It's been a while since I wrote in your blog and that's my fault. There's been a lot going on. We moved out of Charky and Marina's home to our new, temporary home in Woodland Hills, Utah. It's very nice and even nicer to have our own space again. If you could talk, you would agree. You absolutely love the big yard and the new rooms to explore.
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| Daddy, a yard! |
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| Smiling, with a few teeth. |
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| "A bug!" -- You'll stop anywhere to point one out. |
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| You would rather grab my phone then let me take your picture. |
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| "A leaf!" |
Let me try and explain what it's like living with you at 19 months old. You wake up ready to rock and roll and lately you have been sleeping until 8 or so, which is NICE for your pregnant Mom and I. Joann is due in November, so she has been tired. Anyway, when you wake you still want to be with your Mom to nurse a bit, but before long you climb on me, saying, "Daddy!" in an enthusiastic voice that says, "Let's play!". This is my favorite way to wake up.
You have a short attention span and can be distracted easily. For an example, you have started saying, "Eat" when you are hungry, but by the time I get you out of our bed and start walking to the kitchen, you have already changed your mind and want to play with a ball, or read a book, or jump off a step, or watch a video on my iPhone.
You have a few favorite things and words that I want to write down before you change your mind. Every time you pass the door going downstairs, you stop in your tracks, look up to me and say, "Hada!" (Hah'-dah). It took me a while to figure out what you were saying, but this means you want to go downstairs with me and play air hockey. I sit you on the table, while you grin super big, and I turn on the air. You immediately get happier and you can actually hit the floating puck into the goal with the hand piece! You get bored quickly though, and you immediately yell, "Bah..." and you point to the other room toward the pool table. Bah... is how you say, "Ball", and you love the colorful billiard balls. So, I take you out there and sit you down on the pool table and show you how to push the billiard balls to the other end of the table. Oh man, you love this game. Sometimes I put my head down near the rails on the far end and pretend the balls you are pushing hit me in the face when they reach my side. You laugh really hard at this and can't wait to push another one in my direction.
After a few minutes of this, you yell, "Hada!" -- and you want to head back to the Air Hockey table and start all over again. At this point, I am bored so I take you upstairs and attempt to distract you with a cracker.
Another of my favorite words of yours is, "Mah'-me-oh!" You say this every time we go to the car and are in the garage. This is your way of saying "lawnmower". This makes me laugh mostly because of the sheer enthusiasm express while saying it, let alone the three syllables. Why you would love lawnmowers is beyond me.
Your third word that is cute but is already driving your Mom and I nuts is, "Nan-ny". You say this every time we get in the car and begin driving. In fact, you are relentless with this word and you say it over and over. This means, "Candy" as you know there is candy in the middle console. I have never seen you so happy as when we give you a piece of Nan-ny.
You love to play airplane, where I hold you in the air like you are Superman and fly you around the room and throw you on the bed in a pile of soft pillows. You don't like to wrestle or pillow fight yet. You hate nursery at church and are the only kid who cries most of the time, making me think that you are dangerously close to being a Momma's boy, but I am giving you a little slack since you are the newest to the class. I am hoping your brother, Michael, will toughen you up a bit.
You love shoes. Your own, mine, Joann's, everyone's. You still love hats and when we discovered a little yellow hard hat downstairs, you wear that around constantly. It's hard for me to capture your energy in photos, but it's endless, and boundless.
You are really good with names and you can't stop saying someone's name when you want to see them. Every time you see an older gentleman in a cowboy hat, you say, "Papaw!" -- like you just saw your Papaw Spence. This is awesome, except that the cowboys look at you strangely.
You hate the car, making me hate the car with you in it. Unfortunately for us, we live far from everything, so drives in the car are required. This is the only time you drive me nuts. Your curious, playful nature just doesn't like sitting in the straightjacket of a car seat you are forced to wear. While I can't blame you, you really have to work with me on this one, or I may put a muzzle on you!
You amaze me with your ability to live in the moment. You always point to the sky every time you see the moon or an airplane. Sometimes I wonder how you even see the airplane, but then I notice that it was making a noise, but I was too busy to hear it. This is a great lesson for me to remember to clear the clutter in order to hear the important things, like the spirit guiding me. I will teach you more about this as you get older, but you teach me now how easy it is for my mind to get distracted with the unimportant things of the day. Thanks for that.
