the things I want to remember about Si at 20 months.

Silas is 6 days shy of 20 months. I could write a whole book about the things I want to remember about  him at this age.

I wouldn't say that this is the most difficult age we've dealt with so far (I mean, the little man does sleep almost 12 hours now-unlike the first 10 months of his life!), but it's tiring and challenging. We're navigating through the beginnings of discipline rather ungracefully (oh, the tantrums!), and some days all I want to do is flip on the TV and take a break from his go-go-going. But more than any of that, gosh, it's fun. Several times a week, I find myself in a nice deep belly laughing at his toddler antics.

 He's outgoing, curious, and so stinkin' stubborn. He is loves snacks "nak", trucks, and his teddy bears (his "roar"s).

 He's smart-- he knows when he's got two of something in his hands and does a little "two" dance-- not dissimilar to the "I've got a pickle" dance. He talks non-stop and will matter-of-factly tell us "nope" if we guess wrong on what he's trying to tell us. Since we have construction on our street, he's become enamored with trucks, and he knows which ones are back-hoes, which are dump trucks, and so on. We bought him those tiny trucks at Target this week and he hasn't let them out of his sight since.

Recently, he's really been into his pacifier ("bee-bee"). We only let him have it when he's sleeping, and he's usually great about tossing it in his crib so it's waiting for him at bedtime, but it's become a little bit of a battle lately.

One of my very, very favorite parts of this age and his personality lately has been the songs. Oh boy, his sweet little voice. He'll go stand on an upside-down puzzle, a book, or even a dishtowel on the ground, and on that stage of his, he bursts into song about whatever. He even takes requests and will sing about his trucks, his Mama, or snacks if asked. It's the sweetest. He woke us up with singing from his crib this morning.

Lately, I feel like he's definitely watching more TV than I'd like. But with the cold weather, and my tired body, that's the easiest way for us to relax in the afternoons before Chris gets home. He's particularly into Elmo lately, but he's also a big fan of Dinosaur Train and Backyardigans. (and he gets excited about Thomas the Train when he sees it, but I'm trying to squash that excitement. I don't think I'm the only mom who can't stand that show.) Anyway, I'm trying not to "bad mom" myself, and the warm weather and outside play time is making us all much happier.

As we were praying with our home group at the end of Bible study last night, Silas sat in my lap, folded his hands, bowed his head and squeezed his little eyes shut. It made my heart swell with thankfulness that I get to be mama to this awesome kiddo.