Happy Half Birthday!

Dear Adam,

You are eighteen months old today! How did eighteen months pass so quickly? I can barely remember when you weren't apart of our lives, brightening the days with your beautiful smile. I know I have told you this before, but you were smiling the day you were born and haven't stopped since. You are a happy little guy and you enjoy everything about life, except those times when you aren't getting your way, and even then your unhappiness is short lived. Your dad says we should have named you Isaac because it means laughter and I agree, except you don't look anything like an Isaac, you are Adam all the way.

Oh, the things you can do at eighteen months! You can run fast and climb everything. You like to jump on the bed with your brother and I let you because I love to hear you both belly laugh while you are doing it. You can sign so many signs, I cannot even keep up with all the ones you know. You understand and follow directions and I think you might even know your colors because you seem to be able to pick them out, but since you won't tell me, I can't be sure. You say Mama, Dada, Kee (kitty), oof (dog), and bobo (brother). If I ask you to say something else you shake your head no. I guess that is ok, because those are all the things that are important to you; you'll be a man of few words.

You and your brother are attached at the hip. You are truly best friends, when you aren't fighting over Thomas trains or cars. If your brother does it, then you must do it. Just last night your brother spilled a drink and you knocked yours over as well, just to keep up. I know you will miss him terribly when he goes off to school in a few weeks, but we will keep busy playing with all his toys while he is gone and going to story time at the library because I know you would miss going. The ladies all make a fuss over you and you bask in the attention.

You are a teeny little dude. You weigh close to nineteen pounds and are about thirty inches tall. You still wear size two diapers and six month clothes. You can finally wear size four shoes, but you don't wear them much because you pull your shoes off as soon as we get them on.

Your favorite things are a shake and go police car and a blue die cast car your Gammy bought for you. You also love the baby we bought for Jacob when we were expecting you. To watch you rock and love that baby makes my heart swell because I remember Jacob doing the same waiting for baby Ivo Hugh (that was his name for you). You like the Cars stuff, just like brother, and will point it out to us when you see it. I suspect you like it just because brother does.

You LOVE to eat! As soon as you wake up in the morning, you scramble out of bed and down to the table. Your breakfast must be served IMMEDIATELY! You always have a waffle and a banana. You won't have anything else. Your favorite foods are bananas, berries of all kinds, yogurt (only the most expensive brand, thank you) and corn. You also have a raging sweet tooth. You love any kind of sweets and we have had to really limit what we buy and bring into the house, because if you see it, you want it and you aren't letting up until you get some.

You love animals, especially cats. When we were in West Virginia, you would greet Grandpa at the door when he returned from work pointing at the basement and saying "kee". You loved for him to take you down with him when he fed the cats and he was amazed at how gentle you were with them. You love Phoebe and because you are so gentle, she loves you. She likes to sleep next to you in the bed and I see you reach over and pet her in your sleep sometimes. You love Ezra, too, and he is good to let you climb all over him and pull his ears while you straddle his back, pretending to ride him I suppose.

You love baths. I bet I could give you a bath ten times a day and you would never tire of it. You are not afraid of water at all. You put your head under and slide around pretending to swim. For this reason, we will not be buying a home with a pool. I love to watch you go to your brother's stool after a bath and grunt for your toothbrush. You are the only kid I know you loves brushing his teeth. You also wait for us to comb the small amount of hair you have before you trot off to be rocked to sleep. You do the same thing when you get dressed in the morning.

I could go on and on about the sweet little things you do but I don't think there are enough gigabytes in the world to capture how happy we are that you are a part of our family and eighteen months old today! We love you to pieces little man, can't wait to see how much more you learn on the way to birthday number two!

Lub, lub,
Your Mama