Dear Lukey,
Every milestone seems to be 'the best stage so far', but 18 months is a dream! I love that you are so curious and are getting to be more independent. You walk all over the house and 'don't have to be glued to Mommy's hip' anymore. You have your moments (hungry and tired), but mostly you love to just play. This is pretty new for you. I suppose it is because you only started to walk about 2 months ago. Oh how I love that you can walk! Most people said that I would hate it, but I carried you around for 16 months and I am so glad that I can finally put you down. You don't have to be right next to Mommy all the time, but you do come find me once you are bored with playing OR need help with a toy.
I love to play with you, though. Your favorite toy is your CD player. It is the first thing you go to when you walk into your play room. You LOVE to dance and you LOVE music. I am amazed that you know the songs. Just the other day, you said 'rewy hoPpE' when the song said 'really happy'. You anticipate your favorite part of some songs and get SO excited when songs you like are on...(I'd mention your favorite songs, but there's not just one that you LOVE...there are a lot!). At night when we sing Jesus Loves Me, you always know right when to say 'Bible' in the song and it just melts my heart. Music class is so fun for you and I am glad you are learning to love music. Hopefully, you can sing like your Grampa Jim and Uncle Thom...look out Jonas Brothers...Goldie is on his way!
Books:
Oh Man, do you love books! Not only do you love them, but you can point to the spine of one on your shelf and say your version of the title. It is amazing how much you know and how quickly you learn! Your Goodnight Gorilla book is a favorite because of the balloon on every page. We always search for it...even if it is just the string or a dot in the distant sky. You love to find the mouse on every page of Goodnight Moon and point to the fire place and say, 'dan-der' (danger). That's right...fire is a danger! Reading time (until recently) has always been your favorite. You are more into your playroom and running around now, but that is to be expected. Many times you still come to me with a favorite: 'Frew, Frew' (I Love You Through and Through), 'A-D' ( A Your Adorable), 'Albight, Albight, Albight' (The a Monster at the end of this Book...Grover says, "Alright! Alright! Alright! on one of the pages.), 'Ow Baby' (Owl Babies), 'Gigga, Gigga' (Texas A&M 101 Book...you say this while giving me the Gig 'Em sign. You also think that the statue of James Earl Rudder is daddy!), and 'P-B' (Peter Cottontail). You have so many books and they are all your favorites. Some days you love one more than the others, but mostly you love them all.
Words:
Everyday you say a more coherent word. I always know what your saying (well, most of the time), but others are starting to understand too. You can name most of your body parts and tell me where it hurts (that is so nice!). You have a name for all your shapes and a few sound like the correct words, 'Obal, Ti-ta (triangle), star, re-re (rectangle), di-dee (diamond)'. The other day at Wal-Mart you looked up at the aisle sign and said 'Ti-ta'. Yes, it was a triangle! I never noticed, but you did!
You are also learning your manners. I struggle to get you to say please or thank you when I want you too, but many times a day you will say, 'Takum' to me (Thank you). You are such a stinker! You have also started to say 'OOooooo or Ohhhh' when you find something that is super cool to you (or something you aren't supposed to have). It's very fun to watch your expressions with your words.
Letters are also coming along. The fridge phonics works wonders. You know R, E, A, M, D, and O. When you see a group of letters together you point to it and say, 'a-E-O-i-e-O' like you are naming all the letters the way I show them to you!
You just started learning your colors. A few months ago you said 'Geen'. I thought it was a fluke, but now I really think you knew that color. You can pick that one out most of the time. You know yellow and blue, as well. GRAY is your new favorite! We were coloring the other day and you pulled that crayon out. I told you it was gray and pointed out that a stripe on your shirt was gray! That did it...now, all you want to do is use THAT crayon and tell me that it's 'gay'! Love it!
Friends:
You are so funny with your friends and people you love. You've learned to group people together and are always waking up asking for them. You go through the list, but keep them with their respective mommy's. You always start with Grandma (Dabby), Aunt Donna (Ai-Ah), Haley (Habee), Will (Wee), Uncle Mark (Unca), and then you move on to who ever you saw most recently (Lou Lou and Opa, Grampa Jim and Nana or playgroup friends...you LOVE Ella from playgroup and say her name often (Elya)) It is so cute! I love that you love people, but am sad for you when you miss them....I guess mommy and daddy need to get started on a little brother or sister for you! :)
More than all of the things you are actively learning and doing, you are still my sweet, lovable Lukey that will come up behind me and give me a big hug around the neck or will lean in for a kiss. You are still sucking that left index finger and putting the right index finger in your 'Bee-Bee'. I don't understand it. I know it's a comforting thing and you look super cute doing it so I don't mind too much. I try my best to put you in PJs now that are two pieces so you can get to your 'Bee-Bee' (those one-piece PJs really irritate you). You are starting to show your will, but are pretty quick to hug me and give a kiss when I have to get on to you. You are a pleaser and don't like it when someone is upset with you. I love those, 'I'm sorry, Mommy' kisses! Thank you for being such a wonderful boy and thank you for the joy you bring us everyday!
I love you,
Mommy!
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