Alessandro is getting more and more like a little kid and less like a baby. Well, he still has a strong relationship with his pacifier, but in most aspects, he's a little man.
He's able to string two and even three words together (example, "apple juice, Momma") and eagerly jumps into songs or dances he knows. In the car, he will start clapping in all the right places to B-I-N-G-O and, from the other room, he will race to the television to chant "Spongebob Square Pants" when he hears the pirate ask, "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?" My mom watched him one morning and when I came back, she marveled in telling me that he sung himself to sleep singing the "A, B, C" song. He knows all the way to "E" and then just starts making them up.
He parrots everything that's said to him and the girls have found this a lot of fun. "Say 'silly song,' Alessandro," they'll say, and he does. They will spend a whole car ride asking him to repeat words and no one tires of it. One morning, again at Grandma's, I prompted him to say, "I love you." We were entertained and warmed by a whole symphony of back-to-back "I love yous" that at times when into song and were shouted at the top of his voice. Valentines Day come early.
The flip side to this is that he knows he's growing up; he wants to do everything himself. Mealtimes are a disaster and a mess. I've decided just to throw an art smock on him and sweep the floor 5-times a day instead of fighting or training him. The exchange just results in more mess and both of us upset. I have needed to take away the crayons and art supplies while he is awake as he will proceed to draw on anything and his sisters get very upset that he's "ruined" their drawings with his slashes of color. And he has started his "terrible two" tantrums...yikes!
All in all, however, he is the purest form of joy and enthusiasm. We get all kinds of complimentary comments about him, often confirming his "Little Man" status and demeanor. We love him to pieces!
