We've allowed a lot of time to pass without remarking on Luca's incredible evolution from baby to toddler. The change happened so much faster than we imagined it would, and every day he changes a little bit more. For the sake of posterity and since we'd both forget our names if they weren't tattooed on our ring fingers, I'd like to memorialize a few of the highlights of Luca at 21 months.
Luca Andretti
This kid loves cars and driving. We can tell because he says "cahrs" approximately 350 times per day, "drives" by putting his hands at 10 and 2 o'clock and wiggling them up and down, and puts up quite the fuss when it's time to give up a car-based activity.
Kicking the tires on his new Cozy Coupe.
P.S. That's a SOLD sign in front of our house. More on that later...
Like Father, Like Son
To put it mildly, Tom likes sports. To put it even more mildly, Luca is interested in playing sports. It's as if balls and sports come as naturally to him as walking. He pretends to be at bat, calls basketball "hoops," and has a seriously accurate and strong throw. Maybe the interest will peter out, but from here it looks like we're going to be sitting in the bleachers at some t-ball games in a few years.
Luca is also showing some similarity to his dad in another category: chattiness. Tom was a notoriously talkative child from 0 - 12, and Luca is exhibiting the same propensity for communication. For a minute a couple of months ago, we were a little worried that his verbal development wasn't quite up to speed, but since then he has quickly racked up a healthy list of recognizable words (car, of course - and ball (gawl - he says g for b), drink (dink), milk (nilk) water (wah-wah), mama (finally), and daddy, just to name a few). Deciphering his mix of Chinese and Russian can be a challenge, but thankfully he's a master at sign language, so we can often figure it out eventually.
(Since I first posted this, T pointed out that I left out a few important words and phrases. In addition to the above, these are a few that make the highlight reel: garage (gawahj - one of Luca's cutest and most frequently uttered words), clouds (kwowds), and no (pronounced with a heavy throat-clearing sound at the end, like "nohnh"). And one of my very favorites is this: to indicate that something/someone is sleeping, Luca says "shee-hah-shee-hah," his interpretation of the more conventional "unh-shuh.")
And otherwise...
Our boy has always been a good eater, and he continues to have plenty of interest in food, though he has become a bit pickier. Both Tom and I were disgracefully picky, and I hope that he can avoid decades of veggie-phobia. He's clearly unafraid of a bowlful of blueberries.
In broad strokes, Luca is an enthusiastic personality, with a touch of caution thrown in. He's not the first one to storm the playground, but he gets in there eventually. He likes to observe others, particularly other children, but he mostly does his own thing. His run is about the cutest thing you'll ever see - he balls his fists up near his chest and charges on, hips wiggling. We love his big personality and his charm. Most of the way to two years old, our only complaint is that this is all going by a little too fast.
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