Blogging our first pregnancy and child rearing, all the ups and downs, tears and laughs and overthinking that not only comes with being knocked up and a new Momma, but with just being me.
17 Months
Emilio,
17 Months! One more month until you hit another major milestone in growing up in the early years, year and 1/2- 18 months. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves!
You’re already looking like such a big boy to me sometimes. It kind of blows my mind.
The last month had some pretty major events in it, the biggest being your Uncle Sam and Aunt Marianna’s wedding! And you were the ring bearer! You did such a great job Emilio, everyone was talking about you and Dad and I were very proud. I’m pretty sure you were the cutest ring bearer in the history of the role too. I didn’t expect much less, but I was still so happy to watch you walk down the aisle.
But, let’s get down to the business of getting to 17 months! You continue to be a great eater, and I’m so thankful for your curious palate, and love of healthy foods! Lately, you’ve started eating more, a lot more. I got a note home from daycare requesting more food because you were eating it all by lunch and had none left for a snack! And, the other night you doubled your usual portion of dinner. Woah! You woke up really early a few times last week and when I increased your dinner portion, poof you slept in. Glad I figured that one out! I suspect you’re growing you’re growing out of your size 4 shoes, and you’ve probably got some teeth coming in too- lots going on!
Speaking of sleep, you’re still up 1-2 times a night usually, but are becoming a pro napper and starting to help Dad out by asking for what you need (fan, white noise, crib) and then settling in for good naps that give us a little rest plus get you ready for all the fun we get up to on the weekends!
And what fun we get up to! We’ve had parties, and play dates and lots of outside time. I’m so excited for another summer with you bud.
One of the parties we went to was the last time you got to see your pal Julia for awhile. She moved with her family to NH, and hopefully we’ll get to visit and you can continue to foster a relationship, but we were all sad that you guys had to say goodbye. She’s been asking after you too!
It was at that birthday party that Dad and I really got to see just what a big boy you’re becoming. It continues to amaze us to watch you grow up before our eyes. You exert your will in such clear ways now, and are becoming such a curious and confident boy.
You very much still want to be with us, and doing things with us, and you’re also happy to amuse yourself with your “guys” (stuffed animals) and books. You know your domain, and are very clear how you want things to operate. It’s a blast to watch.
The biggest change in the past month has been the introduction of your stuffed animals. You had a pretty good collection since birth that grew after your first birthday. And now, you can’t get enough of them. They’re all named, some as the animal name, some as the animal sound and some randomly. You ask after them one by one, pick them up, put them all on your chair, or give them all to me or Dad and then repeat. You often pick one or two to have with you all day on the weekends, and if they’re not, you ask after him or her. Your favorite? Grover. You love that little blue guy so much. The way you say, “Grover” when you get him is similar to how you say Mama or Dada.
You are such a talker! You are picking up words left and right now. You learn the name of something, say it and then repeat. My favorite is how you say Okay. It gets me every time. Tonight you learned cereal! You love those Barbara’s Shredded Spoonfuls! I am not one to count your words, but Dad tells me it is over 50. You learned Auntie, Uncle, and Tia when we were in Knoxville as well as a lot of names, and those were on repeat for a few weeks after we got back. You would see someone that looked like one of your new aunts, or Tia or Uncle and you’d turn and ask, “Tia?” Unfortunately, no is definitely part of your words of choice, but you aren’t too adamant, yet.
You’re still learning how to best communicate with us, and we’re encouraging you to use sentences too. The one sentence you know is Good Girl and you use it often when talking about Dijjy. You love your dog Khadijah, and I think she’s learning to love you too.
Mother’s Day was this last month, and I loved spending it with you. My favorite part of being a Mother so far is getting to watch how you grow and change every month. Every month as I sit down to write you a letter I think, oh boy, how can I possibly share everything you’ve done in the last month? There are so many little things, like how you say, “ooh” when you find something interesting. And how you now use “uhoh” to make it seem like you didn’t mean to do something (like dropping food) and so many big things I want to make sure I don’t miss, like you pulling your pants off, or saying night night and settling in to the pillows in bed because you now know that’s what going to bed means.
It is just such an amazing journey, and you are just such an awesome little boy. You are funny, so very funny and so full of life and your only goal so far is to share it with those around you. Sure you may be hesitant at first, but as soon as you’re comfortable, boy do you let loose. And everyone, I mean everyone, loves it. You bring joy to every room. Keep it up Emilio, keep living life with the sense of joy and simple purpose you have now. You can’t go wrong that way.
Let’s keep having the time of our lives, okay big boy?
I love you,
Mama
A pause in our regularly scheduled programming to send a happy anniversary wish to the best Husband and Dad.
3 years ago, when our Milio man was still out picking blueberries, we put on our best dressed, we smiled and posed a lot, we celebrated our love on a small and special island with our family and friends and in a large fun filled ballroom with a kick-ass band and delicious food (and cake!), we danced, we laughed. 3 years ago we put on paper what we’d known for 8 years already, that we were each others one and only.
3 years ago I got to call you my Husband and I’m so lucky you are. I knew then and I see now what a wonderful father you would be, so how lucky Emilio and I both are.
love love love love
for more pictures from the best wedding ever, total unbiased opinion, check em out here: Flickr Wedding Photos
