Antics and Shenanigans

18 months for D is just around the corner and boy, has he grown up!

He's not only a mix of L and I but he has a whole side of him that we can only wonder where he got! Weekends are pure of fun and play as I make it a point to spend as much time as I can with him, and L always makes the effort of doing so on his only day off (Sundays). Yes, he's more than a handful but we won't have it any other way.

In terms of development stages...I've already learned to turn a blind eye to what "experts" say because I can only imagine the type of pressure that would put on me and L as we try to make a checklist of what D should be able to do at this stage. 18 months, yes...there are milestones that these toddlers should be hitting but I'd rather D hit it because he wants to and not because we feel like it's a list he needs to achieve. Blabbers and mumbles, yes...he's the perfect example for that. 2-syllable words? Maybe, depends if I catch it myself or Yaya W. Heck, I'm sure he can hold a conversation with me without me knowing. But as long as we're both having fun and he's learning along the way...that's all that matters.

Thankfully, his pedia has seen what he can do and agrees with me...there's no need for a checklist especially when he's thriving so well. And since I'm still breastfeeding him at 17 months and 22 days strong...I'd say that the IQ points that experts are saying will quantify once he's already in his elementary and high school years. Besides, we are all different and we all have different learning styles. I have yet to discover how he exactly learns but he is a sponge, this little man of mine. I can only hope for so much but I know that it's all up to him.

His latest antic is when he mimics L and I when we talk on the mobile phone. We use the speaker when talking and he grabs the remote control and starts talking random blabbers and looks at us as if we need to respond to him. Yes, he's cool like that. We sometimes joke that he'll be following our footsteps and be bossing people around but I shudder to think of such future! LOL! He's not as patient, he's a toddler so patience is still a learning curve, especially when his stack of building blocks fall.

He loves writing...nope, not on the walls...but on the sheets and the rubber mats on the floor instead! He uses crayons, pens, pencils...anything he can get his hands on that he knows is drawing material...expect it to be his. One can only imagine my reaction when I realize that my daily mommy planner has all his doodles...I don't mind, it's something that I'll treasure so much! I'd always tell myself...more doodles, please!

Tantrums? Of course, he's a toddler! We make it a point that he doesn't cry out as much so that there would be a communication between whoever is handling him and himself. We let him cry so that he could let his feelings out but we don't let him cry it out. He's just like any other toddler who throws tantrums especially when he doesn't get what he wants or when we don't understand what he's trying to say. It's a rollercoaster ride with him but it's view's totally worth it.

I still can't believe that we're about to hit 18 months...it's been such a quick ride, in the blink of the eye...who knows where D will find himself. Antics and shenanigans about, he's the one person who will always have a place in my heart...of course, because he knows how it feels from the inside.

julie