Team Park: 18 months!

My Little Munch,
Eighteen months! It amazes me to look back at pictures from last year and compare that baby with the toddler you are now! So much has changed - you walk, you talk, you feed yourself - and yet those sparkling blue eyes and those melt-your-mom's-heart dimples are still there.

While my sweet, cuddly little dude is still very much part of who you are, with age has come ferocious determination, a wee bit of stubbornness (!) and an on-the-go mentality ALL of the time. It's so fun to see your personality continue to develop, your likes and dislikes that you've discovered without any help from us, and your adorable factor continue to multiply.

You are expanding your vocabulary every day. Some of your favorite words to date are "raffe" (giraffe), boot, trash, truck, shoe, clock, rock and dada. You are a lover of all things fruit, but you have been on a vegetable strike for the last two months. I have to find ways to hide them in things you will eat, and I always wait with bated breath to see if my latest ploy has worked to get those in your mouth and down into your belly… because getting them in your mouth is only the first step. You are not shy about spitting out what you don't like!

From the time you wake up in the morning until the time you crash at bedtime, you are in constant motion. You love to organize my kitchen packet mixes, to brush your own hair, to climb on the couch or any chair in sight, to have dance parties with us, to give us a tour of our apartment by pointing to things and saying their names and to run loose outside at any given opportunity.

You've gotten to where you know what mama's "stern" look means, and generally you will stop doing whatever it is I've asked you not to do (lately it's throwing everything within reach into the trash can), but there's always a mischievous glint in your eye and a big smile on your face. That's not to say you always stop… there are many times that I get the smile and glint, but you turn around and do the very thing you aren't supposed to do. Helloooooo, little independent wonder.

You aren't a huge fan of naps, even though you take great ones once you finally fall asleep, and when you realize we are moving in that direction, you run to the furthest corner of our apartment you can find. When we catch up to you, you've figured out that if you go limp and fall to the ground, it's much harder for us to pick you up. How do you know to do these things?! Today, I had to chase you around the recliner in your room a few times before I finally caught you! I know we should probably be better at enforcing obedience at this age, but you make us laugh so much. We just shake our heads and marvel at how clever you've become.

Your dad and I had been pondering how to work toward weaning you off of your paci in the next few months. Guess what? On your own, you've decided you don't want it. Not only do you not ask for it, but if offered, you fling it down. Wow. Thank you, Lord, that it was that easy!

Your daddy and I were reflecting just the other day how much our prayers mirror your personality. Before you were born, we prayed for a fiery, passionate, bold child, and it's amazing that God already knew that's how He'd created you to be, and that's the vision He gave us for your life. And here you are!

And, when you take a fiery, passionate, bold little boy and put him in the age/development season you are in, it's always an adventure, to say the least! But, we are having so much fun with you, little mister. So. Much. Fun!

Happy 18th months to you, Levi Blaze! You are our treasure, and we could not be more proud and excited for who you are, and who you continue to become.

Love,
Mama

And because I couldn't pick just one, or even just ten, here are lots of photos from the last month!