A Little Man with Big Ideas...

Our little man has many ideas these days. Now don't get me wrong, Reshen has *always* had ideas and opinions about things, even as a newborn and has always been good at expressing them. But lately it seems he has strong opinions about anything and everything. I will share some examples:

1. His clothes- I put overalls on him the other day and he began crying and pulling at the "bib" part and saying "off!" This was quite sad for mommy as he is *so* cute in overalls. I put khaki pants on him this morning and, again, he started crying and pulled at the legs. Not sure why he didn't want to wear them, but I put him in some softer pants and he was fine. He also cried when I changed him into jeans later today, but I was able to distract him this time. Who knew he would get so picky about what he wears?! He also prefers to wear his sandals or boots rather than his tennis shoes, and we have gone to the store with him dressed in froggy boots and shorts.

2. His bibs- He won't wear them anymore. Pulls at them and screams until they come off. *sighs* It's either deal with a tantrum or put a new shirt on him when he's done eating. I've chosen the changing shirt route. We have enough tantrums as it is. Pick your battles is my motto.

3. His highchair- He really does think he's 4 years old sometimes. He wants so badly to eat at the table with Luke and Lucy, so at their house he is now allowed to sit on the bench with them, as long as he actually *sits* there and doesn't climb onto the top of the table (which I've caught him doing when I left the room for 10 seconds). He is *so* proud of himself and it's really adorable to see him sitting there like a big boy with his friends. Only problem is now he doesn't want to sit in his high chair at home either. I began letting him use his booster seat and that was OK for awhile, but today he threw a fit because he wanted to sit in daddy's *real* chair and eat at the table that way. The chair is too low and not sturdy enough for him to sit in and eat, so I told him he needed to use his booster seat and even pushed it up to the table (without the tray), but he knows the difference. This was something I couldn't give in on, so the crying ensued. Funny thing was he still ate, only between cries for the "chair." He would take a bite, say "um" (yum) and then point to the chair and start crying again. *sigh*



4. His Food- He always has very definite ideas of what he wants to eat during the day. I can't count how many times he asks for milk, juice, crackers and cake... all of which are restricted to a certain degree. By the way, cake really means any type of "cakey" thing, like banana bread or muffins. Of course, if he doesn't get it the crying begins, but this is something I for which I stick to my guns. He has to eat fruit and veggies *sometimes*.

5. What he wants to play- He will think of a game or toy and announce it to me. He then runs to find whatever it is, or takes my hands to prompt me for a game. It's really adorable and I love to get a glimpse of those little wheels turning. It's especially funny when he's looking for a toy and holds his hands up and says "go?" like "where did it go?" Then he says "hmmmm.." like he's thinking about it. He also looks for specific books and objects in the kitchen cabinets.

6. His Cup- Milk has to go in the milk sippies, water and juice in the other sippies, and then sometimes it can't be a sippy at all... He sometimes wants only a cup with a straw, or like today a big kid cup. I was reluctant to let him drink out of a big kid cup, but he actually did very well. He's really growing up, isn't he?

He is just so independent suddenly and is trying so hard to have some control over his world. He is becoming self-aware and has been referring to himself as "shen" (for Reshen). He is also really into other people and talks about our friends and his family constantly. He has started saying "Hi" to everyone and everything for that matter. With this I have seen some separation anxiety again, especially at nap times and in the middle of the night. He also calls for me when I leave the room and sometimes is like another appendage (the way he clings to my leg).

He loves to imitate and repeats nearly all our words and actions. He especially enjoys mimicking Luke (one of his 3 year old friends). I love watching him run after the kids and join in their games (as much as an 18 month old can). He soaks up everything we say and do. Perhaps this is part of the reason his vocabulary is constantly expanding.

He talks *so* much now. I can't possibly list all that he says, but here are a few examples of things that have shocked me:

1. "I want find a car" (sounded like "I un fine uh car). He was looking for a car in a book.

2. "Cold. I want shirt on."

3. " I want see truck." He wanted to go over and see a large truck more closely.

4. "Hear Choo Choo. " He heard a train.

5. "I want two dog." He had one stuffed dog and wanted another.

6. "More guitar!" This shocked me because he heard guitar in some music and wanted to hear more when it was over.

Actually most of his sentences involve "I want" He can say pretty much any noun, and if he doesn't know the name of what he wants he says "I want this" and points to it.

He also says a lot of "sentences" (if you can call them that) that involve a string of nouns. Such as "Rik Car Neigh-Neigh." Which means he rode in Rik's car and saw a horse while he was in it. Or another one we hear a lot of recently "Ye Ye Boat Water." Which means Ye Ye (his grandpa) was on the boat in the water."

Other phrases he says are "in there" and "on there," and he uses them correctly. He also likes to assign people to objects (Mama Shoes, Dada Cup, Tookie (Luke) Potty, Shen (Reshen) Sock.)

He counts... sort of. He usually says "three four, three four" over and over again. Sometimes he makes it to five, and sometimes he'll start at two, but three and four are his favorite right now.

Anyways, he's *so* communicative. He really has those words down and is working on the sentence structure and picking up some more verbs. I wonder how far along he will be in one month from now! I can only hope his increasing vocabulary will gradually ease his toddler frustrations.