The Reedster

Dear Reedster,

You are 22 months old and I just can't believe that in less than 2 months you will be a big brother and you will be 2 years old!!!  I've had a hard time thinking of you as a big boy and pretty much want you to stay my baby forever.  You are an absolute JOY to be around.  Your little voice...your smile...those dimples.  I never want to forget how fun you've been this year!

One of my favorite things to do is ride in the car with you.  You are already very observant.  When we get in the car you say "Backhoe?" or "Skoo bus?" indicating that you want to look for them.  I always respond...We'll look for them and then you say "Yeah!!" with enthusiasm.  You LOVE all forms of transportation.  School buses and airplanes in particular.

Lately you've been adamant about going "down" as soon as we get in the car.  We live at the top of a large hill and you love going down the hill in the car.  You shout "Wheeeeeee" and "Whoohoooooo" the entire way down.  You get a little put out if you discover we aren't headed that way.  You also enjoy driving by the water on Ruston Way because we see lots of trains and boats.  You make sure to point them all out.

You are also really into lights.  Christmas time was a blast because each and every time you saw Christmas lights you would yell out "lights!! lights!!"  

You are still a pretty little guy but are tall.  You are starting to grow out of some of your 18-24 months clothes but pjs and others still fit.  You have lots of very straight blonde hair.

You are a climber and very very active.  You have started climbing out of your crib at every opportunity so we have you sleeping in a sleep sack now.  It seems to have helped things.  I'm just not ready to have both you and your brother in big boy beds right before your little sister arrives!!  You love to do anything active and play basketball with your Daddy a lot.  Your favorite game is "GoGoGoLaugh" which consists of Daddy chasing you around the house, catching you and wrestling with you.  Often as soon as he gets home from work you will run to the door and say "Gogolaugh?" all in one word.  It's adorable.  I have caught you moving chairs into the kitchen to use to get to the counter as well as turning over baskets of books so you can use the baskets as step stools.

You really love to play with toys and are into things you can stack.  Lately you also really like puzzles.  I got a bunch out and you immediately knew what to do with them and were able to put them together without any direction or help.  You have also started using shape sorters.

You love to be outside.  You love animals.  You love jumping in puddles and find them whenever you can!  You love to play "Jesus" on my phone (the animated Bible) and often ask for it and for help to find Jesus.  

You are into everything.  One of my favorite things you do is move these cotton facial cleansing pads from drawer to drawer.  For a while you were doing it almost every day so it was always a surprise to me which drawer I would find them in.  

You still like to have your picture taken and will often say "cheese" as soon as I get the camera out.  you even still smile for pictures which I love!!  

You are a good eater and a good napper.  You play hard all morning and usually crash in the afternoons.  Your brother is your biggest fan so sometimes I have a hard time keeping him from going to wake you up after he is up!  You have finally started to sit still a little bit to watch an occasional TV show (usually Mighty Machines) or read a book.  When you read independently you always hold the book upside down.  Always.  

One of my favorite things is listening to you talk.  You don't say a lot but you have this really cute high pitched voice.  You are really enthusiastic when you speak.  You are better at answering questions so we hear a lot of "yeah" and some "no".  You also like to sing.  You have starting to sing something that sounds like your ABCs and you also sing a song that Peter made up.  I need to get it on video but it's quite humorous.  It's to the tune of a Les Mis song but has special words just for you!

You've started to recognize people and places.  When we go to Bible Study you've started saying "Levi" because you know you'll see him there.  You also called out "pizza" the other day when we turned down 26th street because that's the only time we drive that part of 26th.  

You love your stuffed animals especially a stuffed dog.  You also really like your blanket and often want to take it out of bed with you in the mornings or after nap.  You still sleep with a paci at naps and at night.  You also really like trains and matchbox cars and are really good at playing with Stafford at the train table.  Stafford will often build you a special track on the floor.  Your favorite train is Belle.

Other words you say are up, down, Boom boom (your water), plane, train, truck, BigBee (this is a city bus and it's the word Stafford taught you), yellow, red, blue, T, Jesus, love you, thank you, please, excuse me, slide, puppy, blocks, puddle, puzzle, duck, cat, fish and pizza. I'm sure there are more but I just can't think of them right now.  You've also started putting two or three words together.  

One of my favorite things about you is how polite you are.  You always say "mimi" which is your word for excuse me when you want to get through without being prompted.  You also do this if you burp or have gas.  You also say please and thank you most of the time unprompted.  Sometimes you will take your plate over to the counter after you are finished eating.  You also love to help clean up and will sing "clean up clean up" when it is time to do so.

You are basically just fabulous and I love being your Mama.  We certainly have our times but for the most part you are sweet, easygoing and just generally fun to be around.  I keep hearing reports of how sweet and gentle you are with the babies in the nursery and I can't wait to see you as a big brother!  

We love you so much buddy!!!!  We just wish you would slow your grow!!!!!!!!

Love,

Mama & Daddy