19 months...

because mommy is so far behind she hasn't done an update since 12 months!

Alexander,

You truly are the light of our lives (you, AND your brother of course!). You never cease to amaze us with your ever growing vocabulary, your physical agility and your ability to lighten the mood in ANY situation. Your smile really is contagious in this household.

You are talking up a storm these day, not always in a language that we understand, but man can you carry on. You imitate the last word of what ever we say and like to think that you are a part of every conversation, even when we are disciplining your brother. Your favorite word is "cooooookie", of which you now call your Boppa since he is a sucker and gives you so many. You also favor "baby" which means binky and "BoBo" for blankie as well as "neese" for please and "na-noo" for thank you. In the last few weeks you have started putting words together which I find amazing. Some examples are,

"Bell Bell seeet!" - Bella sit!

"Dadda wook" - Dadda work?

"Dy Dy cool?" - Tyler school?

You ask about twenty times a day to watch Elmo which I take as a mixed blessing. Although you do not sit and watch the DVD it does entertain you enough to keep you in the room and playing with your toys while I get a few things done.

You eat like the champ. So much so that Doctor C wanted to publish your growth chart at 18 months. Most children your age go through food jags and tend to hit a plateau with the weight gain. Not you! Nope you went from 15% at 12 months to 85% and 18 months. Yes, that indeed is a weight gain of about 8 pounds in 6 months! Way to go little man!

I am a little scared to write about it for fear of jinxing us but you continue to sleep like a champ too! You are still know to take 4-5 hour naps on a regular basis. Night times are cake as you are usually ready for bed by 8:30 and go down without a fight.

Days are always fun when you are awake. There is no time for you to be in a bad mood but when you are you routinely put yourself in timeout when you are not getting your way. Yes, you run straight to your room and shut the door like a 13 year old girl. Wise beyond your years I tell you! You had started hitting when frustrated but we seem to have put an end to that behavior with a little diligence. You have your brother to thank, we have perfected the art of discipline! Now if only we can figure out how to effectively discipline a 5 year old. Don't worry, by the time you get there we will have learned :)

You look up to your brother so much. I love to see the look in your eye when you spy him in the crowds of ASB students after spending a mere 6 hours away from him. You get a big smile on your face and yell "Dy Dy".

Your newest trick is going "pa-yee" (potty). Although you love to copy brother and sit there before every bath we have yet to see anything happen. Nope, not you. Instead you promptly get off and pee in the bathtub, without fail. Love it!

As much as we love to see you grow and develop we are savoring the moments of you being the "baby" because before too long you are going to be that dreaded middle child that daddy blames for so much of his childhood :) Don't worry buddy, no matter what comes, know that we love YOU just for YOU and always will! You will always be our little man, our chunky monkey, our monster :)! We love you Alexander, more than words could ever tell!