Month Twenty One

Dear Colin,
Happy 21st baby!
You had another vocabulary explosion this month. Not only has word "count" increased but how you use your words changed as well. You are now speaking in sentences. "Dad car black. MaMa blue." "Blue Elmo cup. milk." "Timeout. Mommy no remote. no more remote." Verb-less sentences but sentences nonetheless. One of my favorite "new" words is Mommy. I'm slowly moving away from being called Momma and usually called Mommy. I wake up each morning to "Moooommmmmmmmmmmmmy where are you?" And while most mornings I would love to scream "Sleeping! Go back to bed!", it's so stickin endearing that I roll out of bed and say "Caaaaaaaaal-lin where are YOU?" just so I can hear you say "ooooh there I are."
You are beginning to learn your letters. In late September, you started pointing out the letter X in random places; books, signs, stores. Now you know B, C, V, X, Y, Z. You mistake K for X often but sometimes will get it correct. You're hit or miss on L, N and T. Even with all your new letters, X is still your favorite. We went to the library the other day and after your amazement by all the books, you went on an X hunt. You proudly carried around your book showing each person who would look that there was an X right under your chubby tapping finger.
Colin, I think I say this each month but this is such a fun age. You constantly are surprising us with new phrases, silly games, and more Colin-isms. I just want to soak it all up. I want to freeze time and just enjoy every minute. Daddy and I have been terrible about video taping you lately. The everyday seems so mundane and non-video taping worthy but it isn't. I want to remember how you so animatedly use your hands when you talk. I want to remember how sincerely you say "I love you" or that you love me "so much." I want to remember how funny you say book and milk and X with the hardest ck sound. I want to remember how you count to five and incorrectly use your fingers to count the numbers. I want to remember how you ask "Where are you" to everything and excitedly say "there you are" 2 seconds later. I want to remember how you love to hold my hand when you walk even if it's just to the kitchen. I want to remember how you say your name and then clap afterwards because you are so proud you said it yourself. I want to remember all the little things that make you ahhh-lin. These mundane moments are the most important things to me. These mundane moments are the stories I share at work. These mundane moments warm my heart and make me smile when I'm frustrated or stressed. These mundane moments are what I treasure most.
Like when I was driving on US 131 coming up on the choo choo trains. "Momma. Momma. Momma. Momma. MOMMA!" Expecting you to say choo choo, I finally asked "what baby?" Sweetly I hear "I love you." My heart melted in the center lane of the highway.

I love you ... forever ... so much!
Mommy