21 Months

January 29, 2012

Dear Riggins,

Your 21st month seemed to fly by, and here we are halfway through February and I am just now sitting down to write your letter!  It has been a wonderfully uneventful month spent enjoying an unseasonably warm winter.  Our weeks have a fairly consistent routine: on Mondays we go to the grocery store, and then you and your friend Isaac take turns playing together while his mommy and I get a break; on Tuesdays, we attend our church's women's Bible study, which you hate; on Wednesdays, we go to BSF, which you love; on Thursdays, we rotate between MOPS, story time at the bookstore, or running errands; on Fridays, we usually hit up the zoo or children's museum.  After lunch and nap, we play in your room, read books, go to the playground, or make a quick trip to the zoo.  Lately, Daddy's schedule has allowed him to come home for lunch a few times a week, and he will often take you and Weber for a run.  You love getting Daddy time in the middle of the day!  

You continue to amaze us with your rapidly expanding vocabulary.  Your favorite phrase these days is "Oh no!"  You also say "Love you!" often accompanied by blowing a kiss.  And you have extended "Bless you!" beyond the sneeze and now say it any time you hear someone blow his nose.  You finally started saying "milk" this month; for the longest time you have held out and continued to use the sign for that word, but now you say "nowk!"  My other favorite phrases are "Hep, pees!" when you need a hand and "Hep mama" when you want to help me in the kitchen on your step stool.

Physically, you continue to demonstrate what it means to be "all boy!"  We recently attended a little girls' birthday party where you were the only boy; as the girls all huddled around the birthday girl watching her open her presents, you proceeded to tear around the room in the background, examining all of her toys and attempting to dismantle her kitchen set.  Such a difference!  Running and jumping are your preferred modes of transportation, and you have demonstrated some impressive climbing skills this month.  I have found you on top of the kitchen table, in your high chair (impressive since we have a high bar-style table and chairs), and most recently on top of our very tall bed.  You've added to your repertoire of dance moves by learning how to spin, which you like to end with a dramatic fall to the ground; quite the party animal!

A few unattractive habits have developed this month, namely screaming and hitting.  We are working on those!  When you get hurt, mad, or frustrated, your first reaction is to hit whatever is in your line of fire, which is typically me.  It must be hard to feel so many strange emotions, and Lord knows if it were socially acceptable for grown ups to hit and scream we would all be doing it too!  But little by little you are learning that just because you feel like hitting or screaming doesn't mean you should.  We'll get there, buddy!  (In the meantime, I'm getting pretty awesome reflexes for snatching your little hand before you make contact, and the neighborhood dogs are refining their super sonic hearing with your high-octave screams.)

Favorite things continue to be Nigh Nigh the blanket, Hippo, choo choos and tractors, bath time, Starfall, "shows" (Thomas the Train, Let's Build, or Praise Baby), your new rocking horse ("Neigh"), music, reading books (Corduroy and A Mother for Chaco have been favorites this month), kissing "baby" in my tummy, jumping on the bed with Daddy, and eating fruit, cheese, and Kashi bars ("cookies").  You dislike going to bible study, pizza, putting on your coat, and generally not getting your way (but who does like that, really?).

You have given me the sweetest gift in the last month or so.  We worked very hard early on in your life to establish good sleeping habits, and I am so thankful that we did.  I definitely still enjoyed my snuggles and rocking, but we put you down for most naps and bedtime while you were drowsy but still awake.  For a long time, that meant that once you got sleepy, you were ready to be put in your crib.  But in the last month, before your afternoon nap, you have fallen asleep in my arms; you typically make it through one story and fall asleep during the second, or as I sing to you.  In these last few months with you as my only child, it has been such a treasure to enjoy getting to hold my sleeping baby again.  You still go down like a dream when this doesn't happen, but on the days it does I just soak it up!

You are such a fun kid, Riggins, and have such a tender heart.  We love you, of course, but we also like you a whole lot too.  We are savoring these last months with you as our only child, and we look forward to seeing what a wonderful big brother you will be!

Love,
Mama