++19 Months++

So, who pushed the fast-forward button on our life and how can I get pause instead? I feel like I just finished typing the 18-month entry and here I am again. Wyatt is so fun right now that we really wish we could stop time and just sit around and laugh with him all day. As he gets better and better with talking we're able to really know what he is thinking...and realize that we should watch everything we say. Not because we have dirty mouths, but because if we don't want to go outside, or bye-bye, or upstairs, those words should not exit our mouths in any context. This morning I told Wyatt he couldn't go outside because he didn't have shoes on. This afternoon, he spent five minutes walking around the house saying "shoes" until he finally found them and handed them to me.

We're getting to know more and more about our little boy's personality. He's a showboat and a jokester, but only at home with his parents. He signs "more" when we tickle him or cover him up and pretend to look for. He loves to run around with his dad. He rides on his back and tells him "stop" and "goooo". He loves to hide in his dad's closet. He loves books. I often find him sitting in a chair or on the couch just looking through a book by himself. We finally got a library card and he loves going to the library to pick out new books (and Mark and I enjoy the fresh reads). He still loves all things with wheels. He has now made the distinction between types of trucks: there are diggers and there are bulldozers. Don't worry if you drive by one and don't happen to see it. He'll be sure to point it out for you.

He is detail-oriented and serious about his "work". He loves to scoop and dump stuff (water, sand) and seems to have a serious three-step process of filling one cup to another to another and then into the flower pot. He would prefer to be outside all day long. He loves nature. Grass, weeds, mulch, mud puddles...you name it, he likes it. He has also become enamored with the friends he has found outdoors: birds, turtles and the neighborhood dogs (much to Mark's dismay). He loves to go "bye-bye" and requests in frequently. I'm not sure exactly what he has in mind, but he loves to get out and see new things. The grocery store is a favorite (perhaps it's the truck carts). We drive by it on the way to school and he always whines when we don't turn in. He has also charmed the deli lady who now gives him a piece of turkey every time. He knows to expect it. I love it. It keeps him busy for half the trip. When it's daddy's turn to do the bedtime ritual, he does nothing but request "mom-meeee". When Mark is at work during the day he is always asking for "dad-deeee". When we're both around he has a cute combo word for us "mommy-daddy" perhaps his way of saying, "I don't really care which one of you...but will someone do this for me?"

I think Mark and I say to each other on a daily basis how lucky we are to have him as our kid. I am sure every parent feels this way...and that is the way it should be. Who knew my best buddy in all the world would be a little pint-sized blue-eyed puddle-loving giggle-happy kiddo?

Here are a few highlights of life with Wyatt these days:

Lovey (a.k.a. "wah wah") is still his best friend.

Hiding in the closet.

Playing in his sandbox after he helped his dad build it all day. It was hard to coax this smile out of him. Digging in the sand was serious business!

As for the rest of us. We're getting along just fine. Each week seems to get a little easier. It's nice that the weather has really turned and more and more people are outside. We're meeting more neighbors and getting to know people better. The pool opens soon as well! Saturday night I headed downtown with a couple of neighbor friends for a girls night out. We saw a broadway show and went out to eat. It was fun! Mark and Wyatt went to Chick Fil A. Mark starts training this week. He has completed the first part of his job down here (can you believe he's been doing this job for 7 months already?) and now is in sales training. He'll be able to tell us far more than we care to know about how our spines work.