Monday, August 24, 2009

Kingston at 20 Months

A few days ago Kingston was officially 20 months old. I can't believe we are counting in the 20's now! Pretty soon he will be 2 and we can drop the months totally and just stick to years! So much easier and non-kid-having friendly.

So what does this particular 20 month old do, you ask? Well.

Kingston's consistent vocabulary includes words like:

Bye-bye (which sounds very cute and very southern. Oops.)
Ball (over and over and over again)
Dad or Dada
Grandpa (or some version of that)
Pappy (which sounds more like Popeye)
Truck (which sounds more like cruck)
Banana (which sometimes gets confused for Nana)

His occasional vocabulary includes tons of different words. One day he will point to something and identify it clearly and other days he acts like he has no idea why you are trying to get him to identify something that he has absolutely no idea how to say. He still uses the occasional bit of sign language but it is usually pared with the verbalization of the word as well. One more reason for being in favor of teaching at least a few signs early.

Kingston loves to stack blocks and is really good at it! He likes to build with his Mega Blocks and drive trucks around the floor. He still loves a good book and Nigel and I have enjoyed describing books for him to retrieve for us. He always comes back with the book we have described. For instance, we asked him to get the book that had the owl on the back page and sure enough he came back with the lift the flap train book that shows a night scene on the back page. He came over "whooo-whooo-whoo"-ing, quite proud of himself.

I will admit that my kid really likes to watch movies. We are guilty of having the TV on most of the time and it is often tuned to a kid-friendly station. We need to get better at turning on some music and turning off the TV. After all, Kingston loves to dance and pretend to sing to music of pretty much any kind. I'm sort of impressed (in a slightly defensive way used to justify our slackness) that Kingston can pretty much sit through a full-length cartoon movie with only a few distractions. At least he has a good attention span, right?!

As much as he likes to watch movies, Kingston also loves to play outside. He can play on playground equipment by himself now, without me worrying that he will simply step off the side that is open. He is more aware of his surroundings and is fairly cautious in his movements most of the time. He loves to swing and go down the slide. He really wants to be able to climb trees so I feel a few heart-stopping jumps from branches in the near future!

Kingston is not so much a picky eater as a finicky one. Saturday night he ate steak, rice and broccoli like it was going out of style. I'd bet money he wouldn't touch any of that tonight for no apparent reason. He seems to eat loads of food at daycare but not as much for me. My general rule is to put whatever we are having for dinner in front of him and if he eats it, great. If he doesn't want to touch it, he just might be a bit hungry later because I don't usually fix him something else. I think he may have more of his father's attitude toward food (eat to live) than my own (live to eat) attitude! That is a good, if not totally frustrating for me, thing.

Pop? Did you say pop? Be it a lollipop or a Popsicle, Kingston is totally obsessed with anything sweet and on a stick! Oh, add "Pop" to the list of things he likes to say. He does not get pops daily as we try to save them for special occasions and shopping trips! But don't say popcorn or use the word pop in any other context or his ears will surely perk up and he will smile and say, "pop?".

I think that about sums Kingston up in a nutshell. Anyone want to know anything else about my 20 month old baby boy? I'd be glad to tell more. Or "Mo? Mo? Mo?" ask Kingston likes to say.

As for right this minute, he is napping. After lunch he was so tired he laid his head down on the carpet while he was playing. I asked him if he wanted to take his Choo-choo blanket that Nana made him and go take a nap. He got up, grabbed his blanket and headed to his room. In there he reached up for his crib. The boy was tired. Obviously he still takes an afternoon nap and is a big fan of it.

Please sleep for hours, Kingston. Mama wants to finish the trashy novel she is reading and needs to do the dishes from Saturday night's steak dinner. Oops.


Kathy said...

Now...that's what I call an update! I've enjoyed reading about Kingston his whole life, talking about him with his Nana, and viewing cute pictures... can hardly believe he'll be 2 before long! He's such a cute "little man" and so smart...must come from really good stock:)

Rendy said...

Your little man is growing up! Glad he likes the "choo, choo" blanket. Hope he sleeps well with it...where ever he is. He is so precious!

Anonymous said...

I am happy that we got an update!!! Weeeeeee! Kingston is a busy 20 month old toddler and Mommy is busy too! It is unbelievable how fast little one grow! It is a joy to know how much he loves books. Mo, mo, mo about Kingston and his family, I can't get enough of it! :)