growing up

Today Riggs is eighteen months old. I remember thinking how old that sounded when he was just a newborn, and feeling like it was 'so far' in the future...what was I thinking? Time has passed so fast I can't even comprehend that he could really have been in our lives for so long, and yet I can't imagine life without him. I remember trying to imagine how much I would love him when I was pregnant, and now I realize that none of my wildest dreams ever came close to how full my heart is with love for this little boy of mine. He is such a blessing in our lives!

When we took him in for his eighteen month check up, he listened closely to Dr. Amy as she explained that she needed him to sit still so she could listen to his heart, and check his ears and his eyes. He sat so still with such a curious expression on his face as she put the stethoscope to his chest. It is such a gift to be able to watch as he blossoms into a sweet and happy little human being with feelings and desires and a growing understanding of the world around him.

As expected, he is growing and thriving and doing all the things that an eighteen month old boy should do. He is up to 23.4 lbs now and although he feels heavy to me, he is still only in about the 20th percentile for his weight. He stands tall at 33.5 inches, about the 90th percentile for height. His top canines have finally broken through the skin, so he has 14 teeth, soon to be 16 when those bottom canines break through and join the rest.

He is walking and running and climbing and trying to jump and expending so much energy during his waking hours that he sleeps more now than he did at 12 months. He usually gets about 11-12 hours at night with two 1-2 hour naps during the day. I'm so glad that he is still nursing a little before bed and when he wakes in the night, but I'm bracing myself for when he won't nurse at all, and he really will be a boy with no baby left at all.

Engaging, imaginative, curious, energetic, empathetic and oh-so-loving is our Riggs at eighteen months. Like most toddlers, he is very independent and wants to do most things himself. But then he's still in that stage of acute separation anxiety, and at times he just needs his mama and no one else will do. Often he will play very well on his own for most of the day, checking in periodically to show me what he's doing or to give me a hug and a 'pat-pat' while saying 'ma-ma' with a big smile.

Cars and trucks and trains are his favorite toys, and he can often be found driving them all around the house on many different surfaces from the ground to the chairs to the dog. Books are a close second, and we spend about an hour each day reading together, usually split between first thing in the morning and late in the afternoon, before dinner and bed. On the weekends, he will bring book after book for daddy to read to him, many times requiring they be read twice before moving on to the next one. He has a few favorites - Goose Needs a Hug, Nobunny's Perfect, Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes and Guess How Much I Love You? to name a few. And of course there's Curious George, but only the books with the yellow covers. He shows no interest in those that have a blue cover. He will pull out his favorite books and sit down where ever he is and look at each page, sometimes pointing at the pictures and often 'reading' them aloud to himself ('bada bada bada'). I'm so glad he loves books.

Like his mama, Riggs has a lot to say. He is very talkative, although many times we can't quite make out what he is very earnestly saying, eyebrows raised in a sweetly serious expression as he speaks. Of course he says mama, and dada or my dada, and dog, ball, car, nose, toes-toes, banana, uh-oh, 'nanen' (amen), bumble-bee, 'gama' (grandma), 'ampa' (grandpa), Noah, yum, no-no, I-don't-know, baby, Lyla, hot, shoe, sock, 'bun-a' (bunny). He also can sign please, thank you, and all done and will imitate many words if he's in the mood. A few words we're working on right now are hi or hello, bye-bye, please (spoken), thank-you (spoken), and yes. He waves hello and good-bye, but doesn't say either. We've been singing ABC's a lot lately too and working on counting to ten together, using the pictures in books or things like his fingers and toes. He will 'count' and point at each thing but using his own sound rather than actually saying 'one, two' ect.

He likes to do the motions to Itsy, Bitsy Spider, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, and to Patty Cake. He also loves to 'dance' to music, swinging his arms around with a huge smile when he hears a song he likes. He loves to point at things - outside, in the house, in books, and at the table. He also loves to point out his nose, teeth, eyes, ears, belly-button, toes, fingers, and other 'parts' (a-hem) on his own body. His toes are one of his favorite things right now, and he often wants to tickle my toes too.

Smoothies are still a favorite food for him, along with blueberries (frozen or room temp), raspberries (frozen!), strawberries (room temp only!), yogurt, rice, bratwurst, shredded chicken, squash, zucchini, soup, beans, and bananas. He feeds himself most things, although he's still pretty messy. And he loves him some water - he takes after his mama in that way too! He's getting pretty good at drinking out of a cup by himself, which makes me both happy and sad. Just another sign of how big he's getting!

Brushing his hair is a favorite past-time as is brushing and flossing his teeth. He is very meticulous about his grooming, ha. He's not picky at all about what he wears and though he tries he still can't quite get his clothes off by himself. Oh how he tries, getting very frustrated when he gets stuck, usually because of his big head. He loves to get his clothes off and roll around our bed, slide off and then parade around the house. He is such a silly boy and often has a very mischievous gleam in his eye that both Steve and I just love.

happy half-birthday my boy!

so much love

mama