My Lil' Razorback

My little Razorback is keeping me busy, busy! And I'm loving it. His personality is blooming more and more each day. I can't believe that this was the little guy just one year ago!

He can be such a goof when we're playing "tickle spider" (my hand becomes a spider that loooves to tickle a certain little boy) and peek-a-boo. And he can be so serious when we are reading together or if someone is explaining something to him. His little face becomes so solemn, and I can see how hard he is concentrating.  He adores being the center of attention (hm...I wonder who he got that from?), and if I am talking with another adult and little man is in the room, he will start shouting out words until we stop chatting and look at him.

I'm still not sure what he's going to be for Halloween this year. Last year, he was an adorable monkey. I'm thinking...a pumpkin, maybe?

His least favorite time of day is when the hubbs leaves for the hospital. He sticks his fingers in the crack of the door, and cries, "Dada! Ah-gone! Dada!" And it breaks my heart.

His favorite time of day is when Dada comes home. Nothing can compare. He gets so excited that he runs up to the hubbs, shouting, "Dada! Dada! Dada!" As soon as Dada scoops him up, he starts shouting out every noun he sees. So, it goes something like this, "Dada! Dada! Dada! Ear! Nose! Trac-ta (tractor)! Car! Fire! Deuce (juice)! Ball!" It is hilarious.

Mr. Butch Cassidy's favorite thing in the world is to play "ah-side" (outside). He loves to pick up the "punkiss" (pumpkins) and throw "a rock." Speaking of "a rock," the little man is adding the article "a" to nearly everything. It's pretty precious. A bath. A car. A "tee" (tree). He is also starting to put words together. The other day, he walked up to "BeeGee" (my mom), and said, "Bite of yo-gur (yogurt)." And all the time, he shouts, "Up me!" This exclamation means, "Pick me up! I want to see what is going on!" The thing that is cracking me up/embarrassing me to death right now is that when he says "frog," what ends up coming out is the "f" word--crystal clear. Oh, we had an incident in Walgreen's--I won't go there. Just know that I was very red by the time we left. :)

The toddler is down to one nap a day, which works well with our hectic schedule. He usually goes to bed around 7:30 and is up anywhere from 6:45-8:00. He likes to mix things up and keep me on my toes. It always seems to work out that the mornings that I set my alarm for 6:00 or earlier, he decides to sleep in. Oh well. :)

The toddler now goes to bible school one morning a week and mother's day out one day a week. I have seen tremendous benefits from these two activities. He no longer cries when we drop him off at the nursery at church. He is even more independent around the house, which means that sometimes Momma actually gets to focus on something! Gasp!

His favorite thing in the world to eat is "pia" (pizza). Every night at dinnertime, he asks, "Pia?" And if he sees a pizza box, he will absolutely squeal with excitement. He also likes "feesh" (goldfish), "cuh-racker" (crackers), "yo-gur," "tease" (cheese), and he's not concerned about hurting his momma's feelings if he doesn't like something, which he deems, "yuck-eeeee!" His vocabulary and his ability to mimic sounds continue to astonish me.

I hope this doesn't sound mean, but little man is horrible in restaurants. The hubbs and I came to the conclusion about a month ago that we were no longer going to take him out to eat until he could behave. Like he pitches a fit. After paying about eighty dollars for a meal at Big Cedar Lodge that we each only ate a few bites of, we decided that there were lots of date nights in our future and not so many family dinners out.

Our time together consists of walks every morning, watching Super Why (his favorite show), playing "ah-side" as much as possible, trips to the library where we frustrate lots of people who are seeking quiet, trips to the park, and playdates.

I love this stage that he's in right now. I love how balanced and exciting it feels. I love that when we are out and about, he can say, "Look Mama!" And he can tell me what he wants me to look at!

I know that God has amazing plans for this sweet little angel of mine. I can't believe we're approaching a year and a half! Where did that time go? That's a rhetorical question of course, for the time has been spent in enduring sleepless nights, making endless new adjustments, waging food fights at the dinner table, chalking up the driveway, rocking a sleeping little boy in my arms while singing Billy Joel songs (don't judge), causing scenes in the middle of libraries and restaurants, laughing at tickle spider, and a million other memories that all the while are shaping and molding, blessing and teaching.