Dear Ezra,
You’re 16 months old. Daddy gave you your first official hair cut and buzzed all your sweet baby hair off. I almost cried. Now unless you are drinking your last bottle of the night or screaming in the middle of the night, it’s hard to ever pretend you’re a baby. Even when I’m rocking you at night, you seem so grown up. You will grab my hand and tuck it right where you want it to rest while we rock. You like my hand resting on your chest and tummy; it must remind you of all the times I swaddled you tight and rested my hand on your chest to try to calm you when you were little.
Other than your first haircut, you had a few other firsts this month. You got your first stomach yuck that made you vomit. Thankfully it was for about 12 hours, and you were a trooper. And you got your first two molars. Those were some rough nights, but they blended in with the rough nights we continue to have with you. You got to feed ducks for the first time, and you were a natural. You’re my little toddler now, and a sun-kissed one at that. You continue to want to be outdoors any time it’s possible.
You also went to your first library programs. It’s interesting to watch you walk into a new setting. Usually we’re there for 30 minutes before you loosen up and are ready to show your full personality. After you acclimate, you start getting braver and wandering farther and farther from mama. The two library programs for this month were just free play, and you gravitated to the truck mat each time. You are all about the cars and trucks ALL. THE. TIME. You love seeing trucks on the street, trucks on TV, trucks in books. If you see a new truck toy, you’re immediately drawn to it. Your little purring sounds from last month have grown into full blown Brrrum….brum…. brum sounds. You like to drive your cars and trucks down ramps. You’ll line them up on couches and chairs. And, you even think mama or dada’s legs make good truck highways. I love watching you play with your trucks, and I love that they can keep you busy for 20-30 minutes easily.
I also find reading to you grows more enjoyable as time passes. This month you started to react to content in your books. One book has a picture of animals brushing their teeth, and when we get to that page, you start to brush your teeth without prompting. Another book has pictures of kids waving at Thomas the Train, and your little hand starts waving too as we turn to the page. And, it blew my mind the other day when I turned the page and one of the illustrations (among others) was a baby playing peek-a-boo, and you put your hands up to your face when you saw it.
Your dada and I continue to love watching you make connections with the world. At times, they are ridiculously comical. Ever since you were an itty bitty baby, if you burped, I’d gently chide you and say, “Uh…piggy!” Fast forward to you on the cusp of toddlerhood and figuring out that animals make noises. You also have taught yourself to belch. We found a YouTube video that grabs your attention by showing various animals making noises. As we watched it, you saw the pig and manufactured a huge belch. We chuckled and played the video again. It was no coincidence that you chose to belch when you saw the pig. So, for now, in this house, piggies belch instead of saying oink. This could lead to serious embarrassment for your dada and me, but we can’t help laughing at you either.
Some days feel like a marathon as I try to keep up with you, but it’s a marathon full of laughs and learning and love.
yet what will be... 