21 months

You...

• are using two/three word sentences- play ball, mama play choo-choo, I want Agua/nana/apple/omm (orange) etc.
• can name all your colors! 
• love to name things and their color- white shirt, yellow duck, blue truck...
• The 100 Words book we used to read to you- you can now read most of the words to us
• will say "Hello Mouse" and "The End" when we read The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the BIG HUNGRY BEAR, which are the first and last lines of the book. 
• weigh 33 lbs. and you are... taller? (I need to measure your height)
• love to kick soccer balls, which makes your father very happy
• love "cooking" when I make dinner. You like to stir whatever is on the stove.
• are a fan of baths. My nice big bathtub is now filled with dinosaurs, play dishes, magnetic letters and balls. 
• are getting more adventurous. Climbing up ladders, going down big boy slides...
• don't want to be confined to a stroller or being held when we go places. You want to "walk! walk!"
• have the best laugh ever, especially when we tickle you after you hit the popcorn button on your microwave
• are very affectionate and will come and hug me or your dad out of nowhere 
• have become shy around new people
• do not like to be messy or have spills. You want your hands clean (even though you usually forego utensils and eat with your hands) and any spills "mess! mess!" need to be cleaned up right away
• are obsessed with the trash can. You love to "throw away?" your diapers when you are changed and any other little things you can find. 
• have started trying to jump. You have the motions down, you just don't pick your feet up off the ground, so it's kind of a bounce. 
• have graduated your dance moves from squatting to now spinning around in circles. 
• imitate me and your dad. You try to put pens behind your ear like your daddy does and you try to sweep while saying, "mama?" (What does that tell you about who does the cleaning around here?)
• are in love with Dora- our dog and the cartoon. Parker is only "big dog" but you light up when you see Dora and say, 'Hi Dough-ra!"
• surprisingly enjoy brushing your teeth?
• are absolutely, without a doubt the most hilarious, sweet, smart, gentle little soul and I'm so happy to be the one that knows you well enough to make a list of 21 things you are up to at 21 months old :) Love you Joely Beans!

Mr. Personality

Over the past two days, I have had the pleasure of staying home with Joel since he was not feeling his best. You'd never know he had a pesky double ear infection. He still laughs and plays and talks and sings. He loves to sing the tune of "Twinkle twinkle little star"- you can make out the twinkle, twinkle, but the rest is up to your imagination. He has made up his own song, "Agua, agua, agua..." He just repeats that word over and over with different melodies.
He loves to say "Hi" to some ladies at the supermarket, but he is especially friendly to inanimate objects. When leaving HEB yesterday, he took the frozen garlic bread out of the cart and held it in his arms like a baby almost. He said, "Hi Bread!" He held it all the way home in the car, saying over and over, "Hi bread!" Then tonight I made him some fresh green beans. Anytime I cook I try to give him a little to "cook" in his own pan. So he had 4-5 raw green beans that he was cooking. After dinner we needed to make a quick run to the store, so the green beans rode along. He counted his beans. "One, twoooo, treee green beans!" He held those beans all the way there and back. How can you not love this kid?
The kicker. Tonight in the bathtub somehow babies came up. I should preface by saying that Joel also has begun asking "why?" to pretty much anything I say. The other night it started with "Let's take a bath", "why?"...(10 minutes later)..."because mommy and daddy wanted to start a family." Don't ask me how it progressed to that.
Anyway, so I asked Joel, "Are you a baby or a big boy?" Without any prompting, he points to his chest, like he usually does when he says, "I Joel", but this time he replies with, "I momma's baby."
AHHHH! Seriously? Does he even know what that does to a mother? God willing, he will keep that mind set until he's 100. Because in my eyes, Joel will always be momma's baby. What a doll.
I'm not sure what I did to get this sweet boy, but I hope I keep it up.