On Monday Sam turned 20 months! He is turning into such a toddler and I can’t believe he will be 2 in only 4 short months! I love his little personality that is emerging and we have been having so much fun lately. Here is what he has been doing.

• Sam wants to be outside constantly and doesn’t seem to care that it is hot, humid and buggy. He runs to the door all day and shouts “out-swee!!” He usually throws a fit when we come in unless I have a good alternative set up, like a bowl full of pineapple.

• When we are outside, Sam’s favorite activity is collecting sticks. He also likes to just sit on the porch with me and is much better these days about not running off. He also loves to go to the playground.
• Sam is really working on improving his pronunciation lately. He talks a lot and knows a pretty decent number of words, but it is still pretty hard to understand him. However we have noticed him practicing certain words lately. For example, strawberries, which were “baba” are now “braaawba.”
• He is also working on putting two or more words together. The other day he pointed to Ben’s shoes and said “shoes!” so I said “Daddy’s shoes” and he spent the next hour trying to say that. He would say “Daddy…shoes!” but sometimes got the syllables and/or words in the wrong order. Until recently to say “bye bye Daddy” Sam would say “da-da Daddy” and “ma-ma Mommy” for “bye bye Mommy” but lately he has been able to say it correctly! The best part is now he can give a personalized greeting to anyone who calls on the phone.
• Sam loves his friends and thinks about them often! On Wednesdays we go to Tumbling class with his three friends Evie, TJ, and Matthew. One afternoon after class I mentioned Matthew and Sam said “mah-mah (Matthew)!” Then he thought for a minute and added “Evie! Tah-dah (TJ)!” Whenever we walk down the block towards my friend Diana’s house, Sam shouts “Huntah!” in hopes that he will see his buddy Hunter who is often playing outside.

• Sam also loves his family. Ben’s parents (Grandma and Grandpa) are both Baba. Ben’s sister Becca is Deda. My mom is Nana. My dad (Grandpa) is Baba, or Baba Bah for Grandpa Pat. My sister Nikki is Nih-nih.
• Henry and Sam are really starting to have fun together. Sam has created a new chasing game with Henry in which he runs around screaming and laughing and pretending that Henry is chasing him. Henry indulges him a little and kind of meanders around.
• Sam is definitely a cautious little guy and I am feeling very fortunate that he hasn’t learned how to climb up on our furniture yet. Although a few weeks ago when TJ came over, Sam watched him climb up onto a chair and then ran over to the other chair and shouted “up! up!” I told him he would have to learn that trick himself if he wanted to get up!
• Sam is getting really good at using a spoon! We haven’t had him use it in a while but for the last week or two we have been giving him oatmeal every morning and he scoops up the whole thing all by himself!

• Sam is obsessed with his sunglasses. I keep them in a little pocket in his stroller and as soon as I plop him in his stroller he digs around for them and puts them on, usually upside down. You would not believe how many comments I get as we walk down the street. I guess it is pretty unusual for a toddler to keep his sunglasses on but I can’t get Sam to take them off!