Jonathan is 22 Months Old!

Dear Jonathan,

Today you are 22 months old!

Now, I can say it's official. You are absolutely, positively THE hardest toddler I have ever had and that even includes Ben, who used to unpredictably lose it for no particular reason in random public places.

You are independent and confident.

You are stubborn and fearless.

Apparently all these traits, which I'm sure will make you some kind of super successful CEO someday, create an equation the sum of which is HARDEST KID EVER.

I think it's the screeching that really puts it over the top. If you hit a roadblock in anything you are attempting to do, whether that be mommy saying no, or you lacking the skill/height/strength to accomplish something, or a brother/other child trying to take something from you, you let out the most ear-piercing screech I have ever heard. It turns heads in stores and makes us those parents who immediately jam a pacifier in your mouth to just. please. make. it. stop.

So, there's that.

On the positive end of things --  you are super affectionate. Hugs and kisses galore. You always pat and rub my back when I pick you up, the way I do yours and it's the sweetest thing ever. You wave and smile to anyone and everyone.

Your talking is coming along and you add new words every day. The problem is that you don't often repeat them often. Yesterday's new word was "shark". The list of consistent words we hear is growing though. Hello, No, Kitty, On, Off, umbrella, some colors (blue, green, yellow, red), a few animal sounds (for dog, cat, bird and cow) and a handful of letters and numbers (A, G, D, B and O). We continue to work with our speech teacher, and I mean that in the loosest sense of the word since you are not particularly cooperative for her.  The sooner we can get out of speech, the better... so keep up the good work!

You are still my adventurous eater, so I'm hoping maybe you always will be. Anything and everything. We were astonished recently when you ate half of my Caesar Salad at a restaurant. You couldn't get enough!

You have an intense and passionate interest in music, in a similar way that your oldest brother did at your age. You sit in front of the stereo and just listen. You bop your head and clap your hands when you hear something you like and sometimes you pretend to strum a guitar. You shake your head when you don't like the song and want a new one and nod your head in approval when it's a good one. You also love to dance and be sung to always asking for "more" in sign language.  You can't get enough! You also love to "sing" into a pretend microphone in Jonathanese, which is quite the sight to see.

You love the pool and you love water. You paddle around the pool without a care in the world as long as you have your little floaty on. The problem is that, at our pool, they have a radio set up near the pool office that blares music all day long and you are torn between swimming and standing in front of it and listening. Sometimes in between, you get distracted by the water slide and make a beeline for the deep-end, which means my day at the pool is spent constantly chasing you down and hauling you back into the pool. See mention of ear-piercing screams above....

Annnnyway.... so two months until the terrible twos and I am bracing myself. If the one-and-a-halfs are any indication of what's to come, we could be in for a wild ride. :)

Happy 22 months JJ, Johnny, BooBoo, Screechy McScreecherson!

Love,
Mommy :)