Yesterday Matt turned 18 months old. Wow, time flies!
What is our 1 1/2 year old up to these days?
Matt continues to increase his vocabulary. His new spoken words of the month include jump, push, attack (None of us, especially the cat, are exactly thrilled that not only has learned this word but he also has made it one of his favorites), plane ("ppuh"), noodle ("noo noo"), taco, and dip. He'll also say boo, yum, and roar. He uses "sss" for snake, "coo a coo" (as in "cock a doodle do") for chicken, and "moo" for cow. Perhaps the cutest new thing he says is Pooh for his stuffed Winnie the Pooh. I swear this morning Matt said his first complete sentence - "I get (a?) cat" - while chasing the cat around. And Matt is still learning new signs. As you might expect, most of them are animals: shark, peacock, seal, squirrel, giraffe, bear, rhino, penguin, horse, raccoon, cow, gorilla, sheep, snake, deer, wolf, kangaroo, ant, alligator / crocodile, and moose. We were able to teach him plane, and he also picked up helicopter. He has also learned apple, rain, flower, and mirror, and he'll point to himself for "me." He will sign "please" and "thank you," although he needs prompting for the latter.
Imaginative play is becoming a bigger part of Matt's play. He still does fairly simple activities for a short amount of time, but he pretends to do more and more things. He may be starting to pretend he is a different animal; sometimes he seems to be telling me he is an elephant or a monkey.
Pretending to wash his hands in the sink of his play kitchen
Matt has started to form strong attachments to his stuffed animals. He now asks for specific ones (the number and roster of which changes) to accompany him for nap and bedtime. They are often the ones who join him in his imaginative play, too (since the cat is unwilling to participate).
With his dog and one of his bunnies
Feeding a bunny breakfast
Preparing to give a bunny a bath
A 4-bunny nap
Carrying 4 of his bunnies
Giving his bunnies a check-up this morning before his check-up
This past month Matt suddenly developed an interest in cars and airplanes. (He hasn't - yet? - shown as much interest in trucks, construction vehicles, trains, helicopters, or boats.) He doesn't seem to like toys that make noise as much as ones that don't, although he has warmed to most of his vehicles that make noise or play songs.
With his toy cars
Watching the planes pass overhead
We continue to do a lot of reading. We still read board books, but we've moved away from the very simple ones. We read a variety of picture books, usually about Matt's favorite animals or subject of the week. Matt will now sit through Dr. Seuss books regularly, although he prefers the Beginning Reader ones (like his "Mr. Brown Can Moo. Can You?" or "There's a Wocket in My Pocket") or the ones Dr. Seuss wrote that were illustrated by others. He is very disappointed in "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish," which he believes sadly lacks in the promised fish. He also continues to love Curious George and has a rapidly expanding collection encompassing a few of the original books passed down from my family as well as a couple of volumes and individual titles of newer stories.
A few other miscellaneous observations about Matt at 18 months old: His favorite animals this past month included monkeys, sharks, frogs, and bunny rabbits; he continues to be interested in cats, dogs, fish, and birds, too. One of our favorite new developments is spontaneous hugging. I suspect his friends may not appreciate it as much once he starts running after them to give them big bear hugs!
