Carson's 21 month update

I missed my update last month, so here's a twofer (twice as long?). I hope the "endless brag session" feel that my sparse blog has so far is not irksome to anyone; I include many items that are probably only of interest to my immediate family looking back from the future. Feel free to skip the text and just look at the pictures of my incredibly adorable child. :^)







By 20 months, Carson was counting to 10 (no, not really counting, but he knows the sequence anyway!) and identifying all his colors. This past month he's been working on the alphabet.



Thanks in large measure to Grandma Suess, he also knows quite a few songs by now. He will often ask us to sing "Jesus Loves Carson" (Jesus Loves Me) or "Jesus Loves [the Little] Children", and he also knows all the words to "The B-I-B-L-E", "Baa Baa Black Sheep", "Row Row Row Your Boat" and "Twinkle Twinkle". He likes to listen to Raffi and will sometimes sing a little of those songs on his own. "The Eensy-Weensy Spider" is a favorite but he associates it exclusively with practice sessions on the potty (not too much progress there, but at least he wants to try).





He has a huge vocabulary, but "yes" is not in it. He answers in the affirmative with "OK" (sometimes very emphatic, OHHH! KAYYY!) or just "Oh" for short. He will often follow up a request this way to guide our response. "Carson need a drink? OK!" Another language idiosyncrasy he's developed is commenting on an action he just performed by asking a question. "Did you step on snake?" "Did you jump over?" "Did you spill it?" (Well, it's obvious he's been listening to me!) Note, he is still referring to himself as "you" (or Carson) most of the time, but his pronouns are coming along. Today he observed "Mama's holding me." And he will say, "Wanna pet Hannah? Hug her", or "Here comes Dada! Here he comes!"




June rain

For several days last month he greeted everything, animate or not, with "Hi____! [flower, Black Butte, 'matoes etc.] Doin'?" (He also set his water cup down and told it, "Bye-bye water. Have good day.") Now that's less common, although he likes at least to say hi and wave, but if anyone asks that question "how are you doing?", he'll respond with "He's find" (sic) and a grin as if telling a joke.





His enunciation and word usage are so good so much of the time that I am especially attached to his slip-ups. Anything that is hard to do is "heavy". Apricots are "paporcots", so that I keep wondering how he's sustained another office injury. I got him some Target Crocs-type sandals and he dubbed them "cwockodio [crocodile] shoes." And somehow railroad spikes became "toenails". I love the way he says "manzani-TAHH" and "pas-TAHH", and seeing his mind at work as he says something is "kine wike" (kinda like) something more familiar. A yield sign is "kine wike a shovel"; any pickup is "kine wike Dada's twuck."

"Dat's a TOE-NAIL."

In the past few months I've really enjoyed picking up on fragments of language as he chatters to himself and figuring out what he's thinking about, often a book or song. " 'Ternoon sun", for example, is a reference to a favorite part of A Picnic with Monet: "Hop on a horse when lunch is done, and take a ride in the afternoon sun." He loves it when I expand on what he's referencing and recite the lines with him. Here he quotes Cowboy Small: "Kerplop! Cowboy Small hits the dust."



Favorite books currently include: Appley Dapply's Nursery Rhymes, "Stories" (his name for Tomie's Little Mother Goose), Jamberry, and DK's The Big Book of Things That Go (with special interest in the hot air balloon, the huge loader carrying the "huge rock!", and sometimes the ATV.)




"weading magazine"

He still loves to read, but he's happiest outside. He adores swinging and spraying water from the hose, but he's also very happy to do anything with tools (especially if he can imitate dad) or tote Bubba's gas cans from the carport all over the yard. He's also starting to enjoy building with duplos and "making train tracks" with his bucket of Brio.




These photos were not posed!

In the last month he's developed quite a number of opinions. He's no longer content to dictate what he will eat (a very short list for most meals these days); now he wants a particular bib, a particular cup. And he changes his mind frequently. "Do you want your milk warm or cold?" "Warm. Cold...warm it up!" Then, as I put it in the microwave, frantically: "Cold-cold-cold-cold!" He's also getting pushy--he'll grab my hand and try to get me up or lead me where he wants.







One toddler trait he has not yet developed is "do-it-myself"ism; he asks for help whenever he thinks that will get him what he wants faster. But after nearly a month of mom being completely passé and hearing "Need dada!" and "Grandma hold Carson!" at every turn, I'm perfectly happy being available to him for as long as he wants my help. Who could resist this face?