It’s been one of the best months yet. Last month was a little rocky since you weren’t sleeping well and generally were just cranky (and we were tired). But this past month has been amazing. You’ve been sleeping really well and when you’re awake you’re super pleasant and content and funny!
Here’s the general breakdown of our day:
4am: Dave gets up.
4:45am: I get up and get ready to run.
5am: You get up. You sometimes wake up early – between 4:30 and 5am – but we got a clock that turns green when you’re allowed to get up and for the most part you just talk in your crib. As soon as that sucker turns green you yell “Green! Green!” It’s the first color you’ve learned.
5:15am: We’re out the door for our run. We do 4 or 5 miles. You like to tell me about cars and lights and the sky and trains while we ride. You LOVE when we see trains on our run. You get
essentials of a morning run: dog, car, snack, drink
7am: Green smoothies with Dave.
We pass the morning with some combination of the following: playing with cars, going for a walk, a playdate, watching a little Barney. You’re pretty easy to please and you play well by yourself. Still, you LOVE getting outside, so we try to take at least one walk every morning, whether it’s short and around the block or a little longer.
11am: Lunch. Most of the time it’s some cheese, a hard boiled egg, maybe some peas, leftover green smoothie, some berries or fruit.
12pm: Nap. You are especially silly before naptime and totally procrastinate by being as sweet and goofy as possible.
2:30pm: Wake up. On a rough day you wake up early – like 1:30pm – but these are pretty rare now. Most of the time you sleep til at least 2, and generally closer to 2:30.
We try to get out in the afternoon. I can work from the back deck while you play or we go down to the library and you play at the train table. You’re so so happy outside, completely in your element.
5pm: Dinner. You eat what we eat and if you don’t or you eat only a little, you generally top off with some applesauce. You’re pretty good at trying what we’re having, even if you don’t eat it all.
After dinner you play with Dave – you love having him chase you – and then we go on a family walk or run an errand to a store together. Then it’s bathtime (not every night but pretty often – you have stinky summer feet and sweat head!).
6:30pm: Bedtime. Again, you are super silly and sweet because you’re procrastinating. You giggle a lot and throw yourself around on us. But you also like to read your Bible with us and give us hugs and kisses.
Favorite things to play: throwing a ball (you say “Catch! Catch!”), playing with your cars, digging, throwing rocks (whenever you find a rock you say “Water?” because you want to throw it and watch the splash and you get so sad when there isn’t any water), swinging, slides, looking for buses and trains, pushing or riding your big truck around the house, launching yourself from couch to ottoman or climbing across the ottoman and dropping headfirst off the other side (you will do this over and over again and laugh like a maniac the whole time)
Used to be favorites that aren’t as favorite anymore: You’re not as big into books right now, but that’s just because you’d rather be outside (and we’re spending a lot more time out there). You do still bring books over, but not nearly as often. You still stack stuff, but not as obsessively as you once did.
New things you’re learning: You know so many words. 95% of the time we know what you’re saying and what you’re wanting, which is really helpful and really fun. You know the color green. You’re starting to learn shapes, but they haven’t really coalesced for you yet. You make Mr. Carrot dance and go to sleep and go down slides and take drinks of your water. You can do the stairs all by yourself and without us being nervous. Going down you don’t have to hold on to anything but going up you do still. You’re not talking in sentences but you’re starting to group words. Not just “more” but “more bread”; not just “cow” but “cow moo.”
visiting the cows that live nearby
We call you “Insatiable Gus” because you’re constantly saying “more,” even when you still have something! You can be looking at a bus and before it’s gone you’re already asking “more.” With the cookie still in your mouth you’ll plead “more.”
Over a month ago we were on a walk and a train passed close by and the loud whistle scared you. You still talk about this multiple times a day – “Train. Scared. Woooo.” – but all the same you love trains and you want to see them. Your memory is fantastic. We saw a bus at the park one day and now every time we pass that park you say “Bus?”
You say “me me me me me me me” when you want up in our laps. We have no idea where you got this from (or even what you really mean) since you don’t refer to yourself as “me” any other time.
Your feet seriously STINK. Like I can smell them when you’re sitting a couple feet away. We do bathe you. Promise. I blame those crocs.
We went to the zoo this past weekend and the three things you loved the most were: puddles/ponds/waterfalls, Canadian geese, and ramps. You were momentarily pretty enthralled by a shark.
You still love to take baths but you HATE getting water in your face. So basically washing your face and hair is suuuuuper fun. Generally you stand up and cry and wail “Done! Done!” But then when we finish you sit back down and play. Your favorite tub toys are the washcloth and a cup. You like to pour water/drip it from the washcloth.
You love to have jobs to do, like picking up your toys, throwing away something for us, turning off your music, etc. You love to be big!
I can’t even tell you how precious you are or how much we love our time with you. We don’t just feel lucky to have you as a son, we feel lucky to be your parents – that you choose to love us and play with us and be funny with us. You’re amazing, bud.
