19 Month Old Link

Another great month for little Linky-Loo. Here are is 19 month highlights:

• Link is a fast little boy who's prefer mode of transportation is running.
• He loves to play ball. He throws the ball while shouting "HULK SMASH!" a lot. He also likes to kick balls around with his feet, roll them down the driveway into the ditch across the street, and enjoys pushing them off the tee with a bat.
• He sings all the time. His favorite songs to sing at the moment are ABC's, Five Little Ducks, I See Fire, Misty Mountain, Thunderstruck, Happy Birthday, Go to Sleep Little Baby, La La Loo, Dodo L'enfant Do, Big Fat Hen, and Baby Beluga. 
• He can count to ten in English and in French, and will point to objects and count them in both languages.
• He love, love, loves to read. He's even starting to memorize books like his big brother. His current favorites are Little Blue Truck, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way, Flip Flap Fly, Vroom Vroom Maisy, Doggies by Sandra Boyton, Jamberry, Trucks, The Dinosaur, Baby Beluga, and Big Fat Hen
• He's recently started a screeching phase and has a bit of a temper when things are going his way (doesn't want to sit down, doesn't want to give Meo a toy, deosn't want to come back inside, doesn't want to stop reading...etc.). We fear he got this notion from his brother who will scream in frustration if Link tries to take something from him. Amending these behaviors is a work in progress.
• Link is starting to learn how to color with crayons and markers. He enjoys his block crayons because they are easy to hold. He makes lots of scribbles, but he occasionally draws circles while saying "circle, circle circle".
• He's talking more and more. The other day he looked down at his pajamas and excitedly told me "dinosaur!" which is what was pictured. He says bless you when people sneeze. He says "bye-bye" and "hi" but doesn't seem interested in waving anymore. He says "love you", "sit down", "blast-off", "shoes-on" among numerous other little phrases. He's started to call for "Da Da" when he wants him and can't find him. He does a good job of repeating almost every word we try to get him to say.
• We were a little worried about his lack of pointing and sometimes not paying attention when we say his name. So we spoke with our pediatrician and had an evaluation done with the Child Development Services. Three women came for an hour and a half to give a thorough evaluation. We are still waiting for the official write-up, but the said "he's as smart as a button and doesn't qualify for an autism evaluation". He scored above average for everything (motor skills, verbal skills, concentration, social...all kinds of stuff) but scored one point below average for responding to directions (they had trouble getting his attention sometimes). They said that this was just do to the fact that he has a better than average attention span and is so focused that he doesn't notice someone is trying to get his attention...which is what we've found to. They think the lack of pointing isn't because he doesn't know how (he points when counting objects and sometimes while reading), its just because he prefers to say the words. But we will keep working with him and gestures. I'm glad we had the meeting just to ease my mind.
• Link loves to play trucks, cars, planes, and sandbox. He loves going for walks/hikes, and enjoys helping me water the garden.
• We have heard many people, especially strangers, call him "a little engineer" because he likes to figure out how everything works and is really focused when he does so.