2 Years - 1 Month

Dear Baby Bear,

Now that you are 2 years old, I'm not sure how we'll continue your monthly updates, but I hope to continue writing to you in one form or another. I'm also not sure if you will appreciate these letters when you are a grown man, or if you will consider them borderline obsessive. But, one day, you will have babies of your own, and you will understand the tremendous feeling of wanting to boast about your child and frantically remember every moment of their lives.

Every day that goes by I look at you and feel a tiny bit of sadness that my baby is no more. Your chubby baby rolls are gone, you cannot be held, or rather, refuse to be held, you have your own opinions about everything, and one day, the kisses will stop. But, during those same sad moments, I catch glimpses of kindergarten Eli bringing home art projects from school and proudly displaying them on the fridge, or teenager Eli mopping around the house with a broken heart for a girl, or Eli as a father, being tender and caring towards his own newborn son. Then I remember that we get a whole lifetime of this. Of seeing you grow, and learn, and become the amazing person I know you will be. It's a constant struggle, that of a mom, to want to keep you small, and safe, and innocent, but the want to see you grow and reach your potential.

For now, we take it one day at time, and try to enjoy every minute, of every day we get together. You have only been part of our lives for 2 years, but they are hands down, the best 2 years of my life. You make every family gathering, every holiday, every day more enjoyable. As your personality develops and we get glimpses of what kind of big kid and adult you'll be it gets more exciting. You are certainly an entertainer and you like to be in the center of it all. You like to make people laugh, and you are constantly applauding yourself for things you think deserve it. And I'll be right there alongside you to cheer you on.

I hope that for as long as you live, you will always know how loved and needed you are. You are my everything.

Love,

Momma

2 Years Old

Dear Eli,

You are officially a two year old and a full blown toddler! I know I say this all the time, but I just can't believe how quickly our lives are moving. You are a baby no more, but an independent toddler who has thoughts and opinions of his own.

You are becoming very vocal about what you like, don't like, what you want to wear, what movies you'd like to watch. Sometimes it still surprises me and catches me off guard when you give us your opinion. I am so used to doing everything for you and making choices that I forget that it won't always be that way.

Right on cue, we've hit the difficult part of this stage too. You are an excellent tantrum thrower, and make for some interesting days. We try very hard to be patient little guy as we know that it has to be difficult to want something, and not have people understand what you are saying. Like in all things, we know that this too shall pass and we take it one day at a time.

Every day gets a little bit easier as you learn new words and we work on stringing them together. Just this morning, you said, "Mama, ven aqui." We've been working on that one for months! You knew all three words, but you never said them together, I was so proud of you.

Speaking of words, the ones you learned last month are:

Cheerios, thirsty, stretch, back, moon, este, ten, sientate, heavy, dirt, bees, love you, cute, sheep, vaca, going, coming, bravo, feet, socks, one-two-three, where are you?, nice to meet you, burrito, coffee, TV, give me, drink, candy, awesome, cake, pumpkin, and stars.

At two years old, you know about 140 words, Good job Eli! We are so incredibly proud of you!

For your 2nd birthday, we had a Yo Gabba Gabba themed party. I had an epic mom fail moment as I didn't take a single picture. I was so busy running around that day and making sure everyone was taken care of, and I was really hoping that someone else would take pictures, but no one did. So here are a few  to try and remember the day by.

One of your favorite presents was a Woody doll that has a removable hat and talks and lights up when you push a button. You've been inseparable since you got it. Uncle Eric also gave you the Toy Story movie, and you've made us watch it 3 times in 1 week. It's funny that the toys you are most attached to are hats, cowboys, horses, guns, and music. You are such a Hancey boy.

Last night, while I was reading you your bedtime books, I saw you lay your Woody doll in the crib, prop his head on your duck and place the blanket around him. My heart could not handle the amount of cuteness that was you. You are such a sweet little guy, I hope with all my heart you continue to have a caring heart.

You are growing up to be an amazing boy Eli, I cannot wait to see what the future has in store for us.

I love you so much.

