Hello my friends!  Can you believe it?  Another year has passed and it’s time for another snapshot.  Mommy and Daddy can’t believe how much I’ve changed since my snapshot last year!

I have a real gift for speech and language and people often say talking to me is like talking to an adult.  I carry on conversations with ease and especially love to talk to Daddy at work.  I also love to ask questions and learn about what I see.

Mommy is a little sad that I only have one articulation error left.  I still say “w” for “l” and she thinks it’s so cute.  But I recently started saying it correctly when I read and while she’s glad for me, she’s a little sad for her.

I have a gift for being happy!  I sincerely love life and my enthusiasm for almost everything is adorable and contagious.

And would you believe it, I learned to read this year!  We started lessons last September and it took Mommy a little while to figure out the program and how she wanted to structure it, but we both kept plugging away and we can’t believe the results.  Now we do short lessons each weekday sometime during the day and I’m just taking off!

I’m currently on Lesson 40 (of 100) and I love when Mommy makes up sentences with the word lists.  I also love reading the stories and looking at the pictures!  I often smile after I figure out a word. :):)

We also do math or writing lessons and I enjoy those a lot.  I’m getting really good at counting and frequently “sight count” by looking at a group of objects and knowing how many there are without needing to count outloud.

I also recognize numbers and can tell the hour of time.  I know that my clock says “7″ when I go to bed and at least “6″ when I get up. :)

And if we have time after our lessons, we get to snuggle!

And Mommy reads a book to me while I eat the jelly beans that I earned during my lesson.

It’s a really special time for us.

This year I have developed a serious passion for trains!  I have at least five different train toys downstairs and two upstairs.  I love to build with my wooden tracks and then lay inside to watch the trains go by.

I also love to read train books and watch train video clips and then act out the stories.  Mommy loves to hear me quoting lines from The Little Engine That Could or a Thomas episode or the All About Trains video to myself as I play.

Just tonight I kept saying, “Wook down to the right.  You’ll see cwouds of steam rushing out under pressure.”  That’s from All About Trains. :)

I also love my vintage Casey Junior!

Mommy got it off ebay and gave it to me after I finished potty training!  I love to load it up with circus animals just like on the cartoon!

Then I toot his whistle and we go “chug-chug-chug-puff-puff-puff”ing around the house as I sing his theme song!

And if Casey Junior’s lucky (and Scooters isn’t blasting around in his walker) I convert his flat bed car into a coal car and fill it up with “coal” (handfuls of pinto beans from my digging table!). :)

And speaking of digging, I also love construction vehicles!  My favorites are dump trucks, excavators and front loaders.

I also have a great fondness for garbage trucks and love to wait each week to see their biiiiiig arms that reach out and GRAB our garbage cans and then *BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!!* empty them into their truck!!

I love to cut with scissors and can easily *snip-snip-snip* an afternoon away!

I also love to draw, write and color.

And I enjoy building (especially building temples!), playing T-ball, swinging, chasing, soccer, visiting different places (especially Jetty Island!!) and gardening.

Oh, and animals!  I love animals.

And Mommy let me have my first pet (two cat spiders!) for two or three days before we set them free.  It was a true test of her deep love for me.

The jury’s still out on what color my eyes are.  Daddy says brown.  Mommy says they’re a new color.  A new color that sometimes looks brown, sometimes looks dark blue and sometimes looks dark green.  Either way, they both say my eyes are beautiful! :)

I also have a vivid imagination!  I love to pretend to be different characters from books, stories, or YouTube clips I’ve seen.  My favorite roles include: Rudolph, Little Foot, Little Roo, Skippy Jon Jones, Annabelle and baby animals.

When I play these roles, I prefer to be called by my character name and to call Mommy, Scooters and Daddy by their respective character names.  I frequently wake up from naps and begin calling for “Kanga!  Oh, Kanga!” or “Long Neck!  Long Neck?  Are you there?” or “Star!  Oh, Sta-ar!”  And Mommy laughs as she hops up the stairs to get me. :)

I have an insatiable appetite for hearing books and stories!  And one time I was in heaven when Daddy combined the two by acting out my entire Lady and the Tramp book with my stuffed animals.  It was awesome!  And I asked him to repeat it every day afterward. :):)

And I really love to look at books!

I frequently create “book circles” after reading next to one of our many book baskets.  They make Mommy smile. :):)

It also makes her smile when I furrow my brow as I read.  That’s how she knows I’m still her baby.

