Twenty-Two Months

Dear Miles (a.k.a. Kilo, Punks etc.),

Today you turn 22 months old. I don't think I felt this one sneak up on me, because for a while now I've been focusing on the fact that you'll be two years old very soon. Your age is about to double! I know that won't seem very interesting to you, but your mathematical dad will find it fascinating.

This month has seen your vocabulary and pronunciation grow quite a bit, and as your baby-babble slowly disappears I realize that this is one more thing 'baby' about you that I have to say goodbye to. More bitter, yet more sweet. I guess the bittersweetness never ends for a parent, but I still hear that it gets better as the years go by.

You are such a helpful little boy, and I know that sounds like I'm bragging but I'm not! You really do have a kind spirit about you, and I have channeled that to my advantage at times (cue evil laughter), like when I get you to help me move the laundry over. Hey, if I can teach you to make cleaning fun, I think I will have a very pleased daughter-in-law in the future.

I can see your personality so much these days. That means I can see your stubbornness, your defiance, your strong will...thankfully it also means that I see your sense of humor, your intelligence, your creativity and your sweetness. The latter group more than the former. I won't say which traits you get from which parent.

More and more each day, you become a daddy's boy. Is it because you look just like him (except for the hair -- go Mama!), or because he is so fun to be around? Maybe both. All I know is, when you hear that door open after five o'clock, it doesn't matter what you and I are doing. You are up and running, yelling "Daddy!" in the happiest little voice I have ever heard. I remember telling your Daddy that would be happening one day, even before you were born, and he would get this funny, happy grin on his face. He just loves being your Daddy.

We're going to change some big things in your life pretty soon. That crib you've been sleeping in converts to a toddler bed, so that will probably be the first big adjustment for you. Then comes the potty training. The fact that I came in to get you up from your nap the other day to find you without clothes or diaper tells me that it might just be time to start teaching you about that thing in the bathroom (no, not the tub). Don't worry, though, we won't make you adjust to those two things at once...Mama ain't that cruel!

You are always, always on the go. You are a blur of motion at times, so it makes me glad when you take some time out of your day to slow it down and just enjoy the moment. I know life doesn't seem to move very fast to you right now, but believe me...one day you won't be able to keep up with how fast it's moving. Take it from the one who is watching you grow.

Though you have no other experience other than being the first child, the only child, your Mama and Daddy hope to add to our little family someday soon. Don't worry, it won't be for at least another year. I do think about how much things would change, about how it would certainly affect you, but I also know that this would be something wonderful for us. It would mean you being a big brother to someone, that you would have another little person around to play with.

But for right now, I am still trying to enjoy as much as I can of all your baby-to-little-boy changes, all of the moments you and I share together that make life so joyful. Thank you for being that joy, for filling my heart to its fullest every single day.

Love,

Mama