20 Months & Things

1. Oh the vocabulary! Period.
2. You can identify all the letters of the alphabet, but stubble over N and G most often.
3. You are almost counting to three.
4. One day after our typical "broom"ing task, you kept saying "tail, momma, tail!" it took me about five minutes and watching you trip over the broom three times to realize that you wanted to put the brooms between our legs and pretend we had tails.
5. Playing night-night is a new fave (which involves laying down on the floor or couch or wherever and saying "night night" over and over).
6. We have returned to the phase of pointing and asking "That? That?" about ever.y.th.in.g.
 7. Sharing toys at the library is becoming increasingly hard for you.
8. Your hugs are the best.
9. You are now eating apple slices and grapes. Small miracles in my book.
 10. Your favorite songs are "Wheels on the Bus" and "Mary had a Little Lamb."

Little a

Dear Baby a,
I'm not sure quite where to start this, my first letter to you. I've written so much to, and about, your brother; it feels a little awkward to begin writing to you. You, who is so unknown and new and precious.

You were our little secret for almost three weeks. Then we - mom, dad, and brother - saw the first beats of your heart and we began sharing you with those closest to us. But even now that you are beginning to be celebrated and welcomed and rejoiced over, I find myself anxious. (You, like your brother, will come to know this side of me quite well.)

The anxiety is similar to when I was pregnant with your brother - I know that your safety is out of my control. There is nothing I can do to ensure absolute health, which is what my one wish is for you today. Pregnancy is a weird thing and carries with it a false sense of security and control. There is part of me that thinks I control my body, of which you are so linked right now. But I know better. I know how precious you are. I know, with my whole heart, what a gift you are.

And so I hope that when you realize that I didn't tell anyone about you for almost a month, it wasn't out of lack of excitement or forgetfulness or fear. It was out of true joy and pure gratitude that you are.

Love,
 Mom

Mad Teddy

One of Teddy's growing loves is himself. And I say that in the most developmentally-appropriate way possible. Toddlers of this generation have the added benefit of technology to fuel their egocentrism. Thus, Teddy L.O.V.E.S. to see pictures of himself and watch videos of himself on my phone.

In fact, he watches them so often these days that we have names for many of the videos. There is "silly Teddy" (see this post for that classic), "happy dancing Teddy" (here), and "No  Teddy!" (where he throws books on the floor and together we tell the video-Teddy "no throw books!"). However, his far and away favorite is "mad Teddy." Actually, we have a few "mad Teddy" videos these days.

The original "mad Teddy" is a video I took in our old apartment of a little 6-ish month old Teddy trying to stand up on our AC unit. He gets fussy as he struggles and when Teddy and I watch this now, I talk about how "oh look, Teddy is mad!" Hence, "mad Teddy" is his new phrase. I thought this was cute enough until the other day.

I shall preface this by reminding you that we are also fully engrossed in the I-will-change-my-mind-in-.08-seconds-and-if-you-don't-figure-that-out-I-will-freak-out-on-you stage. AKA Toddlerhood. AKA trantrum-ville; pop 1. The other day I made some grave error (probably gave him his requested apple juice, when really he decided .08 seconds later that no he wanted milk and how the bleep did mom not know that?!), and he threw a fit. Mid-fit he starts saying "mad Teddy! mad Teddy!"

My little psychologist heart nearly exploded from the proper label of emotion.

Thankful Thursday

For warm days and cool nights

For herb gardens

For potato chips

For toddler art projects

For early birthday presents

The alphabet

A random video to remember how cute it is when toddlers recite the alphabet.

19 Months & Things

1. Three word phrases that actually communicate things are happening, which blows my mind. "Mama! Juice please!" and my personal fave "Milk, all done" (as in "Mom, take this milk away from me please").
2. You have begun to recognize letters. Totally unprompted, you pointed out and correctly said O, K, I, and T. You can say most of the other letters, but these are your favorites.
3. You said "octagon" the other day (again, totally unprompted while doing a puzzle). I have no idea where you would have learned this.
4. Your love of wheels continues. I'm not sure this will ever end.
5. Now that the weather has really gotten nice, we spend a good portion of our day outside. I love that I can sit on our patio and just watch you play.
6. You have learned the concepts of off/on and open/closed; and hearing you say "open" is hilarious - it sounds more like "ohpee."
7. You can say your own name! You point to yourself and exclaim "Teddy!" I never thought it would bring me such joy to hear you say your own name.
8. With all this increased awareness, comes the requisite fears. You are not so sure about strangers and at times downright frightened. Loud noises (vacuum and kitchen mixer) that you have been hearing your whole life now scare you.

9. You love splashing - in puddles, in the bath, in your water table toy.
10. You have a new love affair with the mailman. I don't know why, but you get excited when he comes (even though he doesn't seem nearly as excited). You can also recognize mail trucks and you will yell "me-man! me-man!"
11. We have officially stopped giving you baby food. You are offered what we eat for dinner. Sometimes you eat a little bit of it. Other times you don't. Most times whatever it is ends up mixed together in a big pile of mush on your plate.
12. Speaking of food, your favorites are eggs, toast (which is actually just un-toasted cinnamon raisin bread), waffles, cereal (especially from Dada's bowl when he eats it), mac and cheese, chicken, sweet potato fries, turkey meatballs, and yogurt. Notice the enormous amounts of fruits and veggies? No?
13. I ran up on the couch the other day, during one of our epic chasing-tag games. You got to laughing so hard that I kept doing it over and over just so I could hear that laugh one. more. time.
14. Have I mentioned how you are teaching me how to play again? 
15. You are beginning to wrestle. Right now this mainly consists of "pushing" me over and laughing at your strength.
16. Whenever the car stops, you exclaim "home! home!" no matter if we are actually at home or some other random locale.
17. You've already learned what it means to get lost in a good book. One night I read Green Eggs and Ham a total of three times, from beginning to end, back to back. (For those that aren't familiar, that's one long book!)
18. For the most part, you seem to be doing well and enjoying the big boy toddler room at daycare. Most days I come home, weary from my commute and work, to find a new art project on our counter.
 19.  You love seeing pictures of yourself, which is the only way I could sort of bribe you to stand somewhat still for half a second to get these pictures.

Blossoms

I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me. To make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit. ~ Dawna Markova