And check it out!  We’ve got a real growth chart now!!  Now I have Mommy’s permission to grow (just a little!).  My first measurement on it was almost 6 months ago and I was just shy of three feet tall.

And now, just six months later…

I’ve grown even more!!  (And down below in the column next to mine, you can see Scooters’ first height measurement!!  A few inches over two feet tall–what a cutie!)

And just think of it…  Someday, we’ll all be as tall as Daddy!

I’ve also learned to be a big boy this year!  I’ve taken over almost all restroom duties now and only need a pull-up at night (and every once in a while at nap time).  Sometimes I even request my own privacy and Mommy smiles as I shut the door.  :)

Ta-dah!!  This is how I love to get in my crib!

I’m still a great sleeper, though I try to delay the inevitable as long as possible. :)

My bedtime routine is quite elaborate and currently includes:

Playing with Mommy and Daddy all by myself for about 30 minutes after Scooters goes to bed!  Then we go upstairs to their bathroom where I use the restroom and change into my pajamas.  Then we take turns brushing my teeth.  I use real toothpaste now and even know how to spit it out!

After that, I turn on the hall lights with help and my bedroom light all by myself!  Then we snuggle in my glider for a prayer and daily scripture study.  (We’ve finished all four of my Scripture Stories books, so we’re going back and repeating them. We’re currently in the New Testament again).  I typically choose Mommy to read to me, but sometimes I pick Daddy.

I recently convinced Mommy and Daddy to add a little more reading into our routine, so after scriptures, we read a couple pages of my Beauty and the Beast chapter book.

Next I turn off my light and race Daddy to my crib and jump in.  Then he tucks my doggy under my right arm and Lumpy under my left arm. Then he covers me up with: my green blanket, my alphabet quilt and then my teddy bear quilt.

After that, he sits next to my crib, holds my little hand and asks, “Which Ruff Ruff story to do you want tonight?”

One night I said, “Ruff Ruff and the Yellow Blanket!” and then Daddy made up a story for it.   The next night I requested, “Ruff Ruff and the Biscuit Flying” and then Daddy laughed and made up a story for it.  Tonight I said, “Ruff Ruff and the Teeth”, but then changed it to “Ruff Ruff and the Hippopotamus”.

Then Mommy joins us and we all hold hands as Mommy and Daddy sing: Curious George, I am a Child of God, Once There Was a Snowman and We love you, [insert name of current character I'm playing at the time]! It’s wonderful.

After that, we have kisses and say, “Night, night! Bye, bye! Woooooove you!” and wave “I Love You” signs goodbye as they close my door.

Oh!  And If I get scared of the shadows that look like monsters or the monsters under my green glider, I just cover my head ALL THE WAY (and the heads of my buddies!) and then I’m okay.

I don’t like to be left alone, get my hair cut, my nails cut, my leftover food eaten by someone else or my hair washed, so Mommy often coaches me through them.

And recently she started letting me watch something while she cuts (just like she does for Daddy!) and I hold really still for her.  She loves it!

And she loves my toes! :)

Aaaahhh!!!  I also got my first Easter basket ever last year!

I also really love to play with my friends!!  This past year we’ve made so many new friends at church and in our neighborhood and we feel so blessed to have them all in our lives!!  Thank you!!

At church, I moved up to the Senior Nursery class and I really love it! (Mommy even got to substitute for a month while they called new teachers and it was so fun for us!)

And something really special that happened this past year was Scooters!

I became a big brother!

And what a big brother I have been!

Mommy just adores watching us together and is so grateful for how fun, loving and gentle I am toward Scooters.

I really do love him!

And I can’t imagine our family without him!

I really love my Daddy!  Whenever he leaves for work or school, I always beg, “Daddy?  Pwease pway with me for just a couple minutes!  Pwease?”  And even if he’s late, he’ll stop and play with me.  I love it!  And I can’t wait until he comes home again every day so we can play some more!

Daddy especially loves… holding my hand… hearing about my day, seeing my enthusiasm for saying silly things… playing outside with me… seeing me hit the baseball with my T-ball bat… comforting me after he accidentally injures me… when I push out my belly to be as big as his (one day!)… when I hook arms with him at the dinner table… when I tackle him… when I explain to him why whatever I want to do is okay… when I hug and kiss Scooters… when I say “pwease” and “thank you” without being asked… and every minute he gets to spend with me.

