I wish all my friends who had kids before me would have told me how much fun it is to have a toddler! Harmon is 19 months old today and he is a blast. Kevin says we need to take more video of him, not only because he doesn't slow down long enough for pictures anymore but, more importantly, because he is hilarious.Lately, he's really noticed his belly button. He walks around pointing to it and insists on seeing everyone else's belly button. It's great fun for all involved when I send him on a search for Kevin's belly button and then Kevin does the same to me.
When not searching for belly buttons, he continues to have a language explosion. He knows so many words, it's just amazing! His favorites lately have been "toe," "shoe," "up," "more" and "outside." He says "outside" with a slight lisp so it comes out sounding like "outshide." It's very sweet! Also, we've noticed he says his "r" sounds like he's from Boston!
In addition to all the talking, he LOVES to sing. It's not out of the ordinary to hear him singing his ABCs while he's in his crib or playing with his toys. While he's singing this, he does the "LMNOP" really well and it's very cute how he says "W." While he may not get EVERY letter or word just right, he does get the syllables and the tunes perfectly. When I was rocking him to sleep last week, it was so amazing to hear him singing along with me to "Take Me Out to the Ballgame!"
It's not all letters at the Bergquist house, though! We've been working a ton with him on his numbers, 1-10. He gets through them pretty well, with the exception of "4." He likes to skip it and go straight to 5!
Since the weather has been so nice, we've been walking together every night. Unless we have errands to run at the nearby stores, we usually load Harmon up in his wagon (which, by the way, hauling him around is quite a workout). There are two parks in our neighborhood that we go to and he knows exactly where they are. Last week, we took a different route and were a few blocks from one of the parks and, as we started to turn back for home, he started to cry and call for the "swings." We were stunned he knew where he was so we ended up rewarding his memory with a ride on the swings!
OK, a few more things. I think he just might be working on some two-year molars because he is once again drooling like a St. Bernard and gnawing on everything in sight, including his arms. It's so weird to see him attached to his own forearm like an eel!
He's been very good lately with picking up his toys. If he wants to play with his Legos (or, as he calls them, his noo-noos), he has to put away his blocks. And, even when he does have a lot of his toys out, he's quite the organizer. He'll line up his blocks or make sure all his balls are together. Good to know I passed on the anal trait!
One of the funniest things he's started to do over the last few weeks is call out his roster of names. When he wakes up, he calls for "Dada." If Kevin doesn't respond, he calls for "Mama." If I don't get there soon enough, he starts with all the other members of the family – Nana, Erin, Papa, Stacey, Grandpa, Grandpa, Isabel. Also, at random times throughout the day, he'll do this little line-up. It's very funny!
We just love every minute with him! He is so fun and so smart and so sweet – we just can't get enough!
