Eighteen

Dear Grady,

Today you are eighteen months old. Eighteen! Tomorrow you will be closer to two years old than one year old. I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around that.

You are so much fun, buds. You love to laugh and your whole face lights up when you make others laugh. You laugh right from the bottom of your belly and sometimes you actually shake from all the joy you're feeling.

You chat all day long. You have long babbling conversations with me, your dad, the dogs, whoever you can rope into listening, really. You do have some words. You say no (always with the no,) mama, daddy, doggy, Stella, boots, cheese, apple, bird, baby, cookie, what is this, and good boy, so clearly. Less clear is "noo noo" for noodle, "nanana" for banana, "hop hop hop" for bunny, "Muddy" for your cousin Maddy, and, uhh, "go doe" for goddamn. You can blame me for that one. Sorry. You refer to both of the dogs as "go doe Stella!" Also my fault.

You love to "cheers!" If you have your cup and anyone else in the room has a drink you lure them in with your incessant "cheers! Cheers! Cheers!" until they succumb and clink glasses with you.

You have been waving "ba byeeeee" for months but you recently added "hi!" to your repertoire. You love to greet people on the street with a cheerful "hi! Hi! Hi!" People can't help but be charmed by you, Grady. You can make the grouchiest person smile. I hope you possess this gift forever.

You are so polite. You say thank you in the cutest sing-songy way. You love to share. You're very sensitive to other people's moods and feelings. I was upset and crying recently and you threw your arms around me and stroked my cheek while saying, "oh buddy, ohhhhh buddy."

I love you so much, Gus Gus. I cannot accurately describe how much happiness you have brought to my life. Happy one and a half, buddy!

Love,
Mama