I also really love my Mommy!  I melt her heart every time I say, “Come pway with me, Mommy!  I want you to pway with me!”  We love to pretend things together and play together.  I frequently ask her to carry me up and down the stairs for extra cuddles and she happily obliges me. :)

Mommy especially loves… cuddles while I drink my milk… cuddles while we read books… cuddles, cuddles, cuddles!… when I hide under my covers and giggle while she tries to find me after nap times… when I call for her by her character name after naps… how thoroughly and sincerely kind, generous, and sweet I am… how my eyes sparkle with delight when I look at her and smile… when I use the word “chuffing”… the sound of my voice..  when I sincerely cry out, “Oh, thank you!!” when she does something for me… my cute morning breath when she gets me out of my crib and hugs me tight… hearing me play with Scooters and Daddy… the tiny little freckles I’ve started getting on my cheeks… my love for learning… teaching me about Jesus… when I ask questions about Jesus… sharing a big huge hug after we’ve been away from each other… and, well, everything about me. :):)

Personally, I think they’re both adorable.  But other than their delectably round cheeks, they don’t really look alike…

What do you think??

Like yesterday morning after Bubbers got out of the bathtub.

We were on my bed laughing and being silly.

And then I reached out and took his little hand to clip his fingernails.

“Wow, Little Man!” I said, “I guess you were in the tub for a while. Look–you’re all wrinkled up!”

“Hee, hee, hee,” he giggled, “I’m aw wrinkowed up!”

After his fingernails, I reached for his foot to clip his toenails.

I glanced at the bottom of his foot and then suddenly stopped. My heart skipped a beat and a smile crept into my lips as I gently held his foot and stared.

Instantly, I was there again, laying in that hospital bed full of exhaustion and euphoric joy…..

“Oh, Love,” my husband suddenly laughed with delight, “You have to see his feet!”

“What is it?” I asked with an expectant smile on my face.

I watched as my Prince Charming carefully laid our newborn son across my legs.

Gently, he reached down and held up our son’s feet for me to see the bottoms.

“He’s Mr. Wrinkle Foot!” my husband laughed.

“Oh!” I exclaimed with surprise.

I laughed along with my husband as I reached out and gently traced the lines etched into the bottoms of my dear baby’s feet.

“Mommy?”

As quickly as I left, I was pulled back again.

“Mommy? I’m aw wrinkowed up!” he said again.

“Yes, you are,” I smiled through the lump in my throat.

“Yes, you are.”

Oh, how I love it!

And oh, how I love you!

My big Little Man!

Three weeks ago, running up to Snuggles with a stuffed snake:

“This is a snake, Snuggles!  Sssssss.  Like dis!”

—–

Two weeks ago, in the bathroom with Daddy:

“Daddy, I’m on the scale,” he called out from the corner of the bathroom, the top of his head barely visible above the counter.

“What does it say?” Daddy asked.

“Thirty pounds,” he answered.

—–

Two weeks ago, after going on an early morning jog with Daddy:

Two little feet ran to the side of my bed to wake me up and a little fist was thrust out–holding a single white flower.

Bubbers beamed, “I picked it for you by the horses!!!”

—–

Two weeks ago, while playing trains:

“Sorry, sorry!”

“Who are you saying sorry to?” I asked curiously.

“The track.”

—–

Two weeks ago, after he said a blessing on our breakfast:

I had pre-instructed him to thank Heavenly Father for the oatmeal and yogurt, but during the prayer he added a third item.

“Did you bless the medicine?” I asked with a smile.

“Yes,” he answered matter-of-factly, “I blessed the medicine.”

(He was very fond of his antibiotics).

—–

Two weeks ago, after I told Bubbers I was going to take a shower:

“Mommy play with you a little bit?  Mommy play with you a little bit?… Please?  Mommy play with you a little bit, please?”

[Which really sounded like this: "Mommy pay with you a ittow bit?  Mommy pay with you a ittow bit?...  Pease?  Mommy pay with you a ittow bit, pease?"]

I smiled.

(There’s was no way I could say no to that and we had a blast!)

—–

Two weeks ago, when he caught me looking at him with “that look” in my eyes:

“Somebody’s picking their nose,” he admitted and then stopped.

—–

Two weeks ago, while holding onto a train track and trying to get out our large flannel board at the same time, he fell down in a heap on the floor:

“I slipped and my knees crumbled on dat!” he explained, pointing to the flattened flannel board, “I slipped and then dropped the train track.”

