2 next month

Lately it has become easier to respond to this question, "How old is he?", with "He will be 2 in January". Almost 2 just rolls off the tongue better than 23 months. It is a milestone really; from here on out Doodle will be "2" and eventually "2 and a half" rather than a quantity of months. It is another reminder that he is growing up. Way. Too. Fast.

To commemorate, this is Doodle's 23 months list:

1. You often refer to yourself as "Dayden" and sometimes "I".
2. Christmas is next week. You love ALL the decorations, especially "Tip-i-tees" (Christmas tress).
3. Santa is fun to talk about and look at from afar. You were not a fan of your encounter with the jolly ole' elf.
4. Overnight stays at grandparents' are becoming a monthly occurence. You love "PaPaw and Nana's" and "Mimi and Poppy"'s houses.
5. We are thinking about letting Papaw give you a puppy.
6. Thomas and Friends and Mickey Mouse are each watched almost daily.
7. You have started lining objects up in a single-file line. These objects become a "choo-choo".
8. You are obsessed with trains. And tractors.



9. Pretend play is beginning. You will lay your toys on their sides and say "night-night". Then you start snoring.
10. You torment Milo endlessly in any way you can and have also started to chase Jake around the house.
11. Jake scratched you on your face for only the second time ever. See above.
12. You suffer from nurse-maid elbow. Dr. Collins had to pop a ligament in your elbow back into place because it slides over a bone and becomes stuck. You did not use your arm for 2 whole days within a 5 day time frame.
13. You love for the fire in our fireplace to be lit. You say, "Daddy. Fire. Do it. Please."
14. You are a little parrot, repeating nearly everything you hear.
15. When Daddy comes home from work you become SO excited. You two scream and yell and laugh and run and tickle and hide and push trucks all over the house together.
16. Dancing to Christmas music has become a favorite activity. You ask for the music and proceed to dance: stomping, clapping, jumping.
17. You like for Daddy to make himself into a bridge so you can crawl under him. He also does this for you using the couch cushions.
18. Ready? Set. Go! You are beginning to like to race!
19. When trying to convince us you should watch Mickey or Thomas and you are not happy with no as a response, you proceed to ask to watch, "News?" Nice try.
20. You like to play hide-and-seek. You say, " Where are num?" and "There it is" using a higher pitched voice.
21. You can count to 2 and know the colors blue, green, and red consistently and orange, brown, and yellow inconsistently.
22. Kaleb, Kameron, and Roby are three of your favorite people. You love your cousins.
23. You are snuggly. You like to give kisses and hugs and say "Wuv You, _____". Please do not ever stop being that way.

Thank you Doodle for being the absolute best thing that has ever happened to us. You are such a blessing to us and we continue to thank God for you each and every day.

"Every good and perfect gift comes from above..."
James 1:17

22 months

1. Tractors and trains rule your life.

2. You refer to yourself as "Dayden".

3. When talking on the phone, you randomly say names of people we have seen, places we have been, or things you have seen during the day.

4. You love to "nuggle" with Mommy in the morning and Daddy in the evening.

5. We draw tractors and trains outside with chalk and in the bathtub with crayons.

6. You recently tried to ride Milo. He was not amused.

7. You have been taking 3 hour naps. Perhaps you are in the middle of a growth spurt.

8. Christmas music seems to calm you in the car. Too bad I cannot make it work at Kroger.

9. We continue to read multiple books a day.

10. You consistently put 3 words together in phrases and occasionally even 4: Mommy cook water hot.

11. "Na-nook" means yogurt. You eat it once a day.

12. Thomas the tank engine is your new obsession. Mickey Mouse waned for a while but is beginning to make a comeback.

13. Hide and seek is your favorite game: "Dayden hiding", "Mommy Daddy hide", as you throw blankets over our heads. 

14. You and Daddy go into your room and play in the dark. All I hear is you screaming and laughing. When Daddy opens the door you shout "NO!" and slam the door shut.

15. You had your first dentist visit with Dr. Kirby. You were not amused.

16. It is great fun, in your eyes, to stand on the arms of the furniture. It is not fun for Mommy.

17. You love playing with your cousins Kameron and Roby. After Halloween, when we were in the car you would say, "Roby's house?"

