It's been a while

Hi Bracken!

It has been months since I have written and I apologize. I guess life just got carried away, which happens a lot. You have gotten so big!! You are still small, but growing up so fast! At your 18 month appointment your weight was 20 lb 14 ounces in the lowest 5%, way lower, so probably closer to 1%, Your height is 31 inches in the 15th % and your head is 47 cm in the 25th percent. Still such a small boy.

You are talking like crazy. You say at least 200 words and are obsessed with trucks and buses. Many times I say something and you will repeat it after me. You seem to love to learn. You also count. I say one, you say two and I say three. Then you will run or jump (well, try to jump) or do what ever we are doing. You refuse to say one or three though. It is quite funny.

You love to play with anyone of any age and love to be outside. You often grab my hand and lead me around the house to show me what you want. You like to throw things in the garbage and enjoy reading books. You have a vehicle book and an animal book and those two are your favorites. I often catch you singing or humming songs and you love watching your reading videos.

I'm off track from work right now and have been able to spend a lot of time with you and I love it! You go see your dad every other weekend and often don't like to go with him. It breaks my heart when you cry when I leave. I know you don't like a lot of change, but your dad loves you and wants to spend time with you. I'm sure you have fun with him and love the time you guys have together.

Halloween just passed. You dressed up as a lion this year. You were so adorable! You can say trick or treat and kind of had happy Halloween. It sounded something like appy owen. But very cute.

That is the basics of your life right now. I love you more than ever and enjoy spending so much time with you! I can't imagine my life without you, you are everything to me! I love you!!!

Love,

Mom

Words

Hi B!

I have been keeping a list of words that you have said so far. At 16 months old you are doing better than average and are quite the little talker. Here is your list of words:

mama/mom
dada
bath
binky
blanket
dog
kitty
keys
outside
popsicle
bird
juice
off
hi
bye
green bean
eyes
open
stinky
fish
cheese
crackers
ball
shoes
chase
kZ (girl at daycare)
peek-a-boo
balloon
yeah/yes
glasses (sounds like asses)
see
flowers
grandpa
nana
papa
hey
M & M
what's that

you also say some sounds. You say oh-oh when something is wrong, woah, pssst, mmmmm when you taste something good, and ew-ew-ew when you want something. You also know some animal sounds. I will say "what does a .... say?" and you will answer with the sounds. Right now you know dog says woof woof cow says oooo ooooo duck says quack quack and dinosaur says roar.

I love seeing you learn and grow. One of my favorite parts of being a mom is to watch you learn new things and understand the world around you.

Love you hunny!

Love,

Mom

24th of July

Hi B,

I had the best weekend with you! We went to the parade on Saturday and you loved it!! You watched everything that was in the parade and really loved the police cars and the marching bands. You clapped and waved at the people and just loved every second of it. You made friends with people sitting to the right of us when they gave you a capri sun. You even went and sat on the ladies lap for about 10 minutes. You also made friends with the people on the left because they kept spraying you with their spray bottle to keep you cool and you laughed and loved it. You are such a charmer.

Then we went and hung at at grandma and grandpa Maez's house. Then we went to Liberty park to watch fireworks. We sat across the street where they actually light them and hung out with Savannah, Nathan, Chase, Hailey, Daniel and some family friends. You were in such a great mood and did so good staying up late. I bought you a binky that flashes and that was your favorite thing of the whole day! You laid on me when the fireworks started and watched them intently as you started dozing off. Then there were some misfires and some knocked over and started flying straight at us! I grabbed you and ran as fast as I could as the fireworks were whizzing past my head. I couldn't think of anything but how to protect you. It was a huge story and 9 fireworks total flew into the crowd where we were sitting, but none of us got hurt, thankfully. By the time I found everyone, you were dozing off in my arms. All the other children were screaming and crying and you just went to sleep. It was quite funny.

You are at such a cute stage. You are saying new words every week and understand so much of what I say. I can tell you to go get your shoes and you will go find them. You said Chase this weekend and keep saying "off" over and over. You use it for up, down, on and off, but I can usually figure out what you mean. You are growing so fast and getting so smart. I love you so much and we are doing really great, the two of us. You are very entertaining and so much fun to be around. I am so blessed and thankful to be your mom! I love you!!

Love,

Mom

Love You!

Hi B,

I just dropped you off at the sitters. I am having surgery today, so I won't see you until Sunday night. 3 1/2 days. The longest I've been away from you. And I'm so nervous about these things. I just wanted to tell you that I love you so much! You are my world and the greatest thing that has ever happened to me! I love you more than you will ever know!!

Love,

Mom

Updates

Hi B,

It has been a while since I have written you. It has been a crazy month! It is summer and so nice outside and you absolutely LOVE being outside. You would live out there if you had a choice. This month you had your 15 month checkup. You are 30 1/4 inches tall - 25th percentile, your head circumference is in the 25th percentile and you weigh 19 pounds 12 ounces. About the same as you did at your 12 month appointment and you are now in the "less than 5 percentile" range. On your medical graph you are well below the bottom line, but you look healthy and your belly pokes out so I think you are doing just fine. You also got really sick for a week before your appointment and didn't eat much and lost some weight. You were sick this weekend too. Saturday you ha a fever of 104.6 degrees at one point. It scared me. I hate it when you get sick!

You are getting to be such a little man and I love watching your brain work and process things all the time. The other day you pulled your small booster chair all the way across the living room and put it by the wall so you could stand on it to try to reach our security system buttons, which you love to push. The fact that you realized you could stand on the chair to make you taller just astounds me! Such a smart boy!

You also do things now and you will remember it days later and do it again. Your brain is definitely growing and you are learning new things every day. I haven't stuck with the reading program at all lately. I am mad at myself but I feel like we don't have much time together as it is and I don't want to waste our time together, especially in summer doing it. Education is so important and I'm not setting a very good example and really want to get back into it. That will be our goal.

Well B, I love you. You are so amazing and are doing so great. You make me so happy and you make my life complete!

Love you tons.

Mom

Divorce

Dear B,

I wish you were old enough for me to talk to about everything that is going on. You seem to notice a change around the house and are probably picking up on my moods and behaviors. Your father and I have decided to get divorced. Everything is taken care of and completed. That doesn' tmean that either one of us love you any less. You are the best thing that happened to both of us and we both love you so much!

Right now we are still living in our house and you and I will be here until we can sell it. Then I hope to find a townhome for us to live in.

I am doing my best to be a good mom during this time. I have been super busy and it has been hard managing everything that is going on, but I want you to know that I love you so much and our lives will settle down soon. I try to spend eery minute I can with you and try to make you laugh often.

More than anything, I want you to know that you are loved and you always will me. By myself and by your dad. You are amazing and such a blessing to both of us!

Love you,

Mom

Teeth

Hi B,

You now have two teeth on the top that look like fangs, with no middle teeth, and one on the bottom in the middle! Keep those teeth coming so we can start feeding you more kinds of food! Looks like your other two top ones will be in soon!

Love Mom