[Which really sounded like this: "I sipped and my knees crumbowed on dat!  I sipped and then dropped the train track."]

—–

Two weeks ago, when Daddy left family dinner early to attend the temple:

“Daddy’s going to the temple to worship God,” I explained after Daddy left.

“Daddy going to see God and Jesus?” Bubbers asked.

“I don’t know,” I answered, “He will feel them.”

“Daddy going to touch God and Jesus?!?” he said excitedly, “Going to feel God and Jesus?  Daddy going to feel God and Jesus?!”

—–

The next morning, when he woke up and I got him out of his crib and I told him Daddy was here:

“Daddy’s here?!?” he cried out, “Daddy’s not gone?!  Daddy’s not gone temple?!?”

—–

Two weeks ago, on the phone telling Daddy the story of how he’d called Daddy at work earlier, but nobody answered:

“I said, “Daddy, you dere?…  Daddy?…  You dere?…  You dere?”  And Daddy wasn’t answering,” Bubbers explained dramatically.

“I wasn’t answering?” Daddy asked sympathetically.

“No, only just Bubbers,” he answered.

—–

At various times throughout the last seven weeks, when Snuggles starts crying:

“He’s got gas!…  Poo-poo’s… He’s got poo-poo’s.”

“He’s hungry!…  He’s tired!…  He’s okay?”

—–

At various times throughout the last seven weeks, when he enters a room and sees his little brother:

“He’s awake?!?…  Hi, Snuggles!!!…  Hi!!…  Hi, Snuggles!!”

—–

Last week, after throwing a piece of his upstairs train set and losing all train-playing privileges for the day:

“Clean up dis train, play with Thomas once?… Play with Thomas one time, please?”

[Which really sounded like this: "Kean up dis train, pay with Thomas once?...  Pay with Thomas one time, pease?"]

—–

Last week, pulling out the full-blown negotiator skills:

“Go outside first, change your diaper after.  Okay, Mommy?…  Go outside first, then you change your… my diaper after.”

—–

Last week, when Snuggles suddenly woke up and needed to eat when we were planning to go outside:

“Feed Snuggles outside?  Go outside first.  Pick cherries first.”

—–

Last week, after opening his picture of the First Presidency and Quorum of the 12 Apostles and unexpectedly seeing a picture of the Salt Lake Temple inside:

“That’s the temple, Mommy!!” he cried out, “Where Mommy and Daddy live?!”

“Yes, that’s the Salt Lake Temple!” I smiled, “That’s where Mommy and Daddy got married.”  :):)

—–

Last week, after a futile (and brief) search for his step stool:

“It’s gone,” he reported with disappointment, “Somebody else taked it.”

—–

Last week, laying on the carpet with a pillow and blanket:

“Are you tired?” I asked.

“Yes,” he answered, “Just like Daddy.”

“Is Daddy tired?” I laughed.

“Noooo!” he answered with a grin, “He’s at work!”

—–

Last week, peeking at the clothes inside the agitating washing machine:

“They’re swimming!!”

—–

Yesterday, while changing into his church clothes right before his nap:

“I’m not tired?!” he cried out, looking down at his new clothes, “I can go to church?!”

—–

This morning in the bathroom:

“I have toes today?!…  I’m happy.”

—–

Later this morning in the bathroom:

“Hewp!  Hewp clean up my toys!…..  I made a big mess.”

—–

Today, while running around a tower fan during our heat wave:

“I like dis.   I like cold fans today.”

—–

Today, while looking at a sticker from the fire department:

“The dog has a hat?!…  Dat’s funny.”

—–

Right now, seeing me put the final touches on this post:

“Dat’s me! Dat’s me outside!” he cried out, “See it? See yourself?”

39 weeks and 2 days pregnant.

And 6 days before our Bubbers King was born.

2 weeks and 1 day post-pregnant.

Why does this feel like a lifetime ago?

Hi Everyone!

Bubbers King here to showcase the 2-year pictures Mommy took of me.

On Memorial Day Weekend, Daddy asked Mommy what she wanted to do.

And Mommy said she wanted to take my 2-year pictures.

But she couldn’t do it alone like she used to when I was a baby.

Because now I can get up and run away.

And she has a hard time running after me with my baby brother in her belly.

