20 months old

Dear Jackson,

You are 20 months old.

And adorable.

I'm so proud of you.

And the little boy that you are becoming.

You're kind.

You're sweet.

You laugh all the time.

You love to play.

You love books.

You love animals.

You especially love our dog Sabine.

So what have you been up to?

You still love to go to daycare when we are working.

They've taught you about Elmo.

There should have been a permission slip for that.

They have parties which you love.

At Valentine's Day they gave you a balloon.

That made your week.

You love balloons.

You went to the zoo during Spring Break.

With your future girlfriend Alice.

You loved all the animals but especially the giraffes.

We can't wait to take you again when your daddy can come, too.

At Easter you did your first Easter egg hunts.

At school and also at church.

You won a huge sheep that is 4x your size.

Speaking of size you now weigh 26 pounds.

You are no longer at the sub 5 percentile.

You are an active, healthy little boy.

You don't really look a baby anymore.
You're a little boy.

As for eating, you still surprise us.

You now eat some peas.

Shocking.

But mostly you love mama's pasta and you love to eat meat.

You're truly a little carnivore.

And you love when your daddy slips you something inappropriate.

He loves to spoil you when you're sick.

You're starting to talk quite a bit.

You'll repeat words that we say.
Your dad loves to hear you say "redneck"
Major cuteness.

And you're still using your signs.
The other day we heard you say your first phrase..
"Love you dada"
Melted both of our hearts.

Another crazy thing is that you've been using the potty.
Pretty consistently... although we haven't been trying to "train" you. We've just made it part of your routine and since you were 17 months you've been going with it.

You see it as a time to read a lot of books.
Especially Elmo.
Seriously, permission slip was needed.


As you've gotten older we see more and more of your personality and independence coming out. 
You're testing more. 
You're saying "no" more. 
At times you flail on the ground.
You're more scared now of strangers.
All of this is typical behavior, and yes, we love you.
You're our sweet little boy.
And we can hardly remember life without you.

This summer we have had the chance to hang out quite a bit.
We went to NC for almost 3 weeks.
We're going tent camping with you.
I'm taking you to Chicago to see our friends the Nelsons.
But what I am most thankful for is the times when it is just us.
Playing on the deck.
Doing all of your puzzles at once.
Reading all your books.
Yes, even Elmo.
In those simple moments, there is great joy.
And i am so thankful.


I love you Jackson.