Baby...Toddler... BOY!

At dinner tonight, as Abe was slurping up long strands of pasta with his own fork, I looked at Ted and said, "When did he become a boy?" Abe is full-fledged, not even no longer a baby, but completely a boy.

As of a couple of weeks ago, we're in that stage when I need to start up a file on the computer where I can record all the things Abe says day by day. It all started a while back with the "I want some lotion" sentence. It's not only his speech though: his imagination and spark is shining through.

A few examples, off the top of my head, from the last couple of days:

Yesterday in the car on our way to the park to meet friends, this conversation happened:

"Mom? Daddy go?" (which translates to "Where did Daddy go?")

"You tell me, Abe. Where is Daddy?"

"At home, working with Obama."

"Really? He's working with Obama? What are they doing?"

"Obama painting. Daddy work backyard."

dreaming of mowing the lawn with the president

Later on, after playing with Rhett, Autumn, and Mezmur at the park, we're driving home and Abe, out of the blue, says, "Mom, I nee moe Aw-Aw" (translation: I need more Autumn).

Another "boy" trait is that he's taken to really reading the comics every day. He's been interested in the Sunday comics for a while now, but now he's a lot more focused on them and can tell you what's going on in the pictures. He also wants you to read them to him, and at the end of each one, he lets out a loud fake-laugh.

Dumping out the entire bottle of bubbles is hilarious!

Another "boy" trait: Abe has learned how to stall for time when he's thinking. When you ask Abe a question, about 50% of the time, he prefaces his answers with "um..." while wrinkling up one side of his face and squinting an eye. It's seriously adorable.

"Abe, what are you doing?" (after a suspiciously long stretch of quiet from the other room).

"Um...doing no-no."

At night-time, we say our prayers, which is mainly saying "Thank you, God, for..." and then he fills in the blank with every person he knows and loves or has talked to recently.

He has learned the mesmerizing cause-effect of running after the cats. We're not happy about this one.

One fascinating development is how he's now reading along with me the books that I've been reading to him since he was a little baby. It's interesting to me that he knows, remembers, and can read along with books that I may not have read to him for months and months. If you ever wonder about the merit of reading books to infants, here's proof. They get it. They truly are sponges. Abe is articulating through speech knowledge he's had stored in his brain for weeks and months. Absolutely fascinating.

Lastly, and at huge risk of being "that mom" who brags too much (so ignore this part if it may be irritating), we think he's pretty much potty-trained. I'm not completely sure how it happened but it started about a month ago when he went #1 after his bath. Of course, there are still accidents if we don't remind him to go, but we use only 1-2 diapers a day, just for when he's sleeping. And for the last two days, he's stayed dry during his nap even. It's blowing my mind.

For some reason, he's been calling #2 "cookies." He's extremely interested, of course, in watching his cookies get sucked away by the plumbing. My best guess for why he calls them cookies must have something to do with his mother's baking ability. Poor kid, he's got the mom on the block who bakes cookies that look like poo.

I know I've said it before, but this may be my favorite age so far. It's simply so entertaining to see his imagination blossom, and Abe is actually maybe more affectionate and cuddly than ever before. I love how he nestles into my chest when we say night-time prayers and asks me, "Come, Mom! Sit on my yap!" so that I can go pretend to sit on his lap. When I do, he hugs me and pats both my arms. Best age so far.

going down the big-boy, scary slide.