22 Months and Rockin'

Dear Doster,

I can hear you talking yourself to sleep in your room as I type this. What a joy!

You continue to brighten our lives each and every day. It keeps getting better and better. Now that you are talking more, life is much more entertaining. You amaze me constantly with thoughts that you put together. You are so tiny, yet have such big ideas.

I love that you are playful and that you are the perfect combination of "rough and tumble" and pure sweetness.

Thank you for being such a good, happy, sleep-loving baby!

You've been singing bits and pieces of the alphabet song for a while now, but you caught us by surprise when you went for the whole thing during bath time:

(Singing the alphabet during bath time is still your favorite, and you prefer singing that specific song into a cup.)

And today, during a diaper change you started counting buttons on my shirt. I had no idea you could count so high!  This is as much as you'd let me video later:

Just a few highlights of the last month:

Easter was just plain awesome. it fell on the same day as Uncle Patrick's birthday, but he was a good sport about letting you steal all of the attention and glory. You LOVED hunting for eggs ("Easta' egzz"). You were so proud of yourself for each one that you added to your basket. We had plenty of egg hunts around the house and had one at Grammy's house one more at Papa's house.

You also had a big day at Touch a Truck!  You were a little overwhelmed by the crowd at first, but slowly warmed up. We ran into the Goldbergs, and you were elated to see Olivia. You were so cute with your little buddy!

You had your first ice cream in a cone after Touch a Truck.  We can't seem to stay away from Chic-fil-a. 

We also enjoyed a few birthday parties for Campbell and Emma! You were a little shy at both parties, but cake sure helped bring you out of your shell.

We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends and family!


A few things I don't want to forget:

You have great manners! This morning when I handed you your eggs, you said, "Tank you, Mommy."

You are making connections with music. When you hear a song that you like, your face lights up.

Cars and trucks rule the house right now! Tonight you put a Duplo piece on your vegetable truck and said something to the effect of, "Doster make a siren."

You still refer to yourself in the third person. I love that.

A random 103.5 fever sent us to the doctor again this month.  You were completely fine after a day of resting, but boy, was Dr. Painter amazed at your vocabulary.  I think you are finally warming up to him. You no longer cry immediately when he enters the room-- the same cannot be said for the shot/blood-taking nurse, Ms. Alexis.

This morning (a Sunday) I asked if you were hungry and you said "Chif-fil-a."  I hope I haven't created a monster!



It's hard for me to fathom that you will be two years old in a few months. The last year has flown by. I cherish every single second that I spend with you!

Florida Time

Well, I’ve fallen in love with Melbourne. No, not Melbourne, Australia (though, remind me to DVR those housewives too)--Melbourne, Florida!

James’s childhood best friend, college roommate, fellow cute-nerd, Jason, married the smart and beautiful, Amanda in Costa Rica last month. They invited us to a beautiful ceremony and reception in Florida so we loaded up the car, and off we went!

I was a bit nervous for the travel. A seven-hour drive with an on-the-go toddler—how in the world would that work? It actually wasn’t that bad! Doster slept a lot, played a lot, and I caved and let him have his paci the whole car ride. Don’t judge. We took snack stops, food stops and always changed in to PJs during the dinner stop in hopes of easy car-to-bed transitions.

The Hiccup

That easy car-to-bed transition that I dreamed of did not really play out how I'd hoped. We had the perfect plan: I would go in, check in, come back to the car and watch Doster while James headed up to the room and assembled the pack and play. Sounds great, right?

Doster woke up when the car stopped and was very confused about the hotel room. He was super-clingy and would not let me put him down while we hauled our stuff in the room. Settling him back down was impossible. We read books, sang, rocked, and I even tried to let him sleep in bed with us for the first time.  After three hours of this, we decided to kick it old school and drive around while he fell back asleep. Thank goodness that worked!

The Good Stuff

Experiencing the ocean through Doster’s eyes was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  He was curious, excited, scared at first, and finally in love with the water!

A little video of his first time…

"Hey Water!" he would say.

I’ll let pictures tell the story of our beach days.

The Wedding

Despite being late due to some directional challenges (sorry, GPS fail on my part!) everything was beautiful for the ceremony and reception. They chose a gorgeous location overlooking the water, and the vibe was very laid-back and beachy-elegant.

Doster narrated the ceremony from my lap:

    

   Jason an' 'Manda!   Rings!   Pretty!   Jason an' 'Manda.

He stayed as still as possible and was ready to run around as soon as he could.  After pictures we were served a beautiful dinner. Doster and I headed home a little early because, let’s face it, he gets a little crazy when he’s tired. He went to sleep with no problem, and my sweet husband brought me back a cupcake.

I love this picture!

The Family

We loved enjoying quality time with DD and Pop on Saturday of the wedding. It was definitely wonderful to have extra sets of hands! We also met up with some of James’s Florida family on our way home, too. It was planned extremely last-minute, and we are so lucky that it all worked out perfectly!