Momma

23 Months Olds - The deets

Eli Bear,

So much has happened in your life the last month! You received your first stamp on your passport by going to Mexico. You had the time of your life! You loved being the star of the show and getting so much undivided attention. I loved getting to spend 10 entire days with you.

Your favorite things in Mexico were the open fields and roads to run on, the horses, the trucks, the bags and bags of Cheetos, the cows and dogs, and all the friends you made.

My favorite part of Mexico was having my grandpa meet you. Of course you won him over immediately and it made my heart so happy. The first day we were there, you saw an old hat he had hanging in the corral as a decoration, well of course you insisted on wearing it all day long. It was too big for you though and it kept falling off. That afternoon, when we went back to grandpa's house, he had a surprise waiting for you...your very own, Eli-sized hat! You wore that thing every single day there, and you loved taking it off and saying "Yee-Haw!"




We've decided we need to try and make it a yearly trip for you, I don't want you to ever forget Florencia.

Last month your list of words was at 87, here are some new words you've learned and have been using:

• Otro
• Gross
• Down
• Sopita
• Mio
• Vaso
• Tu
• Sorry
• Let go
• Grandma
• Grandpa
• Monkey
• All done
• Heavy
• Thank you
• Gracias
• Boy
• Baby
• Besito

106 words! You are such an amazing kid! You and I have got our communication down, little guy. last week we had an entire conversation with the words you knew and with your hand signals. You asked me to get a chair and move it to a specific spot then to get a second one for you, and a third for dad. Then you had me sit, and you asked for help to sit in yours. Then you wanted to put on your hoodie and zip it up and put the hood up, then you made mom do the same to hers. Then you started drinking your milk cup when you realized mom didn't have her coffee cup anymore and you told me to go get it. It was so simple, but it left me speechless that we spent a few minutes communicating with each other. Each day brings more words and more understanding. I can only imagine how frustrating it must be to not be understood.


Your favorite toys and activities haven't changed much this month, you still love trucks and cars, horses, balls, pushing things, books, music. Your favorite TV show is Yo Gabba Gabba and that will be the theme of your 2nd birthday party.

We love you so much Eli. Keep growing!

Love,
Momma

A Love Letter to 23 Month Old Eli

My littlest love,

I want to know how it is possible that next month you will be 2 years old? You have been in our lives for such a short amount of time, yet I find it impossible to remember what my life was like before you. What did I do? What filled my time? What made my heart happy? Surely nothing was better than the pure joy I get from just watching you.

Nothing is more fulfilling than to merely watch you be. To look at your face and take in every eyelash, every mouth movement, your milky skin, the little freckle below your right eye, the little dimple you get when you chew food, the wispy locks of your hair trying to grow out. You are beautiful my boy, I cannot begin to describe what a miracle you are to me.

As you grow older you've become better at playing by yourself. By yourself yes, but never alone. You request the presence of either mom or dad, or best of all both! You don't need us to play with you, but you ask us to sit on the couch and just watch you play. You are a social creature my love, you enjoy the company of others. So, dad and I fulfill your requests and watch you play every night. We watch you dig through your box of cars until you find just the right one that feels good for today, then you run it up and down on the couch, on the floor, sometimes over your arms or your head like you've seen mommy do to you.

Those are the moments that always make me catch my breath. I want to scream to your dad, "Did you see that? I did that to him the other day, he remembered!" You have a way of surprising me by doing things dad and I do, or saying things we do. I need to remember that you are taking it all in little boy, the good and the bad. But, the good, oh that feels good to see you do. When you say "thank you" and "gracias" when you give hugs and kisses all on your own without prodding, when you try and share and feed your toys food, when you pretend to laugh, it's all so magical.

This is my favorite age little guy, you are such a joy to be around. You are so smart and funny and opinionated and bossy and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Next month you turn 2 years old and I am excited to see what new challenges and happiness that stage will bring us.

I love you Eli, to the moon and back.

Love,
Momma

22 Months

Last long haired picture.

Eli Bear!

In less than 2 months we will be celebrating your 2nd birthday! I'm afraid to say that year 2 went by faster than year 1. We constantly struggle with being so sad that you are growing up so fast, but so excited to see what the future brings.

