21 Months

George is 21 months old today!

The first weekend of the month included a trip to Ikea

I did the Resolution Run 5k at Temple Newsam, my first ever running event

 Friday night dinner at Pizza Express

George and I went out to Ilkley on my first solo drive--we had a lovely lunch at Caffe Nero after the La Leche League meeting

The next weekend we went to Golden Acre Park

George was fascinated by the squirrel/bird feeding stumps

Biscuit enjoying the new couch throw from Ikea

George and I went to the new John Lewis downtown for our second solo car trip--I love their cafe!

George's morning routine always starts off with a banana while I fix his porridge

He's started pointing out the window when he hears the garbage truck and saying "Truck!"

Soaking up the spring sunshine

Waking up from a nap is always difficult for George

One Sunday we did the Embsay-Bolton Abbey railway steam train after church

George and I had lunch at Trinity Kitchen on Friday--he loves the sweet potato fries at Chicago Rib Shack!

Today we went to York to celebrate Mothering Sunday

The weather was lovely so we had lunch in the Museum Gardens

St Mary's Abbey ruins,  Museum Gardens

Playing in the York Minster gardens

Toddling in the Shambles

I had a great Mother's Day! Richard (and George, of course) got me the perfect gift--a spa gift card for a massage, something I've been wanting to do again for ages! We had a lovely time in York, with lunch and shopping and ice cream and tea :) 

The biggest developmental news this month is George's expanding vocabulary. He's always surprising us with new words! He knows quite a few more animals now--cow, fish, duck, goat, bear--and vehicles have now been differentiated from "truck"--he knows car, digger, tractor, etc. There are a couple of things that he names by sound: train is "choo-choo" and fire engine is "nee-nah, nee-nah". Instead of crying when he doesn't want to do something, he'll say "no", so that's helped us understand him better.

He still loves his books, especially "Whose Tail?" and "My First 100 Words". He's been more interested in his toys than he used to be, and he'll play on his own with his little wooden trucks and trains for ages. We've noticed him singing more lately--often when we're in the car, he'll do "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" or "The Wheels on the Bus". Today on the way home from York, it sounded like "Frère Jacques". It's hard to tell what he's singing at first, because the words are mostly just babbling, but after a little while you can tell what the tune is!

This month's firsts:
First drive with Mommy
First taste of colcannon on St Patrick's Day--he loved it!
First time walking to nursery--we've stopped using the Ergo for the (very short) walk to daycare! He's climbing the stairs when we get home, too, which is no small feat with a 3rd floor apartment!
First letter--he knows the letter x and calls the puzzle piece by name
First time Mommy and Daddy have gone to Cottage Road Cinema since he was born--we saw Beauty and the Beast and it was fantastic! Thanks to my friend Carly for babysitting!
First time helping to put away the groceries--one night he started pulling things out of the bag and putting them up on the counter