Happy 21st Month Birthday

Well, twenty-one months have come and gone since Andrew came into our world. It's been a crazy fast month. Andrew is growing into such a little boy and growing up way too fast for his Mommy! There has been so much going on that I will try to keep this brief (and since I can't remember it all).

Some new additions to his vocabulary that come to mind:

• please (hooray!);
• no (boo!);
• shh (putting his index finger up to his nose instead of across his mouth);
• oh for uh oh;
• yuck for yuck and yucky;
• boo boo (last month);
• da for da, which is diaper in vietnamese;
• juu for juice;
• pee for pizza;
• nu nu for noodles;
• mm mm for M&Ms;
• puh for puzzles;
• mah mah for money;
• neh for neck;
• pee pee;
• poo poo;
• duu for dude;
• duh for dog;
• bee for the insect and for Aunt Bee;
• neigh for neigh for the sound a horse makes (versus "nnn" that he used to say);
• ya for yak;
• duh duh for dirty;
• do for window;
• woo woo for train;
• meh for Metro (i.e., the Metro Light Rail Train);
• dah for door and dump (i.e., dump truck);
• tah for truck and that;
• be for bed;
• ba for back;
• ma for magnet;
• Duc for my cousin when he was visiting;
• Beh for Bennett (MaryAnn's dog);
• Day for Daisy (Uncle Hung's and Aunt Hong's dog);

We have been working on two syllable words with different sounding syllables, combining two or more words, and sentences. It's been progressing, but not nearly as fast as Daddy and Mommy would like. Andrew will say "mama please;" "dada please," "more please," "more bubbles," etc. But usually it's because we still have to prod him to do so. But when Ngoai babysat, he did say "more noodles" on his own. I guess he saves the good stuff for anyone but his parents

Andrew has been eating well and enjoying some new foods. He still loves his noodles and pizza, but one night we were having lobster and Andrew totally scarfed it down! We thought he might like it because of his affinity for shrimp, but he ate like half of Daddy's tail.

Drew still loves to play with his Thomas trains and puzzles (he has gotten lots better at both). But something that he has really been into is watching videos on youtube. Thanks to Uncle Anh Tuan, Andrew knows he can look at all different trucks and Thomas clips or whatever else he wants. Lately, he has been wanting to watch the Metro Rail more than anything. He will pick a clip by pointing my screen. One frustration on our part is that he will want to watch it a lot; and then, another is that he will keep picking different ones even though he hasn't finished watching the clip he chose last. Oh, what are we going to do with him!?

I have mentioned before that Andrew has always been a big fan of bathtime, but now even more so because he has been taking bubble baths. And when the bubbles dissipate, he will even ask for more. We usually decline the request though; and he is normally complacent with that. He has so many trucks, trains, ducks, crayons, and other toys in there that there isn't almost enough room for Andrew. He will also turn on the water too including the hot water. Boo. He also knows how to work the drain plug. Sometimes, we have to tell him bathtime is over and just pull out the drain plug. But then, he will turn it back so it goes back down. The punk!

Recently, Andrew has wanted to have all his stuffed animals in the crib with him--Daisy, Madison, and Bennett--our stuffed dogs that we have named after the dogs in Andrew's life. He also has a small Bevo in there. He has a big Bevo which sometimes makes his way into Drew's crib. Between all the animals and the pillows and the blankets, there isn't much room for Andrew. But he will lay on top of them no problem.

Another new thing we have encountered this month is Andrew's will to choose his clothes. Sometimes, he won't want to wear the clothes that we pick out for him. And then usually, he wants to pick out his own attire--typically something with some vehicle on it. Then, he is so used to wearing socks with shoes that he doesn't want to wear the socks anymore after we take off his shoes. We try to show him that we wear socks around the house, but he doesn't care. I also think part of the reasoning is that he gets hot. He is totally warm like me!

We have had less occurrences of hair pulling and hitting thankfully. I have noticed that Andrew seems to be more physically aggressive towards kids he doesn't know. With his friends in our play dates and in our Gymboree class, he is less means towards. Hopefully, he will learn not to be mean toward anyone soon!

Ok, that's all for now. I know I am leaving off stuff, but maybe I can pick up next month. Here are some pictures from today. Check out his Thomas pajamas that he already loves so much. And then, there is Andrew already getting an early start with double fisting (juice and milk versus alcohol--that comes much much later).