23 Months.

Dear Luke,

Happy 23 months big boy!  Another month has come and gone and now we're less than a month away from having a TWO YEAR OLD in the house.  Where on earth have I been while you've been growing up so fast?

We know you weigh about 27 pounds these days and you're even being weighed on the big boy scale now.  The biggest challenge is getting you to stay put until the scale reads your weight before jumping off of it.  Somehow you think that you must jump off of anything that is even slightly raised from ground level (this includes thin books, leaves, paper, rugs....and also steps, logs, rocks, beds, changing tables....you don't discriminate).

You melt my heart daily when you say "love you".  It's best when followed by a big kiss.

Your personality has exploded and you are constantly making funny faces, noises, jumping and acting silly.

One day out of the blue you came running and with a scared face said "scaaaaarrryyyyy".....you were pointing to nothing but were absolutely convinced that there was something scary in the living room.  You do this probably once a day now, and sometimes you point out the window and say "doggies" and act scared.  We have no idea where this came from because you love doggies.

You dream.  I've heard you on the monitor say things like "no, no, no" but this morning was hilarious.  You were in our bed (yep, still need some work on sleeping to a decent hour) and you were tossing and turning saying "fishies! fishies! fishies!".  I crack up now just thinking about it.  We knew when you finally woke up because then you started demanding "chi-choc".  Your morning chocolate milk demands are no joke.

You love holding my hand.  There was a time when you would rip your hand away from mine when I tried to hold it walking in to school or to cross the street.  Now you look up at me and say "hand?" and toddle right next to me all the way.  I should also say it's a little bit frustrating when it's 5:30 am and we're in the living room already watching TV and you want to "walk" with me around the house.  Not funny.  Again, we need to do some work on your sleeping past 5:00 am!

Your love of cars, trains, trucks and buses is strong as ever.  You shout them out all the way to school, play with them as soon as you get home and love to read about them in your books.

You know your colors really well and surprised me by knowing that Mama's hair is "brown".  You like to count now too, but insist on skipping "1".  You always start with "2".

I catch you talking to your little toy people sometimes now.  And they said you do this at school too.  I love that you have an imagination and can keep yourself content (sometimes) by making believe.

You would live outside if we let you.  Your favorite thing is to be outside on a walk or riding your bike and the biggest fits come when you have to end your play and go inside.

You miss your Dad when he's gone.  You used to get mad when I would tell you that Dada wasn't home when I picked you up from school, but now I taught you that "Dada is at work".  For whatever reason, you are ok with this explanation now and even say "Dada work".  You still ask for him every day - especially before bedtime - and are so happy when he's home (Mama too).

Next month is your big birthday!  I am so looking forward to celebrating two years of the most amazing little man....We love you more than you'll ever know, and you make our hearts bigger every single day.

We love you Bubby,
Mama