Dexter at 17 months

Our little monkey is closing in on the year and a half mark. Time for an update.

Some chit-chat
It's official: his first word is "moon." Interesting choice, no? When he says it he puckers his lips out and pronounces it like, "mewoon." He's very proud of himself for managing to make this word and always smiles after saying it. He also says "up", "hi", "mu-ma" and "da-da," but he often needs to be prompted to use words at all. Instead he listens to us and responds with head nods, gestures and the occasional sign to let us know what's on his mind. Being able to nod "yes" has really opened up his ability to communicate. When that doesn't work, he's not averse to screaming and whining a bit.

Lord of the dance
Dexter loves, loves, loves music. Whenever I ask him if he wants to listen to music, he nods enthusiastically, heads towards the speakers and gets down as soon as the tunes start. Henry enjoyed music at this age, but not to the same degree. I can't wait for our baby music class to start next week!

Monkey see, monkey do
Dexter really seems to enjoy his big brother's company, and likes to do a lot of the things Henry enjoys. For example, he really likes playing with Henry's dinosaurs. He copies Henry's play patterns by picking up a dinosaur figure and making it fight other dinos, or attacking us with it while imitating Henry's "dino" roars and growls. Henry was all about trucks at this age, but Dexter is fairly indifferent to them right now. He'll play with them, but we're definitely not running to the front window when a snowplow drives by.

For the most part, Henry is very good (by 4 year-old standards) about including his little brother in the action, but he does get annoyed when Dexter acts too toddlerish and interferes in his fun. Dexter can also be quite physical with Henry; luckily he usually thinks its funny when his baby brother dogpiles him. I really love watching them interact. It's remarkable to see them developing a relationship as two individuals, rather than as our sons, if that makes sense.

Skinny Minny
Size-wise, Dexter is definitely petite. At his last checkup he was in the 50th percentile for height, but the 10th for weight (in December he weighed about the same as his cousin Stella, who is 6.5 months younger). He can still wear 6 month size pants comfortably. He definitely seems small for his age to me, but I'm not worried about it. He has a healthy appetite and has yet to have a significant illness, so small clearly is working for him. Besides, someone has to be the 10th percentile, right?

The sweetness
Now, as his mother, I can't claim to be an objective commentator on the topic, but I have to say it: Dexter is totally adorable. Big blue eyes, long, curly eyelashes, peachy skin and rosy cheeks, smiles for everyone, funny mannerisms and an outgoing, affectionate personality--he's got the whole "cute baby" thing down pat. So he's a pretty sweet little guy to be around, when he's not throwing food in my hair.

In general, I've felt like we've been in a sweet spot with both kids these last few months. At this time last year there were days when I felt like sending Henry to live at the zoo, but he seems to have outgrown many of the challenging, toddlerish behaviors that drove me nuts (just don't ask about mealtimes). And Dexter hasn't moved into that stage yet. So life at home is busy, but really fun. Good times.