Peter

Poor Peter hasn't had many pictures taken of him.  Such a shame, as he is a little cutie!  He is growing so fast and continuing to be sweet, smart, and active.  Although I haven't gotten pictures of any of our outings, we do try to go on a walk or go to a park every day.  He really needs this time, as he is so active.  He LOVES being outside.  He also continues to love reading, and we spend a lot of time reading every day as well. 

 Here is an eighteen month picture.  He always tries to get ahold of the camera lately, so all the pictures are fairly close up.  He had a good checkup at the doctor for eighteen months.  The doctor said he is pretty advanced with speaking still.  His weight is in the 69%, height in the 90%, and head circumference in the 79%.  So, he's a big kid still too. 

 I think these are 19 month pictures, but not positive.  One of my favorite things he said during this month was when we were having dinner.  Peter and I started eating early, as Chris came home a little late from work.  As Chris sat down with us at the table with his plate of food, he quietly said a prayer on his food.  Peter announced while Chris was praying, "Momma forgot to say the prayer."  Which was true, I am embarrassed to admit.  Peter and I had been eating food that wasn't blessed, and he picked up on it when he saw Chris praying over his food.  I was sort of hoping that I wouldn't have to admit that I forgot, but I love that my little boy keeps me honest!  And it was a little crazy that he was able to say that at 19 months too...Chris and I were both a little shocked.  Since then, he has been saying a few sentences here and there.  But a lot of the time he speaks in fragmented speech. 

 Peter loves time with his daddy.  We are teaching him primary songs, and one of his very favorites is Daddy's Homecoming, of course.  They are two peas in a pod. 

 Peter is also working on counting.  He enjoys counting the stairs.  I have heard him count from 6 to 13, but never starting at 1.  Although he knows what comes after each number because Chris and I will count and ask what number comes next.  But he doesn't seem to like to do it on his own yet. 

Peter with his new haircut.  I miss his other hair, but it was getting out of control.  Peter wasn't being patient for the scissors this time around (but at least no tears!), so a buzz cut it was!

Lately, Peter is also working on learning colors.  He is funny.  Sometimes he will get them, and sometimes not.  He is most accurate with colors of his mega blocks and cars.  But then other things, he doesn't seem to care or try.  His go-to colors are usually red, then blue, then orange.  If it's not one of those, he usually stops trying.  I'm not sure if he's trying to be funny or if he just doesn't care to be accurate right now.  But at least he's getting it some of the time. 

Another thing that Peter does often is to ask us to repeat things.  This is happening incessantly lately.  It seems that everything we say, he thinks is hilarious and wants us to repeat it.  So he'll say, "Again!"  And then he'll go on chanting whatever it was we were saying that amused him.  Today, for example, he has been running around chanting, "Indeed," and "I concur!"  Oh, what a little silly!!  I think the above photo showcases his sometimes goofy personality.  We love our little boy!!

Another of our favorite things of his is that he will say, "You know what?"  And then when we respond, "What?" he says, "I love you."  He is good at melting his momma's heart.  Such a sweetie! 

As for behavior, he is testing his limits right now quite a bit.  We have started giving him time-outs, to which he has responded pretty well.  Although sometimes it seems like he doesn't dislike the timeouts enough...  But usually they are an effective deterrent.  His "naughty" behaviors lately are screaming and general disobedience when I tell him he needs to stop doing something (like stomping on the floor).  I'm not sure what to do with the screaming sometimes, because when he hurts himself, he responds by screaming (anger seems to be his first reaction upon wounding himself, followed by tears).  I don't really feel right putting him in time-out when he hurts himself, but I do want him to understand that screaming is not an appropriate response for stubbing a toe.  We'll work on that.