small boy, big hill: Rye, 18m

Rye's language is still developing and exploding. He is working on two-syllable and compound words like "bathroom," "pah-ee?" (potty), "Sare" (cousin Ciera) and "table." Last week he was practicing "outside" with clear enunciation: "Out...Side." "Out.Side." "Out..Side?" "Out.Side." "Outside." "Outside." "Out! Side!" "OUTSIDE!"

He's been working on the words he already knows, too. "Deps" are now "gapes" (grapes). "Dutch" is now "dump truck." "Trash" for trash truck every week. When he hears the dog next door, he lets us know: "Oy." (Roy.) He says "'bye" and " 'night" (good night) on his own. He still has trouble with some digraph and blends, and most of the sound that are made on the back of the tongue, such as /k/ /g/ and /y/.

Rye parrots what he hears on the radio and when he hears people talking on the phone. Today he was singing along to some Nigerian tunes on Café LA. He pretends he is on the phone by answering a quiet phone, the remote, his wood iPhone, or...a paper Valentine: " 'lo?" He will wait, quizzically, for something to happen. If you happen to tell him, "It's for you," he will earnestly give it a try and listen intently to the wrong part of the phone held up to his face.

He's also expressing his ideas more clearly. If you're eating something he wants, Rye might ask, "Bite?" or "Try?" He now wants to tell you what to do and where to be: He will come to you and wave his hands up and push on you, saying: "SUP!" (Stand up!) This week, after Daddy read him his good night stories and Mommy came in to give him some "sides" before bed, Rye got so excited that he said determinedly and clear as day: "Dad? MOVE." And he pushed Greg out of the bed.

One of Rye's favorite words is Yes ("Ess"), and he often nods his head in understanding, mock understanding, and in misunderstanding.

Another of his favorite words is No. Which sometimes he says as Nonononononono.

Daddy is taking him to Daddy-n-me yoga class, or as Rye says, "Oh-dah." He likes that they have toys, and he sat on Daddy during Savasana. The music class he goes to with Mommy is now called "tass."

Rye likes very much to hear stories now, especially ones that star...him...doing....things he already has done. In current endless rotation are the stories of The Trip to the Fire Station and the Trip to the Aquarium. ("Shish? Stoh-ee?")

He often needs to hear the fire station story in the middle of the night, in order to fall back asleep.

"More?" he'll say and sign.

(More what, Rye?)

"Sounz?" he signs "sirens."

(Sirens? We don't have any fire trucks here. It's time to sleep.)

"Stoh-ee?"

(You want me to tell you the story about the fire station.)

"ESS." He nods emphatically.

((Sigh) One day, Mommy and Rye went to our neighborhood fire station. We met Emergency Worker Jeremy, who gave us a tour of FIVE shiny trucks... ... )

The two highlights of this story for Rye were sticking his hand inside a firehose to feel it, which we re-enact during each re-telling, and jumping with a start when Emergency Worker Jeremy turned the siren on (Indoors! Hello!) for a minute. We both jumped and now Rye fully understands the meaning of the word SURPRISE, replaying the moment several times daily, even when playing by himself. "Sounz. 'pize. Bewww! ... 'PIZE. Bewwww!"

He can walk backwards, and sideways, and he is working on stairs ("Step!"). He now will ask for your hand to walk up a step, rather than just crawling up it. He is sometimes shy now when meeting strangers, hiding his face in Mommy's coat, or hiding behind Daddy's legs. He loves walking around outside ("Out. Side. Outside! Outside! Out! Side!"), and exploring, and seeing the kitties ("mm-ow!) and dogs.

He loves to eat toast, with peanut butter or just butter, or with Auntie Gisela's pear jam. He likes black beans, and soup: tomato or chicken, but NOT split pea. He is learning how to dip chips in the beans and eat them that way. He's tall and is starting to look like a little boy—he's wearing his size 2T fleece jacket with the sleeves rolled up, but still size 18m jeans.

He is interested in brushes ("Buhsh?") for hair and teeth. But he's not interested in actually brushing his teeth, despite the rad banana toothbrush we hoped would pique his interest. He's interested in playing with it and biting it. But tooth brushing? Nononononononono.

Rye is matching Legos together by color, and often recognizes green ("geen"). He is starting to recognize some numbers. His favorite is still "six," and sometimes he remembers that it's what you say after "five." He often recognizes "two," and he helped Mommy count Valentine pairs: One, TWO...one, TWO...one, TWO. He immediately recognizes the heart shape after this month ("hahht"), and a circle shape is usually a "bahh" (ball).

Rye likes scribbling with crayons, pencils and pens, and painting. He enjoys play-dough, especially when someone will make balls for him. He likes playing with his cousins at Grandma's house, taking random parts of their doll house, and the car that plays music. And any car that will roll fast down a ramp.

New wheels for Grandpa. Next step: Power tools.