Hugo and the first 18 months

This is a belated post since in a few days, Hugo will actually be 19 months. He has grown so much and even I am amazed by the things he knows and picks up on a daily basis. Physically, he has become so strong, climbing over everything that doesn't move (including myself, when stationary) or being always on the run. 

Intellectually, he has also grown leaps and bounds. The other week, I listed all of the words he says and understands, and the list is up to almost a hundred words. This does not include words he can understand, and the things he can say (but not comprehend). He has also started stringing words together to form sentences like 'Bye, Mama!', 'Thanks, ate' or 'Thanks kakers (thanks for the crackers). He follows instructions to a T too. I asked him to, "get Papa's slippers" one time. And he did! 

Our nightly ritual of reading books and going through his flashcards...

him watching his educational videos regularly probably helped in this department.

He has started showing that he can pretend-play too. A few weeks ago, I saw him line up all his toy cars of differing sizes on the floor, bumper to bumper. As soon as he got to the end, he said "choo choo!". Yep, it was a train. What amazed me was when he did that the second time, he put the driver of his Mega Bloks truck at the front most car, face down. Then Hugo started snoring! The "driver" was "sleeping"! 

Spot the driver

During the holidays, Hugo's Dad, Caloy also came home during his school's Winter break. I've mentioned that Caloy is studying overseas to get his Masters degree. When we picked up Hugo's dad at the airport, Hugo did not skip a beat and immediately went with his dad. I suppose our nightly Skype sessions helped Hugo remember. What's so curious though is when his dad left, Hugo seemed to be looking for him every so often. The night Caloy left, Hugo went walking around the house, wearing his dad's shoes, and knocking at the door saying, "Papa? Papa?". Another time, I arrived home from work and he exclaimed, "Mama!". He then looked behind me and said, "Papa?".  :(

Hugo and Caloy on New Year's eve :). The Pinoy-style firecrackers did not faze him one bit. 

A few days ago, Hugo woke up at 530am and sat on my tummy, waking me up in the process. He then said, "'la na Papa?" (Papa's not here?) while looking around our bed. He repeated this several times until he fell asleep 30 minutes after. At one point after I already thought he was sleeping, he stood up abruptly and repeated his question.

How am I supposed to explain how attached my son has become to my husband who has been with us for only a few weeks the past 6 months, and only an hour or so everyday? In  a lot of ways, while I expected him to develop physically and intellectually at a fast rate, I never expected him to develop emotionally this way. It's a bittersweet discovery.