Like I've said before, this is my favorite age so far, and the hardest. You know just enough words to get by, but not enough so that we understand each other 100 percent. You are a determined and strong willed little boy and throw the tantrums to prove it. But, in the same breath you are becoming funny, so, so funny, you are a little entertainer and attention getter. You are also incredibly sweet and generous with your hugs and kisses. On Friday, you gave me your first unsolicited kiss and I just about melted.



Snacking after a swim at Pine View

I hope that for the rest of your life you feel loved by us and that you know just how amazing you are. You fill giant holes in our hearts that we didn't even knew existed. Every day my heart grows for you. Every day I think I've reached the limit and then you go and do something amazing that makes it expand even more. You are pure magic little boy.

This month we took you camping and swimming at Pine View. Both of those things make you incredibly happy. You get to play in dirt and sand all day, and then we jump into the water to clean off. You continue to love the outdoors and I'm so happy dad is going to have a partner.

We also had a BBQ with friends and they brought their babies who are also your age. This time you did great, Eli! You were so nice, and you shared all your toys. I was incredibly proud of you! During one point, Oliver was on the floor playing, and you stood next to him, shooing the flies away.

Failed attempt at a selfie in the theatre

You had 2 big firsts this month too. We had our first mommy and son date, and we went to the movies! We watched Despicable Me 2 and you did AMAZING! I bought you a little snack pack with popcorn, gummy fruit and a lemonade. You literally sat on my lap the entire time and ate popcorn while you watched the movie. You didn't make a single peep and were mesmerized. Another very proud mom moment. You never cease to amaze me.

Playing at the fountain in Lagoon

The other was your first trip to Lagoon. That one did not go as smooth. The first ride was the Merry-Go-Round which you really liked, so we made the mistake of thinking you were ready for other rides. We put you in a little airplane one, but we couldn't ride with you and you cried the whole time. That was tough, to watch you cry and not be able to comfort you until the ride was done. To make it up to you, we took you on a train ride which you liked. Then daddy rode Puff the Magic Dragon with you. You didn't cry, but you definitely did not enjoy it. We decided you were just too young for Lagoon this year, I hope you don't grow up to have an irrational fear of amusement parks, if so, you know who to blame...

 We also cut your hair again last weekend. It grows so fast, so got it cut twice in one month! I'm sorry to say, you now hate haircuts. Daddy and I had to hold you down while the stylist cut. This one was different than your first because clippers were involved. You do not like those at all. Luckily, you forgot about it pretty quickly. You new haircut is great! I can't believe I was so scared to cut your hair. I honestly thought you wouldn't look as cute, but boy was I wrong! I was shocked at how cute and different you looked! It seemed as if you aged a year overnight! My chubby little baby was gone and replaced by a hyper toddler! But, it fits you so well, and you look adorable.

First of 2 haircuts this month

 

This Friday we fly to Mexico for 10 days. I am so nervous and excited at the same time. I'm now sure how'll you handle being confined to a small seat for 5 hours. But, I am so excited for you to meet all of our family in Mexico! You have great grandparents waiting to meet you!

I'll end this month's update with new words learned:

• Cup
• Door
• Chip
• Pan (Sp)
• Tonto (Sp)
• Close
• Spoon
• Cow
• Dude
• Bye
• Get it
• Break it
• Cowboy
• Oh no
• Sup (as in: What's up?)
• Some
• Ear
• Ese (Sp)
• Bees
• Aqui (Sp)
• Titi (Cristy)
• Abuelita (Sp)
• Yogurt
• Brobee
• Gabba
• Leche/Milk

87 words! One of our favorite activities is keeping track of this list little guy. It's ridiculously fun to be proud of you and show off your amazing vocabulary. Every word you learn gets us closer to communicating better. Keep learning little guy, we love you.

XOXO
Momma

Little Things

Oh Eli!

You are the funnest little boy to be around these days! I need to write down a few things you are doing right now, so that I can remember them for ever.

Every night, we read a few books before bedtime, and usually it's Dr. Seuss' The Cat in the Hat, over and over and over again. Well, lately, you have been very particular about which books we read. Usually, I'll get one page into the book before you slam it shut and say, "All done!" It's hilarious and frustrating at the same time as we can go through 10 books before you'll finally get to one you like.

