Months Nineteen and Twenty

June 13, 2021

Titus,

You set out this month to both increase your skills and exploration, and to stretch the limits of Mommy’s nerves by climbing up on everything. The ladder in the garage, the ladder at the park, stools, chairs, tables, couches, and almost anything else vertical. We’ve both gotten more relaxed with you on staircases as you’ve figured out the going up and down. Of course, you spend your time watching your brothers go up and down walking, so you want to try that out! After a fall down the stairs, maybe it’s time to put all those gates back up, especially at the new house. At least the stairs are carpeted. A few bruises and apparently no lessons learned about the risk of descending stairs at speed.

In the same vein, we’d close the gate at the top of the stairs, and then close most of the doors to the bedrooms where we didn’t want you. Now, there’s no gate since painting all the walls in the house, and we don’t worry about the bedrooms. So now, you go around and close all the doors yourself, so we come up and find all the doors closed. You also persist in closing any other doors that are normally closed, from bathrooms, to the pantry and the refrigerator, whether we’re in the middle of using them or not.

You’re really latching on to various objects this month, from your monkey, named Timmy, to having a blanket in your crib. We gave you a blanket in your crib for the first time this month, and you like nothing better than to curl up around your blanket and your stuffed animals to sleep. Your newest animal is a monkey, who you’ve named Timmy. We now hear “Timmy!” as both an exclamation and as a statement all the time. In fact, you’ve clearly connected Timmy to being a monkey. Daddy pointed out Noah climbing all over the playground and said “he’s quite a monkey!”. You pointed at Noah and said, “Timmy!”

You are asserting your little personality more and more these last few months. You know what you want, and you know very well when your brothers (or your parents) are preventing you from getting it. From pointing and saying the name of whatever you want, which includes any and all food that Mommy is currently eating, to the high-pitched yell of your brother’s names across the house, we know exactly what it is that you want, and what you think you deserve. This does extend to playing by yourself, wandering off to your toys. It’s been a crazy month for the family, prepping the house for sale and getting ready to move. And here is cheerful little Titus, wandering back and forth through the chaos, just doing his own thing.

We’ve added a lot of words and phrases. Just a sampling:

  • Pizza!
  • Run!
  • Bummer!
  • Thank you!
  • Hike, hike! (When he sees anyone playing with the football, he comes running yelling “hike”)
  • Boom! Crash! (any time he or someone else falls down)
  • Stop it, Noah! (that’s pretty self*explanatory)
  • Airplane! (Pointing at the sky anytime he hears or sees a plane)
  • Turn! (Came and climbed up in Daddy’s lap when he was playing a game, pointed at the dice, and said “turn!”)
  • Bless you! (When he or other sneeze)
  • I full!

Beyond that, you’re mimicking all the other words and sounds you hear, along with lots of the activities you see. When Daddy gets on the floor to do pushups, you race over to get down alongside and lift your head and shoulders in time.

You’re starting to recognize your colors, starting with green and moving to blue and red this month. We’ve also occasionally worked out purple, yellow, and white. You call out colors on walks, on computer screens, and anywhere else you see them and consider it important that we know.

With the advent of summer, we’ve been going to the pool a lot more. You are a fearless swimmer, jumping right off the side into the water. This, unfortunately, without checking if we are looking or not. Putting your face in the water, blowing bubbles, and learning to float front and back, you’re a fan of the water.

You love FaceTime, whether with grandparents, Seth playing Minecraft with friends, or Daddy/Mommy. You know those sounds, and come running to say hi, including climbing up on the couch shouting the names of Seth’s friends. In fact, just like your brothers, you know how to work things. You stole mommy’s  phone and figured out how to switch on FaceTime from the voice call to Daddy. You then proceeded to carry Daddy around the main level of the house for 15 minutes.

We had some great time with the family twice in the past two months, first for spring break, and second right after school ended for you brothers. Running around with cousins in the basement, at the park, going on long walks in the backpack, and just spending time with grandparents and cousins. You’re more than ready to play with anyone, and quite think you can hold your own with everyone. Traveling on an airplane for the first time meant you got to get your first (and hopefully only) COVID test. You loved the plane, looking out the window and around in fascination at the whole thing. COVID certainly limited your under-two plane flights over the past 18 months. With the move, though, we plan on catching things up over the next couple months.

You are transitioning so fast from “baby” to “toddler” to “little boy”. We love each day with you, and are so blessed to be your parents.

Love,

Daddy and Mommy