18 Months Old!

A year and a half! This kid is a year and a half old. Wild. His highs are higher than ever—he can just sparkle. But his lows are pretty much the pits—he has been unloading some truly epic tantrums. And over absolutely nothing, too. (Well, it’s over something, obviously. But either we don’t know what it is or it’s something monumentally important, like him wanting a particular truck right this minute and oh-my-god-dad-if-you-don't-get-me-that-truck-right-now-the-world-will-end-i'm-not-kidding-it-will-totally-end.) Patience, young Skywalker. Weren’t the “terrible twos” supposed to start when he was, you know, two?

As much as we love this kid, it’s not all sunshine and roses. There are, ahem, challenges. For one, the kid is a walking calamity. It seems like we get daily “incident reports” from daycare where he has run headlong into a wall, a toy, or another child. He can’t seem to grasp the concept of an “inside voice.” Patience is apparently a completely foreign concept. And he’s a lot less tractable than he used to be.

But all of that stuff absolutely pales in comparison to the good stuff. He loves exploring our new house, running around, finding new hiding places, and throwing his various sports balls everywhere (usually down the stairs). Speaking of stairs, he’s getting much better at climbing and descending them (on his own holding the rails and taking the steps “like a big boy” with mommy and daddy’s help). He’s a terrific mimic—he can repeat most words we say, and even though he might not understand everything he’s saying, we think some of it is sinking in. He loves running up to windows and looking at all the construction trucks in our neighborhood (which will be here forever, it seems). He’s getting really good at balancing on one leg, which is just kind of fun. Sometimes he’ll even ask us to tickle him or to give him “googers” (a Diedrich term for blowing raspberries on the stomach). He loves walking on our backs while we lie on the ground (not a bad shiatsu massage, really).

Cole still loves school and loves to talk about his friends there. We had his first real parent-teacher conference, with a detailed and lengthy description of how awesome he is (in short: very). While we hate to leave him each day, it’s really gratifying to know that he’s in good hands with people that care for him quite a bit.

Speaking of people that care for him, one of his favorite new activities is using mommy’s iPad to do FaceTime with Opa and Nana or Gramma and Bobpa. We can’t wait for them to move out here and spend more time with us face-to-face! Cole’s a lucky kid to have all of this love. And we’re lucky to have him. 10/21/2012.