The Young Master turns fourteen months today.
Firmly entrenched in the throes of pretoddlerhood, he spends his days waffling between whether he really needs two naps, or whether one will suffice. As it is, we just alternate. The one-nap days are nice as they allow us to run more errands at a time in the morning. The two-nap days are nice as it means Mama has two hours of quiet time each afternoon as the boys nap simultaneously.
This month was spent perfecting his bum-scoot; he can now cover great distances at astonishing speeds.
He looks kind of like a monkey when he does it.
Sometimes he makes monkey sounds, too.
Mama has considered asking the hospital for her money back, as she went to have babies but ended up with a ham and a monkey instead.
He’s still adored by the cat, and adores her, in turn. He’s learned to become much more gentle in his dealings with her. She is not thrilled with his monkey impression, but will still come to see him when he is still and quiet.
This month saw a keen interest in books take root, which is wonderful as Mama hasn’t been as vigilant about reading time in these past few months.
His favorite is “Star, Little Star”.
And he likes to turn pages.
He tries so, so hard to keep up with big brother, but though he’s a little behind, he definitely isn’t swayed by the tyranny of the older sibling. Clive’s grabby hands rate pretty highly in the art of toy snatching. What he hasn’t figured out, yet, is that the idea is to snatch, then butt-scoot away as fast as you can while making crazy monkey sounds; snatching but then staying put will only get your toy re-snatched, and screeching doesn’t really solve the problem.
(Ephraim has, simultaneously, begun to say “GIMME MY ______”. Sharing is a common theme these days.)
In a similar shade of sibling interaction, Clive has learned that when Ephraim is lying down for a diaper change is prime opportunity to scootch over and poke him in the eyes. Fortunately, Ephraim thinks this is hilarious.
Boys.
His obsession with lights (“DAHT”) and fans continue (he makes a frantic “round and round” gesture for the latter). Aside from these sightings, he stays mostly quiet, saving his true lung power for toy-snatching related screeching, monkey sounds, and howls of joy when he and his brother are engaged in anything truly boyish and LOUD. Don’t misunderstand me–he talks. Quietly. In complete (Twiggese) sentences. And he still expects a response.
For example: a few days ago Mama was holding him while looking out the porch door. Clive gestured outside and quietly said something that clearly held meaning for him. Mama, however, neglected to respond, which caused Clive to lean waaaaaaaaaay over to look straight in her face and get her eye contact. Essentially: “Did you hear what I said?”
Though he doesn’t particularly care for pre-sleep snuggles anymore, he continues to seek out time to just come and sit with Mama or Daddy (and probably brother, if he would let him.) He is a master at melting Mama’s heart by leaning his head against her in the way big brother never did.
He’s a special little guy. Can’t wait to see what sort of big brother he’ll be.
Pam Krans says
If I didn’t already love our Little Clive, I would now. Excellent synopsis of our little fellow. He is his own ‘man’.