Twenty Months

I know I always say this, but I love the age that Kai's at.  I just keep liking each new stage better than the last.  Yes, there are downsides to having an emerging toddler, but overall I just plain old love it! 

At twenty months, Kai is becoming more and more independent and communicative.  He loves to do things on his own, enjoys being given little tasks to complete and (best of all!) often takes initiative in cleaning up after himself.  However, he is still my little baby in that I often still hear cries of "help" when he can't manage to do something by himself.  I cherish that, since I know the day is coming when he'll be constantly saying "I can do it by myself mommy".  So, when he calls for "hands" from the top of the stairs, I gladly hold his chubby little hand while we walk down. 

On my last monthly update, I listed a bunch of words that Kai was saying and the list seemed so long to me at the time.  However, it pales in comparison to his current vocabulary.  I call him my little parrot, to which he responds, "pappot".  Yes, things don't always come out correctly, but he tries hard :)  With other people around he is quieter, but when it's just our little family he is constantly jabbering away.  He narrates life for us and we love it.  Some of my favourite expressions from him are:

- Whassis? = What's this?

- Whazzat? = What's that?

- Der go = There you go

- Seep tight = Sleep tight

- Love you (This melts my heart.)
- Aw be'er = All better (He always asks for a kiss after he gets hurt, then immediately says "aw be'er" and runs off.)

- Turn = Your turn or my turn (I'm glad he's sort of getting this concept of sharing and taking turns)

- Oh yeah! (which is usually said in a very surprised fashion, like "Oh yeah, I forgot about that."  We'll say something like, "Kai, you're looking really cute today" and he'll respond "Oh yeah!".)
And, he can now answer the questions, "What is your name?" and "How old are you?" somewhat accurately!  Sometimes his name becomes "One" and sometimes his age is "Kai", but he usually gets it right.

I have to be careful with my little "parrot" though, because as we were playing basketball a few weeks ago I kept telling him "nice shot", and for the rest of the day he was running around shouting "nice shit!".

Other than chatting up a storm, our little guy is staying active and enjoying all the fun activities that come with summer.  We love going to the park or the beach, and our backyard pool has been fun as well.  Kai has a healthy fear of water for which I am grateful, but he also fully enjoys it.  He dives into his pool headfirst and splashes around like a fish, and loves jumping in the waves at the beach on windy days.  One of his other favourite toys is anything car-like.  He loves lining them up, rearranging them, carrying them all over the house and learning their various names.

He is also still eating like a champ, although it seems like his appetite is waning slowly.  However, this morning he ate four pumpkin waffles for breakfast, along with fruit and milk.  No wonder he is a very solid child!
There is so much more I could write, but I realize I've already written a lot!  So, I'll leave you with a picture of our twenty-month old who is constantly getting scrapes and bruises. :)

These facial wounds are from a ride he took with his tractor down our patio stairs onto the cement.  They have since disappeared slightly and been replaced by new ones.  It never really ends, and as people keep telling me, he is related to his father :)