A Walker update (16 months)

Dear Baby Boy,

You are 16 and a half months old. At your 15 month well visit you weighed 22 pounds, 8 ounces (42nd %tile) and were 32.5 inches tall (87th %tile). I predicted you would weigh more but be shorter than your brother was at 15 months but you are the complete opposite. It doesn't matter what the numbers are though, you both couldn't be more perfect to me. You wear size four diaper, size 4-5 shoe and mostly 18 month clothes. 

You've been slaying me on the daily for almost 17 months now, sweet thang.

Teeth numbers 13-16 have been coming in very slow and giving you a rough time off and on. Mostly though, you are a happy boy, even if your face doesn't show it (you still have that scrunched eyebrow, serious/grumpy look on your face quiet often). You are much more independent than your bother is and ever was/is. As long as I am in your sight, you are content playing by yourself and do not need to be entertained by me constantly. At the same time, you have many moments throughout the day of bringing me books and plopping down on my lap. You LOVE books and I know that's one reason you are talking so much. Tractor and animal books are your favorites.

You are saying so many words these days and though you do plenty of baby babbling, a lot of them are completely intelligible. You have even started saying some two word phrases consistently like "all done, all gone, love you, night night, thank you, hair cut, French fries, hot dog, oh boy, oh wow". You love to see and say "airplane, golf cart, truck, bus, apple, tractor, and dog ". 

You pretty much transitioned yourself to one nap shortly after your birthday. Sometimes you can't make it and take a cat nap in the car but you usually go down around 1:00/1:30 and sleep 2-3 hours. You are able to make it a little longer at night now and don't normally go down 7:30 and sometimes 8:00. You still suck your thumb while you're sleeping (or if you're tired/cranky) and it is just the sweetest.

You have a little separation anxiety when I drop you off at the Y and at church but within seconds you are fine. The past several times I've picked you up from your class on Sundays, the teachers go on and on about how sweet and content you are. 

You are still a champion eater. Though we don't give you a lot of choices, there really isn't anything you don't like. Your favorites right now include: broccoli (you could eat your weight in it, for real!), green beans, peas, watermelon and any kind of fruit (new to the list are apples, which you can have now thanks to all those teeth), bacon, chicken, yogurt, cheese and French fries. We are always cracking up at your excitement for food and how much of it you can manage to handle.

You still love music and will start dancing at the slightest sound of it. In the car you'll have the most serious look on your face but be jamming out, bobbing your head and moving your whole body up and down. Daddy and I can't get enough of it and have laughed until we've cried just watching you.

A few other things you love most in life right now are: balls, books, Sophie, animals, school buses, tractors, mowers, airplanes, bubbles, food, your push mower toy outside, and brother's toy vacuum cleaner. You adore your big brother too, although y'all already have your moments. Oh yeah, and you love a little morning yoga.

I must kiss your cheeks a million times a day.

Our friend Hannah had her third birthday party at a gymnastics place and you LOVED it!

One of the many things about you that I love is the way your chubby cheeks jiggle when you run.

I'm pretty sure it's safe to say you have some natural born talent in the soccer department. For two months now, you've been able to dribble the soccer ball well. You use both feet and can keep dribbling half way down a soccer field. When the ball gets somewhat stuck or up against the wall if we are inside, instead of picking it up, you know how to put your foot on top of it and roll it out. Daddy didn't even teach you that, you just started doing it on your own. Almost every time you dribble the ball, you shout "gooooal" the whole time. It is PRESH! You don't limit kicking to just soccer balls though, you will kick any and every thing you can get your feet on. The other day a little thing of Vick's Vapor Rub was in the floor and you kicked it all the way across the living room. It's so amazing to watch you and I can't wait to see you on the soccer field one day.

We've gotten to have some good one-on-one time together since brother started preschool almost two months ago. Sometimes we just come home and read books, dance and chase each other around the house. We also run errands, go to the Y and to the playground. For the first couple of weeks you would cry when we dropped Gray off at school but you are used to it now and are loving the special time we have together.

One of my favorite times of the day with you is bedtime. You are so into your books and I can't get enough of your sweet little finger pointing to everything on the pages. And then you do the sweetest humming sounds while I sing to you. After we read and say our prayers I stand up with you in the cradle position in my arms and sing another song or two. You have a death grip on your blankey in one hand and your thumb in your mouth with the other. You just look up at me with the sweetest, most content little face with those big blue eyes and killer eye lashes and I just want to freeze time so bad. It's perfection. It makes me feel so happy and blessed that I get to be your mama. 

I fall more in love with you every day. I truly can't imagine our life without you in it. I love you to the moon and back my sweet boy and I promise to spend every day of your life showing you that. 

With my whole heart,

Mama