Dear Nicholas,
You are 22 months! The last month included your second Halloween, and you definitely caught on to the fun this year. We dressed you up as an adorable little golfer and after an early dinner, we set off down our street for a little trick or treating on our cul-de-sac. You were a little too shy or overwhelmed to say "trick or treat" most of the time, but you loved digging through the bowls of candy to select a piece, and managed to say "tank-oo" at most of the houses. Funnily enough, at almost every house you bypassed all of the brightly colored pieces of candy in favor of a Snickers. You've never actually eaten a Snickers, and I don't think you even knew that you were collecting pieces of candy, but you loved finding those little brown packages. However, once in your possession, you didn't want to let them go! We tried to convince you to keep them in your orange jack-o-lantern bucket, but you preferred to run from house to house clutching your stash of little Snickers bars in your chubby hands.
After we made a tour down the block and back, we returned to our house and, in true Texas fashion, set out our camping chairs in the front yard with our big bowl of candy. You loved running around the yard exclaiming "kids! kids!" as other trick-or-treaters stopped at our house for candy. You even got into the action a little bit by helping to distribute the candy. We let you try a Kit Kat and you ate a little bit, but you were much more excited when I brought out some of your Happy Munchies Fruit Snacks as a treat. All in all, a very successful Halloween.
Your 22nd month included lots of growing and learning as us usual. You are now starting to use verbs and stringing together short sentences like "I see you!", "make boat" (with Legos), "watch TV," "no want it!," and "I got chu!" (chasing me around your room.) You've also started saying "I like [insert object]" -- favorite items include trucks, snacks, and treats. It's really cute to watch you put the sentence together because it's clear you are concentrating very hard to say the right words and you speak very slowly: "I. Llllllike. Treats!" On November 13th, you also stepped it up a notch and announced "I love soup!" and "I love milk!" at dinner. You are a little stingy with your "I love you's" at bedtime, but apparently you are a huge fan of homemade tomato soup.
Another favorite mealtime expression is "Cheers!" and you like to cheers everything from your sippy cup of milk to your spoon to specific pieces of food we may all be eating. No meal is complete without stopping five to ten times to cheers something.
As you continue to grow and become more and mobile, you've also started to pick up more bumps and bruises along the way. One afternoon this month, you were out walking down the street with Daddy and started running a little too fast downhill. You tripped and skinned your elbow. You were crying pretty hard, so Daddy brought you back inside and I exclaimed, "Oh no! You got an ouchie on your elbow!" I took you into the bathroom to clean it off, and over and over you sobbed "I sawee Mommy! Ouchie bobo. Ouchie bobo." Poor guy. I'm not sure why you thought you had to say "I'm sorry" unless your teachers had taught you to say "I'm sorry" whenever you accidentally hurt a friend and maybe you thought someone should say "I'm sorry" to you for getting hurt. But, after you calmed down, you continued to refer to your "ouchie bobo" for a week and proudly showed it off. "Ouchie bobo is still one of our favorite terms that you've coined.
As we approach your second birthday, tantrums and other less than desirable behaviors like hitting and kicking have been on the rise. As a result, your 22nd month also included your first trip to time out. I sat with you and silently counted to 60 (one minute for each year of age) and then we talked about the offense in question and exchanged hugs. It's safe to say that you were not a fan of time out, but it clearly made an impression because since then you tested me several times by throwing a toy or doing something else you know you're not supposed to do and then asking "time out?" Discipline is no fun for either of us, but it's something we'll have to figure out in the coming months and years.
Despite the visit to time out, you continue to be a sweet, loving child. You love being held, or having Mommy or Daddy sit down right next to you to build Legos, do puzzles, or read books. You love to give hugs-- to us, to your teachers, to your friends, to your teddy bears, and to many other toys and stuffed animals. You also have the best laugh and, fortunately for us, at 22 months you find humor in many things. You fill our days with so much joy, and we love you more than words can say.
Lots of love,
Mommy
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