X Man Update

The X Man is growing up so fast. I continue to be amazed at how quickly he picks up on things. He's about 15 months now and starting to ape everything I do. Here are some of the things he's picked up in the past month:

We're at the stage now where everytime I come home from work, he goes absolutely bat nuts. He screams and runs at me like a madman. Then all he wants to do is chase me around the house and play with me. This is such a great stage.

Every time he sees my cell phone on the table, he picks it up and puts it to his ear. And if we're sitting around and I say "Pronto!" (that's how Italians answer the phone), he'll go find the phone and put it to his ear.

Virginia is constantly teaching him new words and he's almost able to say a lot of them. He says 'dada' all the time, especially when I get home from work. He also knows how to say 'caca'. When he's thirsty he points to the water and says 'wa-wa'. Another of his words, 'na-na', has two meanings; he says it for 'banana' when he's hungry and 'ni-night' when it's bedtime. If we ask him if he wants to go bye-bye, he'll grab his shoes and say "soo...soo". Virginia has been teaching him the parts of the face such as eyes, nose, ears, etc. So last night, I walk in the door and he runs into my arms, puts his finger on my nose and yells "NO...NO...NO!". Just amazed me. His new favorite thing seems to be flowers (not a good sign I know...). Everytime he sees them he says 'fah-wah' and tries to smell them.

He loves to go outside for walks and riding in the car. When I take him downstairs, he walk up to the car and try to open the door. When we don't get in the car right away, he goes and grabs his stroller and drags it outside.

Another new thing is kisses. When we used to say "kiss", he would open his mouth wide and put it on you, which was kinda gross. But now he's figured out how to do a real kiss and he kisses everything in sight - me, Virginia, his toys, his stuffed animals, everything.

Perhaps the cutest thing he does is something he started almost two months ago. In Italy, a popular way to say hello or goodbye is to put your hand up in the air with your palm facing you and open and close your fist while saying "ciao"! He actually does it all the time, except his 'ciao' comes out as 'dow'. We'll be walking around somewhere and he'll just start doing it to every person that walks by. And let me tell you, the Italians just eat it up like candy. A lot of times, we just have to sit and wait for him because he'll be engaged in a 'conversation' with an Italian. They can't get enough of the X Man.

He's also learning other useful stuff, like how to listen to mama. He does almost everything Virginia tells him to. We'll be in separate rooms and I'll hear her tell him "go give it to papa". Next thing I know, here comes the X Man giving me something. And if something is too hot, she'll tell him "be careful..hot...hot" and he'll stay away from it. Or if it's food, he'll touch it carefully to see how hot it is. Sometimes she'll give him some trash and say 'go put it in the trash', and sure enough, he'll go throw it away.

I just can't believe how fast my little man is growing up. What astounds me is how you never see it coming. He'll do something out of the blue and I'll just be sitting there thinking, "When did he learn that?!". On the negative side, he still drools a lot. Anyone who has been out drinking with me knows that he gets this from me...

Rik