Gramps and Granma are back in France, and Owen is showing no signs of slowing down.
He picked up his first two-syllable word - "juggle" - while we were visiting our friends Jon and Alexa and their new addition, Dash. Slowly, he's starting to piece together multiple words. "bonk" + "tooth" to tell us he has a toothache. "good" + "doggie" to say he wants a puppy.
There will be no puppies.
He also says, "huh?" when he's stumped. It was cute the first five times. Now it's clear that we are looking at the first of many annoying conversation habits that we're going to have to battle. We're looking forward to "duh!", "like" and "um".
All this advanced language has him feeling pretty confident and that means he's testing new boundaries.
He can get himself into and out of an old wooden high-chair - but he sits in it backwards and sticks his legs through the rungs. Cute - but not safe, as his center of gravity makes the chair tip onto two legs with the slightest effort.
He's also testing the rules and starting to learn that actions have consequences. We've started putting him in time-out when he hits or throws something. At first - he was outraged. But recently, when he tested and broke a boundary, he shook his little head and said, "no" and put himself in a time-out, closing his door (and his Mama) behind him.
We now realize the danger of television. He is completely entranced with Thomas the Tank Engine, Elmo and Curious George. That would be fine, but he's also addicted to a few other less awesome shows. So we are working on phasing out the ritual of using TV to put him to bed. Some things are easier to start than stop - but he's getting there, and is back to enjoying a book before going to sleep for hi nap or bedtime.
Gramps and Granma did an amazing job of introducing him to the neighborhood on daily morning walks. We are not doing as many of those as they did, but we are still going out to visit his fans. Along the way, he practices stopping at the intersections, waiting for traffic, and holding our hand for the walk across the street. He's getting very good at taking instructions.
His personality is really starting to develop. His sense of humor is pretty goofy, and when he's having fun, he'll let you know by shouting, "fun!" He also gets pretty serious sometimes, when he's focused on a task, or intent on getting something he's not supposed to have. He's asking for help now - which is a neat way to interact with him as he learns about his limits and our role as parents to help him overcome them. He can get on the rocking horse all by himself - but he can't get off without a helping hand. There's an analogy there, I'm sure.
We took him to the butterfly exhibit at the Natural History Museum, but he was more interested in the construction site outside. He loves trucks and can point out the cement mixer, the dump truck, and the emergency-vehicle (though for that one, he just goes, "woooo woooo" to let you know they have sirens). He was on his way to go see a front-end loader, and got side tracked by a ramp.
You may not know this, but ramps are awesome.
Photos and Videos to come.
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