A year and a half

Dear Diego - you are a year and a half now; you and your personality get bigger every day. You climbed up in this chair, got out the book, and got busy entertaining yourself. We are loving your new independence, not only for the new freedom it offers us. You are such a good communicator. Last time I made a list of your words it looked like this:

"Bye Bye - in English, with wave.

Mama - the same in both languages, handy. Refers to mom and dad interchangably.

Papa - usually only when reminded, definitely refers to Rafa

Da! - this is both of us when mad, upset, hungry, tired, etc.

Pa pa - with sign, to distinguish from papa, Pajaro=Bird

ato - Zapato = shoe

eta - Galleta = cracker

New sign: fish thanks to Brown Bear Brown Bear. We also get a pretty reliable growl for just about all animals and a bit of akaka for monkeys."

I am going to try to make a new list - but this will likely be the last one because you are learning words so quickly that I won't be able to keep up.

Signs:

sleep, more, food, fish, help, open, spoon, fan, bird, bath,

In English:

Hi, Bye, truck, miiiety (Mighty Mechines), dudududu (Elmo), Wi (Wiggles), goldfs (goldfish), blueberries (this one you learned in a moment when you first tried this perfect blue fruit), up, down, more, tidy up, yea, no,

In Spanish:

Papa, Mama (you know the difference now), iego (Deigo), gayee (Galleta), mas, nombe (no hombre), pied, uno, apato (zapato), goal!, si, no, apa (papa), eche (leche), aa (agua), omba (bomba)

People we know:

I (Ivan), uye (Judy), ama (grandma), aedy (Saide)

We also get all kinds of animal noises: moo, baa, eeee (monkeys), bowwow, miao

Two way communication is still a little miracle to me. You are so creative at combining all your different ways of communicating to get your point across. I am so looking forward to our conversations together.

At your last doctor's visit you measured 50th percentile in height, but dropped off the chart in weight. Tall and skinny like your dad, he was always like that too.

Our new favorite passtime is dancing. You have learned where the speakers turn on and where the ipod is kept and are great at requesting music - but you must have someone to dance with you. That's OK little man, I love to dance. We turn on the music and break it down in the living room and laugh and laugh. We have been laughing a lot lately. Your laugh sounds more and more like a grown up kid's all the time.  

You slept through the night last night - 9:00-6:30. That is happening more and more around here and we sure do appreciate it. Keep it up!

We are loving our summer off with you. It's all day playtime around here. You are going to miss having both mom and dad home when you go to daycare in the fall - but we are also having fun imagining the fun you will have playing with the big kids in the toddler room. You are definately a toddler now. If fact, you are not "toddling" much anymore. You balance and co-ordination are impressive.

You will play for a half and hour at a time kicking the ball around the deck. You are also beginning to play with toy cars and puppets. Your games get more complex as they get more independent. You are also beginning to watch other kids play very carefully, always learning.

We are going to have a great August. We are going to spend more time in the park, at the spash pad and in the kiddy pool. We are going to take more trips on the bicycle and swing in the hammock more. And I promise, when we all go back to work in September - we won't every forget this summer with you. Watching you grow and learn is really fun.

All my love: Mama