18. You grab Milo's tail and hang on. You lightly touch Jake's tail and say, "tickle, tickle".

19. When Mommy is cleaning you say, "Dayden keen, peas", translated 'Jayden clean, please'.

20. A favorite thing for you to do is run around in circles. When you fall down you say, "crash" or "wreck".

21. Everything is the color 'geen'.

22. Stickers are a great toy. And inexpensive too. Mommy vacuums them up all over the house and they are stuck all over the furniture. But, you're totally worth it!

19 months and counting...

1. Physically, you are your daddy made over. You have not come across a climbable object that you have not at least tried to climb.

2. Most things you succeed in climbing and this makes Mommy a nervous wreck.

3. You had your first sleepover with Mimi and Poppy. They said they would have you back again. Apparently you did not misbehave too much.

4. You still absolutely LOVE animals. When they interact with you, you laugh hysterically!

5. Thank you and please are words you use quite readily. Mommy loves it!

6. Transportation vehicles are now your favorite toys: tractors, trucks, cars, airplanes, anything with wheels.

7. Your appetite has significantly diminished.

8. You are wearing a size 6 shoe, 18-24 months size shirts, and 12-18 months size shorts/pants.

9. At your 18 month well-check you were in the 50th percentile in height (32.25 inches) and just above the 25th percentile in weight at 25 pounds.

10. Cousin Kameron came to visit you at your house! You had not seen each other in over 3 months because of his bone marrow transplant.

11. He brought you your first (of many, for sure) Nerf gun. You laugh out loud when we shoot the balls at you then you run after and fetch them.

12. When we play outside, you love to be in all our neighbors yards and driveways instead of ours.

13. You are frequently using 2 word phrases and speak complete sentences of gibberish. You seem to know what you are saying.

14. You call Kaleb and Kameron "Bubbles" and "Puppy" respectively as Kaleb always blows you bubbles when he sees you and Kameron has the talking puppy app on his iPod.

15. Jake fell into the bathtub with you and scratched you down your side. This is the first kitty cat scratches you have suffered, surprisingly.

16. Your new favorite character is Mickey Mouse. You also still love Elmo.

17. The louder the music, the more vigorously you dance!

18. You still love the Itsy Bitsy Spider song. Now, you do you own hand motions and have started to sing along.

19. You use "no" appropriately at times and the way you say it sounds so cute. This will not be the case very soon.

Happy 19 months of life, Doodle!

Time Flies

***1.5 years *** 18 months *** 78 weeks *** 546 days *** 13,104 hours *** 786,240 minutes *** 47,174,400 seconds***

On Monday, this became Baby J's age. He was born on a Monday and fittingly turned 18 months young this past Monday, the 18th. He has become the center of our lives, the joy in our hearts, the thoughts in our minds, the smiles on our faces, and the laughter in our world. Being his Mommy is a dream come true, literally. He is my answer to a desperate tearful cry to God and I cannot help but thank God for him on a daily basis as "Every good and perfect gift is from above...James 1:17".


Baby J,
Here are some things you have been up to these days:
1. You made your 2nd trip to Chicago on your 18 month birthday. This may become an annual family trip.
2. All things that fly, you call "bees". And when it flies away you say, "Bye, bee!"
3. Instead of saying 'MawNana' as Kaleb and Kameron call her, you call her "Nanny". She says you can call her whatever you want. Time will tell if the name 'Nanny' sticks.
4. When it is time for a nap or bedtime, you ask to go to bed. You say "night-night", ask for your "nannie" (which is also you paci), and climb into the chair to be rocked.
5. You love Elmo. We watch him nearly every day.
6. It seems you will love the water. You like to swim and don't mind water in your face. You kick your legs and paddle your arms when Mommy encourages you to swim.
7. You have a farmer's tan: the back of your neck, arms, and legs are tanned. The rest of you, not so much!
8. Your hair gets blonder as the weeks of summer pass, just like your Daddy's when he was little.
9. Complete strangers regularly tell us how cute you are. (duh!)
10. When we mimic you, you laugh hysterically.
11. You repeat words you hear us say. Your vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds!
12. You are beginning to deliberately test limits. If you're told not to go somewhere you will look at who gave you instruction while taking tiny baby steps toward the place you're not to be going to.
13. You call white dogs "Max" because our neighbor's have a little white dog whose name is Max.
14. After a drink of soda, you shook your head "no" and scrunched up your face. You were not a fan.
15. M&M's are your new favorite treat. When you have them your eyes light up, eyebrows raise, and you say "mmmm" while usually signing "more" then "please".
16. Potty training for you is on Mommy's radar. You recognize when you poot, poo-poo, and sometimes pee-pee.
17. At the zoo, you loved the fish. We took you to Petco and you loved the fish there too. We may look into getting you a Beta.
18. Your new favorite song is "The Itsy Bitsy Spider". At the end of the song you starting vigorously signing for "more".
Thank you, Baby J, for making our lives so much more enjoyable, laughable, and full of adventure! You're an amazing toddler and are perfect for us! We love you incredibly! Even when you pose for pictures doing this!

