19 Month Old Little Man

19 months old (and 4 days) today. And what a month it has been!

This has been the month in which both DD and I have been forced to admit that our baby, well he really isn’t a baby any longer.

The books tell you to expect a language-development explosion this month and that’s exactly what happened. Noey seemed to hit another growth spurt of sorts and his speech and understanding took another quantum leap this month. He’s a walking, talking, honest-to-goodness little BOY, with his own opinions, funny little antics, a sense of humour and a touch of independence.

Many of his baby words have become clearer: “Ah-pung” has become “Open”, “Ma-monk” is now “Monkey” and “Ba-ba-nee” has been clarified to “Bunny”. DD’s still mourning the loss of “Ba-ba-nee” even as Noey has added “Rabbit” for good measure.

He’s starting to string more words together into sentences. Unfortunately, most of them seem to start with “Mama”. It’s been “Mama carry me!” and “Mama do!” and “Mama stop bathing!” and “Mama come!” all day long. Frequently combinations of the many permutations of the things that Mama is required to do.

He’s also added the dreaded “Dowan!” to his repertoire. Everything we try to make him do or give him to eat, read, or play with that is not Noey-approved is met with a quick “Dowan!”. Fortunately or unfortunately, he’s also picked up the convenient use of the word “other”, so it’s “Dowan! Other book!” or “Dowan! Other Room!” though which other book or other room he wants to he doesn’t care to specify. He just knows that it’s not the one he’s got. Conversely, when he really wants something, he knows well enough to say it. “Want elbow!” for example. I’m not getting away with that one I’m afraid.

And just as I was starting to wonder if he’s colour blind, he’s straightened out his colours. It was as if a switch flipped — one day he was still calling everything blue, and the next day, he recognised black. Then orange. Then purple, pink, green, yellow and blue, correctly this time. He still can’t get red right though. Now he will randomly point to a picture and go “orange train” or “green truck” or “blue bin”. And sometimes after identifying an object as blue, he would run for his blue car, show it to me, and say “same!”, looking all pleased. The mummy that I am is always impressed and it still makes me laugh when he does that.

And the independent streak that he’s been showing more of lately? It’s manifested itself in several ways. He wants to pick his own clothes, sometimes rejecting the nicely matched stuff I picked out in favour of t-shirts of his preference. Not content just to self-feed (which he is doing a fair bit more, though he usually gives up after 5 mins and we have to take over or nothing will get eaten), he sometimes insists on self-feeding while sitting in a chair, just like Mama and Papa.

And he’s also got opinions! While identifying the fruits and vegetables on a page in his book, he pointed to an eggplant and declared, “eggplant!”. Then he pointed to a smaller picture of another smaller purple fruit and declared “eggplant!” again.

Me: Noey, that’s not an eggplant. I think it’s a plum.
Noey: Eggplant!
Me: No, it’s a plum.
Noey: (points to the plum) Small eggplant!
Noey: (points to the eggplant) Big eggplant!

Well, if you say so, baby.

So he clearly understands big and small, and concepts-wise, also uses “tall” (though not “short”), “bright” and “dark”, “hot” and “cold”, and “one”, “two” and “many”. He can basically only understand that two is more than one, so when he tells you there are “many ants” and you ask him how many there are, he’d say “two!”, or sometimes “three!” which is the biggest number he knows! I personally find this very funny.

And speaking of funny, Noey’s been developing a sense of humour over the last couple of months which has blossomed this month. He’d deliberately mispronounce words and laugh delightedly when we react in mock horror to his answers.

DD: What sound do ducks make Noey?
Noey: Duck-duck!
DD: Duck-duck? Ducks don’t say duck-duck! What do ducks say?
Noey: (giggles merrily) Duck-duck!

There are also all the nonsense sounds he makes when he’s not saying anything meaningful that he finds hugely entertaining. I don’t, though I laugh along at his nonsense cos his laughter is infectious. I still haven’t figured out what “kiwi fruit dum dum!” means!

Amdist all the nonsense, he somehow managed to learn to say his own name, when asked, with his last name to boot.

The best part of having an increasingly verbal baby? The funny little conversations I can now have with him.

(While I was sitting in the hall reading the papers and Noey was looking out the window)

Noey: No more bird!
Me: Oh, did you see a bird? Where did the bird go? Did it fly into the trees?
Noey: No.
Me: Did it fly into the window?
Noey: No.
Me: So where’s the bird Noey? Where did it go?
Noey: God.
Me: (very amused) Oh! It flew to God! So where’s God Noey?
Noey: Other room.

Ok, I don’t know what he thinks goes on when we pray!

But seriously, I’m amazed and humbled, watching him grow and develop each day. Amazed as any mother would be, seeing my baby make such strides from the helpless little bub in my arms just a year and a half ago, and humbled by the magnificence of God’s creation. Watching a baby grow and develop in emotion, skills, and understanding, I just cannot fathom how anyone could believe all this came out of nowhere on its own. It is truly God’s miracle.

Happy 19 months, my little man. Please, try not to grow up so fast ok?