Little Boy,
Every day, you remind Momma again and again that you are turning into a little boy and are no longer a baby. It makes her a little sad (okay, a LOT sad), but it’s also so exciting!
The biggest way you are growing, in leaps and bounds, is in your language development. We never taught you any “baby signs”, and yet you are so good at communicating what it is you want from us. You say things like, “joos” for juice and “crack-uh” for cracker. You string together words, saying things like, “Mama, boo?” if you want to read a book, or “Dadda, ball?”. Just yesterday you walked up to a stack of bananas on the counter and said, “Bellah-buh-buh?” over and over again, interjecting, “Plee? Plee?” in your oh-so-polite-and-desperate way. You are so good about saying “please” before everything, and you are even better about saying, “Dak-doo!” (thank you) when you get it. Sometimes, when Mommy or Daddy is eating, you come up and lick your lips incessantly, saying, “more? more? plee?”.
Even though you are getting so many words under your belt (Mommy can’t even keep track of how many words you know now! Dozens!), there are still times when we don’t know what you want. You jabber away, using hand motions and your cute little voice intonations, and we run through the list of usual suspects. “You want num-nums? Ball? Book? Outside?” You grunt angrily for each. When we get to the “right” one, however, you shout, “YEAH!”
Your Grandma was sitting at the computer the other day when you came up, jabbering. She ran through the “list”, but none of them fit the bill. She tried again, but you were just so frustrated that she didn’t understand what you were “saying”. Finally, you grabbed her hand and led her to the doggie’s crate, where she was napping. Grandma let Claire out, and you two frolicked and played for the longest time. It was obviously what you’d been trying to say!
Your joyful “HI!” and soft, “bye-bye!” are two of my favorite words, especially when you wave or give “cuddles” to go with it. We have so many pictures of you hugging (ie. squashing) the doggie…
Physically, you were 23 pounds at your appointment last week. That’s definitely in the 25th percentile! Way to go, Little Man!
You are so very athletic. We raised your little basketball hoop up another notch, and you can still make baskets. You’ve even established some pretty good shooting form– often, you only use one hand to guide the ball, and you are getting some pretty awesome back-rotation, just like all those NBA games you stare at on TV. You’ve started bending your knees and getting into it. Mommy and Daddy can’t wait until you jump! You also catch bounce and chest passes with ease. The day after the Superbowl, Mommy could toss the little football at you and you’d catch it while running!
One of your favorite things to do is to read books. You know so many animal sounds now, including “ROAR!” for the lion and “Hoo-Hoo!” for the owl. Sometimes, Mommy can entertain you in the car by practicing different kinds of doggie barks back and forth! Your favorite book is “Goodnight Gorilla”– your eyes get SUPER wide when we get to the part where the zookeeper realizes all the animals came home with him, and sometimes you shout, “Woah! Woah!” in anticipation of that particular page. When we get to a page with trains, you say, “Choo-choo!” and pump your fist downward. You also know how to put shaped pieces into puzzles!
Everyone, and I mean everyone, has noticed how socially comfortable and well adjusted you are. Unless it is late at night, you are just happy to be hanging out with people. You smile and expect people to smile back. You have no problem running away from Mommy and jabbering with strangers. You are especially fascinated by other kids, especially girls who are older than you (hmmm…). When we take you to Daddy’s high school basketball games, you have a special “fan club” of about 15 different 7th and 8th grade girls who fawn all over you and play “ball” with you at the end.
Since you are obsessed with body parts right now (especially with your belly!), we go through the list a few times each day. You can point to your ears, eyes, hair, nose, tongue, belly and especially your “pee-ee-ees!” (piggy toes). That one is definitely your favorite 🙂
Your naps are a bit of a mystery to Mommy right now– you still take one, 99.9% of the time, and it’s usually exactly 3 hours after you wake up in the morning. The length is what’s perplexing– sometimes it’s a 2-3 hour power nap, sometimes it’s only 1.5 hrs. Occasionally we can sneak in another 45 minute nap at around 3pm to help you make it to your bed time at 6:30pm in one piece. When we do put you to sleep at night, however, you STAY asleep until 8am the next morning. It’s wonderful and keeps you healthy and happy, but it’s also sad, because Mommy and Daddy miss you terribly by the time you wake up, 13 hours later!
You have still not been “sick” since you were 2 months old. You have a tiny cough right now that’s been fading away since you woke up. A few days ago, you had a slightly runny nose. But that’s it– one super healthy kid! Also, we detected another tooth– your fifth!– that’s grown in on top. The only way we know you’re teething is by alllll the excess drool…
In just 8 more weeks, you will be our “only baby” no longer. While that makes Mommy sad, she knows that you will have so much fun playing with your little brother someday. You are such a sweet and loving kid, and I hope you’ll rub off on him 🙂
Love you tons,
Mommy
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