 

Thoughts at 30!

Today, I am 30. There I said  it(actually I wrote it, it may feel a little differently when I say it). I am chosing to embrace this fact instead of mourn my 20's. I mean, let's face it. My 20's were great but I also did a lot of stupid things in my early 20's. Things I am not so proud of and are better left unsaid. In my 20's: I graduated college, I became engaged and married, we bought our first home, got our first 2 pets, watched miracles before my very eyes, and had our first baby-a bouncing (literally) baby boy! Who could mourn that?!? Sure, Kameron told me I was "not young and hip anymore" yesterday because today I am turning 30, but what's he know anyway?!? He's (almost) 10! And actuallly, I'm not sure I was ever hip anyway; not a priority in this girl's life.

I've heard that starting at 30, the decades following just get better and better. I think that may be true. So, today I am chosing to embrace my 30's, declaring they will be my best decade yet, and I'm going to start it off right by sending my bouncing baby boy to spend the night with my parents and spend the day in the pool tomorrow-baby free for a while!! Sounds like a great refreshing way to start a new decade!
Happy weekend to you all and tell your father's and baby-daddies Happy Father's Day!!!

16 for 16 months

Baby J,
Today you are 16 months old. You are a hot mess! You make Mommy and Daddy laugh all the time! We love you more than you will ever know. Happy 16 months of life <3
Here are some things you should know about yourself as a 16 month-old:

1. You are a climbing machine: boxes, toys, furniture, ladders, etc. If it can be climbed, you try it.
2. You are very affectionate. Hugs are given freely, kisses when you choose. Milo gets hugs and kisses anytime you catch him!
3. You LOVE to go bye-bye. Mommy and Daddy have started spelling O-U-T and S-H-O-E-S. If we say them within earshot of you, you think we are going bye-bye and run to the front door.
4. You LOVE to read. We spend hours each week reading. You bring us a book, sit in our laps, and listen while we read book after book after book after book after book...
5. You aren't too interested in TV unless Elmo, commercial music, or animals are on. You will immediately stop what you're doing when you hear those things.
6. Mimicing is a new favorite activity for you. When Mommy and Daddy yawn and stretch, you do the same.
7. When you are excited you run through the house screaming or you swing your arms back and forth if you're sitting down.
8. The slide is your favorite piece of playground equipment. You like to slide down but your favorite thing to do is climb up!
9. You are saying several words: Daddy, Mommy, bath, bye-bye, ball, hi, this, that, bites, ball, kitty cat. You also have a plethora of animal sounds: elephant, duck, pig, cow, snake, cat, dog, sometimes wolf.
10. Your appetite has drastically decreased. It is more interesting for you to throw food on the floor and smash it on your high chair tray. Bananas, blueberries, peas, milk, cheese, lima beans, strawberries, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, guacamole are all some of your favorite foods.
11. You love bathtime. The new activity during bathtime is to lay on your belly and kick your feet and blow bubbles in the water. This excites Mommy and Daddy as we want you to learn to swim and love the water-not fear it as so many members of our family do.
12. Like any boy, you love balls. You have learned to throw them and you love to play basketball.
13. You love to play with Daddy when he comes home from work. An activity you two love to do together is for Daddy to throw a blanket or towel over your head and you walk around bumping into things. You laugh when you do bump into something and when Daddy growls or hisses at you while your head is covered.
14. Playdates are becoming a regular occurence for us. You love playing with your buddies.
15. You love to be outside. If anyone goes outside without you, tears are present within seconds!
16. You are a happy baby toddler. People comment how you are always smiling every time they see you. And you do have a VERY cute smile :)

Although you are technically not a "baby" anymore, you are still our baby and we love you incredibly. Thank you for making us your Mommy and Daddy!!