So she has to enlist Daddy’s help.

To keep me in one spot.

To get me to look at the camera.

And to make me smile because he’s being so silly.

And I have to say…..

I think they did a good job– thanks, Mom and Dad!

[You're welcome, Little Man!]

[Thank you, Love, for all your help!]

New developments:

• Officially weaning from nursing at 20 months
• Counting! (up to twelve)
• Walking up and down the stairs while holding onto the banister bars
• Singing church songs all by himself
• Knowing the names, sounds and ASL signs for all the letters of the alphabet
• Singing the whole A-B-C song (except “M” and “N”)
• Saying prayers all by himself
• Trying to read words
• Stringing beads onto a string
• Frequently talking about things that happened in the past with a memory like an elephant
• Using his new “tep tool” (step stool) to do things by himself (e.g., climbing into his booster seat, or onto the bed, toilet, bar stools, etc.)
• Spontaneously saying, “Hi!” (in a dear, sweet, high-pitched voice) and waving to kids at the playground, dogs, cats, fish, seagulls, dog footprints, insects and stuffed animals
• Transitioning from two naps a day to one a day
• Transitioning to a later bedtime

(Sorry the next two are so technical–I wanted to keep detailed notes for myself)

Speech:

• Amazingly clear and precise articulation
• Frequently produces multisyllabic words and multi-word utterances of multisyllabic words
• Self corrects when he makes an articulation error
• Intently watches me when I model new words
• Accurately articulates:
  • almost all consonant sounds as singletons (including /k/ & /g/, /dz/, /r/ and voiceless “th”) at the word level in at least one word position
  • many consonant clusters in the medial and final word positions
• Started producing:
  • initial fricatives (/s/, “sh”, etc.) that he had previously deleted (“un” for sun) on Sun, 2/1/09 (21 mos old)
  • initial /s/ clusters (/sn/ in snow) that he had previously reduced (“nowman” for snowman, “side” for slide, “nake” for snake) on Mon, 3/9/09 (22 mos old)
• Current articulation errors include:
  • deleted /l/ (e.g., “ike” for like)
  • stopped voiced “th” (e.g., “dis” for this)
  • a slightly interdentalized initial /s/ or /z/ on some words (e.g., “song”, “zoom”), but is often inconsistent and always cute :)

Language:

• Expressive vocabulary between the 90th and 95th percentile (MacArthur CDI, 22 mos old)
• Produces utterances:
  • 1-5 words in length
  • with a mean length of utterance of 2-3 words
  • that are often telegraphic with mainly content words, but using function words more and more
• Produces the grammatical morphemes:
  • possessive /s/
  • plural /s/
  • present participle “-ing” (e.g., “Seagull drinking rain”)
• Receptively identifies:
  • all colors (except white) correctly
  • all shapes correctly
  • the numbers 3, 7 and 8 correctly
• Accurately answers the following “wh-” questions about the present or past:
  • what
  • where
  • who
• Spontaneously:
  • apologizes (“Oh… sorry!”) in the sweetest voice
  • says, “Hi!” in the sweetest voice
  • says his own prayers
  • sings songs
• Some of my favorite utterances in the past week:
  • “Sing door Mommy quick.”
  • “Train track together!”
  • “Hi doggy footprints!  Hi!”
  • “Mommy tep tool is?”
  • “Oh… sorry, Mommy do it.”
  • “Energy push Nomas.”
  • “No touch him fly.”
  • “Granola bar birds eat it.”
  • “Baby kickin’.”
  • “Baby movin’, see, see!”
  • “Come on, baby.  Come on, baby.” (said in sweet brotherese to my belly with both hands placed on it)
  • “All done ogurt?” (yogurt)
  • “Pushing train track.  Bubbers do it.”
  • “Train track uptairs.  Farm set uptairs quick.”
  • “Ots a poopoos in dere.” (Lots of poopoos in there) (in reference to his dirty diaper)
  • “Ike it?  Gad!” (Like it?  Glad!) (as we shared an Otter Pop)
  • “Socks off.  Sippry socks.” (Slippery socks)

What he’s doing right now:

• Sleeping for the night and very happy to be reunited with his “geen banket” (green blanket) that was washed last night after he threw up on it earlier in the day

Teeth watch:

• Waiting for two year molars

What he’s wearing:

• 24 mos. onesies, tops, bottoms and socks
• size 6 1/2 shoes
• size 4 diapers (but contemplating size 5 diapers may be on the horizon because he’s leaking more than usual…)

