20 Months

Dear Danilo,

Well, you're 20 months! You are the funnest kid on the planet in my personal and totally unbiased (ha!) opinion.  You're still just barely over 20 pounds, but lest that fool anyone, you can hold your own and as Melissa said well, "Honey, that kiddo has so much personality it would be impossible to put it in a box. ;-)"

You're starting to tell me when your diaper is bothering you, so it won't be too terribly long before we start potty training. In fact, I bought a potty seat today, just to let you start sitting on it before your bath.  No real training coming yet.  Just gettin' used to the seat.  I'm gonna wait until you're good and ready.

You're saying all kinds of things, although few of the words are very recognizable to anyone but me. "Doggie," is the clearest one, by far. You say "banana" by pronouncing the b and then wagging your tongue back and forth. It's the cutest thing.

You are still working on getting those 8 teeth to come through. It's truly awful for you but you're a trooper.   You LOVE electronics.  Your favorite teething item?  The spiral cord of the charger for the cell phone that we gave to you as your play phone.  You don't really bite.  You just rub it up against your gums.  I couldn't figure out until today why you liked to play with that thing so much.  Well, and the fact that you make me hold it, stretch it across the room, and then see it bounce back like a stretched out phone cord.  Oh wait, you probably don't know what that is.  Or if you do, it's because it was in a history book or a museum.

Wow.

You have handled these last two months without your Papa like a champ.  You definitely know him and instantly want to be held by him when you see him (and you won't let him put you down), but when he's gone, you are still your happy-go-lucky confident self.  When he's on Skype, you say, "Mama!!!" and point to him.  Then once we say, "Papa" about 14 times, you give in and say, "Papa!!!!" with just as much enthusiasm.

You would eat cereal and milk until you exploded if I let you.  It's really fun to watch you eat it it run down your arms.  We're going to take dairy products mostly out of your diet again, as they do, after all, seem to have a subtle worsening effect on your messy diapers.  During this teething phase at least, we're going to minimize the dairy as much as possible.  You also love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Yesterday you ate two whole ones for lunch!  You say "jugo" (juice) and agua (water) but you've forgotten that you used to know how to say "leche" (milk).  You definitely know which is which and you are very particular about which one we give you.  That's mostly fine, since your "jugo" is actually half Pedialyte and half water, so at any given moment I'm fine with you having any of them.  You also love fig newtons, blueberries, and pretty much anything else that makes your diaper a nightmare for me to clean.

Oh and pancakes.  Let's just not start with pancakes.

Honey, your giggle will echo in my ears until I'm 90 and you're 60.  There is just no describing it...

Most of the time when we pray before meals, you pray out loud with me.  Of course, it's gibberish for you, but you bow your head and put your hands together and when I say Amen, your last syllable is louder than the rest and you give a smile and a nod and reach for your food.  So, I guess it's time to start working on saying, "Gracias Dios por mi comida. Amen." (Thank you God for my food. Amen.)

When you are done with your food, you slide your dish across the table to me.  (We're working on teach you NOT to do that.)  It's amazing, though.  You are really good at sliding it right to me, two feet away without making it tip or fall off the table.  It's quite impressive.  You also follow that up by signing all done to me.  It's so great not to guess anymore!

You listen well (usually) and when I have to correct you, you usually receive it and the rest of the day goes better.

You go to bed at 7p.m. and wake up again between 7 and 8 a.m.  (THANK YOU, CHILD.)   My favorite part of the day?  Is after pj's and a diaper and brushing teeth and the light is off and it's time to pray.  You snuggle your head into my neck, wrap your arms around my shoulders, and sigh a huge sigh of relief.  You suck your (still newborn) pacifier and touch your eyelashes with the tip of your thumb or finger.  (I wrapped my fingers in the ruffles of my pillow.  You touch your eyelashes.  It's a comfort thing.)  And there we snuggle.  Sometimes it's a half second.  Sometimes it's a few minutes.  But it's ALWAYS my most favorite moment of the day.  You're a snuggler.  Even during the day you'll stop what you're doing just to come give me a hug and it absolutely makes my universe glow.

I love you, Danny.  I'm so proud of who you are becoming.

Love,
Momma

a.k.a.