19 months: Devon (April)

Devon has a favorite TV show. It's pretty much the only TV he's seen so it's an easy choice. He will hand you the skinny remote to turn on the TV and he'll say,"Show" then hand you the big remote so you can find the tivoed episodes and say,"Pooh" (Tigger and Pooh 3D .... not the old ones. Trust me .... I tried and he hated them). I am somehow not annoyed by it and he only sporadically watches so it's fine. God forbid he develop a liking for Elmo .... I may just have to get rid of the TV.

He has developed a new game simply called "Bed". The rules are simple. Round up the 2 down comforters into a big pile in the center of our bed. Place Devon in front of the piles of blankets. Push Devon over into the blankets. Shrieks of laughter and giggles and,"Again!" ensue. If you tire of pushing him over he will just throw himself on top of the blankets so not to worry .... the game will continue for about 20 minutes with or without you. When he starts to get tired he will want to be tucked in and will start snoring. This means that you should lay down, close your eyes, make snoring sounds and at some point open your eyes and make a sound that will both startle and amaze him.

He loves to eat cheese, strawberries, raspberries, apples and peaches. He will even go into the pantry and retrieve a cup of fruit for me to feed him which is nice for me to feel like he is communicating his needs. He seems to really understand what we are saying when we talk about feelings, being careful and describing what is going on. He has stopped throwing food on the floor when he eats and has learned to just tell me that he's done and I get him out of his chair. I hated mopping the floor after every meal!

I'm not even going to tell you what words Devon can say up til now because he will pretty much say and repeat anything at this point so watch your language ;) If he doesn't get the word exactly right he gets the syllables or the basic sound. He is such a chatter box and Joe and I love hearing him go on and on ... and on ;) It is so fun to hear him say new words with perfect enunciation. We talk all the time about how sad it is that he is getting big. Then Devon will say,"Sad" and make a pouty face and we try to avoid saying the word sad around him because watching him do it is well ... sad. I have started to get into the habit of calling Joe "Daddy" because Devon started saying,"Joe! Joe! Dada!" Cute and everything, but I don't want him to start calling us by our first names until he becomes an ornery teenager.

He is learning to jump and kick a ball and is getting so independent! He is into everything and I begrudgingly baby proofed the kitchen drawers. Joe and I find all the baby proofing to be SUPER annoying and hoped that we would be able to somehow avoid it, but we both agree that it is totally a must. I don't mind him getting into that stuff, but I want to be able to have some control over the amount of mess and I had to keep him out of the knife drawer somehow!

Devon is such a good boy and is so funny! He is very careful about getting down from chairs, going up and down stairs that he will, more often then not, wait until I can help him and hold out his hand for me to hold. He is definitely not that kid that runs off and goes in a million directions with boundless energy. He does have (and require) lots of energy, but he is a really calm kid. He is not one to go up to kids and interact very much, but he is very friendly and will say hi to everyone at the grocery store. I have seen him turn grumpy shoppers from stone to mush with one flash of his toothy grin. By the way, he seems to be getting his molars. All of them. At the same time. That's a lot of teeth at once, poor guy.

Joe and I worry about the adjustment phase that will inevitably come when the little lady arrives, but there's nothing we can do except be attentive to Devon and let him know that he is still important to us. He isn't terribly interested in other kids (and he HATES it when they touch him ... that's my little germaphobe ;) so hopefully he won't mind having her around as long as she keeps some distance. He has been very interested in his new furniture that arrived last week and it has been encouraging to think maybe it won't be a huge room-switch-new-baby-all-at-once-adjustment that I've been building it up to be. I have been thinking that as soon as we get the floors done we could move Devon into his new room before the new baby arrives. I have been looking for stuff to decorate both of their rooms so they look more put together without going overboard, but it is a process. There is a lot of work that will have to get done before that happens, though, and I am anxious to get it all going!