Music is still a favorite of yours, but lately you've been singing more and more. The first thing you do when we get in the car in the morning is point to the radio and say, "Dance?" So, I put on a dance station or a CD and you dance. But now, you try to sing along with the artist. Usually, you'll catch the last word in a sentence and sing that. Or, there is one song in particular with a chorus that says, "La la la, la da da." You are very good at following along with that one.

And lastly, you have been pointing to things around the house that you think look like grandpa, and say, "Chuy." You have spotting him on DVD covers and cartoon characters on the back of cereal boxes. Mostly, any guy that has a mustache. It's pretty funny.

I love that you are developing such a wonderful personality. You are funny, and smart, and sensitive. I love you my little guy, you do amazing things for my heart.

Love,
Momma

21 Months

David took this amazing photo of you at Cristy's wedding.

Dear Eli,

Another 4th rolls by, and you get another month bigger. It's amazing how much you can change in 30 days. I have to admit that this might be my favorite stage yet. Though it's been extremely difficult to be patient with your temper tantrums, it's been by far the most rewarding to see you learn.

Dad and I are amazed every single day at what new words you learn. I have been trying to keep lists of them, but you are learning them faster than I can keep track. I am also extremely happy that you are picking up Spanish so quickly and easily.

We are so incredibly luck that Tia Tere is able to watch you while dad and I are at work. You love her so much, and love going to her house. Every morning when I drop you off, you happily say goodbye to me and sometimes kick me out the door by closing it behind me. Make me so happy to know you enjoy spending your days with her.

But, the best part is that she is teaching you Spanish. So many words in your vocabulary know, it's incredible. You are also starting to understand who speaks English and who speaks Spanish. You ask different things of those who speak the different languages. Although you can't say everything, you are certainly understand everything we say. You are really good at following directions, and especially know when we are talking about you, as you ham it up an extra notch!

I'm going to try and update your list of words:

From the 19th Month list:

Duck                   Blanket                        Bye                      Truck                                Car

Juice                   Kitty                            Dog                       Meow                               Bow Wow

Up                      Cheese                         Yummy                 Hiccup                              Ball

Hat                     Agua (Sp)                    Bath                      Mama                                Dad

Jake                    Stop                             Go                         Goal (Sp)                          More

Where'd it go?   Light                            Tere                       Banana                              Shoes

Hot                    Cold                             Bird                       Beep                                  Mas (Sp)

Caca (Sp)          Popo (SP)                     Pipi (Sp)                Outside

New ones:

Horse

Sit down

Ven (Sp)

Aqui (Sp)

Mano (Sp)

Eye

Nose

Mouth

Chuy

Eric

Oy (Sp)

Book

Mimis (Sp)

Dance

Toys

Push

Apple

Three

Balloon

Callate (Sp)

Yuck

Bubbles

61 WORDS! Soooo good, Eli! I think there are more, but it's hard to remember them all at once. I read that toddlers should know about 50 words at 24 months, so good job being ahead of the game! You can say pretty much anything we ask you to say, but I only mentioned the ones you actually know and use on a day to day basis. Every day is a treat to hear which new word you'll say.

You are still loving music and love to steal daddy's guitar and strum and sing us songs. You are particularly good at yodeling. You've also become an exceptional dancer. Every time music comes on, you are on your feet and bobbing. You are still dancing to any sort of beat, whether it's real music or not, as long as a "noise" has some sort of rhythm to it, you are dancing to it.

Dad and I have been brainstorming ideas for your 2nd birthday. We want it to be something you will recognize and love. Your favorite things right now are cars/trucks, horses, balls/balloons, and Yo Gabba Gabba. So, hopefully we'll settle on a theme soon.

Food wise, you have up and down days, some days you are a little piggy, and others, I don't know how you survive, it's very stressful, but we are learning to let it go and know that you will eat if you are hungry. When you do eat, you like scrambled eggs with ketchup, (well, anything with ketchup), blueberries, bananas, mangoes, grapes, tomatoes, popcorn, chicken nuggets, rice, and apple juice. You still don't really like meat, well, you chew it for a while, then spit it out, but you never swallow it. So weird.

