18 months!

Happy 18 month birthday my sweet sweet boy! Where DOES the time go? Typically I post your height/weight stats but I honestly have no idea what you weigh! I can tell you that you are tall and skinny! :-)

You are finally wearing a bigger size shoe - it seems like you were a size 5 for a really long time. I'm sad to say goodbye to all your cute shoes but we will just replace them with even better ones! You're now wearing a 6-6.5. It took a day or so for you to get used to your new shoes, but now it's no problem at all!

You've outgrown just about all of your 18 month shirts...many of them still fit around the middle but you're so long that I'm afraid that you might look like an 80's muscle-shirt/cut-off guy...and we can't have that, now can we? ;-)

You can still wear some 18 month shorts - as long as they're long enough. 24 month shorts are too big around the waist, so we have to roll them. Which actually reminds me of a funny story! We were getting ready to go get your pictures taken today and I left you in the house while I ran outside to put some stuff in the car. When I came back in through the garage door, you met me there and opened the door for me. When I bent down to kiss you and tell you thank you, you stepped clean out of your new shorts! I couldn't stop laughing because you sort of looked down at them and said "what the heck just happened" and proceeded to step out of them! It was really funny!

Your vocabulary is growing too! You're using your words at the right time and in the right context! I love to ask you: "are you hungry, Ryan?" and you run to the drawer - screaming "Biii" "Biii" "Biii" and grab your bib for me. Or sometimes you'll run to the pantry and fling open the doors to see what it is that you'd like to eat.

You're still a really picky eater...but we work on it, don't we. It's not fun - but we (Daddy and I) keep trying. You still love chicken, meatballs, mixed veggies, and all kinds of fruit. Your favorite word to say (and for me to hear) is "apple" - which is sometimes "bapple". Sooo cute!

You love the water....baths....the swimming pool....puddles....the water table.....and the splash zone at the Roseville Community pool.

Uh-oh is another favorite word...you say it a lot! When you are lucky enough to get the remote control to the tv, the first thing you do is turn it over and take off the battery cover. And then the "uh-oh's" begin as you come running to find me. 'uh-oh....uh-oh...uh-OH'. You do this anytime you've done something that you know you're not supposed to do. Or if you have something that you're not supposed to have. The telephone is another fun example. If you're not running to me saying "uh-oh" - it's "hello?" "hellO" "HELLLLLO" and then "Hi" "HI" "Hello".

Ahh - the stories. I love them all. Thank you for being my sweet angel. I love you so. I hope you'll always know how much we love you. That's why this is written to you today. Happy 18 month birthday to the littlest love of my life!