Belated Birthday for Bantam3

Well, we had a couple of birthdays that got "lost" with all that was going in for me in February--not in real life so much as here in Blog-land. So let's amend that, shall we?

Bantam3. I cannot believe I have to start calling him that. Remember when I started this blog, and he was Bitty Bantam? He's a baby no more!

His biggest accomplishment lately has been getting potty trained. He leaves the house now in big boy underwear! I waited longer than usual simply because I was too busy to train him before Christmas, but he's taken to it like a duck to water, which has been really nice.

His other recent accomplishment has been becoming more understandable! He's been talking for some time, but with a curious habit of leaving off initial consonants, unless they were especially easy.

I was looking back, and at 2.5 years, his repertoire (besides Mama, Dada and family names) included words like:

'ar--car

mama's 'ar--mama's car

'up--cup

'e[t] go--let's go (you could barely hear the 't')

ah-ee--sorry

'ide--'side (for outside) (you could barely hear the 'd')

go home?--meant mama was going somewhere and he wanted to come! We laughed at this one for a long time--I'd tell him he couldn't come, he had to stay home with Daddy and he'd sobbingly insist that he wanted to go home.

Now, he's got words and grammar to say almost anything he wants, although not all the consonants are there yet. He can't put an 's' at the beginning of a word, with amusing results; for example, when he wears a certain pair of pajamas, he's "Hooperman"! He likes to substitute h's for any tricky consonant. "My hock is halling off," he showed me yesterday, pointing to his sock that was falling off. I wish I could tell you Blondechick15's real name, but I think her secret will remain safe if I tell you what Bantam3 calls her: "Hihinch." (Those are both short i's.) The other day he said her real name almost perfectly--minus the first letter--and we all sadly shook our heads. We'll miss "Hihinch."

It's been fun to hear his speech emerging and get to know his personality a little more. He is all boy--bold, active, physical. He stays in constant motion, climbing, jumping, somersaulting, standing on his head (copying older siblings), and falling off things. If he were a cat, I'd say he'd used up about 7 of his 9 lives already. But either he's made of indestructible material...or his guardian angel is really good at what he does!

When he does slow down, he likes to play with cars or "guys," flying them through the air accompanied by motor noises or flying noises and cries of "Look out!...Oh no!" and other less intelligible speeches. He'll play nicely with dolls and dress-up too, to humor Chicklet5, and he likes watching movies and looking at books. His favorite book is the story of the movie "Cars"--he sleeps with it. I love hearing him say "Lightning McQueen!" in his unique and excited way.

His personality at this age is sunny and happy and something of a ham--more to amuse himself than to get attention, though he is pleased when others laugh at his funny face or silly gesture. He's generally agreeable and obedient to Mom and Dad, and rarely fusses much unless it's really something legitimate--like getting drops in his eyes for our family's recent bout of pinkeye. Then it took two of us to hold him down!

Everywhere we go, people remark on his smiling blonde cuteness. He's a delight to us all, and I am thankful, daily, for his happy little self.