Doster talked about Parker and Houston for about an hour after we left!  We made a snack stop and a dinner stop on the way home and got in pretty late.  Luckily, we all had Monday off so we could recuperate, do some laundry, and enjoy a beautiful day at the park.

Little Things I Learned About Traveling With A Toddler

We booked a suite rather than just a room. It was nice to have space to hang out while Doster slept and napped. 

• Our room included a small refrigerator and they even included a microwave (Thank you, Radisson-Melbourne!) because I called and begged them too. It worked out really well to bring some Doster-friendly food with us and spend all of our time at restaurants.
• Daniel Tiger on the PBS Kids App = A Life Saver
• I probably would pack more books next time. 
• We kept a basket of toys on the floor of the car. That came in really handy!

In summary—our trip was amazing. I can’t wait to take Doster back to the beach again soon!

21 Months!

My little monkey—

The last few months have been absolutely wonderful. We actually have little conversations now, which is the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced. You are definitely a parrot, but you also have your own thoughts and put words together by yourself.  

You refer to yourself in the third person, and we all think it is adorable. Last night, we were playing outside, and when climbing up the stairs you said, “ Cay-ful, Dosta.”  (Careful, Doster).  

You also say things like:

• Doster’s Room
• Doster’s Noodle
• Doster Diaper
• That’s it, Doster (when you are out of something, like a snack).

You know your last name too, which is so cute!

When you first meet new people or are in a new place, you can be very shy and quiet. I can’t blame you—a bunch of weird grownups all talking in baby voices must seem pretty weird to a toddler. When you are around people that you’re comfortable with, the real talking happens.

Your teacher sent this note home this week—I love it!

We’ve done so much over the last few months—I’ll just fill in with some pictures.

Lots of playdates over the last few months... 

You love seeing your buddies!

We're always game for an Edventure meet-up!

Valentine's Day Cuties!

I love that the other class moms snap these and send them around.  We are so lucky to have a great group of babies and parents!

Now this breaks my heart a little...
We meet at the window when I drop you off.  On this day in particular, I stopped in the hallway and talked to another mom for several minutes.  You were still there waiting on me when I got to my car.  I cried the whole way to work.  That's why Daddy usually does drop off. 

I was lucky enough to have a girls trip to Vegas to celebrate Aunt Leslie's bachelorette party!  Luckily I got back in time to enjoy a beautiful day with you at the zoo!

Taking advantage of that zoo membership with another trip!

Probably the cutest picture I've ever taken.

EdVenture again!  Hey Grammy!

Bros

You love selfies.  

Favorite Phrases:

Wash It (You love having a clean paci in the morning, what can I say?)

No No, Brighton!

Hold You 

Notha Book

Hot anymore (in which you mean NOT hot anymore – you say this every day when you eat your oatmeal)

Seem Him (See Him) (Usually about Daddy!)

Lotsa Trucks

Watch Trucks

How I Wonda Watchu Are

Hey! 

How it goin?/ How you doin?

Mommy Do it. 

Spi Man Shoes (Spider Man Shoes)

Jacket Off!

Other Favorites:

Books: Hands Down—the Truck Book is your favorite possession.  You want to take it everywhere with you.  You also really like your Daniel’s Tiger Ride around the Neighborhood book (it combines your love of Daniel with your love of automobiles)

Shows:  Yo Gabba Gabba, Daniel Tiger – especially the episode with the truck song at the end.  

Foods: Avocado, oatmeal, applesauce, rice, grits

Toys:  Trucks, cars, things with wheels!

Dislikes

• Bedtime
• School dropoff (much improved though!)
• Getting out of bed in the morning (it’s a long process—you just loving chatting and laying around with your “friends”). 

Paci Talk

A few months ago I toyed with the idea of taking your paci away.  I tried one night for a few hours but I totally caved in. You SCREAMED for three hours and my heart was breaking.  You only get your paci at bedtime and I just don’t feel mentally prepared to go there yet.

I’m thinking about “leaving it in Florida” during our trip this week and seeing how you do with that…

We’ll see…

Brag Board

With two school-teacher grandmas, there is a lot of one-on-one time devoted to learning that happens at our house!  Plus, you learn so much from the awesome teachers in your class, and from your friends at school. 

You have your colors down pat and you like learning new colors too. We just learned gray this week.

You know a handful of letters and your favorite is X!

“Upside down” is your favorite concept right now.  It cracks you up when we turn our refrigerator letter magnets upside down, and you request this constantly. “M upsi down? Dubba-you upsi down?”

Random Things I Want To Remember

When you run from one room to another you talk to yourself saying, “Huwwy huwwy.”

I woke you up this morning and you had two of your friends in your hands.  You pushed them both together and said, “Hug.”

We have a little green bathmat that is your “time-out mat.”  You are usually only sentenced for hitting and throwing your bowl.  We put Daddy in time out on Sunday and you loved it!  

I have no clue where you learned this, but if we ask you if you are a baby or a big boy, you say "toddla."



My Doster,

Thanks for being such a sweet, easy baby. Seeing you smile makes me so happy. You fill up our lives with such joy!  

I'll be sure to do a whole blog devoted to our Florida trip next!