Dorian the snow shoveler

Dorian is 18 months old now, and he is starting to take his responsibilities very seriously. He is especially helpful around the house. If I get the broom out, he takes it away from me and does the sweeping himself. If I give him a rag, he starts polishing the floors and the cupboards. Whenever we go outside, he grabs a snow shovel...whether there is snow on the driveway or not... He is starting to talk like crazy, although his diction needs some work. Some of my favorite words:

• oosh (shoes)
• owm (meow)
• TAAAH!! (star)
• datUTCH (don't touch...most often heard right after a meal when i'm carrying him to the sink to wash up)
• no (snow, or no, or nose)
• lella (umbrella)
• bate (break...he's a little bit destructive...)
• tut (stuck...he's good at squeezing into small places that he can't get out of)
• aht (hat)
• ow (he says this one really clearly, as he pinches you or scratches your face)
• ri-it (glottal stop between syllables)(what does a frog say?)

I could go on. I just realized a word he's been saying over and over to himself (betit) is "presents." He must have loved Christmas. I still haven't figured out what he means by "money," which he says quite a lot. He is such a fun little person, and is getting very creative and learning so fast!

And now he's waking up from his nap, though he has not been sleeping for an hour and a half yet. Think I can convince him his New Year's resolution should be 2-3 hour naps?

Merry Christmas!

Trains and...more dogs

We were watching videos of trains on my computer, and Dorian said "choo choo," so then I looked up some videos of dogs, and sure enough, he liked those too. :)

Two Favorite Words

For some reason, when Dorian learned (his version of) the sign for "please," he kind of got the "p" sound, but also started associating an extra syllable with it, and it became "dapa." Although I think it probably means something more like "gimme!" but we like to think he's being polite.

This video also demonstrates his mastery of the sign for "more," which probably means something close to "dapa," but is used more specifically in reference to food that he wants.

No No, Yes Yes

We have this hilarious little board book titled No No, Yes Yes, which shows a baby doing various things he shouldn't, and then things he should. It's very cute, although we worry a bit that it will just give Dorian ideas...

But anyway, it was his favorite book for a little while, and we read it to him again and again until he had it memorized.

And no...that's not the same book...

Stupid Baby Tricks

My friend Yvonne calls these "stupid baby tricks," which I think is so true, and yet I can't resist showing them off.

Dorian talks

I'm planning on posting a few videos of Dorian and his favorite words over the next several days. Here, you get a glimpse of his fascination with dogs.