15 and 16 Months

These days, we can only get photos in motion

Dear Will,

As you can see from the title, this is my first combo month. Not to shabby really. I'm impressed I didn't drop the ball before now.

Here's the thing though, actually playing with you is so much more fun than writing about playing with you. So the blog goes by the wayside a bit. But I want so desperately to remember every second of your precious little life. So here we are.

At 16 months, you have quite the vocabulary. You're picking up new words each and every day, and you like to try and imitate what Daddy and I say. The words you use on a regular basis include: up, milk, more, apple, oatmeal, bread, cheese, truck, duck, Mama, Dada, shoe, book, hi, bye-bye and help. You also know a lot of animal sounds, including: horse, sheep, cow, dog, cat, elephant, lion, monkey, fish and bird. Granted, Daddy and I are often the only one's who know what you're saying, but we think you are the smartest child ever.

You continue to love books, but we've entered the stage where you want to read the same book over and over and over again. Like 10 times in a row. Literally. And I think you would want to keep going if I didn't hide the book ask you to pick another one. It can be mind numbing, but it's hard to say no to books. I love that you love reading, so we read them over and over and over again to your heart's content. Your favorite book this month is probably Dear Zoo (you like to lift the flaps and say all the animal noises) or Ollie.

Moving vehicles continue to be an obsession of yours.  Buses, trucks, trains, cars, you name it. If it has an engine and wheels, you're all about it. Tuesday is garbage day in our neighborhood, and you love to peer out the front window and watch the garbage truck head down the street. Several weeks ago you started crying as it rounded the corner. "Ma," (more) you cried to me and pointed. "Ma!"

Considering your parents both adore food (and adventurous food at that), you are an exceptionally picky eater. Your favorite foods are cheese, yogurt, apples, peanut butter, bread, bananas, waffles, kiwi and cinnamon graham crackers. But you still won't touch meat, and you turn up your nose at most vegetables. We've gotten pretty creative at sneaking vegetables into your meals. We've found you'll eat them if we mix them in with your yogurt or hide them in a peanut butter sandwich. Whatever it takes.

We were so excited to put up the Christmas tree earlier this month, but you know what? You could have cared less. I thought for sure you'd freak out over the bright twinkling lights, but you gave it a resounding "meh". On the plus side, that means you pretty much leave the tree and ornaments alone.

One of my favorite things you do right now is help Mama with the laundry. You toddle in the laundry room after me and announce "helper", which means you want to help put the wet laundry into the dryer. So I put a few pieces on the dryer door for you to throw in yourself. You love it. So much so that sometimes you take the wet laundry back out of the dryer, only to throw it right back in.

Your favorite toys this month are your yellow dump truck, fire truck "book", Zany Zoo (wooden activity center) and popper. Grandma picked up the popper for you at a garage sale because it looked just like one Daddy had when he was a little boy. It's in great condition and you love it. Often you just run back and forth across the house, pop pop popping away.

I can't tell you how much I love this age. You are so fun and funny, sweet and silly, inquisitive and energetic. It's not easy parenting a toddler, but we're having a blast. You are our whole world. I love you so much, my sweet baby boy.

Love,

Mama