Dearest Son,

Today you are sixteen months old. It is so hard for me to believe that this much time has passed since your birth; it has flown by so quickly! I think the best way to sum you up is by quoting what a grandmother at the playground said to me today: “You certainly have your hands full! But what a cute smile he has!”

You, my dearest son, are definitely a handful 🙂

At your 15 month check-up, you weighed just shy of 23 pounds and stand at 31 1/2″. Since we got your hair cut two weeks ago, more and more people think you are two or three years old. I constantly have to tell people that you are still more baby than little boy, despite how you look.

You are finally sleeping through the night. Well, at least most nights you are. You go to bed around 8 or 8:30, wake up about 5 am, have some milk, and go back to sleep again, usually until 8:15 or so. You nap for 2 to 2 1/2 hours every afternoon. You still cry in your sleep, though, and that’s usually around 11:00. It’s hard for Mama to sleep until after 11, because that cry still wakes me up, even though it only lasts maybe 7 seconds and doesn’t seem to bother you at all.

You have two pacifiers in your crib; they are attached to little stuffed animals, and you only use them when it’s time to sleep. I have one “travel” pacifier, and you still use it in the car and in places where you are uncomfortable (like the church nursery), but I am trying to wean you of that slowly.

We still get paged out of church almost every Sunday because you cry non-stop in the nursery. Sigh.

You eat everything you can get your hands on. Right now you actually love crushed up ice cubes; I think it’s because you have five teeth coming in. You love fruit, especially if I’m standing at the counter cutting it up – you’ve seen the dogs beg once too often, I suppose, because you beg like they do when I’m cooking. You also love to eat meat; Grandpa made BBQ chicken last week and you ate two whole thighs. The Saturday before that you ate almost an entire steak!! Vegetables are hit and miss; some days you’ll devour them and some days you push them away. However, you will eat a sweet potato just about any time I make it. You’ve still only had milk and water to drink. I’m hesitant to introduce juice because it’s just not that healthy for you. I am getting ready to try my hand at smoothies, though, so we’ll see how that goes. You love yogurt, still, and lately you’ve been eating yogurt and applesauce with a spoon by yourself! You’ve been using a fork for quite some time now (you think it’s fun to stab your food, apparently!) but the spoon just started about two weeks ago. However, Mama only gives you a spoon when I have a lot of patience and time to clean everything up!

You have basically given up walking for running. (hence the woman at the playground thought you are a handful – I chased you all over the park today!) You spin in circles. You walk backwards. You try to stand on your head. If we could live outside I think you’d prefer that. I can’t wait until we go camping in a few weeks!

You clearly say: mama, dada, cube (for ice), bye, go, up, more, gada (grandma or grandpa), no, yep, nigh-nigh, bug, book, lu lu (Lucy, our dog), bob (my parents’ cat), tree, car, and uh-oh. Everything else is pretty much an effort to repeat whatever we just said, or the first syllable (yo is yogurt, wa is water, dah is doggie). You like to talk all the time. There are also certain songs on the radio that you try to sing along with, especially the ones that have lyrics like “La la la la la” and “oh oh oh oh oh.”

Speaking of the radio, you love music and you love to dance. You will bounce up and down and bop your head around and just smile. You clap to music, and at church you love to wave to the band.

We still don’t watch much television, but you love “Word World,” and you know it’s on as soon as you see the Schoolhouse and the Dog. You clap and bounce up and down to the music. You don’t actually watch the show, but you stop and watch when they sing about building a word. We also watch “Dinosaur Train,” but you lose interest after the intro music stops. We’ve tried “Between the Lions,” but it didn’t hold your interest at all. Now, “Wheel of Fortune” is a different story. You will repeat the letters and you clap whenever the people on tv clap!! I’m leaning toward Sesame Street, but it’s on in the mornings, and that’s usually when we’re off doing things.

You don’t like to be strapped into your car seat, your high chair or your stroller for very long. You don’t like to lay down long enough for a diaper change, either, but those are about the only things you don’t like.

Oh, but your temper! I thought we wouldn’t see fits for some time, but you are great at pitching fits. When you don’t get your way, you like to swipe at me, pinch me or hit me, and you like to throw things in anger. Well, time outs (or sitting in the corner) are now a part of our daily routine. You seem to be responding well to them, however, and you typically stop whatever you were doing after one or two timeouts. Sometimes you stop for the rest of the day, sometimes just until after nap time. But still, I think you are learning what is and what is not acceptable behavior.

You love books, still, and frequently brings books over for me to read to you. You have taken to climbing into my lap just to cuddle lately, and I love that. When you love something (us, the dogs, inanimate objects) you lay your head on it and pat it – too cute!!

You still cry a lot, but I think that’s normal, too. You cry when you don’t get your way, when you can’t have something or when I take something away. You also try to be sneaky, like giving me a hug as a pretense to grab something that is behind me or next to me!!

I’m wondering if you’re starting notice that we have different skin colors. You love to put your hands in ours and your bodies next to ours and look. You are also fascinated when we both look into mirrors or any reflective object. I talk about how you have chocolate skin and I have vanilla, and you grin, but that could just be because I’m playing with you! But you are so very beautiful.

I do miss your curly hair. I have to admit the short hair is so much easier to take care of, but I miss your head full of soft curls. It has grown out enough in two weeks that the curls are back, and I love it more than I did at first. Maybe next time I’ll just ask for it to be as short as it is now. Plus, you definitely look like a little boy, and I’m sort of sad my baby is disappearing.

I love you so very much. I love your sweaty little head and body when you wake up from a nap or sit down from playing hard. I love when you reach for me and say, “Mama.” I love when you do something new or different and grin at me, wanting my attention and approval. But the absolute best, I think, is your desire to pray before and during every meal. A few weeks ago we sat down for dinner and you folded your hands and looked at us expectantly. I love it. You can almost say “Jesus,” “God” and “Amen” and it melts my heart.

You are wonderful, my son, and I am so blessed to be your Mama!

Love,
Mama