Progress at 19 months

I haven’t blogged about Austin in a while because we haven’t gone anywhere too exciting or he hasn’t presented any major or interesting milestones lately. But I thought to challenge myself on the latter, because every day we are astounded by new leaps and bounds by Austin.

For example, although he’s been mostly a quiet kid in his 19 month tenure, recently Austin likes to say “hi” to strangers. I couldn’t for the life of me get him to smile or engage with even his grandparents without coaxing. I would always have to warn people that “it takes him a minute to warm up.” Or I would have to refute people who said how shy he was. “He isn’t shy, but he is cautious.” So now, I’m the one who is stunned, when on our loooong dog walk around one block, he waves at passersby as if he’s the mayor of 15^th street.

He’s also become at once clingy and independent, which drives me nuts. In the past, if I tried to slip from the room he would cry a little until he was distracted, sort of like a goldfish. Now, however, he remembers and expresses his betrayal with temper tantrums. On the other hand, the dog walks that I mentioned are brutal for moi. Since I can’t sneak out of the house anymore, he comes with me, but refuses to sit in the stroller or proceed unless he has the leash in his hand, unassisted. This is super cute in photos, but super stressful in reality. I’m constantly praying that Jeter, who enjoys the extra slow pace because he can sniff every single piece of grass in Washington, DC, will not bolt at a squirrel or another dog or child or whatever. This would mean Austin could either get knocked to the ground and/or Jeter would be on the lam.

I also continue to be astounded by how verbal he is. Austin attempts to say all words. “Bye-da-ball” is still in the mix, although he says “bye-da-ball” for basketball and seems to use “bike” for bike more often now. He says “soccer ball” and “kick it.” He is learning to string words together too, so when he looks up at a plane in the sky he says, “plane, up.” And, in line with the aforementioned bolder friendliness and affection, he gives hugs and kisses on demand and says “I love you” when prompted.

Finally, in the gene game, while it’s too early to tell if he will get some rhythm from his black heritage, I am pleased to have spotted early signs of “HPS.” HPS (Huber Positioning System) is an internal exacting sense of direction that I inherited from my dad. Austin knows where his house is, he knows where Kyle’s house is and last night he pointed out the little plastic piggy on the stoop of an otherwise unmemorable house, because he remembered it was there from the day before. Yes!