23 Months

I can't believe this is my last monthly update before Fritz turns two!  It hardly seems possible.  I'm trying to take lots of video so I can remember just how scrumptious he was at this age, and all the random delightful things he does as we go out and about.

Fritz's new favorite pastime is taking baths.  I get it, it's cold here and a warm bath is pretty nice...two or three times a day.  He pipes, "Wanna take-a BATH!" and we go run a tub.  He splashes and plays in the tub while I read or edit photos or fold laundry on the upstairs landing.  Afterward, he likes to cuddle up buck naked in the fuzzy blanket on my bed.  He also loves pillows and sheets and other soft things.  Just a tiny Winston Churchill with his leisurely baths and sumptuous fabrics.

This tiny angel also continues to throw spectacular tantrums.  Sometimes he works so hard at it that he wears himself out, exacerbating his pre-existing tendency to fall asleep in strange places.  This month's examples:

Was not permitted to go on the ice; lost his mind; had to take a minute on the floor to rally.

Had to leave the dinosaurs at the dentist's office; screamed bloody murder; raged against the car seat straps until he fell asleep and stayed asleep all morning.

Had to leave the toy animals at the St. Louis Science Center; flailed all the way through the building, across the parking lot, in the car on the way back to Grandma's, and into the loft; passed out on the floor.

Barring catastrophic meltdown, our morning outings are still lovely.  We recently discovered that the Como Zoo is the BEST in the winter.  The African animals are all inside, in their (tragically small) winter quarters, and there is no one around.  It's just Fritz and his beloved animals, up close and personal.

The Schleich animals are his favorite toys.  He carries them around and will spend long stretches arranging them in the barn.  He was a bison for Halloween and it was the cutest.

He gets madly attached to some random object and we have to carry it everywhere for a few days. In addition to his animals, favorites have included the airplane from Uncle Paul, a random decorative ball on a stick that he insisted on at the garden store, tiny ceramic fish from Aunt Amy's baubles box, various small cars and trucks, a rocking horse Christmas ornament, and the caribou topper from a bottle of whiskey.

My favorite words and sayings of the month:

• Hump-ump -- elephant, per Pooh's Heffalump Movie
• Bout an bout -- go out and about
• Want two-one -- expressing he want some quantity of something
• Escavators -- covers elevators, escalators, and excavators
• When he falls down or runs into something, he immediately calls out, "I'm okay!"

We finally got into a nice naptime routine for Fritz and Heidi after school (just in time for Heidi to start dropping the nap, ugh).  Read two stories in Heidi's room, tuck Heidi into bed with waves and kisses, then rock Fritz in his room with his bottle.  Fritz takes Heidi's waves and kisses very seriously.  Then we cuddle up all sweetly and when he's nearly asleep, I put him down in Henry's bed with a few extra snuggles.  He started bucking the crib at naptime but is happy to get in the big bed.  It's a good half-step to a big bed of his own.

Speaking of big transitions, he's making potty progress.  He goes diaper-less around the house and can hold it for longer and longer periods.  He has successfully hit the potty a couple of times and will randomly tell himself, "I did it!" and "I so proud of you!"  So that's it.  We canceled the Amazon subscribe and save for diapers.  #diaperlessin2019

He is starting to understand birthdays and is at least somewhat aware of Santa, so this month should be a blast!