22 months

22 months

Friday was Wilder's 22-month birthday! He went to the park with Daddy, got a haircut from "Uncle" Les and played with trains at Mimi and Papa's. Wilder's days are filled with exploration, reading, laughter and lots of talking. He speaks in exclamatory sentences, but they're mostly understandable. He picks up random words all the time--he's seriously a parrot. We can have conversations recalling things that happened earlier in the day, or the week before, or about books we've read together. It's such a fun time interacting with this little boy! Everything is fun for him-- from running in the house, to looking at trash trucks outside. As I get ready to deliver his little sister (sometime in the next three weeks! Due October 7!) and things are finally winding down with my work, we are really savoring this time as a family of three.

Wilder is still wearing 12 month old shorts with a belt, still wearing 18 month old tops, but they are getting a smidgen short. I got him new shoes last week: 5.5 mediums. In the spring, got shoes that were 4.5 wide width. He's been wearing his size 5 Natives most of the summer. So his FEET have grown. I'm pretty sure he's taller too. He's just a string bean! I was built that way as a kid, and Zach was thin too, so it's not really surprising. I don't have any idea what clothes he'll wear for the cooler weather. He's probably too tall for his 12 month old pants from last year (CRAZY) but 18 month old waists will swallow him!

Some of the words Wilder has said lately: Bulldozer, haircut, helicopter. He will say "Sad" when he's upset and "NoNice" when we do something he doesn't want to do. He rates everything as "Tiny," "Big" or "Really big." Everything is "Funny" to him. He calls after "Afed, Pierre, Ewwie" and wants to pet them. "Choo-twains" Thomas, Percy and Caboose rule the roost right now, but he is equally enamored with his cars and planes.

He can count to 10 all by himself!

Favorite books: Little Engine that Could, People-God-Moon(Bible), his non-fiction adult books about classic cars and steam engines, 10 little snowflakes (it's a counting book). He will go through days where he wants the same 4 books read over and over, and the next day he's on to a different set. He can tell you which book he wants and say no to other suggestions.

For the most part, he's stopped this thing he was doing where every night he would wake up around 12 and call for mama or daddy. All he wanted was a diaper and rocking for a few minutes (he can tell you what he wants, which is nice) and then he would ask for his bed again. It was every night for a couple of weeks, but this last week he stopped doing it and went back to sleeping through the night. He goes to sleep around 8:30, no matter when we put him in bed (usually 8 and he rolls around for a while). He's up between 6:45-7:30 am. He also naps 2-3 hours in the afternoon like clockwork.

I'm so grateful for my Wilder snuggles. Even though my belly is huge and I can't get around very easily, he's such a hugger and lets me hold him in ways that we can still be close. I just feel so lucky to have him for my son.

Here are some more photos from today!

Jumping with Daddy. :)