Sixteen Months

Fritz got so big this month!  After the ear tubes, he started talking a ton.  He finally got a hair cut.  He started running and got big kid shoes.  He catapulted from baby to little boy all in one month.  It's a good thing he's approaching peak human cuteness.  It takes away some of the sting of moving out of the baby phase.

So many new words this month!  Bless those ear tubes.

• Ot -- hot
• Cookie
• Baba -- bottle
• Gogo? -- where did X go? (with quizzical hand motion)
• Bidey -- puppy 
• Muh -- more
• Mama
• Dah-dee -- daddy
• Okay
• Uh-oh
• Oh no!
• Oh jeez
• Wa-oh -- window
• Owside -- outside
• Dontairs -- downstairs
• Tsoo -- shoe
• Ay-nee -- Henry
• Dude -- Henry
• Agah -- again
• Hockey
• Opah -- open [my snack bag]

He finally got a hair cut.  It pained me to cut the baby curls but we had crossed the line from cute hockey hair to outrageous mullet.  But the stylist did a great job.  I showed her a picture of his hair six months ago when it was tidy and short but had curls at the back -- and she did it!  It has cute waves and still curls in the back.   He struts around with his handsome hair and his belly out front like a boss.

Boss baby is super busy.  There are just so many objects to be moved around and they're not gonna move themselves.  He's by far the best of the toddlers at entertaining himself, whether we're in the room or not.  He also loves brushing his teeth, anything sport-like with balls or sticks, hanging out with Grandpa Dave, being outside in any weather, reading books, climbing, slides and swings, and doing whatever Henry is doing.  Sometimes staying awake through lunch is just too much to ask.

Yes, April.

He's incredible at dislocating his shoulders when he doesn't want to be picked up and making himself rigid when he doesn't want to get in the car seat.  Even Heidi gets tired of waiting for me to wrestle him and says, "FUH-RITZ!  BEND YOUR BODY!"

We're going to push baseball on him.  He has an arm like a cannon.

Fritz is already very attached to the puppy.  Karl gets them up in the morning and enjoys his coffee while the boy puppy and the dog puppy wrestle on the floor.  They're very well-matched at tug of war.  When Gunnar is locked in the mud room, Fritz stands at the gate and yells, "BIDEY!" until I let him in.  Gunnar is Henry's dog, but Fritz is his litter-mate.

Putting him to bed is the best.  He grabs his baba with obvious delight and we cuddle up for stories.  We've been reading a lot of The Lorax, Caps for Sale, Ferdinand, boynton books, and pictures of animals.  When we're done with books, I zip up his suit and sing a couple of songs.  Then he rolls over to snuggle into my chest and gives me a little smile like he's been waiting all day for that cuddle.  Me too, buddy.  I would keep him 16 months for a long, long time.