19 Months Old

[ed. note: This post was originally started just before their 19th month date, but has been neglected and is obviously a little late. Please accept the full apologies from management]

It’s almost July and the summer is in full swing here. Adrianne is off from teaching and the boys have a full array of activities keeping them busy from morning to night.

On Tuesday’s they have swimming lessons. Wednesday is Music Together with Mama and Grandma and in a few weeks, they’ll add a Friday Gymboree class with Grammie and Mama. Their still getting used to all this morning activity (they spent their entire 20 minute first swim lesson on Tuesday crying!), but they usually become more comfortable after a few classes.

They both are usually a little leery at first in public settings, but Colin is always the first to venture out. It’s interesting to see because in private settings around people they know, Jake is the one auditioning to become a stand-up comic. To put it into sports terms, Jake is the leader in the clubhouse, while Colin is the leader on the field. When we are at home, Jake usually initiates something with Colin watching closely and following whatever his brother just did. But when we’re out in public or going to a new place where there are people around, Colin jumps right out in front and takes the lead, while Jake turns into a statue clinging to our legs. They have so many similarities that it’s fascinating to see this ying and yang part about them.

Language is at an all-time high lately. We’ve discussed in this blog before all the new words each of them have learned. That part hasn’t changed (and they continue to add new words to their repertoire), but what has begun more recently is what can only be described as incessant, incoherent babbling. Each of them will spend major parts of the day having “conversations” with nobody in particular. They mimic the cadence and tone of a normal, adult conversation but replace most of the words with gibberish. It’s really funny because you’ll hear them having this little conversation and real words will creep in and out of the stream. You’ll hear “Gabba itch’l toma mon toat. No, mama. Itsmon lot keen. Scout. Baaal.” We’ve been trying to get it on video because words doesn’t do it justice. You really have to see and hear it, but they clam up when the camera comes on!

Our goal this summer is to post more videos. It’s getting harder to write monthly recap posts, when things start sounding the same each month. They are growing and changing so much each month, but again, you have to see it more than read about it each month. So for now, the best we can do is some new photos! Check out the galleries below for some of the latest snapshots.