Month 23

(Dada insert: Holy crap, it's actually on time! The Mayans may be right)

This may be the second-to-last monthly photo, Little Dude. That's probably why you are smiling in this picture. "Haha Lady! Only two more . . ." (or not, your father thinks we should continue this tradition and I have great thoughts of pulling you out of hockey practice in high school to come sit in your chair and take your 204th monthly photo).

Here is a rundown of your 23rd month, in no particular order:

You attended your second Edgewood Rodeo Days parade, and you split your time between running around like a banshee trying to get candy, and chilling on Mama's lap. You are still not a fan of loud noises, and the firetrucks sent you straight back to Mama. Just so you know, this is perfectly acceptable at any age - no matter what your future partner tells you :)

Equally enthused for this tradition. 

You made an appearance at the wedding of two friends, and in typical fashion, spent the first half clinging to us, and the second half running around like a banshee (notice a pattern?). You quickly found where the cream cheese mints were kept and circled back at least 6 times.

Saaaaaaaay 'Hockey'

Can you believe they just let these mints set out? 

Our family spends Father's Day with your great grandparents, and this year you got to run around. There was sidewalk chalk, bubbles, open space, and your family - you were a happy little dude, as evidenced below:

"This one is for the ladies"

When the Jedi force just won't work . . . sometimes you have to get your own frisbee. 

"OMG - Jenny look at her butt, it is soooo big . . . "

I shall take my light sabers and see you on the dark side. What?!? Bubbles? Oh, sweet. 

That sidewalk chalk is vicious . . . 

Mom and Dad have been doing some work on the house on weekends, and you have spent time with both Grammy and Papa and Grandma and Baba. You love every second of it and I sometimes wonder if you are excited at all to come home. 

Speaking of grandparents: You are a big fan of your grandpas. When at each house, you ask for them often. In fact, this month you learned that Papa (Grandpa W) drives tractors. Also, you started calling Grandpa H 'Baba' and know that he drives a Harley.

With the angle of descent of this new toy, the friction between the car and the ramp, and the mass of this police car, it should take approximately 4.2 (repitend of course) seconds to reach the bottom. Time to test . . . 

You have been called 'Tank' for awhile now, and we have been on the lookout for a shirt with a Tank on it (You can't say your parents aren't clever). Dada even drove to a store in Iowa City on his way to Davenport because we thought one would be there. No dice. But - we were wandering through Kohl's before a movie started and found this on the clearance rack, the only one left, in your size - It was fate. 

A shirt. Boom.

Your attitude is pretty unchanged since last month - mostly chill plus a note of defiance with a strong dose of strong will (German say what???????). You love to bring this out in restaurants on your naive parents. At Olive Garden you drew on the wall with a crayon and let everyone in the vicinity know your feelings about eating pasta - you were carried out early. At another restaurant you decided to scream. Literally . . . scream. See the below picture for a reenactment. When we are old and senile, we plan to return the favor :)

Let's see if I can hit that High C. Beyonce aint got nothin on me.

One of our weekend projects was to paint the entryway and stain the railings. When it was completed, we decided to not put the gate back up, and you have done great with it. We no longer live in a gated community and it is fabulous :)

 Guys, I need new toys. I can only drive these cars so many places.

Damn it feels good to be a gangsta . . . a white, Cubs loving gangsta. 

Sleep: You still sleep very well. You wake up between 6:30 and 7:00 each morning and nap once starting at 12:30. You are ready for bed around 8:00 - 8:15 each night.

Hair: Still crazy. You have your fourth haircut scheduled for next week and those curls are not going anywhere my little Toehead.

Food: You still love fruits, most vegetables, and flavored meats. Izzers is still fat. We don't see this changing in the future

Vocab: You say more and more each day and we have stopped trying to keep up. Just today you heard the washing machine beep and said 'Mama . . . lautry' repeatedly. You now use the full 'Ready, Set, Go' when we are not fast enough for you. You have even said 'Go Cubbies' (much to the chagrin of Grammy I am sure).

With that, we move onto Month 24, planning an early Oktoberfest birthday party (yep, we're weird), and realizing that we almost have a two-year old.