Mr. C keeps getting bigger and brighter!

We realized its been awhile since we did an update on C, without the frequent well-baby check ups its easy to forget to stop and take stock of his new tricks and milestones. So, lets see if we can make a list of what this mancub can do:

He's "talking" much more these days and trying to copy what we say more than ever. His favorite word is "ckrr" and he's got words for truck and train also. Perhaps you can glean what his main interest is from that list. He also says mama, dada, mumumum (more), off, up, out, on, hat, eesy (Rhys)...mostly there are a lot of grunts and groans which when combined with gestures and enthusiastic facial expressions add up to effective communication.

He knows a lot of body parts and can point them out: eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, ears, hair, hands, feet, fingers, toes, knees, arms, beebo (belly button), tummy. He gives out hugs, snooches (kisses), high fives, blows kisses, waves. He tries to sign "thank you" but he mostly gives this little nod like he's a medieval knight. We've seen him sign "mom" and "dad" but he keeps those pretty deep in his bag of tricks.


He loves to dance. Like L-O-V-Es to dance! Whenever we can find some dancers, especially hip hop, on TV he goes nuts for it. If he even hears the word dance he will start to shake his groove thing and the opening of Ellen is his favorite thing on TV. Speaking of TV, he's still not as into television as his sister, but he likes Pinky Dinky Doo, Toot and Puddle, Yo Gabba Gabba and will always pick the movie Cars if given a choice (something B is very sick of).

He's still really physical; climbing, running, jumping, trying to do flips and rolls. One of the kids' favorite games is "race" which is basically them racing from the starting line (the line where the tile of the entry way meets the carpet of the living room) across the living room, around the dining table and back to the finish line (same as the starting line). B always wins and sometimes C will turn around before the dining table just to keep up but he thinks its just as much fun that way and is just as excited to cross the finish line as B is. They clap and cheer for each other. For some reason C thinks it makes the game more authentic if he breathes really heavily before racing. We think he saw someone at some point breathing like that after a race and missed the whole cause and effect part. Its very cute.


He'll be 18 months the Sunday after next and then he can start gymnastics with B, which is something we'll all be grateful for. The last few months have been sort of torturous as he wants so desperately to join in the fun and can't. We've been letting him jump in the foam pit, and thankfully no one at the gym has attempted to stop us, although we're sure its not really legit. They probably just don't want to hear him scream for the entire 45 minutes.


He's got lots of teeth and is good about letting us brush them. He loves bath time and can undress himself when its time. He also has been helping us to dress him and picking out his own shirts. He tries to put his shoes on all by himself. He currently has his third busted lip, and we're starting to see a lot of medical expenses in our future as he is able to be more active and take more adrenaline inducing risks.

He has great hair and gets complimented on it all the time. He adores Rhys and its really interesting to see how strong the bond between boy and dog can be, it's different somehow from B and Rhys. B and C really are best friends and for the most part play so well together! They are sweet and caring with each other (not that they can't drive each other nuts or want to play alone at times too but its honestly more often the case that they are playing together). He also loves books, gets at least two before every sleep and often brings us books during the day to read. For awhile he was really into Goodnight Moon, and he has a collection of Cars board books which he loves and he's a big fan of the Usborne touch and feel "That's Not My..." collection.


After visiting with Uncle Dustin, both kids have been wanting to sing and play their instruments more. So C will drum and ask for "Itsy Bitsy Spider" several times a day and he's starting to do the hand motions along with mama.


He is a very adventurous eater for the time being and will eat most anything you offer him. He loves cheese like T and B, and "shoosh" (juice) especially green juice (superfood). We recently learned that he especially favors shortbread and doesn't mind pecans in his bread. He'll always choose the veggie pizza and will swipe all your tofu if you don't keep your eye on him. And he thinks everything is better with "kkkuh" (ketchup).


His temper is still award winning and he can throw a spectacular tantrum, but it usually fizzles out before long and he is back to being his adorable loving self. But perhaps C's most marked characteristic is his self-sufficiency. That might sound odd when speaking about a toddler, he's definitely not ready to strike out on his own and he's totally a mama's boy (checking in with T like she's his own personal battery charger for quick mama fixes before he's off again to explore the world) but he will go the long way around every time rather than ask for help. And its not really a stubborn thing, its just that he does things on his own. He's always had a very strong internal compass and the more he develops and grows the more we see that in him.

And that's the update on all things C.