Little Boy of Mine,

In the wee hours of the morning as we sleep tonight, you’ll fill up another month on the calendar, making the count an even sixteen. Sixteen months that is, my dear, and that’s a lot in this mama’s world. I catch myself still calling you “baby” most days, but the truth is, you are more and more a boy every day. You are full of laughter and antics, new tricks and all kinds of ways to captivate us around the clock. In the morning, you are sprightly–ready to greet the day with a squeal, a smile, a new discovery. You run more than toddle, and gather up your favorite books and cars while still in jammies. You eat your breakfast with vigor–bananas, yogurt, toast and/or oatmeal your tastes of choice as the sun spills over into the dining room window.

Each day you follow me from room to room, toting matchbox cars, manipulating magnetic letters, asking for water. And all the way you jabber, jabber, jabber, your little budding voice my very favorite thing. We talk about colors, animals, emergency vehicles and the sounds they make–you mirror and copy and make up your own way to articulate every last word. If I could pen your babble here I would…you’re a storyteller at heart, I think (a thrill for communication in your veins, no doubt). And although it shouldn’t surprise me anymore to hear you say what you’re thinking, I’m never less than taken aback by the vocabulary you absorb, seemingly overnight: clouds (Quowds!), yellow (yeh woah!), crocodile (cwa co di wil!), boat (boat!). My favorite as of late is your version of “Hey, dude!” Heeeyyyyyy. Dooooood. You know, just the kind of thing you’ll need in your back pocket for a rainy day. Oh, do you make me smile!

At this age you love the water, splashing around and climbing in and out of the pool without fear. Bubbles captivate you, pinwheels intrigue you, motorized vehicles may as well be giant ice cream cones on wheels. You hear trains in the distance with crazy precision, long before I realize the low rumble far away. Helicopters! Airplanes! Anything that moves!!!! You are a boy through and through, and I thank God for all of your enthusiasm every day.

As much as you have grown into yourself–with your own ideas of how things should go and your determination to figure things out on Henry time, you are still dependent in ways both endearing and special to a mama who can’t process any faster just how quickly you are changing form. This morning, after reading Dr Seuss’ ABCs in the rocker together, you curled up with your head on my chest and let me soak you in for a while. I can handle all of the running around and all of the progress if I can just sneak in little snippets of your smallness here and there as you grow. 😉

Truly, as I write to you, there are 6,732 beautiful little details I want to capture about this season of your life. You are vibrant, and full of energy and joy to a degree we could never articulate fully in a blog or book or lifetime of sharing. Suffice it to say, Henry D, that you continue to amaze me as your mama. I am forever blessed to have you in my care, and we are forever blessed to be your mommy and daddy. Try as you might, HD, no growing is going to change the way we feel about you in our hearts–in fact, we’ll just have to keep making even more room!

Love you to the moon and back…but then of course, I’ve mentioned that a time or two 😉

xoxo,

your mama