20 months

Dear Jack,
Today you are 20 months old.

We have been really enjoying the summer, staying indoors a little more because of the heat but we still go to the playground and the Jungle Island and the beach when we can and we have started going to the Children's Museum which you love and I also love because if we go in the morning you will usually take a nice long nap when we get home and who doesn't love a long nap right?

You love to climb and I am becoming so used to your climbing that I don't even really notice unless you are really precariously perched and usually other people are jumping up to save you from your certain death and I'm just sitting there saying "Jack, you need to be careful" because you have shown me over the last months that you are really the most careful when you are doing something really difficult, it's walking across the room in your father's dress shoes that you fall down and really hurt yourself.

You are starting to talk more and more every day and just this past weekend your Papa and I realized that if we give you word for word, you will string together a whole sentence. And do you want to know what your first sentence was?

"I.....Love.....You"

And let me tell you buddy, I can feed those words to you all day long, waiting for the day you just day it on your own without prompting but until then, it's the nicest thing you have ever said to me and I.... Love....You....Too.

You have turned into a very picky eater the last month or so and while I know it's perfectly normal and you are still healthy and actually eat more than some kids your age do, I still get stressed about it sometimes because for days at a time, it seems like all you want to eat is cereal, waffles, oatmeal and scrambled eggs. I feel like I'm running a Denny's sometimes, where breakfast is always served.

On another note, you are rapidly approaching the age of 2 and with that comes some issues with you acting out and pushing limits and testing the waters. We have started giving you "time-outs" and Jack, you really really hate time-outs. First you start trying to do something cute or funny to get us to laugh because you hate that we are being so serious all of a sudden.

"What happened? We were just having fun and now you're so mad?" you seem to be saying.
Then when you realize that's not going to work, you get mad and you cry. Only you're not really crying ,you're faking it and I know the difference. That's not working either. Then you try to make a break for it.

"Maybe if I just squirm away and take off, this will all be over"

Nope, you're staying here for a full minute, buddy.

Finally, you give into your fate.

And the minute is almost up and you are free to go again, usually to repeat what just got you in the time-out to begin with. *sigh* But we are learning....

Do you know what you do love? Baths. I got you some crayons that you can use in the bath and you love them so much, you ask to take a bath all day long and every chance you get you will go into your bathroom and play in there.



It's so much fun to watch you scribble and erase and scribble some more and then you hand a crayon to me and tell me what you want me to draw and when I do you laugh and make the sound of the animal I just drew or you just erase it and make me draw a new one.


It is also starting to be much easier to take you out to restaurants now and that makes your Papa and I so happy because we love to go have lunch on the weekends and for a while there it was really hard to do because you just wanted to get up and Run! and Explore! but then we bought you a portable DVD player and some crayons and coloring books and you are like a new kid. You will sit and watch The Muppets Take Manhattan or a DVD about animals and color on your paper and actually eat and it is so nice to see.


I just want to share with you a moment we had just before I started writing this and it's one of those moments that I will always hold in my heart. You were getting ready to lay down for a nap and brought me a few books to read but you seemed disinterested. I asked you if you wanted me to sing you a song and you smiled and walked up to me. I picked you up and carried over to your crib and as I started singing you put your arm around my neck and your cheek against my cheek. I sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Moonriver as slowly as possible so I could enjoy every minute and after I finished, kissed your cheek and said "Night night sleepytimes". You looked up at me, smiled and leaned back so I could put you in your crib and you layed on your back, smiling at me as I bent down for a kiss. I wanted that moment to last forever. I love you so much and every day with you just gets better.


Love,
Your Mama