Sixteen-Love

hj-monkey-clap-yo-hands turned 16 months today.

at this point in his life, he is funny. so funny. he laughs all the time and gives lots of kisses and hugs. he loves to read books and you have to pay attention or he'll be backing onto your lap with a book before you know it. he runs around like a goof and can entertain himself, by himself quite well. he plays with blocks and animals and makes all the animal sounds (the owl, snail, and monster are probably the biggest crowd pleasers- i'll try to catch him on video soon, but you know, he's very wily). he talks quite well. he repeats everything (nothing bad...YET), and recently added "people" and "paper" to his repertoire. he still loves watching the original "the muppet show" from 1978. we've practically worn out the first season, so i'm hoping he'll get the subsequent seasons for Christmas. (amazon wishlist, hint, hint). he also watches 'sesame street' and 'fraggle rock,' but not yet with the same rapt attention that he pays kermit & co. (especially loves the joel grey episode, that's my boy!).

he is mostly really good-natured and chatty and smiley, but he is still, as he was in his tiny infancy, very passionate. tonight he swam during his swimming lesson like he was going for the gold. almost manic in his enthusiasm and vigor. and then crashed hard in the car into a pile of angry drool. he can go from zero to total meltdown in no time. he's taken to beating his head against things when he's really mad and he goes 'boneless' and drops to the floor to make a point. he still doesn't much like being confined- the high chair and car seat is still for chumps. he tends to be clingy on "MOOOOOMMMMMMYYYYY" when he's upset, but that seems to be getting a little bit better.

he can be very melodramatic. we're sort of onto him, though. often with all the histrionics, there are no actual tears and with the right distraction, he can bounce back from meltdown to zero awfully quickly. suspiciously quickly. :)

my parents just keep laughing and shaking their heads, muttering things about how they wonder where he gets his dramatic tendencies and how they don't know anyone else who ever overreacted like that....:)

i have no idea what they're talking about. but it sounds like a bunch of lies.

:)

angry tiny french man. please note the dozens of bottles in front of him meant to bribe him out of his hysteria. apparently smoothies and water just won't cut it when all you want is a good cognac.

oh, and next time i write, don't let me forget to tell you about henry's first coed naked bath time and how he got trampled and pooped on (or near) in swift order. it makes for good funnies.