My Boy Now

Family members have been asking me lately if I've posted all that Baylor can do, say, etc. on the blog. Truth is, I haven't because it feels like bragging, and that's not really something I like to do. But, since I have been neglectful in writing in his baby book about what he does now and because some of you may be genuinely curious about what he's like - particularly if you've never met him or haven't seen him in a long time, I thought I'd do a quick run-down of Baylor now.

He has a vocabulary of over 200 words; I have no idea how many words he can say, but it seems like it grows exponentially every day. Types of words he knows include: number 0 to 29, colors, the alphabet, animals and their noises, opposites (up/down, on/off, horizontal/vertical, etc.), foods, and things in his everyday life.

He has also started stringing words together; his first real two word combo was "red button" referring to the off button on our home phone. Though I have to say my favorite is his slurred version of "I love you."

He is a parrot; watch what you say around him because this kid will repeat ANYTHING. Thank goodness I have switched to saying "piffle" if I screw up on something or my kid would sound like a hardened truck driver by the time he's two.

He can count and seems to understand what that means, at least a little.

He can spell his first name. He did it spontaneously one day, much to the surprise of everyone in the room.

He is learning the states and the presidents thanks to a couple of kids place mats we have. For a couple days he was infatuated with "Maine" and would say it repeatedly. He knows we live in Michigan, and he can locate it on a map.

He knows which gears you go in when you drive, referring to them as "P" (park), "R" (reverse), "N" (neutral), and "D" (drive). We know he wants to go somewhere or is anticipating going somewhere when he starts through this list. He can also tell you what each letter stands for, though reverse is his particular favorite.

He is tall enough to turn on and off almost all our light switches. *sigh*

He can tell you what most of the buttons on a remote control are, and he knows what the power button does. *sigh*

Like his mommy, he isn't a fan of most loud noises.

Also like his mommy, he watches television like a zombie, which is part of the reason why we watch so little of it at our house when it's just me and the kids. I wouldn't get a thing done and they'd be all sorts of neglected if I had the t.v. on with any regularity.

He likes to hide, and his current favorite spot seems to be under the desk in the kitchen.

He can tell you how to do the laundry. Usually he just points to things in the order they should be done, but one night during dinner we heard him say "clothes wash ... off/off ... blue ... bubbles ... shut" so now he can actually tell you how to do it without looking.

He currently has a fascination with doors big and little. Often we'll hear him say, "Big door, little door" and we know he's talking about one thing or another.

He seems to have no concept of how big his head is and bumps it quite often. You can see his latest owie in the middle of his forehead in the picture above.

When he gives hugs and kisses, he'll generally hug you to the right, hug you to the left, then plant a kiss right on your lips. He's apparently very European.

He likes to type on the computer in Microsoft Word. He'll ask you to change the font color and will do page after page of different letters and symbols. And sometimes he cracks up when he finds the "Enter" button and the pages scroll by quickly.

He likes to wash his hands and will tell you about it. After he had his accident, the first thing he asked to do when he stopped crying was to wash his hands (they were covered in sticky blood).

He eats just about everything; green peppers, onions, garlic ... nothing bothers him. He tends to refuse the first bite of almost everything (except fruit or other sweet things), but he loves just about everything. He struggles with cooked chicken sometimes, but he generally likes it. He absolutely refuses to eat only a couple things I can think of: eggs and mashed potatoes.

He also loves to feed himself. In addition, he wants to hold whole pieces of fruit, which is how he ended up eating a whole apple and the outside of an orange.

He loves the bath and asks for one every night.

He doesn't smile a whole lot, but he definitely enjoys things. We joke that his cheeks weigh his smile down, but I think he's just serious about having fun.

We're pretty sure he's a leftie.

He wants people to sing for him, but he's particular about which songs he wants to hear. Some of his favorites include: the MSU fight song, "Mellow Yellow" by Donovan, "Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong, the Alphabet song, "Here Comes the Sun" by George Harrison, and "Our House" by the Beatles.

He is totally into school buses right now. He asks to see them whenever we're out and likes to keep count of how many we've seen.

He knows what to do when we come to a traffic light depending on what color the light is: red = stop, green = go, yellow = whoa!

Because of the aforementioned love of things in and about cars and other vehicles, he talks almost nonstop while we are in the car. And he will repeat whatever he is saying until you have acknowledged him and keep up a conversation with him. It is both exhausting and utterly delightful (at least for me).

He still does sign language for certain words, namely "more", "all done", and "thank you", though now he says the words while signing them.

He says "all done" and signs it emphatically whenever something he doesn't like is going on. For instance, if one of his grandparents or Aunt Christine says they have to leave, he will say and sign "all done" with the saddest look on his face.

He knows what happy, sad, mad, and yawning faces look like and asks us to draw them whenever we have his crayons out. He'll also flash you the cheesiest happy face if you ask for it.

He loves digital clocks these days and basically counts all the minutes that pass during his meals. We have three clocks he can easily see in our kitchen (stove, microwave, and coffee pot) and he will announce when each has changed time and what the next time is going to be (i.e., "Twenty! Twenty-one!").

He is infatuated with answering machines, and while he isn't allowed to play with ours he loves to push the buttons at both grandparents' houses. If he sees an answering machine, he'll exclaim, "No messages!" and smile.

And if you ask him to "perform" any of the aforementioned skills he'll typically clam up, proving once again that he's no monkey.

I'm sure he does plenty more things, but right now I can't think of them. And I'm sure this is a long enough list already.