Dear Eliot: 20 Months

Dear Eliot,

As we are entering fall, it amazes me to look back on who you were at the beginning of the summer to the boy you have grown into now.  The past few months went by so fast, yet here you are, so different and looking like a boy.  Maybe it's the hair.

You are so, so smart.  You are talking all the time.  You are brave.  You are social.  You are observant.

Your little baby mind blows me away.  This month, you have grown to be more interested in patterns.  When playing with cars, you organize them side-by-side with alternating colors--purple, blue, purple, blue.  You remember things that I don't even think of.  One time, we went to see your great-grandma (Mewmaw).  In the sun room, you found a train puzzle, but we wouldn't let you play with it.  A few weeks later, we went back.  You kept insisting, "Choo choo!  Choo choo!"  Then I remembered the puzzle--after all that time, you still wanted to play with it.

You are incredibly observant and see things far away that I don't notice.  There are times when we are outside and you see a bird far away.  You point and say, "Bird."  One time we were in a restaurant and there was a picture of a cat on the other side of the room.  You pointed it out and said, "Cat."  You are always looking for things you recognize and telling us about them.

You are trying to form sentences so hard, but it all comes out as jibber jabber.  You'll get there eventually!  However, you seem to pick up a least one new word every day.  I love hearing you talking and trying to sing and communicating what you want.  One of the funniest games we play with words is waiting to hear what you say when you first wake up.  Sometimes it is car, other times is cat, occasionally it is ball, and then other times you growl while pointing to your dad's iPad (you want to play Jurassic Park).  I like to think that you are telling me what you were dreaming of.

Lately, you like mimicking sounds animals make.  If the cat meows, you do too.  If the dogs bark at the door, you run and "ruff" along with them.  And, funniest of all, when you see a baby, you say "baby" and make a fake baby crying sound--and then you laugh about it.

This age has gotten a bit easier because you seem to understand almost everything I say.  I can ask you to get things for me and you do.  I ask if you want food, and you reply "Food!" excitedly.  You do cool tricks too, like making the right sound when I ask what noises animals make.  Sometimes, though, you understand, but do not want to do what I ask.  Whenever you are in the bath and I ask if you are ready to get out, you shake your head and do a belly flop (dangerous!), like you are trying to make it extra hard to get out.  It works, too.

We have slowly been working on transitioning you to your own bed.  I have to say, I think I will miss you in bed more than you will miss me.  When we go to sleep together, you rub my arm and hum like you are singing me a lullaby.  It is so sweet.  I actually sleep worse when you are in your own bed--which is just your crib mattress on the floor next to our bed.  I watch you all night from above.

You have been interested in playing with and alongside friends for a while, but now you almost demand to be played with most of the time.  Before, I could set up your train and walk away.  Now, you pull me by my hand and have me help you play.

I love watching you get excited about things.  Your favorite movie is still Cars, and every morning, you still bring me the tv remote, demanding, "CAR!"  One time, we accidentally left a NASCAR race on tv for just a moment.  You freaked out and had to watch it.  So, we put it back on.  The announcer mentioned that it was one of the driver's last race.  Your jaw dropped and your paci fell out like you just couldn't believe it.  I know you didn't do it on purpose, but it was really, really funny.

This affection for cars, though, has not diminished your love for sports.  You hit the ball off of its tee in the backyard so perfectly.  You kick the soccer ball better than me.  You instruct someone to hold the football for you on the ground so you can kick it.  You even have us drop the football for you to punt it--and you hit it most of the time!  You like hunching down for someone to count down, "On your mark.  Get set.  GO!"  You yell, "Go!" and take off running.  You're really, really good at sports!

The other day, we went to Johnson's Farm in Bedford for apples and to see the animals.  We go there every September, and we have been taking photos of you beside a height-measuring board.  As we compared photos from this year to last (and the one before when I was pregnant with you), we were so amazed by how much you have grown!  We're so proud of you!

When I look at you in your autumn clothes, I let out a little sigh because you look so grown.  You're so handsome and adorable, like a little boy, not a baby.  You're so much fun at this age.  I look forward to you continuing to grown, but at the same time I wish we could just stay where we are.