Scrambling eggs

You are becoming a great helper too. You are excellent at helping us get you dressed, you are great at putting on lotion, and you help us put away groceries and clean up your toys when asked. You hand us your foot when it's time to put on your shoes, and you scrub yourself down at bath time.

Every night, we ready about 5-6 books and you always want more, more, more. I think you know that when we are done reading it's bed time, so you try to prolong the inevitable. You are still sleeping with your duck and blankie, and it's still as adorable as ever. You sleep about 11 hours a night, and straight through, you are a great sleeper.

Playing at Pineview

Being outside is still your favorite thing in the world, you'll try to make anyone take you outside. And, water, oh the love you have for agua! We went to Pineview 2 weeks ago, and you were in HEAVEN. We were swimming for hours. That day has been my favorite memory of this summer so far. I want to remember your smile and happy shrieks forever! Having you in our lives and getting to re-experience everything through your eyes has been an amazing and humbling experience as a mom. You make everything fun again. You make me step out of my comfort zone and try new things. I love you so much little boy, keep being amazing!

XOXO,

Your momma

20 Months

Dear Eli,

I'm not quite sure how TWENTY months have passed since you were born,  but it's true, here we are, July 4th and you are now closer to 2 years old than you are to 1.

I feel like your entire little life by heart is being pulled in two different directions. A part of me is absolutely loving these toddler years. You are so fun, and you make everything so fun. You make us slow down and think things through, and plan our whole day around you. What would Eli like? Could he handle this restaurant? Would he enjoy a gym class? Would he like to see a 4th of July parade. You make me step out of my comfort zone in a good way. You make me more active, more outgoing, and you certainly stretch my capacity for patience. Every day I wonder what the next stage of Eli will bring. How fun it will be when you can talk to us, go on hikes, walk on your own without us hovering, play on your own, make up stories. I CANNOT wait for all of those things to happen.

But, then...then I think   about how much I will miss this stage, and how much I already miss of baby Eli. Why, does it have to go so fast? And, not just fast, but why is it that the baby stage is so short? I feel like you became a toddler at about 9 months. Once you were standing and crawling and then walking, it was all down hill from there. No more cuddling, and rocking to sleep. Oh how I miss those days. Just staring at your sleepy eyes and watching you sleep in my arms. The only time we get that now is if you are sick.

Last night you woke up from your night sleep crying and then you got sick. After we cleaned you up, I sat in the rocking chair, and you immediately lay your head on my chest. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME. that happens my heart explodes. We rocked, and rocked, and rocked until you fell asleep again. I wish I could stop time and hold you forever, I wish the dishes could wait, the laundry could wait, that a day job didn't exist. I wish that being your mom would be my only job for always and ever.

The guilt that comes with being a working mom is awful. There is always something to do, at work or at home, and never enough time to spend with you. I try so hard to make the time we spend together count. I want to give you the best childhood I can. I want to give you everything I didn't have, experiences I didn't have, opportunities I didn't have, but most of all, I want you to feel loved. Always loved, no matter what.

Little bear, I hope when you grow up, you'll know how much you mean to me. I know I'll be frustrating, and annoying, and one day embarrassing, but I'll try my best to leave you be. To go out into the world and be yourself. To experience things, to learn, to make mistakes and grow from them. One day I'll learn not to hover and surround you. But, for now, I'll enjoy every second I can of being your provider, your protector, your momma.

Yesterday, you stepped on a rock while you were barefooted. You picked up your foot and put it straight on my mouth. I sat there a little shocked for a second when I realized you wanted a kiss. I turned around to see if anyone saw you. I wanted to shout, "Did you see that? My baby wants me to kiss a boo boo!" I felt like I earned a mom badge that day. I know I should stop being shocked every time you do something new, or something so, well, grown-up. But, it still catches me off guard every time. It's hard not to think of you as a little, vulnerable, baby. You are not any more. You are an independent little person who has his own thoughts and opinions about things. I love/hate it.

