I am so far behind on posting letters to Axel and I just hate it. So much has happened in the past few months. I have to read my last post to see what was going on back then! I was going to post a list a month ago, but I couldn't even get it together to do that. Truth is, I'm getting lazy. I'm busy too, but I could probably cut out some of my web-surfing to get some posts down. I think I know what's more important. So this post will either be really long, or it will be the first of a multi-part post. And so far it's not taking the form of a letter to my son. He can read it anyway - no secrets there.
So anyway... in case you are wondering what ever happened with the dishwasher, the story was on its way to becoming too ridiculous to post, but in the end we did get a dishwasher. And it still works. And it did not poison my baby. It did however get in a second traffic accident along the way. Oh, and I had to reorder it because after the first accident, Sears canceled the order and neglected to reorder it. Worst customer service ever. I consider myself lucky that I got the appliances at all. I'm glad that's over with.
OK, letter to kid time:
Dear Axel,
You're nearly 18 months old! Somebody told me the terrible twos actually start at 18 months - please don't do that to me! I don't think we've seen a real tantrum yet, even though on occasion you'll get pretty angry if I take you away from something fun. You snap out of it very quickly. What a good boy. You are a very silly boy too! You make so many goofy faces, and love to imitate Daddy and I when we make faces at you. You're destined to become a comedian I think.
Developmentally you're doing great. You're walking extremely well - nearly running now! You took a really long time re-learning how to stand up without grabbing a leg (furniture or human), but over Thanksgiving weekend you remembered how to do it and now hardly crawl at all. (Though your love for leaves, rocks, and dirt brings you back to the ground frequently.) You're not very good at going in the direction we want you to go, but I think that's pretty understandable. There is so much to explore with this newfound mobility! We took you to the Christmas parade this morning, and you had the most fun just wandering up and down the sidewalk.
I've lost count of your words. I was keeping a nerdy spreadsheet and got up to around 70 words on there, but you learn new words everyday and I couldn't keep up. Today you learned "alligator". (Sounds more like ah-ga-ga".) It's so wonderful knowing what you want (sometimes.) It will become even moreso as you get older. We're looking forward to it, but we also remember fondly the time when you couldn't move and were completely dependent on us to get you around. As my mom tells me, each stage is the best - it keeps getting better.
Our new nanny (not so new now) has really worked out well. You greet her at the front door each morning and give her a big hug. It's clear you love her, and I know she loves you. You go to the park in the morning and play with friends you've met there. Some days she takes you to the library for story time.
One major development that happened about a month ago is that you started taking your naps without nursing beforehand! I had to go to an all-day meeting two days in a row, so you had no choice but to nap without my help. It was a little tough the first couple days, but by the end of the week you were able to lie down and take a nap with little help - all without leaving you to cry yourself to sleep. Falling asleep at night is much much easier now too. Our routine goes: Dinner, bath, stories in Daddy's and my room, then brush teeth, nurse, put you in bed, sing a few songs, then I say "night night" and leave the room. Usually you say "night night" back to me, put your head down and fall asleep within a few minutes. I never thought we'd get to this point, so I'm really proud of all of us for figuring out this part of the sleep equation. You still have a habit of waking up in the middle of the night, but the progress we've made so far is fantastic.
The holidays are here already and we're even more excited than we were last year. I think you'll be able to enjoy Christmas quite a bit even though you don't totally understand what's going on. You already love all the lights we see up on houses - including our own. (Daddy insisted that our lights be up before any other house on our street, so he put them up the day before Thanksgiving. Silly Daddy.) Next weekend we're going to take you to the downtown tree-lighting festivities where you may even get to sit on Santa's lap. You don't quite get who Santa is, but you do know he says "Ho Ho (Ho)."
I love you more and more by the minute, which seems impossible considering how much I loved you before you were even born. I'm constantly amazed that you are mine and Daddy's. I'm the luckiest Mommy in the world. I love you.
Love,
Mommy
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