21 Month Milestone Minutes

~Aston and fam at "Kids in Motion" in South Park where kids were invited to EXPLORE vehicles from ambulances to helicopters!~



New Words:
Here are some:
Pretty Please, garbage, bunny (“bumby”), me, oh YEAH!, watch, dance, sticky, stinky, cookie, M&M’s (“emmies”), mouse, open, pay, ka-chow, IKEA (“titia”), boys, mine, tumble, flip (inspired by monster trucks flipping), golf (“dof”), golf cart

New Chinese Words:
Hi—Ni Hao (“hi-ho” ), drool—Di Di Da Da, Yes or No?/Want or Don’t Want?—Yao, Bu Yao?

New Favorite Foods:
Sharp Cheddar Cheese, hot dogs (boooo! We try not to give him too many but he loves them), M&M’s (introduced at Easter),

Rascal Traits:
-We are officially seeing the terrible 2’s…an example is …while we are driving Aston will ask for anything and everything he can think of…milk, then a car, then a snack…we will confirm with him that he ‘actually’ wants it and without skipping a beat, he adamantly says “YES”…so we turn around and hand him whatever he’s asked for and one right after the other he will throw it back at us screaming and crying saying “NO, NO, NO”…then the whole cycle repeats itself…he wants it, he doesn’t want it, he wants it, he doesn’t want it. He even gets mad at us if we look at him the wrong way…these irrational breakdowns are happening more frequently and we aren’t even at the peak of the terrible 2’s yet…bummer
-blows his nose in his hands and laughs…snot rockets…gross
-Tries to manipulate our bedtime routine. We will say “1 more book” and he will whine for “2!” Or we will sing Rock-a-Bye Baby 2x with his name…then he will say…”Emi?” or “Kate?” or “Mami?”…wanting us to sing it with their names too.
-Wants to “Walk” all the time…as soon as I open his car door to get him out he says “walk”? This is a scary proposition due to the nature of Aston’s “Walk”…this translates to run as far and fast away from us as he can without looking back…then will throw a fit if I carry him…what will I do with 2!

Other Notables this Month:
-Knows the names of our bathroom contractors (Trey and John) and is constantly asking for them by name ("Tey" and "Don") followed by ("Bang, Bang") because that what they sound like in the bathroom...the sub-contractors, he calls "guys"...I guess because we call them "Trey's guys"?:)
-Picks out Audis/BMWs/Mini Coopers/Mercedes/Porsches/VW bugs/Mustangs/Lamborghini…(the list goes on) from books and seeing them on the road, and calls them out by name. Also thinks some VWs are Audi’s…close I suppose…
-We say “Who’s Aston?” and he says “Me”! He totally gets the concept of “me” but not sure where he got it? I talked to him about it many weeks ago…could he have possibly remembered our old conversation and put it to use now?
-Picks up toys and declares them “mine”…again not sure where this came from…most likely the older kids in his class…not thrilled with this one.
-Performs the “Fist pump” like Tiger Woods did when he won at Bay Hill, and says “oh yeah”…also says “Ka-chow!” (like Lightning McQueen does in his “CARS” book when he wins a race) when he is excited about something or when he races his cars and one wins.
-Anything he wants us to see he says “watch”
-Tells us to “dance” when there is music on…and gets mad when we don’t
-Calls us “Mom” and “Dad” now…have no idea where he got it from
-Aston’s Interpretation of “Pay”: First of all let’s preface this with the fact that his Dad and I (especially his Dad) are “ultimate consumers”. We enjoy the sport of shopping and thus Aston has been exposed to the same extra-curricular activity. So, here we are, witnessing Aston’s toddler interpretation of “pay”…which really boils down to ‘”pay” gets me anything and everything I want’. Here are examples:

• When we get to the grocery store after he’s finished his free cookie…he says “Pay” so we can leave.
• At the toy store, with large amounts of toys in his hands, he will say “pay” because he knows he can’t open the toys in the store…only at home, so he tries to rush us along
• If the DVD player in the car is not working and I tell him we need to get it fixed he says “pay” “pretty please”

I mean how scary is it that a 20 month old understands the power of money?…lessons learned…Jeff and I need to back off on the shopping with Aston…we need a new, more wholesome focus right quick (that’s southern for ASAP!)
-Calls Kate “Poo” because Kate’s Mom and Dad (Anne and Bruce) call Kate “Poo”
-He now says “Hello” in Chinese…Ni Hao which unfortunately sounds like “Hi-ho”. Aston often times says “Hi-ho” to random ladies we see at the grocery store or Target…then Jeff and I are forced to explain…embarrassingly funny.