Tomorrow, you, daddy, and I will wake up at the crack of dawn, go out to breakfast, and then take you to see your first 4th of July parade. Thank you for giving your mom something to look forward to on her most hated holiday.

19 Months

Eli, oh Eli,

You are incredibly fun to be around these days! About a month ago, a switch flipped inside your little head and you suddenly became the funnest, most well-behaved little guy! I don't know what caused the overnight change, but we are enjoying every last minute, because knowing you, it'll change tomorrow.

One of the things that I think helped give you a better mood is you broke 6 teeth total the last month. 2 molars and 4 canines. I feel so bad for you little guy, it looks incredibly painful and you've been so patient throughout it all. That brings your total teeth count to 14! You have a mouth full of teeth and you are not afraid to use it! Sometimes when I am washing dishes and you want me to give you my attention, you'll come up and bite the back of my thigh. You have also started chewing on your tongue and it's so cute. I think you are investigating what's new in your mouth.

And the talking! My goodness you are picking up words incredibly fast these days! I'm going to try and make a consolidated list here if I can remember them all:

Duck
Blanket
Bye
Truck
Car
Juice
Kitty
Dog
Meow
Bow Wow
Up
Cheese
Yummy
Hiccup
Ball
Hat
Agua (Spanish)
Bath
Mama
Dad
Jake
Stop
Go
Goal (Spanish)
More
Where'd it go?
Light
Tere
Banana
Shoes
Hot
Cold
Bird
Beep
Mas (Spanish)
Caca (Spanish)
Popo (Spanish)
Pipi (Spanish)
And your own little version of outside which sounds kind of like "yayaitz"


Wow, that's a lot! I feel like every day you either learn a new one or you have some new "trick." You are growing incredibly fast and it's both amazing and heartbreaking. A couple of nights ago, dad and I were talking about you as a baby. It brought me to tears to realize that I don't remember what you felt like, what you looked like, what you sounded like, and I am starting to forget what you smelled like. I have the pictures, but it just isn't the same. I want to remember the weight of your little body in my arms. How did I hold you? Was there really a time where you would lay in my arms and let me hold you until my heart would explode and my arms would fall asleep? I don't remember and it's killing me. There are certain parts of life I want to freeze and hold in my mind forever and try as I might, I just can't make that happen.

There is one blessing in having you grow up, you have become incredibly affectionate. You are giving out lots of hugs lately and you are actually holding our hands. Last week, you held daddy's hand and my hand at the same time, and I nearly collapsed I was so happy. I have been dreaming about that day since before you were born. And to have it come true does incredible things to my heart. You've also been giving us kisses and that just might be the death of me. Death by cuteness, I'd go so happily.

Last weekend we went camping for the annual family reunion. My favorite part of the whole trip was the first night we slept in the tent. You were laying next to me and we were cuddling and playing and waiting for you to wind down and go to sleep. You reached right over to me and put your hand on my cheek, then you laid your face on my face and we laid there cheek to cheek. I wish I knew what was going through your little head. I want to believe that you know that I am your mommy and that you love me too. It was the most random thing to do, but you made me so incredibly happy. Every moment of anxiety and stress completely melts away when you give me a heart felt smile, or hug, or kiss. You're so incredible Eli, and you're becoming a lovely little boy.

You do amazing things for my heart and I'll never stop being grateful that you are mine and I am yours.

XOXO
Momma

1 And A Half!!!

Having fun at the park.

Eli Bear,

How is it that a year and a half has passed since you came into our lives? I don't even remember what life before Eli was like. A lot of time wasted, I'm sure.

As of Saturday, you are now 18 months old. Full on toddlerhood. This is the funnest stage so far. You are absorbing things so quickly! I feel like you learn something new everyday.

You are repeating lots of words lately. We're working on building your vocabulary. I can't wait until you can tell us what you want!



Saturday morning cuddles with mom.

Over the last couple of weeks you've learned to say shoes, huevos (eggs in Spanish), wuao wauo (woof woof in Spanish, when you hear a dog), ball/balloon, caca (when I change your diaper) and you also say three when you want to jump, as in "One, two, three!". You've mimicked a lot of the words that we say, but it's hard to get you to repeat them. Oh, and when we sing "Old Macdonald Had a Farm" You say, "eieio." Cutest.Thing.Ever.

