Dear Tyler, You're 23 months old

[note: your birthday is in 2 days, I have had this written but hadn't put any pictures in until now. Expect your birthday post an a couple of days!]

Dear Tyler,
You're 23 months old. That means next month you're going to be 2 years old!! When people ask how old you are, I tell them you're 1. 1 is a lot more of a baby then "almost 2." I want to keep you a baby for as long as possible. I know that when I cut your hair you will look much older so I'm in no rush to do that. You'll always be my baby. I have 3 baby boys and I love it. Each of you take turns coming in my big bed in the mornings when I'm still sleepy. You always do, any time between 5am and 8. It's usually around 7:15 or so and Daddy brings you in so you can beg for "mock." You only nurse for a little while because I only have a couple of sips of milk on each side. There is milk still. I'll cut you off at your birthday. Or after b/c that would be the worst present. You're down to just that morning routine now and if you wake up too early, you fall back asleep. If you wake up later in your bed, Dylan gets you out. I bet you could climb out if you thought about it but I'm not going to teach you. I even keep the railing down so it'll be less of a fall when you try. This morning, Isaac climbed in bed on the other side of me. I covered him up with the covers even though he was dressed for Vacation Bible School already. He stayed and rubbed my arms, you boys sure know how to be sweet. Dylan is sweet in that he worries about you and Isaac. He worries that Isaac forgot his shoes. (But Isaac, the thinking-ahead boy that he is, left his shoes in the car the night before.) Dylan worries that Ivy pulls your hair. (She pulls your shirt too. She mostly does it at Corrie's house, I've only seen it like twice.)

You can say anything that's on your mind. We understand one another and I love that you can process past, present, and future events. You started to fall down the stairs a couple of days ago. Daddy caught your fluffy head after you had fallen backwards and had only hit your back on one stair. I turned the corner from my room to see Daddy's long arm reaching over the side of the stairs from the living room with your scared crying head looking up for me. Daddy had a full water glass in his other hand. It was a miracle that he caught you because you wouldn't have been able to get your hands under you to catch your fall the rest of the way down the stairs to the tile. I sat and held you on the stairs while you gripped my shirt. We went over the fact that you need to be careful on the stairs but Daddy caught you and I was hugging you and you are okay now. We went over that a couple of times, each of us taking turns recounting the events making sure you know that you are okay now but that you need to be careful. You didn't shy away from the stairs because you were able to process the situation. We did kiss your back so it was okay from the time our lips left your skin.
I told you one night when I was rocking you before bed time that the next day you would be playing with your friend Altazara the next day. You were fairly excited to hear that but when I said that I would have to leave you and go to work, you paused. Then you looked at me then said no. After I told you that I would pick you up after you played and ate and napped and played more, you stared me down then replied. Okay. I like when you say okay. Your "okay sounds like "oquay." You sometimes have a slight Q sound in there.

You ask questions to reassure what you already know. Like "Is this bankie mine?" I reply yes and you say "okay" or "mine" with a big simile and you hug it. You say the people you love which always includes Corrie.

When I give you something, you instantly say "Thank you mama." I LOVE that still!

My mom will say this is not meant to be put on the internet b/c it's both private and gross but why stop now? You say "mushy" for when your diaper is wet. You tell me when you pooped. Today I noticed that you started to dirty your diaper so I asked you to stop and was excited that you could go sit on the potty. You said "and call Grandma?" See, it's the same grandma who doesn't think I should be typing this, but she'll be happy to know that we called her before calling Daddy! He really did stop then pee then poo on the potty! We're so excited! I'm not ready to go all in yet. I'm waiting for Ivy. But the fact that he's proud of himself is a start! He's naked now. On the tile. Playing with blueberries and peas. He likes when I open the pea pods for him so he can pick out the peas and save the pods for me to eat.

You play with your bristle blocks then clean them up. And other blocks too.

But you only want to clean up when it's your idea. You refuse to let your brothers clean up the piles you create in the living room some times. Isaac takes that as an excuse to go slip upside down on the couches more. Dylan worries and complains that he can't do what he's told.

In prayers, you say "How Foh-ee..... AMEN!" You're saying "Heavenly Father" but it sorta sounds like "our Father." You repeat the beginning and ending a couple of times and give a laugh and cheezy proud smile. Sometimes you sit reverently and keep your arms folded. Your arms aren't that long so you grab one forearm. In church, you've said "amen" and "all done" and "toys now" when the closing prayer lasts too long. There are snickers from the row behind us :)