Barrett - 17 months

Barrett is growing by leaps and bounds. He seems taller to me lately so I'm eager to check his height at his next appointment to see if he really is taller or I'm just imagining. He's firmly in 18 month sizes now (finally!) and some of the 12-18 month stuff is already looking small. We had assumed he'd be on the larger size, so had bought a pretty fair amount of 18 month winter stuff that he never got a chance to wear. Fortunately we can now start wearing the summer stuff and I'm very happy about that!

He continues to be such a friendly little boy and waves hi and bye at everyone, including Payton, even when we're just walking into another room. He is pretty popular at daycare and the little girls are very eager to give him hugs and hold his hand. One in particular is so infatuated with him - she runs to the door squeeling every morning when we come in, gives him huge hugs and is so aggressive with him that sometimes she pulls him down. He can take her or leave her. Ah, girls.

His favorite things continue to be his blanket and stuffed animals (both Baby - which he named himself - and Barney), fans, bubbles, bath books, brushing his teeth, mama's hairbrush, the words Daddy and uh-oh, climbing stairs, Payton, blackberries and raspberries.

His dislikes are: long car trips, vegetables, and getting his hair rinsed

His hair is getting longer and curls a ton now in the humidity (much like his parents). Some people have hinted to me that it's time for another cut, which I am choosing to ignore. I love his little blond curls!

It is so funny to see his personality start to really emerge more and more. I think he mostly has Tim's looks, with my eyes and a few of my expressions mixed in. But I have to admit that he is showing signs of having more of my personality. Uh oh! He makes me laugh because he is so short tempered. I know I won't be laughing about that later, but it's pretty funny now to watch him try a time or two to fit a puzzle piece in and then get frustrated and throw it when he can't do it right away. Gotta confess that that is me. We aim for immediate perfection! He is mildly obsessive, like both his parents. Even when he was just starting to crawl, we noticed that if he wanted something, he wouldn't be distracted from trying to get it and he's still that way. He gets an idea in his head and won't be dissuaded. He is very orderly and an amazing cleaner. If we say it's time to clean up, he picks up those toys or books and puts them away. It's amazing! He also likes to put things in certain spots and stack things a certain way. Do I see a future accountant? Well we know with his genes, it's not like he'll be a star athlete, so might as well stick with the number counting.

He's becoming a bit of a daredevil when it comes to trying to go down slides, running across parking lots and couches, so my anxiety levels are starting to rise!

I say this at every age, but I really do think that this age is one of the best. His big personality is coming out, he is starting to be able to communicate with us and he can play and interact and make us laugh. He is still cuddly and needy of his mama and daddy but isn't so dependent on us as he once was. It's a lot of work to entertain and watch this little tornado, but so much fun to play with him. He's such a character!