23 Months

Bud,

I found you!! You kind of got lost in Christmas presents for a while there. Kidding, kidding but you did get a ridiculous amount of presents this year and you love playing with ALL of them at once. Our house has looked like a toy store threw up in it for a few weeks now. Hell, you barely can find time to eat with all the playing. I am sure you will slow down just in time for February 9th when you get hit with another onslaught of presents.

We had a pretty eventful month. Daddy and I took you to the New York Botanical Gardens to see this train show. It was pretty amazing. They had all these miniatures of NYC monuments with trains running through them. You were impressed but a bit overwhelmed by all the people. You got more attached to this gingerbread house designed like a circus tent. When we got home, I was prompting you to tell stories of our trip. You kept on repeating "Phelepants! Round and round and round." complete with hand gestures and "Ion stuck cage. Hiding." Gammy and Pa were so confused to why there were elephants and lions at the Botanical Gardens. We hung out at Bree and Elias's house the other morning with Kari and Lars Christian. You were fascinated by Elias playing Super Mario Brothers. As I was chatting with the girls, I looked over to find you sitting on the couch next to Elias as he was teaching you how to jump and spin with the controller. Then upon finding Elias in the basement refinishing his piano you declared "Me working too" and ran to the open tool box which almost sent Bree into hysterics (she's a little nervous about a toddler holding a screwdriver). You were a little less patient with Lars Christian scolding him every time he put something in his 4 month old mouth. Little do you remember that you were just like that a few months ago.

I know I keep on harping that your language skills are amazing (CAUSE THEY ARE) but impossibly they have grown even more. You have catch phrases, little gems that I hear about 47 times a day and you will use the same inflection every time. You have embarked on the age of curiosity and fittingly now ask "Watzat?" to everything that remotely interests you, in your high falsetto with accompanying upturned palm gesture. It could be a nail clipper, a dog barking, chap-stick, a spatula, a plastic packaging, or a rumbling truck. Everything is of great interest and in need of a detailed explanation of its existence. You pose with your little index finger on the side of you chin and "hmmm, hmmm" when your thinking or find something puzzling. You have begun to tease me. I ask "How much does Wyatt love Momma?" you pause and pinch your fingers together responding "lille bit, lille bit". Then wait for my appalled response and throw your arms out wide yelling "No, no. Tiss much!!!" which is followed with a huge Momma hug. And evidently there is an octopus on the loose around the house because whenever I ask who threw toys all over the living room, or who peed on the floor, or who emptied the entire bottle of shampoo in the tub, I am told that an "Octopus did it." That pesky octopus.

I made a bizarre New Years resolution thats a little wordy but if I had to sum it up its to try to live my life in retrospect. Meaning: 40 years from now, when I'm 67, what would I tell my younger self to do differently or enjoy more? Does that make any sense? For example, there are times when I get frustrated with you (my abysmal lack of patience) especially around meal time. But at 67, I am sure I would tell myself to enjoy those moments and that I won't get them back. Or when I am sitting through the same Backyardigans episode for the 100th time with you on my lap feeling myself getting antsy. At 67, I would tell myself that Wyatt (now 42) will absolutely NOT be cuddled on your lap. I am sure that I would tell my younger self to smell you more, to multitask less, to cherish when you pull on my pants leg, to laugh when you unroll all of the toilet paper, to add more hot water and let you stay in the bath for another 10 minutes, and phone calls can wait while we are making Playdoh masterpieces. That mentality doesn't end with you. Push it out further. I would tell my younger self to be more adventurous, take that proposed trip with you to Florida, go on that job interview, ask for that raise, invest in that stock, get out of the house, write and take more pictures. If I can live my life just a little bit more like that, I think we are in for a very good 2010.

I love you (and your alter ego Messy Octopus) everyday.

Momma