Month Nineteen

Dear Colin,

Happy 19 Month Birthday little man.

I think we finally really hit Toddlerhood this past month. While we had more than our fair share of fun this past month, this was probably our most difficult. It was a long month of teething (2 year molars! that still haven't poked through!). You transitioned down to only 1 nap per day. There were countless temper tantrums. There were tears. There were toys thrown. Worse of all, you hit. Hard. Often. Usually at your father's face. Many times this month, my patience was stretched, my cool was lost, and I'm sure I spoke firmer than I wanted. For all of that, I'm sorry. The reality is you are just a baby. You have such a large vocabulary for your age that I forget sometimes you still don't understand everything and heaven knows I don't understand everything you say or want. You are a baby in pain. A frustrated toddler who wants to be independent but still needs his mommy and two naps.
You developed an obsession with Sesame Street. It started with loving your Sesame Street ABC books. We spend countless hours reading them. From Diddly Diddly D to Jeans and Jacket Day, you grew to not only love the books but the characters. We bought Sesame Street cups which you love to drink out of. You have little Ernie and Bert dolls that you love to play with. On occasion you will even sit and watch Elmo on the teebee so I can have 3 minutes to do something productive.
Aside from Sesame Street, there are a few other things you have really fallen in love with. You adore airplanes just like your Daddy. You love listening for them and flying them high in the sky. When you can't hear the airplanes anymore, you ask for more and get mad that I can't magically make them come back. Big trucks, racecars, boats, and trains are fun to play with but make even cooler sounds! You love to say your prayers and much to my delight have a great love of singing. I'm amazed how you can learn the motions to songs after only a few times and ask to sing it the next morning. A few of your favorite songs are: "This Little Light of Mine", "Deep and Wide", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "The Wheels on the Bus", "Jesus Loves Me" and "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes." Ohhh how I love that you love to sing with me. I don't think Daddy as is excited though :)
At work the other day, my boss implied something was my passion. I've never considered it my passion but rather something that needed my attention. It lead me to think of you. You sweet pea are my passion. Yes you require attention and yes you act out for attention but temper tantrums and all, you are my passion. When you wrap both of your arms around my neck, when you tell me "I love you", or when you shout "NO!" about hiding it under a bushel, I am reminded how deep that passion runs and how quickly I forget about the hardships. I love you Mr. Isaac.

Love always,
Mommy