EVAN Amazing

In a month’s time, Evan will be turning TWO already. My little man is growing so fast! And for a toddler his age, his unfolding intellectual and social developments are so impressive. We know he is indeed special the moment he was born, he scored 9.9 in his APGAR test!

I am such a proud mom, I just have to do this brag list. :)

1. Evan can count from 1 to 10 when he was just 1.5 years old. Now, he can count from 1 to 20.

2. He knows his ABCs pretty well. We’re not just talking memorizing the ABC song. He’s so way beyond that already. He can already IDENTIFY and READ his ABCs (but only in capital letters)! Show him any letter, in any order, he will tell you what it is. And his hobby now is reading letters everywhere he goes. S.A.F.E.W.A.Y, E.X.I.T, S.T.O.P, etc.

3. The book What To Expect The Toddler Years said that average kids at this age can identify 4 objects by pointing. Well, Evan can identify almost 100+ objects! He is very good at picture-reading. He knows all parts of his body, can identify all primary colors, he knows the name of almost all furniture and fixtures at home and even the animals in the zoo. We spent almost 15 minutes at night saying goodnight to all of them, “Goodnight tiger, goodnight elephant, goodnight headboard, goodnight tree, goodnight mirror, goodnight eyes, goodnight tummy…”

4. Evan is very good with words. Some kids his age are still “bulol”, but my angel speaks most of his words (English and Filipino) clearly already. He is like a parrot. He repeats every new word he hears from people around him and will remember them from then on. One time, when driving thru Mcdonald's, upon hearing the order taker’s standard greeting “Hi, what’s your order?” He promptly replied (from way back in his car seat!) “cheese burger meal”. What a riot indeed! Hehe.

5. Very much like his father, Evan is such a sociable person. If most kids shy away from people, especially strangers, Evan, on the other hand, finds delight in initiating contact with them. He happily greets our housekeeper “Hello, good morning!”, gives everyone in the supermarket a sweet smile and a “Hi”, and quickly warms up to friends and visitors in minutes.

6. Evan converses not in simple chunks of words but in complete simple sentences already! He never fails to surprise us with his new lines every day. From “let’s go to Lola’s bedroom” to “I don’t know” "I don't like" to “Whoa, look at that!”

7. Evan is also gifted with logic and wit. He always inquire about things, bombarding us with his “Why?”, “What’s that?” and “Who’s that” questions. He also knows how to follow multiple instructions already like taking off his socks and then his shoes and putting the former in the laundry bag and the latter in the shoe closet. He also knows how to assert himself, oh yes he does! Here are some classic and adorable conversations:

Daddy: “Evan, please help me clean your toys”.
Evan: “Dad, I’m tired”.

One time when we we’re reciting our nighttime prayers:
Mommy: "..please bless Mommy, Daddy, Lola, Kuya Galen, Tito Ryan…"
Evan: (cutting me off mid-sentence) "Family!"

Lola: “Evan, don’t run!”
Evan: “Walk lang.”

8. He sing-along to many songs already on his own. Sometimes we will just hear him humming while he plays or while staring at the horizon during road trips. From “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” to “Itsy Bitsy Spider” to most of his favorite TV (and On-Demand) kiddies shows.

9. He is a book lover! Maybe because he always see his mom and dad reading books (in the bathroom, in bed, in the couch, everywhere). Or his mom reading one single book straight for two days (and acting as if no one's around... teehee!). He likes to read his books with Dad all day long and before bedtime. He even squeezes in his own storyline to make his bedtime stories relatable to his everyday life.

Daddy: "In a faraway kingdom, there was once a prince."

Evan: "... and a little boy..."

Daddy: "He was proud, arrogant and mean."

Evan: "...drink water, wear shoes..."

10. He is showing signs of being an OC like me! He can’t stand open closet doors, he follows his dad to the bathroom, flushed the toilet, put down the toilet seat (YES!), turned off the bathroom light and exhaust switch (his dad always forgets), arranged protruding chairs and placed all shoes lying around the living room in the shoe closet!

Yes, we are talking about my 23-month old baby here.
Now you will say AMAZING is an understatement. ☺

If you want more adorable and amazing anecdotes about Evan, read Riki’s Rookiedaddyhood tales here.