Twenty-One Months (tomorrow)

Miles is 21 months old tomorrow, which didn't used to seem like a big deal to me until I realized that it was just three months from his second birthday. So I thought I would share some things about this amazing little person:

• Miles is a very determined young boy. If he can't figure out how to do something, or how to accomplish it like, now, he gets very frustrated. And I mean very frustrated. P.S. -- he gets this totally from his mother.
• Something new we've noticed is that, when Miles is losing his patience over something (usually something we are not doing fast enough), he will clap his hands to show his impatience. It's really hard not to laugh when he does this.
• We are trying to teach our son some manners. The basics are saying 'please' and 'thank you.' We still have to tell him to say these things at the appropriate time, but when he does either one, he also nods his little head. So it's "Pweace" (with a nod) and "Kang-kuh" (with a nod). I'll confess that sometimes we ask him to say please for no other reason than to see the head-nod thing...poor kid.
• Miles is what I would call 'aggressively affectionate.' There are times when he will turn and give me a sweet little kiss, but there are other times when he will put his face against mine and just push against it as hard as he can. Sometimes this is funny, but most of the time it just hurts. And then some of the time...he has a runny nose, and it's just nasty. I try not to discourage his affectionate side, but I have to get him to stop injuring me!
• We have a cat named Junebug. Miles thinks she hung the moon. Whenever he sees her, he happily says, "Zhe-zhees!" (we call her 'Junies'...or 'stupid cat' but thankfully he hasn't picked that one up) and runs over and plants a kiss on the top of her head. In his world, they are the best of friends, and he will sit and put his arm around her and smile at her and laugh. Meanwhile, Junebug -- usually having just been woken up -- is trying her hardest not to reach out and scratch someone, because she knows what we'll do if she does scratch our boy. She's given in to temptation a couple of times and left some marks on his arm and leg, but just hours later he will smile and run over and give her that kiss.
• Casey's parents gave Miles his own little piano for Christmas. It looks like a baby grand, so cute! We set it up next to Casey's piano, and sometime I will have to get them playing on their respective pianos so I can get a picture or video or both. Anyway, Miles sometimes needs a little assistance getting set up to play at his piano, so Casey will sit him on the little bench and get him all ready. Then he will step back to watch, at which point Miles will look up at Casey and wave bye-bye meaning, "Okay, you're done here, move along!"
• The other day I noticed that Miles needed a diaper change, so I said, "You're stinky, let's go change your diaper." I thought he would shake his head no, but instead he ran into his room and into his little 'reading corner' and picked up a book. He then proceeded to the changing table, and when I put him on it he opened his book to read while I cleaned things up! Usually he is very unhappy about his diaper changes, but I guess he's come to accept them, and not only that, but he is using that time to engage in some reading time.
• I like to watch Miles try to figure things out on his own, and sometimes he seems so scientific about whatever he is doing, but then he'll turn around and become a little artist. I just don't know where his interests are going to lie, but it's fun just watching and waiting in the meantime.

I'll try to add more little stories as I think of them. I know there are hundreds of them floating around in my brain, but it's very difficult to access them whenever I want. Ah, a mother's memory!