I am amazed on a daily basis by my 20-month old little guy.  I have been amazed by him since the minute I found out he was coming into our life, but lately he has a special grip on me. 

He loves to move…walking, running, dancing, climbing.  Recently, I heard him calling, “Momma!” from the living room while I was in the kitchen.  I ran in thinking something had happened, but he just wanted me to see that he had climbed even higher on the bench next to the stairs than he had been able to do in the past.  He did this with an adorable look on his face that said more than words ever could.

He went for a walk down the street with his Poppa this past weekend.  Poppa had him walk along a stone wall in one of the neighbors yards.  We took him for that same walk the other night and he remembered the wall and wouldn’t let us get by it without the chance to walk on it.  How did he remember this house nearly 10 houses down the street from ours?  He also remembered that there was a kitty at one of the houses.  As we passed he said, “Meow,” and Poppa said, “You’re right, there was a kitty at this house the other day!”

He learns new words on a daily basis.  He is willing to try to say most words that I give him.  Last week it was turtle.  This week he has figured out the word pacifier…and I am SO glad he is not calling it his “binky”!  I haven’t counted how many he knows, and some of them sound very similar, but as his parent I know how hard he is trying to communicate with me.  Sometimes we get frustrated, but it is very exciting when we come to an understanding!

He says (and waves) hello and goodbye to everybody at Safeway, Target, Whole Foods, or wherever we may be.  He is perplexed when he is pushed by another child while at OMSI.  He loves his three dogs and two cats more than anything in the world.  He gives lots of hugs and kisses.  It melts my heart when I am sitting on the floor and he comes up and gives me a great big hug (and pats me on the back).  He has a heart of gold.

He misses his Poppa so much when he has to go to work…especially when he has to travel out of town.  When Poppa is not working from his home office I have to go into the office and show the little guy that Poppa is not home, otherwise he believes that Poppa is working behind that closed door.  When my cell phone rings with the “Gilmore Girls” theme song, the little guy knows it is Poppa and happily exclaims, “Poppa!”

The other day he kept walking to the powder room door and twisting his hand near the lock.  Then he would walk over to the desk in the kitchen and pretend he was throwing something on the desk.  I wondered what he was doing and watched him do this a few times.  Finally, I realized that he was mimicking Poppa unlocking the door with a coin from the jar on the desk!  Unbelievable, I thought.  Then I also thought how very careful we have to be because he is watching our every move! 

He amazes me.