The outdoors and playing with water are still your favorite activities. It's always a sad, sad, time for you when it's time to get out of the water or go back inside. I can't wait until you are a bit older and we can go on bigger adventures.



The most handsome boy I know!

You've also recently discovered bugs! You get really excited when you see one, I wish I knew what you were thinking.

Your favorite foods are rice (any and all kinds), bananas, blueberries, cheese, and cereal bars. You're starting to eat a bit more meat, but it's still not your favorite.

You are working on breaking two molars, that will put you at a total of 10 teeth!

You ROAR when you see animals that look ferocious, and you call cuddly animals kitty.

You love putting lotion on and keeping your hands clean. You are always stretching your hands out so mom can wipe. You can also wipe your own face with napkins.

A couple of days ago, you dug a broken hanger out of the garbage and went up to us and said "Puh puh" it took us a while, but we realized you were pretending to shoot us. I'm not gonna lie it was cute and scary at the same time. Cute, because your imagination let you play with a hanger and pretend it was a gun, but I'm not quite ready for my little guy to play those kind of games yet.

Wearing Grandpa Alan's hat.

You are learning a lot of this stuff from your new friend, Jaime. Oscar's step son is your BFF right now. He is 4 years old and LOVES you. I am glad that you have a friend to entertain you and it's probably the reason you get so sad when it's time to pick you up from Tere's house. The twins are also good companions. I am glad you have cousins to grow up with.

Lastly, you are still obsessed with HATS! It is literally the first thing you say when you wake up in the morning, and you have even gone to bed wearing your hat. Not sure what the appeal is, but it sure is cute!

Happy half birthday my little guy, I love you to the moon and back!

XOXO
Mama

Rock on little guy!

First Haircut!

Dear Eli,

Against my wishes, you got your first hair cut Saturday morning!

Daddy thinks you are getting hot, and with the heat coming quickly, he didn't want you to get overheated this summer. He's probably right, but goodness, I so didn't want to cut off those locks. I have conflicting feelings.

The last long haired bath.

Sometimes the hair gets in your face, and you are starting to be very aware of it, and sometimes you even pull on it. You don't like your hair brushed, I'm sure the tangles hurt, and you look like a mad scientists sometimes. But, my oh my, do you look cute in those locks. It's the first thing people notice about you and we always get comments on it. I guess I like that you have a little something special about you. I felt like you would look like an ordinary boy if we cut it all off.

Breakfast at Mimi's after your cut!

So, on Saturday morning, we packed into the car, drove to Cookie Cutters in Bountiful and did the deed! You were excellent! Like usual, we worried about nothing and you surpassed our expectations. You got to sit in a little police car and watch cartoons while the stylist trimmed away. You didn't make a single peep. You just sat there like a good little boy and took it like a champ! You were awarded a blue balloon at the end, and were on our way. I can't believe how well you handle certain situations. We had all these ideas of what you would do. Cry, scream, not hold still, want to touch the scissors, be scared of the trimmers, but none of that happened! There was a little boy, probably 3-4 in there as well, and he was screaming his head off and crying. You didn't even acknowledge that you heard him. You really are the greatest kid ever!

The most handsome boy ever!

Of course you look cute in your new cut, and it's starting to grow on me, but...I think we'll grow your hair back out. We'll see how the summer treats us!

17 Months

Baby Bear,

You turned 17 months old last week. In just a few weeks you'll reach another milestone, 18 months old! How are you 1.5 already? You are growing fast and furious these days, you are in 18-24 month clothes, you are shoe size 5, and you are learning how to do things crazy fast!

Easter was a couple of weeks ago, and it's been my favorite Easter to date. You make everything infinitely funner. Dad and I wondered if you could do an egg hunt and if you would even know what to do. But, of course, we worried about nothing, you surpassed our expectations. I don't know how you can be so smart, you are just a tiny baby!

