Snapshots

I know I am ridiculously behind in updating the blog these days and in noting some of Ivor's milestones. Since he is changing and growing SO quickly, I thought I should try and capture a few snapshots of life with Ivor at this moment in time.

There is still nothing sweeter than Ivor's little arms wrapped around my neck when he needs comfort or reassurance, or just wants to be loved on. However, the sweet slobbery baby kisses that used to accompany Ivor's cuddles have turned into sneaky and even more slobbery raspberries planted on my neck, shoulder and even face. The louder the better and they are almost always followed by an exuberant fit of laughter. Since he has only just learned the art of raspberry making, Ivor sometimes has a raspberry fail, which as it turns out is pretty much a bite. You will hear the phrases, 'You don't use teeth in kisses', 'Only lips, no teeth' and 'Don't use your teeth on people' repeated regularly in this house.

The adorable way Ivor shuffles and waddles as he walks makes me smile. He is growing steadier, faster and more confident on his feet each day, so I am sure it will soon be a thing of the past, but for now the sound of that shuffle is the soundtrack of my life, along with the energetic noises of a happy boy at play. These noises include a variety of squeals, clunks, bangs and thuds as toys, books and cups get thrown around the room with enthusiasm.

Alongside the general sounds of destruction and happiness are the nearly ever present sounds of Ivor chanting 'babadee', 'Neenaw neenaw' and 'bop' (that last one is 'beep'). In Ivor's world all vehicles are 'babadees' and they all have police sirens. Cars and trucks are not traditional something I'd list as one of my interests, but since Ivor is obsessed I've made some effort to acquaint myself with the world of buses, garbage trucks and diggers. My favorite part of his 'vehicle' play at the moment is watching him carefully place his cloth sea turtle into the bed of his toy truck and push him all around the flat.

Ivor's vocabulary seems to grow by the day and it never ceases to amuse me the randomness of the words he picks up on. Some of his latest words include 'toot' (doodt), 'goat' (go-tee), 'clock' (cook), 'teapot' (tee-po), 'moon', 'dirty' and 'tortilla' (tor-tee).

The way he uses his newfound language is sometimes equally amusing. Ivor is just starting to get picky about eating and he now calls anything he thinks he doesn't like a 'pea'. 'Ivor, are you going to eat your lunch?' 'No, no, no.' 'Why not?' 'Pea.' (This is sometimes followed by dumping his plate on the floor.)

Last week Ivor started randomly flapping his arms like a chicken while we were getting him ready for bed. (It turns out they were acting out animals motions/sounds in nursery that day.) Ever since Ivor has really been getting into 'chicken dancing'. He runs around the flat flapping his arms, bobbing up and down and saying 'gob gob gob' (because that is what a chicken says). It is seriously adorable and while I've managed to get him to 'dance' on skype with Grandma and Papa, I am still working on getting this hilarious display on camera for the rest of you.