Here's Max at 16 well earned months. Still not talking much but he is turning out to be a good little helper. He enjoys playing in the dirt and crawling all over the wheel barrow while I'm trying to fill it. It's funny to watch. I don't know if he thinks he's helping or if this is how grown-ups play--he couldn't be more wrong. Still, it's fun to watch him do stuff with me.He cheers a lot. He cheers when I fill the barrow with dirt and when I dump it, then he helps me unload the soil and return the wheel barrow for a refill. It seems strange that this 16 month old baby seems to be helping me and for a second or so, it'll feel like I'm working with a friend and not an infant. I can load and unload the wheelbarrow four times with Max's help then he'll sigh and lift his arms to get picked up showing me that he's done working for the day.
He also helps Amy vaccum and sweep the living room. I'm glad he thinks this is fun for now. I don't know how long we can continue the charade. At some point he'll understand that these chores aren't fun. Unfortunately Max will be talking and arguing by then and I'll long for the "goo-goo dah-doo" days.
Max's understanding of his surroundings is subtle, as far as I can tell. He seems to be very specific about his needs and I've come to the conclusion that I don't really know what he knows until he needs something.
Amy was preparing Max for bed as she usually does. She snuggles with him while watching TV and I can tell that he looks forward to his bed-time ritual with mom. I can tell because he pushes me away if I try to hold him during this time.
I went into the kitchen and told Amy that I was going to warm up some milk for his bed-time bottle. The moment I said, "bottle", Max squirmed out of Amy's arms, whined and ran after me as I walked into the kitchen. I repeated the word, "bottle!" and he yelled. Great! another word down, he understands what the word, bottle, is but why won't he say it? I'm assuming that it's probably because he doesn't need to, it'll come his way eventually. I'm sure that all Max hears is, "jjoiuouri bottle ljoiuiowe fjlskjfa bottle?". So he only needs to hear one word to get his attention. Amy says that his sister, Jojo behaved similarly when the word, "chocolate" entered her personal space.
So it seems that the words that get his attention are:
Oh, If I leave the kitchen empty-handed and it's milk time? Cover your ears and put a bucket down to catch the alligator tears, it's quite a sad show.
Some of the things we're specifically focusing on with Max are art and music in the way of rhythm and availability. He's getting into using crayons but I don't think he understands the concept of drawing with one, it's just something these little colored sticks do, the leave a mark behind. There are several musical instruments available to him and someone around to show him what to do with the instruments. Like the crayons, instruments are just something that make an interesting noise when you either blow into them or bang on them. I don't think he understands what music is.
Right now he's experimenting with everything. He pushes, pulls, bends, throws--sometimes himself--into things. Plastic buckles and things that snap together get his attention.
Max's understanding of his surroundings is subtle, as far as I can tell. He seems to be very specific about his needs and I've come to the conclusion that I don't really know what he knows until he needs something.
Amy was preparing Max for bed as she usually does. She snuggles with him while watching TV and I can tell that he looks forward to his bed-time ritual with mom. I can tell because he pushes me away if I try to hold him during this time.
I went into the kitchen and told Amy that I was going to warm up some milk for his bed-time bottle. The moment I said, "bottle", Max squirmed out of Amy's arms, whined and ran after me as I walked into the kitchen. I repeated the word, "bottle!" and he yelled. Great! another word down, he understands what the word, bottle, is but why won't he say it? I'm assuming that it's probably because he doesn't need to, it'll come his way eventually. I'm sure that all Max hears is, "jjoiuouri bottle ljoiuiowe fjlskjfa bottle?". So he only needs to hear one word to get his attention. Amy says that his sister, Jojo behaved similarly when the word, "chocolate" entered her personal space.
So it seems that the words that get his attention are:
- vente (ven-tay) which is "come" in Spanish.
- Bottle - a recent discovery...
- helicopter - he's been hearing these all his life.
- Cell phone - there's one everywhere and he's very particular about cell phones. I gave him an old cell phone with a dingy black and white screen. He looked at it, closed it and went after mine. So any cell phone that he likes needs to have a full color screen. Cell phones are as common to him as the wheel was to me at his age.
- Moon - he can point to it on request. Again, this is one of those things that I've pointed out to him since he was weeks old.
- Belly, nose and ears - he can point these body parts out.
- Maaammm - I think that's mom.
- Dadoo - I think that's me. Ocasionally he'll say "Dahee!" but it's a crap shoot.
- Some family members like his sister "Jojo" and I don't know if he can say Sammy's name yet. He sort-of says his uncle Jerry's (yay-yay) and aunt Cristina's (kee-tee) names.
- He can talk to Grandma through the phone. I don't know if talk is the right word but there is an understanding.
Oh, If I leave the kitchen empty-handed and it's milk time? Cover your ears and put a bucket down to catch the alligator tears, it's quite a sad show.
Some of the things we're specifically focusing on with Max are art and music in the way of rhythm and availability. He's getting into using crayons but I don't think he understands the concept of drawing with one, it's just something these little colored sticks do, the leave a mark behind. There are several musical instruments available to him and someone around to show him what to do with the instruments. Like the crayons, instruments are just something that make an interesting noise when you either blow into them or bang on them. I don't think he understands what music is.
Right now he's experimenting with everything. He pushes, pulls, bends, throws--sometimes himself--into things. Plastic buckles and things that snap together get his attention.
When Max realized that he wasn't picking up as much dirt as I was, he ditched his little trenching tool and picked up my shovel
1 comment:
I like his little cow boots.
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