Dear Radley - Month 15 (and 14, 13, 12)

Dearest Dearest Radley,

I am sorry to say that I have fallen into the second child trap of being a complete slacker when it comes to documenting your life. I could blame it on the craziness of our summer travels, or trying to finally get a handle on so many projects around the house, or even a fairly stubborn case of writer's block, but ultimately the days, weeks and months of this summer have flown by and with so much still left to do to at the end of each day, the blog was one of the casualties. And truth be told, my failure to finally sit down and write you this letter in honor of your first year, which has turned into months 12, 13, 14 AND 15...is probably more about wanting to stop time and wanting to freeze your perfect little-baby-heaven-ness rather than admit that time is relentlessly rushing by refusing to slow with a complete disregard for how hard I ignore it. And as the weeks roll on, I see you turning into a toddler right before my very eyes and while I love love love love this stage, I will definitely miss your baby snuggles.

Here you were at 12 months....

We celebrated your birthday with a full 2 weeks of festivities...and lots of yummy cake which you have a real fondness for that quite possibly could be traced back to your in utero experience and my obsession for cake in any form for my entire pregnancy. I was honored to make your special cake to mark the occasion officially...:

And at 13 months...not quite fully walking yet...but oh so close...

And nearly 14 months...rockin it out...our family photographer has forever planted that silly "Party in the USA" song in my head every time I see this photo...it makes me smile.

As I look back to my last email at 11 months, I am astounded at how far you have come and just how much you have changed in 4 short months. Now you can walk and talk and express your annoyance with remarkable clarity. There were definitely moments that could not be done justice without whining, so I will just leave those out and focus on the precious little things that make being your mommy the best job on the planet.

You adore your brother and seeing the two of you figure out how to navigate each other just warms my heart to no end.:

I love watching you "get serious". You have such a little old man face when you are really processing the world around you. At times I can so see the man you will become...

You are so adventurous. Here you are as I found you one morning after doing the breakfast dishes up on the dining room table, checking everything out with a lollipop from the diaper bag in your mouth. You were so proud and cute, it was impossible to be upset with you.

You are a great travel buddy as we spent our summer hitting playgrounds, beaches, Disney & more...
Trains:

Teacups:

Horses, oh my!

Park swing (and yes your feet are that big! - currently you and Mack wear the same size)

Sometimes I think you can look right into my soul

You love Mickey Mouse and with your latest "no one but mommy" phase, that sometimes gets me exactly 25 minutes to prepare a meal, do dishes, get us ready to walk out the door, etc.:

You make me laugh:

You are just the most remarkable little human and a wonderfully sweet little boy. Your emotions show on the surface much more intensely than I would expect. You love stronger and you complain louder too and when your brother crosses the line, you are quick to let him and anyone within a 100 yard radius know it too. And as I see my baby start to fade into the toddler you are becoming, I am struck by how so very much I love you. I knew I would, but not this much.

In no way can I do justice to all our adventures of the last 4 months and how much joy you bring to our family. I can only skim the surface and get back into a bit of more frequent musings of how very much I love you. A subject that I never tire of...

I love you so very very much...
Mommy

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