Conversations with Huston

This past month, Huston's vocabulary and verbal skills have finally taken off. He is repeating tons of words that we say and using sounds that he couldn't make before (most notably the hard "g" and "c" sounds). Considering I was concerned enough about his development at one point to have him evaluated, this is a huge blessing. Now that he's decided he's actually interested in talking, we can't get him to stop! The funniest thing about his recent interest in talking, is how he has certain "conversations" that he likes to repeat. We could be doing anything at all, and he'll bring up these stories whenever they pop in his head. Here are some of his favorites:

- The story of how he goes on the escalator with grandma at the mall goes like this: "eeeeee-gla-gla-tor" (which means escalator), followed by "na-naaaa" (which means grandma), followed by him holding his two hands together which indicates that he holds grandma's hand while he goes on the escalator.

- The story of how the delivery man brought two boxes to our house which daddy made into chairs for the living room goes like this: "dee-doh" (the sound of the doorbell), followed by "box," followed by "da-dee."

- The story of the big grandfather clock we saw at a friend's house goes like this: "clock" (well, actually he says it without the "l" sound, but I didn't want to type that), followed by "house" (meaning we saw it at someone else's house), followed by "ya ya" (which means later, because he wants to go see it again later).

- He's as fascinated with doors as he's always been and really likes the metal gate at the pool. Now he thinks that all metal fences or railings are called gates (or "dates," as he says), and a walk around the neighborhood or a drive around town while we're running errands causes him to incessantly repeat "date" and "tee" (which means key - because, of course, you need a key to open a gate).

Huston has also been pointing to my belly recently and saying "bah-beeee," although I'm not sure that he actually understands that there's a baby growing in my belly. I've been talking to him about how we're going to bring the baby home one day soon, so now he'll say "bah-beeee, home, dee-doh" (like the baby will ring the doorbell when she comes home). It's pretty cute.

He cracks me up with these conversations, because he refuses to continue with his story until you acknowledge what he's telling you. When we go on walks and he says a gate, he'll keep repeating "date, date, date" until I say "oh, you see a gate," and then he'll repeat "tee, tee, tee" until I say "yes, you need a key to open a gate." It's not enough to say "uh-huh" or just repeat the word. He wants you to complete his thought and make sure you're paying attention before he'll continue.

Another thing I love concerning his verbal developments of late, is his discovery of how to use the possessive, and how it slightly alters his pronunciation. He likes to point to our drinks and identify which one is "mom-ayes" and "dad-ayes." It's so darling.

I love our little conversations, Huston.

Happy Fourth!

This fourth of July, Clarke and I enjoyed a child-free lunch with friends at Dutch's followed by dinner and fireworks (and about 17 mosquito bites) with more friends.


We also fit in some swimming with Huston on Friday when Clarke had off of work, and Clarke got our two new chairs from Target assembled. Huston promptly claimed the chairs as his and has enjoyed climbing up on them and saying "sit" ever since.


He didn't want anyone else sitting on them at first, but is getting better at sharing them. It's hilarious to watch him hike himself up on the chairs and also hilarious when the cushion slides out from under him and he gets stuck in the crevice. It freaks him out a bit when this happens, but after he recovers, he likes to tell us "uh oh" and "boo boo" (in his hilarious southern drawl).

Hope you all enjoyed your fourth of July celebrations, too!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

You are such a great daddy. I like how you play "pet shop" with me and how we dance to the tunes on your ipod when you get home from work. Thanks for teaching me cool things, like how to throw a ball, and for always cheering me on and encouraging me. I like going to "seeeeeee" you in the morning (which really means waking you up before you're ready) and I like how you play fun "boy" games with me (like the broccoli throwing game). I want to be just like you when I grow up.

Love,
Huston

First Swim of the Season

I was so amazed that Huston kept this hat on the entire time we were swimming. He absolutely hates hats and refuses to wear them. I think he was so distracted by the water that he almost forgot about it.

Splashing fun with Daddy.

PINK!

For those of you that don't know, Clarke and I found out last Friday that we're having a GIRL! Here she is all sweet and curled up with her enormous head.


I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am! I already bought her some girlie clothes yesterday because I just couldn't help myself. And I've been stalking the internet for ideas for sweet girlie nursery decor. It's so much fun to be able to shop for pink, frilly things. Of course, more than anything, we are so grateful that she is healthy and growing well.

