Little Man

My son is 18 months old today! In honor of the occasion, I've decided to write a bit about him and even squeeze in a little bragging (as is my right as a mother!)

My little man's name is Emerson. I wanted a name that reflected my first great love (literature), but one that wasn't too off-the-wall. So we came up with Emerson (as in Ralph Waldo Emerson). The clerk at the doctor's office keeps referring to him as "she" when I call to make an appointment, but I understand that it's because the name--although traditionally a boy's name--is being used as a girl's name more often of late, so I try not to get upset!

My son is simply amazing (warning: here comes the bragging). He surprises me every day with what he's learning. He's in daycare from about 7am-5pm (I know, I know...I hate to have him there so long), and they really teach him a lot. Much more han I think I could teach him at home. Of course, we reinforce at home everything that daycare is teaching him, which really helps with the learning process. We even bought some color crayon decals to put on the wall as well as different shapes in bright patterns. Emerson loves to go up to them and have us ask him what each shape or color is as we point to them in turn.

And the words he knows!! He knows way more than I think an average 18 month old does, so we made a list of all the ones we have heard him say (not the ones he parrots when we say it, but the ones he uses on his own) and came up with 241!! Is that normal? Or is my child exceptionally bright? (Guess which one I'm rootin' for?!! LOL) He just picks up new info so easily, it seems. Kids are amazing.

Emerson likes to clean. Let me put that another way--Emerson likes to pick-up. If I tell him "It's time to pick up!" he does it right away, saying the whole time "nee up, nee up, nee up" (translation: clean up). This past weekend we were playing with blocks, but I needed to run to the grocery store real quick, so I told him, "Let's go bye-bye." He looked at me standing by the door and then down at the blocks scattered around the floor. He started picking them up and putting them back in their travel bag, saying "Nee up, nee up" and wouldn't leave until the floor was clean! How many 18 month old toddlers do that? It's a trait he definitely gets from his daddy!

OK...I won't pretend that Emerson is perfect. He has started hitting recently. He especially likes to hit the little girls at daycare. Bully!! When I catch him at it, I make him look me in the face and I tell him, "No hitting. It's not nice. It hurts ______" (fill in blank with child's name). He just looks away, runs over, and hits the poor kid again. Hmmm...have to work on that, I guess.

All in all, he's an awesome kid. With his big blue eyes and his ready smile, he wins over everyone's hearts. My one lament is that he seems to have inherited the same fine, thin hair my mother and sister have whereas I was hoping he'd get my thick, brown curly hair. But he's still young, there's still time for it to start curling...and then look out ladies!