18 Months

Dear Joshua,

You are now 18 months old and I can’t believe it. Time has flown by for me. I remember holding you for the first time and staring into your beautiful blue eyes. I still stare into those baby blues, but I know you more deeply now.

I love being your mother. You have been an easy baby to love. You have come into our home and taken us all by surprise. You are just happy to be alive and to see that attitude in a person brings out the optimism in everyone around you. You light up a room with your beautiful smile and your blaring blue eyes. You have an infectious laugh that starts from your belly and radiates up through your joyous laughter.

You make a face that we call “rat face”. You scrunch your lips up together and stick them forward to expose your tiny teeth. It is funny, yet adorable and makes us laugh out loud together each and every time you do it.

While you are an easy child, you are also a very strong willed child. You know what you want and when you want it. You make your opinion known. You also have learned that throwing yourself on the floor and screaming when you don’t get your way is not the way to go about getting things done. We actually laugh at you. Sorry. You have a mischievous bone on your body where you love to explore drawers, cabinets and up high places (like the tables). I’m going to blame that on your age for now and hope that as you get older we can manage that little bone.

You had your first haircut this month. I hated to cut your beautiful curly hair, but you were being mistaken for a girl. I did my best to dress you in all blue and boyish attire, but your face is merely so beautiful that people couldn’t distinguish your gender. The hair came off and after Mommy shed some tears you are definitely all boy. I saved your curls in an envelope, which I placed in your baby book for us to reminisce one day together.

Your brother, Jacob, adores you. You are the best of friends. We call him your representative because he does all negotiations and talking on your behalf. He is eager to help you every day. He asks about you while you are napping. “When will Joshua get up from his nap?” He loves playing with you and getting you into his room to play hot wheels on his racetrack rug. You two will sit for hours and imaginary play together. You never fight, nor disagree. You two always seem to work it out when one wants a toy that the other wants. I enjoy watching the two of you together and am so glad you have such a great relationship as brothers.

Developmentally you are blossoming. You have walked for about six months. You went from walking to running. You pretty much run everywhere you go. You talk a ton. You love to sing songs and dance. You eat big people food and love apple juice. You wear a size 5 diaper and 24 month clothes. You take two naps a day and sleep a full 12 hours at night. You love your Mommy and prefer to see her for comfort. Daddy is all about the playtime. You enjoy wrestling and playing with Daddy.

Joshua, I can’t express to you just how much you mean to our family and me. We love you so dearly. I thank God for you everyday! You have been a miracle and a blessing from the day I found out I was pregnant with you. I never take you for granted and I treasure each and every moment we have together. Now, if you would stop growing so fast so I can enjoy these toddler days longer.

I love you,
Mommy