The Awe Of 18 Months
It’s 8:30 am as I’m writing this, and we’ve been up for almost 2 hours already. I’m still fighting off a cold, so I’m sitting in Little Man’s bed with a cup of coffee, and attempting to be productive, while resting at the same time. I’m sitting here watching Little Man playing, and I’m in awe of the little person he’s becoming. When we hang out in his room, he plays with his toys and entertains himself if I’m working on something...or we play and interact together. He’ll sit quietly and look at his books, totally drawn to the pages. I continually see his mind working and his imagination developing. He tries saying new words almost daily, it seems. Watching him learning to communicate is just cool! He has such a sense of humor already! One of his favorite silly things is coming up to me and Keegan and blowing raspberries on our bellies and backs. He finds it so funny and always has a huge grin while doing it! Sometimes, when it is quiet and relaxed, he randomly looks at us and starts giggling. I always wonder what it is that tickles him so much in that moment, because those moments are the absolute best. Lately, when we go to the park, he leans over and gives me kisses through the rails on the playground (and I didn’t teach him that!) It’s the sweetest thing! Gabriel has also been testing the limits more too. That’s the frustrating part of this phase, I guess. It’s a whole new territory. He does things he knows not to (and you can tell he knows) then watches for our reaction with a mischievous look. Sometimes he does something repeatedly, we get onto him and he thinks we’ve just created a silly game! Ah! That part is difficult. I want to be patient and gentle in teaching him, because I realize this is a learning phase, but I also really want him to learn to listen and obey. Everything is a balance and this is part of that. This phase is amazing, exhausting and beautiful in its own way, and I’m so very thankful.
