19 Months Old!

Dear Marcus,
You are officially closer to being 2 than you are 1. It is so bittersweet to watch you grow. While I want you to forever remain my baby (and don't get me wrong, you will always be my baby) it is so much fun to watch you grow into the little boy you are becoming.

This past month you have made leaps and bounds towards little-boyhood. You are such a determined, feisty little man. It blows my mind how many times you will fall down, bruise a knee, obtain a scrape, bump your head, but you bounce up and just keep going. You are really good at that -- going. You go, and go, and go. While it is exhausting it is also so much fun. Your dad and I both love the fact that you  would prefer to be outside, getting dirty, taste testing rocks, swimming in the pool, or simply running laps around the neighborhood.

Here are your official stats:
Height - 34 3/4 inches (95th percentile)
Weight - 31 pounds (95th percentile)
Teeth - 17
Clothing size - 2T
Shoe size - 6
Diaper size - 5

At your doctor's appointment a few weeks ago the doctor was very pleased with your activity, and she was impressed with your strength. If only she knew how strong you really are. Some days it takes all my strength to get a diaper on you. Not only are you muscularly strong, you are strong willed. That combo can make for some interesting days.

Though you still love yourself some macaroni and cheese, you are starting to try other foods. I think you've surprised yourself at how much you like different things!

Recently your vocabulary has really expanded. I was worried for awhile you would never use words, but you're coming around. New words this month include:
ball, bye, ew, hey, hi, me, meow (this is a current favorite, and you say it all.the.time.), mine, my, ow, quack, uh oh, up.

Other highlights for month 19:

• You find tooting to be hilarious. You are all boy. 
• You have learned to blow on your food if you think it's hot. It is hilarious to watch, as you are not real great at blowing. 
• Brushing your teeth may or may not be the highlight of your morning, as well as the highlight of bath time.
• You have finally begun waving hi and bye. 
• As of late you have discovered you can use our bed frame to climb into our bed (which is quite high up). Once you are on the mattress you proceed to chuck all 1,865 pillows onto the floor. Making the bed can take awhile in the mornings. 
• There is a little skip to your run that is so freaking cute.
• You have a self-propelled 4-wheeler that you LOVE scooting around on. You could spend all day just puttsing around on that thing. 
• One of your favorite outdoor activities is being chased by mommy. This is usually when we need to go inside, but you have a different agenda. 
• Your "gentle" touch with Izzy and Drake can almost qualify as gentle. We are lucky our pets are so patient with you.
• We have started playing with sidewalk chalk. You find your clothes to be a fun canvas to draw on. It washes and I don't mind the mess. Draw on little man, draw on.
• Lately we have been having dance parties in the living room, and you love to shake your little tush around. I die every time. It might be the cutest thing I have ever seen. 
• Recently you have displayed strong interest in reading books. As a lover of reading I am so happy to see you pull out your books and plop down to "read" for a few minutes. Currently your favorite books are Little Blue Truck, Barnyard Dance, Fifteen Animals, and Bright Baby First 100 Words. You LOVE pointing at all the pictures in the First 100 Words book and "asking" me to say the name of each object. I happily oblige. 

Lastly, I want to remember our mornings and our evenings... For the past few weeks we have started each day by snuggling. While you drink your cup of milk we bundle up in a blanket and we take our sweet time waking up together. At the end of each night you snuggle into me, drinking your cup of milk, letting the drowsiness wrap you up while I hold on tight. I know these moments won't last forever, so for now I will soak them up while you let me.

You are amazing, beautiful, and loved more than you will ever know.

I love you to the moon and back. Twice.

Love,
Mommy