, like pretending to give them drinks from his water.

Eating has been harder this month. He's been kind of picky, preferring to snack and pick at food rather than eat a meal. If you would let him, he would happily just eat nuts "nu nu" and grapes all day long. But we don't let him, and when we curb the fruit and nuts, he hunkers down and eats his meals a lot better.

He's been able to brush his own hair and teeth for a long time, but he is now starting to do a few other things for himself, like put his shoes on. He hasn't yet shown any desire to dress himself, although he puts his arms out and pushes them through the holes for you. He seems to prefer to take clothes off than put them on, but that seems pretty natural to me!

He did go through a tantrum phase, and although this is not over yet, it does seem to have eased up a lot.

It's all an adventure, that's for sure.

For photos of the last month, click here. Blogger hasn't allowed me to insert images today.