19 Months Old!

19 month old Kinley is a bundle of fun.  The past month has flown by and we've had a lot of fun in the process.

You continue to erupt with new words almost daily.  Here is a list of the ones I remembered to write down, but I'm sure there were more that I missed:  truck, step, eyes, nose, uh oh, cat, cup, duck, soap, milk, shoes, sheep, poop, toes, ears, foot, ice, hand, toot, sleep, teeth, cold, jump, and shirt.

You totally learned how to use a fork while we were at Grandma & Grandpa's house.  I think the problem must have been our plastic forks here because they had metal there and it took you no time to master it.  I bought you some metal ones when we got home and you have been doing great.

You don't like your hands dirty.  When you are eating and they get really messy you will hold them out to me to wipe them off so you can go on eating again.  If you fall down outside you've learned how to brush them together to get the dirt off, but sometimes if that's not good enough you still hold them out for me to help.  It's adorable and is another sign that you are totally my kid.

For a long time we've been spending a lot of time at Temescal Canyon Gateway Park, which is really close to our apartment.  Most people go there for hiking, but we walk back just a little bit and there is a great wide open, fully shaded grassy area that is perfect for you to run around and play to your heart's content.  I finally decided that with as much as we were visiting I may as well go ahead and buy the annual parking pass, which means we now go even more than we did before.  Most of the time we're going at least twice a week.  Sometimes we just walk around and explore and never even make it to the grassy area, it's just great to be outdoors and enjoying a little nature.  You can actually forget we're in the middle of a city, which is just what you and I both need sometimes.

You have become obsessed with the moon.  This started after we started taking you out on the balcony before bed to find the moon each night.  Now if there is a picture of the moon in any book we read you have to point it out on each and every page, and you won't let us turn the page until we acknowledge that the moon is there on each and every page.  I love it, though I admit I consider it a small victory if you once in awhile miss it on a page here or there.

You developed a funny backwards belly slide that you do on the hard floors once in awhile.  You're not really trying to get anywhere I think you just find it fun to slide on the floor.

You've upgraded from high chair to booster seat and you seem very pleased with the change.  I'm happy to have the high chair out of my dining room and happy that there's one less thing around for you to climb.

There is a blanket that I crocheted for your Dad back when we were in college.  It's been sitting out in our living room for a number of months and you've never paid any attention to it.  Then all of a sudden you've taken a strong interest in it.  You pull it out every day and sit on the couch with it.

We have started doing more of the grocery shopping again so you're spending more time in the shopping cart.  Sometimes when you get bored, or just to get my attention, you decide to shower me with hugs and kisses while you're in the shopping cart.  And I don't mind at all.

You drink the milk out of your cereal bowl before eating your cereal.  You also sometimes pick up your plate and hold it to your mouth to try to pour the food into your mouth, similar to drinking out of a cup.

You have started attaching yourself to my leg sometimes and think it's hilarious when I try to walk while you are holding on.

When I try to clean up the floor after meals you seem to think I am a jungle gym and climb all over me.  It seriously hinders my effectiveness.

Other times you play a game that I call Rag Doll where you lean against me with all your weight so that if I try to move you will quite literally fall flat on the floor.  I hate this game.  And I deserve it for all the times I used to do this to your father and think it was funny.

Everyone thinks that we don't have fall in Southern California.  While it may not compare to the beauty of fall in other parts of the country where all the leaves change into reds, oranges, and yellows, there are still SOME trees that change and we do have plenty that shed their leaves in the fall.  One day when we were walking around at Temescal Canyon I spotted a tree of gorgeous reds and oranges.  We walked over to it and I picked you up and let you pluck off a couple of leaves to carry around.  Since then you have taken an interest in all the leaves on the ground and I often encourage you to pick them up and carry them if you want.  Yesterday we were walking in a parking lot and the wind was blowing one leaf across the lot in front of us and you hurried over to it and stomped on it to stop it from going any farther.  I thought this was really cute for some reason.

You have gotten really good at cleaning up after yourself, without me ever having to tell you to.  Generally speaking at the end of the day after your bath I tidy up your toys and you watch me and sometimes help.  But recently throughout the day when you play with certain things (generally non-toys) you will go on to pick them all up and put them back when you are finished.  For example, when I prepare meals you often open the pantry and pull out various things.  But when the food is ready and I tell you to head to the table, you will pick up everything you got out, put it back, and close the pantry before you go to the table.  I love this.

And one last story before I close.  One day I was folding laundry right before lunch.  You had just woken from a nap and I knew you were probably getting hungry but thought it wouldn't take too long to just get it done.  But as I was working you were getting more and more impatient and wanting to be picked up.  In an effort to keep you occupied I asked you to pick all the bibs out of the pile of clean laundry so we could take them to the kitchen.  I figured you would find one and bring it to me, but to my surprise, you found (almost) all of them and made a little pile.  So next I told you to see if you could find any socks.  I saw you pick up one or two and then head out of the room.  I know you know where your socks go so I thought to myself, "I bet she's going to put those in her drawer."  A moment later you were back, digging in the pile again, then back out of the room again.  This was keeping you busy so I just let you go about what you were doing.  As the pile dwindled and all the socks were gone I suggested that you go ahead and take the bibs to the kitchen for me.  When you were gone I went into your bedroom to check your sock drawer and sure enough, all the socks were there:  yours, Daddy's, and mine.  I quickly paired them all up and got them where they needed to go then headed to the kitchen for lunch, where I found all of the clean bibs in the sink.  :)