17 Months Old

Dear Davin,

I have to admit it - I missed writing your letter last month.  October was just a super busy month and time got away from me.  So, let's catch up...

You are totally 100% attached to your Daddy.  You love hanging out with me and will give me cuddles and smiles and attention - until he walks in the room.  Then it is all about Daddy!  You want him to carry you around and do everything with you anytime he is in your sight.  It's funny since you used to be attached to me like a magnet.  One day you will go back to being Mommy's Boy, right?  You adore when someone reads you a book - you like books about animals, farms, and cars best (in addition to There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bat - yep, still love it!)  You love playing outside when it's warm enough - and you've mastered going down slides by yourself.  You don't love riding in strollers when you have the option to walk instead.  You are cute as a button when you wave at strangers wherever we go.  You are a pretty friendly guy most of the time.  You like to clap for Brenna when she does something well - and you love to fight with Brenna when she takes a toy from you or you want something she isn't willing to give up.  Your big sis loves you, and it melts my heart to hear her talk to you - she usually starts out with "Buddy..." or "Baby..."

You are recently obsessed with trains.  You probably say the words "Choo Choo" at least a hundred times each day.  You think the garbage truck, tractor-trailers, and any other big vehicle is a choo choo.  When you see Thomas on TV (or on anything in a store) - you go nuts!  Brady is a big fan of trains too, so it must be a boy thing for sure!  You also like for me to pretend your food is a choo-choo - that is, of course, when you actually let me feed you, which is becoming more rare now that you are mastering feeding yourself with a spoon!  You have so far successfully finished off macaroni and yogurt all by yourself!   You cut two more teeth on the top during the week of November 2.  And just this week (sometime around November 26) you cut your first molar on the bottom right!  The top teeth seemed to both you a little bit, but nothing too terrible.  You've also had a slight cold and cough - but so far no more ear infections!  You are eating well of course - but have recently started resisting meat.  You are a bread and cheese lover for sure!  You love to drink water out of Brenna's water bottle and you still drink plenty of milk.

We celebrated your second Halloween - and you were the cutest fish ever.  You had fun smiling at the neighbors and eating the treats you got that night.  Earlier in October you and Bren stayed with Nanie for a weekend while Daddy and I went to Nashville for a wedding.  You had lots of fun at Nanie's new house.  Then Nanie, Mal, Brady, Josh, Donna Ann, Jayla, and Brad brought you and Brenna to meet me and Daddy at Dollywood!  It was so fun.  You loved riding some of the kiddie rides with Brenna.  You missed your nap and were still so, so good.  You also spent a weekend with Neena and Pa Bill in early November.  They love having you there - and all your extended family loved seeing you at church.  Grandpa came to visit you last weekend and you loved having him around to tote you around and play ball with.

We had lots of adventures this fall - we went to the apple orchard and picked apples, went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch with Brenna's class, went to the balloon festival in Statesville (which you loved!), and now we are looking forward to going to cut down a Christmas tree in a week or two!  It's been really fun watching you grow and actually getting to enjoy some things we've enjoyed with Brenna in the past.  You are at the most fun age - and I admit I often wish I could just stop time.  You are just so FUN.

I think you are about 22-23 pounds and you wear mostly 12-18 month clothes.  You have gone to size 6 shoes and you love wearing shoes because it means you are most likely going "ouchide" (outside).  You wear size 4 diapers and still wear your snuggly footed pjs every night!  You nap from 2-5ish and sleep from 8:45 until anywhere from 8:30-10 each morning.  We just switched you to Brenna's convertible carseat this week.   So far I'm not sure you are a fan - you seem to have less leg room than you did in your infant carrier.  You'd be much happier facing forward so you could watch the iPad on long trips with Bren!  I typically make sure I have plenty of food to provide on longer trips.

This holiday season is going to be fun with you being at such a great age.  It's so fun being your Mommy.

Love you, Spud!
Love, Mommy