Update - CJ... Ummm, 16.5 Months and Then a Bit?

Erm, My Dear, Sweet, Neglected Second Born,

I'm sorry?  I think this is the hallmark dawning of what it'll be like for you as the middle child.  Though, in all honesty, you're too loud to be neglected for long. You've yet to understand the meaning of "just a second!" and thus, our house often vibrates with the volume of your requests, "MO?  Mo?  MO?"  (more).  "EAAAAT!  EEEEEAAAT!"  "Hold?  Hold?  HOLD YOU?!" 

So really, we pay a good bit of attention to you.  Your dear older sister, patient as she is, often gets the short end of the stick.  Speaking of Miss Bean, I'm very excited to say that you've stopped beating the heck out of her quite as much.  I found that a nice deterrent is asking you to give her kisses when you're about to smack her over the head.  You LOVE giving kisses, so that goes over nicely. 

You give Sayer a ton of kisses too.  It's actually surprising to me to see how much you really love him.  From the moment you wake up, "BABY?" to the moments you hear him cry, "BABY!" to the moments when he is carried into your line of sight, "BABY!!" you're always looking out for him.  Nothing distresses you more than hearing him cry.  Well, nothing aside from being told, "just a second!"  We're working on that. 

It's funny, you've taken the transition of adding a new sibling better than anyone, I think.  I'm still having a hard time not thinking of you as my baby.  Even with your huge head.  (It really is huge.  I don't know quite how you walk around with that thing...  but good gracious, you're cute, so it doesn't matter).  You still have a few lingering baby traits, some pleasant (being rocked before bed), and some not too pleasant (diapers).   And you'll snuggle on your dad's lap or my own for as long as we'll let you.  Or until you see something in Bean's hands that you must have.

You're mastering the whole talking bit at a breakneck pace.  Before your nap today, you said, "pretzel, peas?" and handed me the bag.  I can pretty much guarantee that you didn't know the word "pretzel" yesterday.  I love watching the wheels in your head turn.  I think that most of all, you realize that words are the quickest way to get what you want.  And you're all about getting what you want.  So off you go.  You're nothing if not determined. 

You've entered into a bit of a cautious period, physically.  A few weeks ago, I was catching you as you would stand on the couch and walk straight off the edge.  I grabbed a stray arm to break your fall, thinking it was an accident.  Yeah, not so much.  You looked at me from the ground, grinned, and climbed up to do it again.  But in the last few days, you're far less likely to try new things in the physical realm.  Today, you stayed on a kitchen chair and howled because I wasn't able to get you down right away.  Two weeks ago?  You probably would have jumped.  I can't say I'm sad about this new development.  It certainly keeps my heart rate lowered.  But I have to admit, I kind of miss your breakneck crazy pace. 

You still prefer to run around buck naked.  I generally make you wear a diaper.  You recently threw a conniption about that and tried to take it off.  When you couldn't figure out the snaps, (THANK YOU FUZZIBUNZ), you tried pulling it down.  You got it to your knees before I had pity on you and let you have a few minutes of bare bottom time.  

You're charming and sweet when you want to be.  Between you and your sister, I think we meet just about everyone we encounter when we run errands.  You'll be thrashing around, trying to escape the stroller and then catch sight of a stranger making eye contact.  Immediately, you'll stop, grin and wave.  When you get older, you had better use that power to captivate for good, not evil.

Stay sweet, my spunky, quirky little second-born.  And stay a wee bit sassy... keeps life interesting.  :)

Love,

Mommy-o  (Because suddenly?  You've dubbed us Mommy-o, Daddy-o, and Baby-o :)