21 Months

The past couple of months, we've seen an explosion in Patrick's language skills. He was slow to start talking, and until recently only had a handful of words that he used regularly. But suddenly he's labeling everything he sees, and loves to parrot whatever we say. He's very concerned about possession, talking about "Mama's ban-ket," "Daddy's shoes," "Pap-pap's house" or "Llama's bowl." He's also very interested in opposites: "up-down," "off-on," "in-out," "open-close." We've been encouraging him to say "pease" and "tank-you," but he usually needs to be reminded.

Patrick has mastered the alphabet, recognizing all of the capital letters. He loves to point them out in books and signs. He'll sing snatches of the alphabet song on his own, often muttering "ABCDFG... LMNOP... RSTV... WXYZ" from the backseat of the car. He's working on colors -- he knows that Big Bird is yellow, Elmo is red, and Cookie is blue, but applies it inconsistently to other things. The default is always blue. He loves to point out "two!" of something, but doesn't really count yet. There's so much to learn!

Patrick's started telling us when his diaper is "dir-ty" but has shown no interest in the potty. We haven't been doing any training yet, waiting until he seems more ready.

School has been getting better. The first three weeks were rocky -- dropoff was tough, and he'd cry for Mama off and on throughout the day. But his teachers have been great, and the past couple of days, they say he's had a real turnaround. He still cries at dropoff, but recovers quickly and has a great day. He loves to be outside in the playground, and enjoys the art projects they do on rainy days.

We joined a toddler hiking group, and have enjoyed our Thursday morning nature walks. Patrick usually spends the first half in the "bak-pak" looking for "mar-mers" (trail markers). Then we stop for a snack, and he walks the rest of the way. Stopping often, of course, to look at leaves, sticks, rocks, and the occasional frog or newt. It's been a great way to appreciate the beautiful fall weather, discover new trails in the area, and meet new friends...

Harvest

All of Chuck's hard work in the garden paid off. Patrick enjoyed picking the "babies."

Welcome, Rory!

After 87 hours of labor, Rory finally arrived! We stopped by Jackie & Craig's to meet him.

Apples

Lost in Thought

Irvington Playgrounds

While Michael canned applesauce, we kept the boys busy with a walk to "River Park" and "Tunnel Park."

Apple Picking and Eva Zeisel

We met up with Carol, Luca, Alex, and Gran-D at Concklin's Orchard in Rockland County. Unfortunately, the camera battery died before we were able to capture the picture-perfect day.

At the orchard, we ran into Eva Zeisel, an old family friend of Gamu's. She is a well-known designer of ceramics, living just up the road. It was a special treat to tour her studio, filled with elegant (and breakable!) examples of her work. She's still designing at 102!

Best Friends

Family Visit

Gran-D and Auntie B came for what was supposed to be a quick visit. Lucky for us, weather kept them here overnight...

First Day of "School"

Our little boy is growing up. Patrick will be attending Bethlehem Preschool (full-day daycare) on Wednesdays and Fridays. He was doing better than his Mama when we dropped him off this morning...

Update: Patrick had a great day! He reportedly cried a bit when he realized we had left, and again when he woke from his (short) nap, but he was in great spirits when I picked him up. He was playing happily with a truck outside, and blew kisses and waved bye-bye to his teachers and new friends without prompting!