How he’s sleeping:

• About 12 hours at night (6 pm-6 am) until a few days ago when we gradually moved his bedtime to 7 pm for a trial run
• Morning nap at 10 am for an hour

His Favorites:

• “Bubbers do it”
• “Pay a bill!”
• “No, run away!” or “No, run away chairs!” or “No, run away chairs kitchen!”
• “Daddy hoooome!!”
• “Go park see kids”
• “A-B-C’s computer”
• “Ride Nomas garage” (Thomas)
• “Read books”
• “Peek-ee-boo!!” in Mommy’s hanging shirts :):)
• “Nursery, play-doh!”
• “Get You!” or “Chase You!”
• “One-two-fee-side!” (slide)
• “More oomik” (more music)
• “Milk bottle”
• “High five!” to people at the nursing home
• “Ibrary!” (library)
• “Afabet tain” (alphabet train) game at the library
• “Pawcorn!” (popcorn)
• “One-two-fee-jump!” on the bed
• “Chopichip cookies” (chocolate chip cookies)
• “Brown bear, brown bear see”
• “Baby bear, baby bear see”
• “Paa bear, paa bear see” (Panda bear)
• Flushing the toilet
• “Sing songs”
• “Sing door” at bedtime
• “Jump song!” (title he made up for A-B-C’s song with ASL signs, sounds and example word)
• “Kee George museum” or “Keerious Door museum” (Curious George at the Children’s museum)
• His good friend “Efan” (Ethan)
• Naming family members and objects in the vicinity
• Singing songs (“Wise Man”, “Clean Up” song, “Book of Mormon Stories”)

His Not-So-Favorites:

• Getting his toe nails clipped
• Being told it’s time to change his diaper

Daddy’s Favorites:

• How he says “you” about himself instead of “me”
• When he wants me to chase him (“CHASE YOU!!”) (see above)
• HAT! When I put him on my head and let him fall to the couch on his back (while holding him, of course)
• Upside down!! When I hold him upside down by his legs, just above the knee and dip him up and down
• When he goes and hides in the corner by his dresser and giggles while I look for him
• How he wants his stuffed animals to play with the crocodile game
• How he thinks he always has to be the one to flush the toilet
• His great love for Jello, especially slurping it like Daddy
• How much he loves his Thomas the train riding thing
• How much he loves pushing buttons
• “Pay a bill!”
• How he repeats random things from all of our sentences
• As always, the hugs and kisses
• Putting him to sleep when he wakes up at night
• Hearing “love you”, “nite-nite”, “bye bye” before bed
• His scream of joy when I come home followed by running in circles
• Going to see all the buses with him
• Letting him “drive” the car and push all the buttons
• Puddles
• Giving him rides
• Drawing with him
• Playing “ahtzee” with him
• 2!
• Hearing him laugh his head off when Mommy tickles him
• Seeing him and Mommy read books on the couch together
• When he picks up my head by my hair so I sit up
• Boots!
• Hearing him talk to himself or sing to himself

Dad’s Not-So-Favorites:

• How fast he’s growing up
• When he whines

Things I’m looking forward to:

• More wrestling
• More talking
• Playing catch
• Seeing him in Primary

Mommy’s Favorites:

• When he tells me what he’s thinking about
• His glowing smile when I help him down slides
• Making him giggle when I tickle his neck, armpits and sides (especially during a game of “Get You!”)
• When he tries to “read” and assumes that a word says what’s inside of it (e.g., “Sports Authority” on the store front says “tetherball”)
• The adorable “stomp-stomp-stomp!” of his little feet when he’s running laps around the house or playing “Get You!”
• When he whispers while saying a prayer and then suddenly talks loudly when we ask him to speak up :):)
• Hiding in my hanging shirts and peeking at me through a hanger with two little hands and two little eyes showing
• His spontaneous apologies and greetings that are so sweet they melt my heart
• When he repeats funny things we say (especially the random exclamations of “Garbage” or “Deeb”)
• Cuddling with him during his bottles
• His sweet voice saying good night through his door at night :):)
• How much he loves to play with other children
• When he talks to baby in my belly :):)
• His spontaneous hugs and kisses (sigh!!)
• When he hides from Daddy during “Get You!” by hugging onto my legs and burying his face in my thigh
• How his eyes light up with delight and humor
• Watching his joy overflow as he plays with his Daddy
• Giving his Daddy horsey rides up the stairs at bedtime
• When he plays with my hair
• What a sweet, happy, fun boy he is
• How much he loves church and nursery
• His amazing memory
• His sweet renditions of “Once There was a Snowman” and “Book of Mormon Stories”
• How much he loves us

