Love Letter to a 16 and 17 month Old

Dear BabyP,

I figured about half way through the month that it would be best for me to save all of my new data for a double love letter, but now my brain feels fried which makes my posts sound disjointed. Maybe if everyone read them in a robot voice, they would all make a big more sense.

Speaking of robots "OBOTS!" Your language is getting better. You don't pronounce things very well, but I can tell you are trying. Right now it is hard to know if what you are saying is an accident. The other day I asked you if you wanted something to drink and I swear you said "Cup" as you were running away.

And it seems like most things these days leave you running away. You are a monkey. You climb up on everything. You push buttons. You pull things done on your head. You turn on the stove. You even try to mess with the electical outlets. It can be really stressful to be at home with you and your sister because your sister thinks it is hilarious to do exactly what you do. This dual action leaves me with two monkeys causing chaos in my house which is causing my alochol intake and trips downstairs to the playroom to both go up exponentially these last couple of months.

Your favorite person is still me, but I am followed closely by your sister. You are big enough now that I am not so worried that she is going to kill you, but I do worry that her impulsiveness along with your ignorance can be a deadly combination. You two run throughout the house screaming and pushing the brooms. You allow her to load you into dump trucks and push you on bikes. If she is watching a show, you run over and turn of the TV to see her reaction. When you see her at school you say "Olllo didter". It is sweet and melts my heart.

Don't get me wrong, your interest in your sister does prevent you from pulling on my legs while I am cooking. It is really nice when you hold onto my legs and dangle while I have something hot in my hands. Of course it is right before dinner time when everyone is hungry and tired.

Although you and your sister are similar, in many ways you are different. For example, we were coloring on our pumpkins the other day. You would take the cap off the marker, draw on your pumpkin, and put the cap back on. Your sister had all the caps off the markers and everything strewn all over the table and floor. You are just a much more organized little boy than your sister ever was or probably ever will be. If you see a lid open, you close it. Unfortunately, it does matter if your sister is done playing with whatever object is open.

Your favorite toy right now is MY wooden kitchen spoons. We recently bought you your own kitchen set, and soon hope to get you some more pans to play with it. I am contemplating buying you a set of kitchen spoons so I don't have to wash mine off after you use them for 2 minutes and decide that you need a new one.

When you get really excited about something, you stamp your feet up and down like that little penguin on happy feet. I love it so much when you do it that I want to give you extra helpings AND smoother you in kisses.

The thing that strikes people the most about you is your big smile and big cuddles. You walk into school looking to see who is going to get their lovin's first. Peanut's teacher even calls you prince charming because you go up to her and give her a big cuddle. The floaters at school ask about you and say that they have to go down get their hugs from you. You are like the fun loving uncle or someone’s papa.

This last couple of months has been fun. I really like this phase because it is right before you can talk, but you can communicate enough to let me know what is going on. You are super fun and seem, for the most part, to have gotten over the general grumpiness that was plaguing you. You make me and everyone else in this family smile with you giddiness and laughter. I love you and can’t imagine a time without you.


Your mum