21 Months & Things

1. You are a counting machine...when you feel like it.
2. You are a letter-repeating/identifying machine....when you feel like it.
3. You have officially graduated to a booster seat at the dinner table.
4. When I am driving without you, albeit rare, I still notice every "scooper truck," garbage truck, and mail man truck. And it makes me miss you.

5. My new favorite word of yours? "flippy flops" Gets me every time, especially when you say it so seriously.
6. You now enjoy "ribbit"ing like a frog. You can't quite master the jump/hop, but you squat down and ribbit with the best of 'em.
7. You are still a little helper - with yardwork, in the kitchen, cleaning the house. You are even known to pick up your toys without being asked...when you feel like it.

8. Even though you know the word "iPad," you still refer to it as "Elmo game!" (That was the first real app we got for you and I guess it's stuck, despite the fact that you really don't play that game all that often.)
9. Riding in the car is definitely not your favorite past time. I see no long road trips in our future (at least during daylight hours.)
10. We've started to mention "the baby in Mama's belly" here and there. You seem to understand that we're telling you something important but it just doesn't click.
11. The only way to get you to eat veggies remains to put them on a pizza or stuff them in lasagna.
12. You have also mastered a good midwestern "yeah."
13. Outside is one of your favorite places to be.

14. You would rather push your own strollers than ride in them. I don't know if investing in a double stroller is even worth it!
15. We've finally relegated the pacifier to the crib only. Next mission: complete pacifier removal.
16. I told a friend recently that every big activity is equally tiring for me as it is for you, but I wouldn't give up those experiences for the world. To see you light up with  joy is like 10 shots of espresso.
17. You can almost go down the stairs by yourself.
18. A new favorite game is to pair two nonsensical words together (usually one being a vehicle of some sort) and then when I repeat it you laugh and say No! For exmaple:
Teddy: Mama firetruck.
Me: Mama's a firetruck?
T: Nooooo! And on and on with every vehicle you know.
19. Kisses make every ill better, and you are not afraid to ask us for one. ("kiss knee!" "kiss head!")
20. You love waving and saying hi to inanimate objects. ("hi trees!" "hi lawnmower!" "hi grass!")
21. You continue to teach me how to be a better person. You are one of the best teachers I've ever had.