Mom’s Not-So-Favorites:

• How fast his second year of life has gone–much faster than his first year
• The acrobatic feat of clipping his toenails

Things I’m looking forward to:

• Celebrating Easter with him!!
• Testing his articulation when he turns 2 and is old enough for a standardized test :):):)
• Seeing him be a big brother
• More loves, laughs and melting hearts

• The Wheels on the Bus
• Tell Me What Color Car Do You See
• The Cat goes Fiddle-die-fee
• Do you know the Popcorn Man?
• I’m Taking Home my Baby Bumblebee
• Follow the Prophet
• Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree
• Once There Was a Snowman
• The Itsy-Bitsy-Spider
• Red Bird, Red Bird, Through My Window
• A-B-C Song

Bubbers’ Favorite Books:

• Hop on Pop
• The Cat in the Hat
• Green Eggs and Ham
• The Foot Book
• Are You My Mother?
• Pound Puppies
• Dumbo
• Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
• The Wheels on the Bus
• I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
• The Napping House

Bubbers’ Two-word Combinations:

• “Mommy, nurse?”
• “Daddy, play?”
• “Daddy, ride?”
• “More piece”
• “Bye squirrel!”

Bubbers’ Expressive Vocabulary at 18 months:

airplane
all
amen
animal
ants
apple
apple juice
baby
ball
bandaid
bath
beach
bear
Becca (Beppa!)
bed
bee
berry
bib
bigbite
bike
bite
blackberry
blanket
blocks
blue
book
books
boots
bottle
bowl
boy
bridge
bright
bubbles
bug
bugs
bumblebee
bus
button
Bye-bye
camel
candy
car
card
cat
cereal
chair
cheese
cheezit
church
close
coat
cottage cheese
cow
cracker
crayons
crocodile
Daddy
deer
dice
digger
dog
doggy
down
dragon
drive
driver
duck
Elmo
eyes
face
fork
fox
fries
garage
garbage truck
gg
giraffe
granola
grass
guitar
hair
hammer
hat
hawk
heart
hi
hippo
honey
hot
house
ice
jacket
Jesus
Joshua
juice
jungle
kangaroo
kick
kiss
knife
library
light
lizard
LoveYou
mice
Mommy
monkey
moon
moose
more
mouse
mouth
nail
nice
Night-night
no
noodle
nose
nurse
oatmeal
Olivia
ostrich
ouch
owie
owl
pants
Papa
paper
pee-pee
pen
piano
piece
pig
pigs
pillow
pizza
plane
play
please
pocket
poo-poo
popcorn
prayer
puddle
pumpkin
purple
push
puzzle
rabbit
racoon
rhino
rice
ride
ride
river
school
scriptures
shoes
snack
snake
socks
sorry
spill
spoon
squirrel
stairs
star
sticky
tail
teeth
Thank You
tie
tiger
toast
toasty
toes
toothbrush
towel
track
tractor
train
trash
truck
turkey
turtle
two
underneath
up
vacuum
vegetables
wasp
witch
wow
Yahtzee
yellow
yes
zebra

(Holy smokes, sorry this is almost 2 months late!!)

Statistics:

• Weight: 33 inches (70%ile)
• Height: 26.15 pounds (55%ile)
• Head Circumference: 48 cm

New accomplishments:

• Running!
• Finally drinking cow’s milk!!
• Outgrowing his first pair of adorable shoes:

• Verbally identifies and receptively recognizes the letters “A” and “B” (and sometimes “C”)
• Following two-step directions
• Being very helpful with unloading the dishwasher, putting away folded clothes, cleaning up toys, and dusting
• Understanding when we’re going somewhere and talking about it the whole way there (“Church!  Church!  Church!” on the way to church, or “Ibrary!  Ibrary!  Ibrary!” on the way to the library)
• Going trick-or-treating for the first time:

• Attending nursery at church
• Requesting to sing specific songs! (see list)
• Expressive vocabulary of about 200 words! (see list)
• First two-word utterances!! (see list)
• Down to one nursing a day

What he’s doing right now:

• Peacefully sleeping in his crib for the night after lots of hugs & kisses and our ceremonial “Night-night,” “Love you,” “Bye, bye”, that he faithfully echoes in his incredibly sweet little voice as he lays there and looks up at us like a little angel.

