AND NOW FOR A POST ABOUT HUCK

to accompany these amaaaaaaazing photos that i just unearthed on my computer from way way back over the summer, here is a little bit about our man huck at almost 26 months old.

• good heavens above we have ourselves a talker. he talks and he talks and he talks and he talks and he taaaaaalks. i understand maaaaybe 30%* of it but a lot of it is definitely english. talking with him is so good i sometimes want to fall over dead in a puddle of proud goo. this boy!! 
• best words these days: mee-kaka (mickey mouse), dahn-dut (donald duck), choo choo day! (the subway), bow-eye! (brown rice), pee-po? (is the pizza still too hot or can i eat it now?), chaud-no (chocolate milk. it can also means marshmallows), noooo tado! (he doesn't want a taco). 
• appears to have called a stalemate on eating marshmallows straight off the christmas tree, but that hasn't stopped him from requesting marshmallows from the jar for every meal, most days first thing in the morning. but really, who keeps a giant jar of mini marshmallows around and doesn't expect their toddler to become obsessed with it. i'm obsessed with it. that marshmallow jar sees us coming and it goes, "oh, you again."
• is suddenly shy around people. not real shy. fake shy. dramatic shy, with tightly shut eyes and arms draped over the face and emphatic "noooooo!"s when people look at him when he's not in the mood to be seen. similarly, trader joe tim, his favorite person ever, is now public enemy number one. i try to walk that fine line between respecting his feelings and forcing him to be friendly because, really kid? kind grocery employees? these are your people!
• has successfully weaned himself during the daylight hours. it kind of makes me emotional.
• pays absolutely no attention during playschool whatsoever. 
• eats noodles like a professional.
• still loves his "bapa" best of all (his grandpa lovin).
• doesn't approve of my constant singing around the house.
• loves his daddy most except for the hours between 8pm and 8am, in which it is MOM TIME ONLY. no daddy. MA-MA. it feels good, and also it's exhausting.
• give him something tall to stand on and he will re-enact the entire alex the lion scene from the beginning of madagascar.
• to get henry holbrook to eat his dinner willingly, you put the food down in front of him, and don't make eye contact. back away slowly. hold your breath. usually that works.
• the facial expressions on this kid! i could just watch him all day long. this dude is a ham. not a thought crosses his mind that doesn't also cross his face. and bless him, he just wants to communicate and love and please. he is a pleaser. as his mom it's going to be the most important thing i ever do to show that his efforts at pleasing me are noticed and appreciated, but not at all required. i never want to take advantage of his desire to be good. i never want him to feel he has to earn or prove a single thing to me. i only want him to know that he is my everything, all on his own. no matter what. 

oh, huck.

good heavens but your mama loves you, you stinker. ;)

*i probably should have been more clear about this, and i'm sure this hardly needs pointing out but it's been on my mind all weekend so i'm going to anyway. thirty percent (and that's not exactly a scientific percentage, by the way) of what he says is english. one hundred percent of his english is understandable. huck is a very intuitive speaker. he mixes solid english with his old baby gobbledegook to get his point across to us. his english is clear and understandable, but rather than solely using words he knows, he fills in the rest of his "sentences" with his really rad baby language. you should hear it, it's adorable. he's rapidly replacing his gobbledegook with solid english the last few weeks and it's sad for me to see the baby talk go. thus, the favorite words i shared are my favorites because they're so funny sounding and remind me he's still a baby. he has plenty of words that sound just like they're supposed to. but those aren't my favorite. they're not nearly as cute. i really, really appreciate the helpful comments. you're always welcome to chime in! it's very valuable, not just to me but to everyone reading, and i certainly respect your motives and opinions. if i disagree, it's because there is more going on than what i can possibly (or should have to) share on a blog. because this is just a blog for pete's sake. i assure you his development is my top priority. but you all knew that ;). thanks!