Dad gave you your basket, and we went outside. You ran straight for the first egg you saw, you picked it up, looked at it, and then dad told you to put it in your basket and you did. And that was that, you were off! All over the yard picking up egg after egg. It was really quite comical like I said, it's crazy seeing a little baby do stuff like that! I mean, I really didn't expect you to catch on so quickly!

Of course you got spoiled like usual and ended up with 3 Easter baskets and lots of clothes and toys. None of which you were interested in except for two winners, BUBBLES and CHALK! You LOVED the chalk, again we just gave it to you, showed you what it was and away you went to draw up a storm!

Last week we also had your first park trip. You are so incredibly adventurous! We set you down on the sand and you were off! Climbing stairs, playing in the sand and you especially loved the slide! Every time you went down the slide you screamed, "Wheeeeeeeeeeee!" You were the smallest kid at the park, but you didn't seem to notice, you just wanted to play.

Being outside is your favorite thing right now. Especially at Grandpa Chuy's house, you scream and scream and pound on the door until someone takes you outside then you run and throw rocks and dance. I'm convinced your love of being outside is all dad. You LOVE it, your face lights up, you lift your little face up towards the sky, and if we're lucky, a little gust of wind will blow your hair and you just take it all in. I hope you continue to love being outside as you grow older. I am sure dad is going to love taking you fishing, and hiking, and snow shoeing, and all the stuff he loves to do right now, but doesn't have anyone to go with him. Now he has a little partner.

As much as we love you, not all is sunshine and rainbows in our world. You have definitely hit a rebellious stage. You are hitting and throwing tantrums like a champ. In the last  couple of weeks, you have given me a bloody lip, stabbed me in the eye, and given me a bloody nose. Your favorite method of punishment is head butting. Ouch. Still painful, but in a playful manner, you also like to pinch and bite, you have a keen sense of where the most sensitive parts of our bodies are and go straight there, like dad's nipples, LOL.

At the same time though, you are starting to realize that we have feelings. When you stabbed me in the eye, it was a total accident, but boy did it hurt, I was crying and holding my eye, and you grabbed my face and stroked my cheek and gave me lots of kisses. It really caught me by surprise because that is not something we taught you. It was instinct for you to know what to do to cheer someone up. Sometimes when you get upset and hit me, you immediately realize what you did and give me kisses. It's heart melting to say the least.

As you get older, you are becoming more and more cuddly and it couldn't make me happier. When I was pregnant with you, I used to day dream of you jumping into bed with us in the morning and just cuddle, and luckily you've been doing just that lately. It's not too often, but when you do, it is pure magic.

On the flip side of that, you are the most head strong little boy, I really fear you got that from me. I am actually quite scared for the next couple of years, you are only 17 months and are already giving us a run for our money.

Developmentally, I think you are right on track. You are running and jumping (with actual air), you can blow, you are playing your guitar and singing while you do it, you read along to books, you are still loving dancing, still trying to feed yourself with a spoon, and saying lots of words. You aren't saying too many things that are understandable, but you babble a lot. Currently you say:

Mama (my favorite!)
Dada
Tere
Kitty
Juice
Cheese
Banana
Ball
Balloon
Hat
Where'd it go?
What's that?

But you understand everything we tell you. You pick up things, you bring us things, you help us get you dressed, you turn on the lights, everything we ask you to do, you can do. I hope you start talking more over the next few months, I think it will help the tantrums if you can express yourself, plus I love your little voice.

Next month we have 2 doctor's appointments, one for your well-baby check up, shots and stats :( and one for your plastic surgeon appointment. It will be your 1 year anniversary of being helmet free! Dr. Morales wants to see you every 6 months for the next couple of years to make sure the bone is coming in at the pace it should. These appointments always make me nervous as for the rest of your adolescent life, we'll have to worry about a second surgery.

I suppose I should document the story of your Craniosynostosis, maybe next time, I'm not ready to relive that right now.

I love you so much baby bear, you continue to amaze me every day, and even after all these months, I still stare at you in amazement every day and wonder at how beautiful you are, how smart, funny, quirky, and how lucky we are that we get the honor of being your parents.

Keep growing and amazing us boy.