Dear Nicholas,
You are nineteen months old! Your nineteenth month started right before we left on our trip back to the Northwest and ended in late August, so it included lot of travel along with some summer fun at home. We were late getting to the doctor for your 18 month visit, so you had a 19 month check up instead. At 19 months, you weigh 27 lbs., 8 oz. (70th percentile) and you are 33.5" tall (80th percentile). You are a big kid! They stop tracking your head after this appointment, but it's still off the charts at 50 3/4 cm in circumference. Your pediatrician checked you out and proclaimed that you are in great health and noted that you have advanced speech-- that's no surprise to us!
You are more and more of a chatter box each day, and I can't even keep up with your new vocabulary these days, but you did learn one very important word this past month. On the morning of August 14th, you said your name for the first time while we were flipping through your Elmo Peek-a-Boo book. You pointed out all the Sesame Street characters and then when we got to the last page, which includes a mirror, you saw yourself and then said "Nih-nes!" A little later at breakfast, you pointed and said "Daddy," then pointed to me and said "Mommy," and then pointed to yourself and said "Nih-nes" again. So adorable.
You've also been working on other family members' names. During our trip back home, you perfected "Dzia Dzia" and then christened Daddy's mom "Baba." (We think that came from the Babaloo song they like to sing to you.) In Portland, you christened my dad "Bap-pa" (your pronunciation of Grandpa) and worked on "Gammy." Aunt Laura also gave you some coaching and you can now say "Auntie Wo-Wo." Since we've been home, we've looked at family pictures and pointed out family members for you to name. You've done a good job remembering all of the names, but your favorite people to point out are definitely both of your grandpas. You love to say Dzia Dzia and Bap-pa and will occasionally ask about both of them.
You can now identify and say several shapes, including square, circle, triangle, star, and diamond. Admittedly, your pronunciation could use some work-- right now it sounds like "care," "kerk-uh," "tra-nanah," "car," and "dy-doh." But when you are pointing to the shape, it's clear what you're trying to say. Pretty impressive for just a year and a half old!
You are starting to string together pairs of words. Recent examples include "Daddy pop pop" (you call your popping lawn mower toy your pop pop, so now you like to point out Daddy's pop pop); "den-dul peez!" (asking me to be gentle when I was wiping your face); "Daddy ow-side;" and "that bye-bye, watch!" (pointing to Daddy's laptop and asking him to put it away and pay attention to you instead-- pretty clever!). One of your cutest phrases is "oh no!" But you say it very dramatically with three syllables so that it sounds like "oh no-oh!"
You are still obsessed with all things transportation. One of your favorite expressions as we drive down the road is "ooooh trut!" every time you see a particularly impressive truck. Your recent airplane travel cemented your fascination with "ah-panes," and you're now also curious about boats. Row, Row, Row Your Boat is a favorite song from school, and you will say "wo, wo, wo!" as a request for me to sing the song.
You continue to be a little picky at meal times, but you do have several favorite foods that you will ask for by name-- particularly, pizza, pasta, and yogurt. If you don't like what we're serving you for dinner, sometimes you'll look at me and say, "pizza? peeez?" and then you'll smile and I can tell you are trying to pour on the charm. Other times, we'll just be driving in the car and you'll start chanting "pizza pasta! pasta pizza!" Food is clearly on your mind-- a man after my own heart.
After we returned home from our summer trip, you were moved up to the big toddler room at school. I was a little worried about the transition because the move from the infant room to the young toddler room around your first birthday was tough on both of us. But most of your buddies had already been moved up to the toddler classroom, so you handled the change like a champ. And, since you've been in the toddler room, your separation anxiety during our morning drop off has dramatically declined. We're so happy that you're adjusting well to your new classroom and teachers, and that you genuinely seem to like your daycare.
You still go to sleep around 7:00-7:30pm every night and wake up anytime between 6:45 - 7:30am each morning. Lately, when we put you to bed at night, we will read you a few stories and rock you in the glider and you'll be requesting "bed, bed" before we're even done. You know when you're ready to hit the hay and I can't argue with that. You take one afternoon nap, usually beginning around 12:30pm and lasting about two hours.
Nicholas, you are so much fun to be around! You are growing and changing so rapidly and it's amazing to watch as your brain grows and absorbs something new every day. It's evident to everyone around you how bright you are, and you undoubtedly have big things in store. I am so proud to be your mom!
All my love,
Mommy
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