Mark is officially 18 months today. We (I mean, he) reached the year-and-a-half milestone!
I have no idea how tall he is or how much he weighs but he does look like a little boy now. He is tall enough that when he climbs on me, I wonder how he ever fits inside me. And he is heavy enough that I encourage him to walk because no, I won’t carry him everywhere (on the plus side, though, my arms are pretty toned).
Mark is… different now. Everything is different. Oh, it’s not like he is fixing his own meals and spending his time playing alone quietly, and some days are still awful, but he is more independent. He loves exploring the world and enjoys going out. In fact, when he is sick of being in his room with me working on my laptop, he takes his clothes from the chair and carefully layers them on the bed, beside me—this means “okay mom, get your shit together and take me somewhere”. And if I don’t move, he throws Duplo blocks at my laptop. Poor laptop.
Mark can walk long distances, he can run and can climb. He seems to have good motor skills. One of his favourite toys is “Peekaboo Friends”, a talking book he has had since his first Christmas, a garage my friend lent us and a wooden train set my mum sent him. He discovered “reading” and he tells himself stories (sounds fascinating). Okay, half of the time, he holds the book upside down but he is good at turning pages.
Mark’s motto is “daahhgye” (or something like that), which roughly translates into “I want to do everything like my parents and I want to do it alone”. He wants to eat what we eat (sure, no problem!), drink what we drink (not going to happen—we need coffee, he doesn’t), tries to put clothes on, likes to answer the phone, etc.
He is communicating better and better and even though I can’t really understand what he says, I know what he wants. He responds well to instructions. Together, we put his toys into the box every night. He can take off his socks and his pants alone before bath time, and he likes to put his diaper into the garbage can (be my guest!). He can brush his teeth, put things back where they belong and he definitely knows when he does something he is not supposed to. He sits down to put on his shoes and loves closing the front door behind us. In stores, he presses the button to open the automatic door.
He thrives on routine but likes new stuff—new places, new toys, new foods, etc. At the same time, he knows all the steps of whatever process, such as taking a bath, and he follows them religiously.
He has good emotional intelligence too. He is usually gentle with other people and knows when we are stressed out or upset. He likes to hug and seeks comfort when he is scared or overwhelmed. He enjoys praise and responds well to it.
I have no idea what kids are supposed to know and master at this age but I am not too worried about Mark. He is fine!
Happy half-birthday, Mark! 😀
Grazie!
Your “not your father” comment made me laugh.
Cute pictures! Also, yay for a gentle kid, bodes well for the future.
I hope so. I want him to be a good person 🙂
He is turning into such a handsome boy!! I can see lots of you in him too now!
Really? I can’t tell! When he is with Feng, he looks like him. And apparently when he is with me, well, he looks like me. A cross-cultural chameleon!
Awesome 🙂
Your turn… in about two years? 😉
Cute pics! Love that bike, Cam has one just like it. Ironically Mark and Cam are about 18 months apart! Happy 1.5 yrs to him.. Growing up too fast into a cute little kid!
Wow, she is three already?
Je te lis et j’ai l’impression d’avoir le même numéro à la maison, en un peu plus sage peut-être : est-ce parce que sa maman est plus sage ou bien parce que nous nous sommes tout le temps en plein-air ?!
Etre dehors aide pas mal. Quand on était au Mexique en janvier, les journées étaient bien remplies mais c’était plus facile de le gérer dehors tout le temps. Ce qui n’aide pas non plus ici c’est que son papa et moi travaillons tous les deux en indépendant, de la maison, et qu’on n’a pas de garderie…