JR is 18 months old!

My sweet baby boy,

Your momma cannot believe that you are a year and a half today.  There are moments when I wish time would stand still, but honestly I am enjoying watching you grow and learn every day.  Today you learned how to click a pen open and close.  You were able to hear your sister's heartbeat and you mimicked the "thud thud" and said "baby".  And just the other day you learned to flex your muscles which you think is hilarious.  Each day I pick up on a new phrase that you say or new words you string together.  I try to wait a minute before helping you when you are stuck or trying to figure something out and there is nothing sweeter than the proud look on your face when you master something on your own!  I love the smile you get as you clap for yourself. 

You sure are vocal!  You can say all kinds of words, with some interpretation from me or daddy. 
(momma, daddy, vali- "alliii", puppy, ball, seat, hop, bunny, jump, up, off, on, banana, melon, lemonade- which is the funniest!, water, tea- for anything other than milk, bottle "baba", cat, horse- "seee", bike, raining, moon, airplane- sounds like "money"?, truck, tractor, no- of course!, all done, oatmeal, crunchies, turkey, berry, owl, tree... I'm sure I'm missing tons but these are just the ones that first came to mind.)  Your favorite phrases to say are: "Vali, Reagan, Outside, Shoes"- when you want to go outside with the dogs, but you know you need your shoes on first, "Bunny Bunny Hop Hop"- after daddy takes you to look at the bunnies in the neighbor's yard, "Go Dog Go Dog Go"- when you want to read that book, "Hiding..." then you scream "there he is!" before I can even look for you :)
You can say most of your family & friends names.  Just this morning I found you sitting on the floor by two picture frames of all your cousins saying "Lily" and pointing to her picture!  You understand everything we say and even can search and find an item for us!  Nana B was in town a few weeks ago while mommy wasn't home and she asked you where the vacuum was... you took her straight to the closet!  You did the same thing when she asked you where you keep your chalk.  Mommy has even been trying to have you go and get your diapers for her and it sometimes works!  haha if you don't get distracted along the way.  That could be a huge help when Vera comes along.  Nana B lets you play with her phone a lot and probably calls the most, so every time you hear a phone ring you say "Nana! Nana! Papa D!" 

You are a great little sleeper- usually 8:30pm to 8am, but can stay up way later and still be happy if there are friends around.  You fall right to sleep for your naps after playing in the sun and water.  Although a few weeks ago you started waking up in the night scratching your eyes and nose and asking for a bottle.  You aren't the biggest eater, so I thought you might be hungry and we tried to feed you as much as we could throughout the day.  When that didn't help we realized it might just be your allergies, since we were feeling the same way throughout the night.  We started giving you a little allergy medicine at dinner and you are back to sleeping 11-12 hours and no sneezing & itchy eyes!  You are down to one long nap a day, usually 3 hours in the afternoon.

(when I'm holding you like the picture above and I say "Where is my baby?" You lay your head on my shoulder and pat my back.  I love that you're still my cuddly baby, if only for a few seconds!)

Well, skinny boy, you are always on the move and have no time for food.  We make you sit with us at the table for every meal and give you whatever we are eating.  You usually eat that just fine and will try anything we give you, but you are done after a few bites.  It's hard to tell when you are done or if you are just bored, so we try our best to distract you while eating and catch you before you're "all done".  If we aren't paying attention, your food quickly becomes a ball and boy do you have an arm!!  It is pretty hard to discipline you with a straight face because you tell yourself "no" and have even been known to swat your own hand after throwing your food.  Too smart for your own good!  You definitely have a strong will but you hide it with a smile to look innocent.  Your Nana b. said she knew a baby like that :)  What works best for you is just turning your high chair around and removing all food from your plate.  I've found you really just want the attention more than anything so a little time away from the table but not letting you get down has been the best technique so far.  I think your favorite treat this summer has been eating fruit outside while you run around in the water! 

John Ryman, you are ALL boy!  You want to spend every waking hour outside searching for rocks, bunnies, and puppies.  Your baby pool has been so much fun although you never actually sit in it.  You just fill up cups and run them around the yard... chasing Vali, watering my flowers, cooling off mommy's feet or pouring it on the slide.  You run so fast with your red cup that most of the water has fallen out before you get to where you're going!  And when I turn on the hose- you get so excited and just stand there letting it run over your head and face.  Then you drink out of it like Vali!  We are so thankful for the swing set that the previous owners left because it keeps you busy.  You are quite the climber and can climb that ladder so fast to get to your slide.  I'm sure I look hilarious- huge and pregnant- sprinting back to the swing set to make it before you reach the top!  You love searching for the moon or an airplane in the sky while standing at the top of the slide.  Your hearing is incredible and your eyes notice the tiniest details! You can hear an airplane, truck or siren faint in the distance and you say "shhhh" and point to your ear so we all know to listen.  Or you will see the smallest airplane flying and you follow it across the sky with you eyes, most of the time spotting them before we can see them!

It's amazing, scary and humbling the little details that you pick up on!  You have started to repeat what we say or imitate us which can be hilarious at times.  My favorite was when you mimicked me killing a spider- complete with a scream and smacking motion with a piece of paper.  Daddy sure loves to be loud, dance and make silly movements so you both are quite the entertainment when you start imitating each other!  You know you are funny so at the end of your little show you start laughing at yourself :)

We are glad its summer since shorts fit you a lot better than pants.  It was so hard to find you pants long enough they weren't high waters but fit around your little bottom.  You are in mainly 18 month clothes, but 24 shirts seem to fit fine as well.  Your little legs always have a bruise or bump from all your activities, but nothing seems to stop you!  It is rare that you even cry when you have a good fall- usually you stand up and keep running or you hit whatever you fell on and say "silly".  Its pretty funny to see you run into a wall, fall down and then run back at it saying "silly wall!"
Your precious curls get crazier by the day and I can't tell you how many times we have trimmed them.  It is weird to think you had such dark hair until you were about 6 months and now the sun keeps turning it blonder.  You sure turn all the ladies' heads in the grocery store with your smile and curls. (and loud squeals when you spot a puppy or baby on a package)      

I am so excited for you to meet your baby sister!  I'm sure you have no idea what is coming, but I already know you will be the sweetest big brother to Vera.  What a blessed girl she is to have a protector and friend like you.  These next few months will be quite an adjustment and you may have to be extra patient with us, but we will make it through just fine and hopefully have some fun memories along the way! Mommy loves you baby boy and I'm so thankful for the past 18 months.