eighteen.

You are eighteen months old. Well, you turned eighteen months a month ago, but, better late than never, right? You tend to keep me pretty busy ;) I've said this at every age, with the exception of a couple hard months, but this, so far, is my favorite age. And it might be the last time I say that, if the two's really are terrible. Go easy on me, ok?

You are such a light in our lives, Uriah, and watching you grow and learn and discover and play... Well I just don't think I could spend my day doing anything better. You are my best little buddy and the three of us together make quite a good team.

At eighteen months you are 28 pounds, in the 90% for weight and 33 inches, in the 70% for height. We are very proud of our big, healthy boy :) You are still nursing once before bed, which I don't think either of us are ready to call quits, yet. You eat 4 to 5 times a day - your favorite foods are yogurt, blueberries, granola, cheese, garbonzo beans and bagels. You still don't like milk, but drink water all day like a pro.

You love music and dancing and always bust a move as soon as you hear the beat start. You get your dance moves from your dad ;) As soon as the song ends you are asking for "mo". My phone is full of videos of you dancing around the living room and you love watching them back, laughing with mom at your crazy moves.

You love playing with balls - any kind and size. You throw them, catch them, kick them and hit them around the house with a spatula. One of your favorite games is to sit on the back of the couch with all your balls lined up next to you and you throw them one by one into the laundry basket in the middle of the living room - you have incredible aim!

Outside is still your favorite place to be. You love collecting sticks and finding "buhs" (bugs) on the sidewalk to "get get". You love "rohs" (rocks), too - collecting them, stacking them, throwing them... At least once a day we'll walk a block to the neighborhood park and spend hours rolling crab apples down the slide, tossing "cop cops" (helicopters from the trees) from the top of the play structure and playing chase. In the evening when dad gets home, we'll take a longer walk to one of the bigger parks nearby and you'll get to play in the swings (which you love!), run across the bridge and crawl through the tubes. While I think you like our park trips during the day, you especially like when daddy gets to come along :)

You are a total water babe, Uriah. You love playing in the pool we'll set up in the front yard for you - you ask for the "poo" at the garage door and unwind the hose yourself, ask us to turn it on and patiently wait pool side as you hold the hose letting it fill up. You love splashing and tossing rocks and balls in the water and stomping - basically anything that gets mommy wet ;) You also love going to the big pool at the Y. You aren't afraid to go under water and you love going down the slides. I'm anxious to get you into swimming lessons because I know you'll love it and do so well!

You're still a man of few (actual) words, though you have your own words and sounds and signs for almost everything - your dad and I can understand you perfectly! You are always babbling and I love listening to you from the other room read your books out loud or talk to your stuffed animals. And even though you're not saying much, you understand everything. Everything! Anything we ask you to do or tell you, you respond to correctly. I am truly in awe of what you have learned and how quickly!

You love reading books, especially the ones with animals - you love animals! Any dog or cat on the street gets your full attention. You know so many animal sounds! You love playing chase, especially around the staircase in your room, playing the drums (any round, flat surface), building block towers, brushing your teeth, the movie Planes, jumping on the bed and bath time. You take your stuffed penguin, Wink, everywhere we go and can't sleep without him or your blanket.

While you are very much a busy, busy boy, you are so very much still our sweet little babe. You love to give hugs and kisses and do so on the regular - dad and I will never be able to get enough of your snuggles! I can't believe how big you've gotten and how much you've learned, Uriah - time has completely escaped me. I am so sad to watch you grow so quickly, and so happy to be apart of it and so excited for what comes next. We have been so blessed by you, baby, and I hope you always know what a light in our lives you are. Happy eighteen months, Uriah, we love you!