20 Months

George is 20 months old today!

He still loves watching the washing machine go around and around...

At the shopping centre in Skipton, they have these tiny doors covering utility outlets--just the right size for George to explore!

Pulling faces at the camera

We went on a little day trip to Liverpool earlier this month

There's a new Cilla Black statue on Mathew Street--I knew she was from Liverpool, but I didn't realize she'd worked in the Cavern Club's cloakroom before becoming famous

George liked the Maritime Museum's anchor

Toddling around on Albert Dock

He was fascinated by the big ship

The Tate Liverpool had a great kids' play area

Playing in the mirror

Do not touch!

This is why they have the great playroom...the rest of the collection isn't all that kid-friendly and we had to keep a close eye on him. We have since bought a wrist link....

Walker Art Gallery has a fantastic kids' room, as well as clipboards for kids to sketch in the other rooms

We loved this Wedgwood Jasperware--so delicate!

This month we've had some stretches of sleeping through the night...It's been lovely! However, the past few nights he's been up several times and waking up for the day at 6 or 6:30am...

We had dinner at Dare Cafe one night and George spent most of the time in the window, watching the cars and people go by

In Halifax market...We went to the Eureka! Children's Museum for the first time (too busy wrangling him to take photos) and then had a nice lunch and wander around Halifax

Dancing to Outkast's Hey Ya!

Richard gives him little props to match the stories while they read together--the fire engine for the book about the Little Red Fire Engine, or Peppa Pig's family car for the book "Peppa's Car Ride", etc.

He's really into his books these days--looking at them on his own, bringing them to us to read them, etc.

Biscuit loved this too-small box....

He's still enjoying his rocking horse

Biscuit looks like she really regrets her decision to get in that box...George was thrilled to be able to pet her without her running off!

George tried out the box, too

His latest thing has been that he really wants to wear his coat and shoes, and sometimes his hat, indoors.

Selfie--I let George play with the reverse camera on the iPhone

He loves that baby on the screen!

Tuckered out after a morning of playing!

Last week I had my driving test and passed on the first try! After putting it off for so many years, it's a relief to finally have my UK license!

I showed George this picture of Biscuit and he roared!

She's so lovely & fluffy!

Playing with Daddy's watch at lunch today

I love that expression!

This month, George's developmental leap has continued--more words, more mimicking, better sleep (mostly) and a big appetite. His speech is getting clearer and he seems to be trying to say more and more words. We had a parents' night at his nursery and asked his carer about ways to get him speaking more, but it seems to be coming along now. It's just like with walking--he was slow to start, but now he's taking off running. He's pointed at pictures of himself and said "George", and he can also point at the characters in the Peppa Pig books and say "Peppa" and "George", so he already knows he's not the only George in the world. He loves to look out the window at passing cars and he says "Car". His various toy vehicles, from diggers to Postman Pat's van, are all called "Truck".

He's been an absolute dustbin, eating everything we give him and asking for more. He loves risotto. I made a really good one using the Forks Over Knives "winter vegetable risotto" recipe and he ate an adult-size serving of it! When he has his porridge in the morning, he's been saying "hot" and blowing on spoonfuls--so cute! (It's not hot, I promise!).

Overall he's been a lot of fun this month. He still has his ups and downs, but we're able to read his moods and catch potential meltdowns early (not that we can always prevent them, but we can at least deal with them better!). He's been getting better with Biscuit--gentler and calmer about petting her, not grabbing at her and scaring her off anymore. She's still surprisingly tolerant of him, bless her!

This Month's Firsts:
First Parents' Night at nursery
First time recognising pictures of himself by name
First time being on a leash (he actually does like the wrist-link, haha!)