Just so Huston doesn't feel too jealous of his little sister, here are a few adorable pictures of him coloring with highlighters this week:

Snapshot of 21 months

Dear Huston,
You are at such a fun age right now and it seems like every day you're doing something new and wonderful. I'm trying so hard to treasure every little thing you do, but I know I'm bound to forget some of the things that I'm trying to hold on to. To help me remember, here are just a few of your favorite things at 21 months:

- The "pet shop" game. To initiate this game you say "tweet tweet tweet" and that means we're supposed to get down on the floor with you and pick up the little birdie that goes with the pet shop and say "tweet tweet tweet, can I come in Huston?" Then you open the door for us and let us in. You also like to shove the bird out the door and say "bye bye" and knock the bird off the roof. The pet shop also has people and a dog and a cat, but you don't allow any of them to come inside.
- You love riding in the car and listening to music. You like to get your shoes on in the morning and then go to the garage door and say "on," indicating that we should turn the car on and go drive somewhere and listen to music. Several times a day, in fact, you make this same request, and you can get highly annoyed when I tell you that we don't actually need to drive anywhere at the moment.

- The letter "H." It's your favorite and every time we get out the colors, you want us to draw you several H's.

- Water and rainstorms. You love sprinklers, playing with the hose, splashing in puddles, and standing outside when it's raining. You even laugh hysterically when it thunders.

- Chasing the "hop hops" in the backyard. You always want to go check outside to see if any of the wild bunnies around our house are out there. When you see one, you yell "HOP HOP" and then chase it around the yard giggling until it eventually runs away. Then you tell it "bye bye." You also like to talk about how the "hop hops" eat the grass. Usually your story about an encounter with a bunny goes like this: "hop hop. eat. bye bye."

- Putting on your daddy's shoes. You like to pull his big shoes out of the closet and say "on" and then have us help you put them on. It's pretty adorable.

- Taking the cushions off the couch and running around like a wild man up and down them and on and off the couch. You are definitely all boy.

- Elmo - you ask to watch him several times a day.

- Dogs, especially your Uncle Ben's dog, Pup. You giggle hysterically when she licks your fingers and just can't get enough of chasing her around trying to get her to lick you some more.


A few things I love that you do now:

- Say "bye-bye" with the most southern drawl imaginable.
- Sing EIEIO like this: "Ah, eee, Ah, eee." It's so cute.
- The way you say please. It sounds just like "seis."
- The way you squeeze your eyes shut when we pray and say "Amen!" at the end.
- How you reach up on your tip toes and lift your chin up to give your daddy a kiss goodbye when he leaves for work. And how you yell "Daddy!" when he comes home.


A few things I'm not so fond of:

- You like to cover your eyes and yell at strangers when they try to say hi to you. It's very embarrassing. We were in line at the post office the other day and it was a long wait, and you must have yelled at everyone in there by the time we left.
- You cannot stand for me to pull my hair back or put it in a ponytail. If you catch it up you yell at me to put it back down.
- The beginning of these notorious "terrible twos" I've heard so much about. You can throw a mean screaming fit when you want to.


So there you have it. Those are just a few random things about you that I can think of right now. They hardly encapsulate all that you are, but that's pretty impossible to do with words anyway. You're a one-of-a-kind little boy. I love you,

Mom

Letters, Letters, Everywhere

Huston has been able to recognize and say the letter "H" for a very long time now. I hadn't given much thought to trying to teach him any more letters, though, until about a month ago when he was playing in his closet and pointed to the "H" in the word "Huggies" on a package of diapers. We hadn't talked about letters or done anything with letters in forever, so I was super excited that he was spotting the letter "H" just out of the blue. I decided maybe it was time to get back out his magnet letters for the fridge (which had previously been banished to a drawer because he always knocked them all over the floor and refused to pick them up). Over the next few days, Huston proceeded to amaze both me and Clarke with how quickly he was learning and naming new letters. He now knows and can say "A, D, E, F, H, I, M, N, O, S, and T." He knows several others, but can't say them yet. The "R," for example, comes out as "eeeeeeehhhh."

The cutest thing, though, is how he spots letters all over the place and says them. He finds them on Clarke's t-shirts, on Banana Republic shopping bags, on Kohl's shopping carts, on signs, and packages, and anywhere you can think of. It's just adorable.

Wednesday of this week he had another major letter breakthrough, which Clarke and I were unfortunately unable to witness in person because his parents were babysitting. They had Huston outside with some chalk and he made some markings on the ground, walked away, then came back and pointed to it and said "H." Here is a picture of his first written letter:
And a close up:
We're so proud of you, Huston. Our little letter genius.