ScrumpyDaddy

Posted by Dave

Zach’s cognitive development has just exploded lately. He is twenty months old now, and he is saying and doing so many things. He LOVES to play with Abby and has been saying, “Abby! Abby! Abby!” constantly for about a month now. He likes to hand her cup to her, and when he gets a snack, he INSISTS on you giving one to Abby as well, saying, “Abby?”, and pointing to the snack and into the other room, then “Abby!”, and will have a fit if you don’t get some for her. When he heads upstairs to get changed or brush his teeth or anything, he’ll start climbing up the steps, then stop and say, “Abby!” and scoot back down and go get her to go with him. He really loves being with her right now.

In addition to that, he is very expressive about his desires; he is generally able to make his point known if he wants something specific, but it is most clear when he doesn’t want something, as he will say, “no” in a cute little way and shake his head “no.” The best part, though, is when he sees our cat, Draco, go somewhere (typically somewhere that Draco *is* permitted to be, but Zach doesn’t think so) and he points his finger and shakes his finger at Draco and says, “No, no, no…. No, no, no.” It is very cute!

In fact, those are from a few weeks ago now, and he has grown in those few weeks. At some point in every meal we share, he will start clapping, then rolling his hands around each other, and patting the back of one hand with the other….he is playing “pattie cake!” At the end of every performance, he also claps and says, “Yaaaaay!” It also is VERY cute.

He and Abby like to chase each other around the house, which causes lots of giggles on both their parts. When they switch roles and he wants Abby to chase him, he will stop, put his hands to his cheeks and try to say, “Nah, nah!” as in, “Na, naa, na, Naaaa, naa, you can’t get me!” which Abby sometimes says to him.

He is getting VERY good at throwing (much to our dismay, at times…like the dinner table. Ahem.) and can really throw a ball quite well. Perhaps he’ll be a pitcher or quarterback. 🙂

When we head downstairs, he will often start walking down while holding one of our hands, but this week, Abby showed him something new, and now after the first couple of steps, he will often sit down, let go of your hand, and then ask that you sit down next to him, and then slide down the steps one at a time on his bum.

He loves to color with crayons and play with play dough, though both often end up in his mouth at some point during the process. (He is better at coloring than using play dough.)

He likes to turn the light switches on and off when it is time to do so. (He doesn’t try to play with them on his own during the day, just when it is the time to turn something on or off during our normal routines, like bedtime.)

He also likes to read books with us at any time, but definitely two or three at bedtime.  His favorites lately are “Little Blue Truck”, “Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed”, “Just a Snowy Day”, and “Curious George Neighborhood Friends” (which is a pull-tab or “slide and peek” book with tabs on the sides that pull out with people and objects on them, like a Firefighter & Fire Truck or Farmer & Tractor.)

He tries to put on his own socks and shoes, and just about has it with his shoes. Socks are little tougher.

He likes to sit in the child-size rocking chair we have in the living room. He will often try to stand on it and rock it, though, which we of course discourage. He is a fearless one – climbs on lots of things, stands on chairs. Related to that, though, he can now climb up the steps on the slide in the backyard and can *almost* get his legs facing the right way on his own once he gets to the top. He needs a little help with the lean & balance part to slip each foot around in front of him before he slides down the slide.

He loves bubbles and wants you not only to get them an blow them, but especially, to give the bottle to him to try to dip the wand in and blow for himself. He can actually do this pretty well sometimes, but he always ends up spilling it right now, too. I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s a pro bubble blower. (Once the weather gets & stays nicer, I’m sure he’ll get lots of practice.)

All in all, Zach is quite the cutie and getting very capable at everything. He always wants to be involved, to see what everyone is doing, and always wants to help. He will carry anything to anyone upon request, and will also throw away anything you ask him to.

Oh yeah, he also loves to say, “Uh oh” when something falls on the floor, and always says “all gone” or “all done” when somebody finishes something, whether it is him being done with something, or one of us finishing our food, or anything of the sort.

I love my little boy, even though he is at an age that he is also quite a handful (see: “always wants to help” and that he is getting fairly independent…)

Note: If you are reading this in an e-mail, please click on the title of the post (Zach’s cognitive leaps) to watch the video in your web browser.