By 15 months, he walked. And we learned then that his personality is such that he is hesitant to try ANYTHING new unless he is ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN he can do it perfectly on the first try. No cruising, no toddling - just crawling for 15 months until one day he popped up, followed his father to bathroom, and never looked back (on Independence Day, no less).
The second year brought the power of speech - by 20-21 months he was forming full sentences (albeit short ones) and by his second birthday he was able to completely communicate his needs/wants. He also moved out of his crib and into a twin bed at 27 months.
This last year - especially these last 4-5 months - E transitioned from a toddler to a full-fledged boy! (sniff sniff). True to himself, he still gets through the big changes with ease - potty training was unexpectedly a breeze - almost too easy, in that he is "night training" himself and wakes up to go potty - those nights I wish he'd just wet a diaper; even though he goes into the bathroom and pulls his pants up/down by himself, we try to get up with him to manage the messiness. This last year also includes a failed attempt at preschool - 7 months in he was still crying a lot and it was just not worth it. So in March we pulled him out. Though now, this past month, I think he's finally ready. We're excited for him to start Waldorf in the fall!
All in all, Eamonn still loves books, still loves the outdoors, he is VERY talkative with an average of 6-7 words per sentence (really - they test this stuff!) which we often take for granted. His sense of humor is starting to emerge, too, and he makes me laugh every day. In fact, this prompts me to end with a recent "Eamonn story" -
We are ripping out the wall between our dining/living rooms - to prepare, we've packed up/moved out a lot of furniture and the rooms are pretty bare - leaving plenty of room for Eamonn to run around in a circle and yell "WOO HOO" over and over (a game he invented himself). As I put him down to nap yesterday, he got up and told me he had to go to the bathroom. As we got into the bathroom he said -
"Mama - this is how it is - I'm going to poop and then I'm going to run around the living room and yell 'WOO HOO' ONE MORE TIME and then I'll take a nap. OK? That is how it's going to go."
I looked at him and burst out laughing. I was bent down to help him undress, so once I started laughing, he grabbed my face with both his hands (I love when they do this - it's so darn cute), turned it to the side, and whispered in my ear:
"I'm going to yell 'WOO HOO' in the living room ONE MORE TIME - and then I'll take a nap - that's how it is."
Maybe it's just me, in which case I'm still glad I wrote this down, but I was HYSTERICAL. Sometimes parents just have to let things slide.