Teeth watch:

• Top: Eight
• Bottom: Eight
• What’s left: 2 year molars

What he’s wearing:

• 24 mos. onesies
• transitioning into 24 mos. tops and bottoms
• 24 mos. socks
• size 5 shoes
• size 4 diapers

How he’s sleeping:

• About 12 hours at night (6 pm-6 am)
• Morning nap and afternoon nap still

His Favorites:

• Singing songs!  (especially ones with hand motions)
• Cuddling with Mommy on the couch and reading “boots” (“books”) (see list)
• Bugs!!!
• “Ables” (“vegetables”) that he begs for every night at dinner
• His number “2!” game (while sitting on the bed, he directs parent to stand next to the wall, count to 3, run, and jump on the bed)
• Pushing, pushing, pushing!!! (his toy buses, cars, garbage truck, and big truck)
• Playing with other children
• Wearing sock puppets on our hands and singing “Follow the Prophet”
• Airplanes:

• Putting on his boots and then looking for and splashing through puddles!!
• Story time, singing, coloring and computer at the local library
• Drawing on the white board
• Toting around his cherished (and many!) stuffed animals:

• Our new reading lessons
• Dogs and cats (especially in the flesh!)
• Buses!!!!!
• Adorably coloring with his crayons while laying on the floor:

• “Driving” the car with Daddy in shotgun
• Being with Mommy and Daddy
• Listening for Daddy to come home and shrieking when he finally does!
• Looking at pictures of “amals” (“animals”) on the computer

His Not-So-Favorites:

• When Daddy leaves or isn’t home
• Being told it’s time to change his diaper (he runs away as fast as his Wooga legs will let him!)

Daddy’s Favorites:

• Putting him to sleep when he wakes up at night
• Hearing “love you”, “nite-nite”, “bye bye” before bed
• His scream of joy when I come home followed by running in circles
• Going to see all the buses with him
• Letting him “drive” the car and push all the buttons
• Puddles
• Giving him rides
• Drawing with him
• Playing “ahtzee” with him
• 2!
• Hearing him laugh his head off when Mommy tickles him
• Seeing him and Mommy read books on the couch together
• When he picks up my head by my hair so I sit up
• Boots!
• Hearing him talk to himself or sing to himself

Dad’s Not-So-Favorites:

• How fast he’s growing up
• When he whines

Things I’m looking forward to:

• More wrestling
• More talking
• Playing catch
• Seeing him in Primary

Mommy’s Favorites:

• How he spots every single bus that has ever or will ever pass us on the street (and how I deliberately maneuver the car to get next to buses so he can see them)
• His sweet voice, hugs and kisses
• How he keeps tapping and pointing to his booster tray until I put my plate of food on it while we eat
• His cute “where??” gesture:

• Making him giggle uncontrollably when I nibble his sides and neck
• Listening to him play with and talk to his Daddy
• When he says, “Boots!  Boots!  Boots!” (“Books!”) over and over again as he tries to climb up on me and the couch as fast as Woogaly possible
• His awesome and enthusiastic pointing:

• How much he loves to find and watch bugs
• Always catching me off guard with the creative and contagiously cute things he does and says
• How cute he looks when we lay him in his crib–-flips onto his tummy, hugs his big adult-size pillow, holds his animals tucked under his arms and kicks his little legs that poke out the bottom of his blanket
• Bedtime snuggles and stories (and laughs!):

• When he takes off his socks during naps and I find them under the crib like in the picture above!
• Cuddling with him on my bed or the couch while he drinks his milk bottle after every nap
• How he intensely pumps his cute left arm every time he runs (even if it’s just for a few steps)
• Seeing all of our shoes in a pile together:

• Seeing how much other people love him
• When he gets shy and buries his face into me
• What a happy little guy he is!
• When he eagerly requests songs for me to sing to him and how excited he is when I understand which song he’s requesting

Mom’s Not-So-Favorites:

• His tendency to sprint off when it’s time to change his diaper
• When I don’t understand what he’s saying and he really, really wants me to

Things I’m looking forward to:

• Teaching him official Family Home Evening lessons from our new nursery manual
• Celebrating Christmas with him!