Baby Boy,

You have gradually become not a baby at all anymore and while this makes me sad, I seem to love your more and more every day.  I don't even know how that is possible.  You have been super happy for the last couple of months and we have gotten to see your goofy personality come to life.  Your giggles and belly laughs happen daily and its generally because I am acting like a dork.

I can't quite explain how much you love being outside.  We have a 70 teaser week about two weeks ago and ever since then, you have been nothing but angry when we walk upstairs for the night.  As soon as we mention going outside, you run to get your coat, hat, and shoes.  You have even started trying to put them on yourself and don't really like a ton of help.  To say you are 110% boy may still be an understatement.  The mud is your favorite place to go and we have to rotate your shoes because one pair gets soaked daily.  You even know they need to go on the boot dryer when we come inside.

Trucks, skid-loaders, machines of any kind continue to be your favorite things.  you will catch a ride any chance you get and are super made whenever Daddy leaves your behind.  Balls also continue to be in your hands most of the day.  I may be slightly biased, but I you have a pretty good arm on your already.  I think you may even be right handed after watching your throw lots of times a day.

We had your 18 month appointment the other day and you are still a peanut.  We have noticed you grow and get thin and then chunk back out for a couple of weeks over the last few months.  Doc said this will probably come to an end now and you we be fairly thin for a while.  You can in at the 30th percentile for your weight at a whopping 23 pounds and only the 9th percentile for height at 31 inches.  Can't say we are surprised since we aren't the tallest either.  That melon of yours though came in at the 65th percentile.  You certainly have some Steege gene.  There are days that you run around in just your diaper and your head isn't much narrower than your shoulders.

Your vocabulary is growing by the day and you are starting to copy things that we say.  "Mama" is still your most used word.  Daddy gets a tad upset when you call him this several times in a row.  I can't say it bothers me. ;-) while some of your words are super clear, Daddy and I are probably the only ones that can decipher a lot of them.  Dr. Rathe told us not to worry about it at this point as the average is only 3 words.

We are certainly looking forward to the next couple of months as we can play outside more.  We are also finishing up sheet rocking our house and hope to be moving in in a couple of months.

I love you to the moon and back little boy!
~Mommy