17 month update

Matthew is doing great - growing like a weed, running, talking, and getting into lots of trouble ;) Actually he's a good boy, but he's definitely pushing boundaries lately :)

Some of the new things Matthew is doing lately:

• Saying "no". A lot. About everything. It's his favourite word!


• He won't lie down in the tub anymore, but he does tilt his head back for rinsing if we ask him to "look up at the lights!" - depending on his mood of course.


• He can crawl up the stairs on his own, and he counts them as he goes. "twoo-ah... feee... ife... icksss... effen... ate... ine..... twoo-ah..." - For some reason he always skips one and four!


• He can eat a whole meal by himself with a spoon (ie oatmeal)


• He can help get undressed by taking off his socks and can pull his shirt over his head


• He can crawl through our legs


• He can kick a ball forward - with surprising accuracy!


• He has a funny habit of tilting his head to the side when we ask him a question that he doesn't know the answer to (or he has to think about). He looks like a little puppy!


• He's learned that if he points to something and then says "Mama!" and points to it again, I will get it for him.


• He really doesn't like to get out of his bed in the morning!


• He can point to pretty well any body part you name. Recently he learned neck, knees, and thanks to Nonna, "tail". Yes, he knows where his tail is.

Also here are all the words he is saying now (the ones I can think of anyway!)
- Mama, Dada
- Opa, Nonna, Amouu
- apple, banana ("nana"), milk ("mil mil")
- up, down, open ("upa"), closed ("cuss"), on, off
- yes, no, NO!, noooooooo, no-no
- bye, bah-bye, hi
- ball ("bahh")
- blue ("boo"), purple ("puh-poo")
- M ("ehmmm"... as in the letter)
- Baba - his blankie
- diaper ("duh-puh"), poo-poo, pee
- baby
- light
- shoes ("shuss")
- eyes
- more
- done
- beep beep! (a la microwave, car alarm, or house alarm)
- treat ("teet!")
- zip ("lup") - when he sees a zipper
- hat
- possibly bisou ("bee boo") - kiss in French

He also knows countless signs now, which is great because even when he's throwing a fit or doesn't have the word yet he can still tell us what he wants. Like when he's upset and wants another banana after just finishing off a huge banana. Hmmmm. ;)