I've done it again! Your "birthday" has come and gone and I've failed to update your blog. Sigh.

Well, again, mommy apologizes for being a slacker.

So now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about your 18th month. What all happened? Hmmmm, let's see. . . Papa built you a sandbox and last weekend we filled it with sand that Aunt Lizzie was kind enough to pick up for us in her truck. I love it. You could take it or leave it. You'd much rather wander the yard picking up gum balls and leaves and looking in the blue bird houses. But I'm hopeful that as you get older you're going to enjoy it more and more.

The weather has gotten warm enough that we filled up your wading pool a few weekends ago and we put it and your sand/water table in the driveway for you to play with. You enjoyed that for the short time that your attention span held out (roughly ten minutes, max, at any one activity).

Otherwise, it's been a fairly quiet month in terms of family activities. In terms of your development, though, I've seen quite a bit of change. You are acquiring new verbal skills on a daily basis. You can put more than two words together (as I think I reported last month) on a consistent basis. And you even put three words together at least once this month when you told us to "Turn roundiround off!" (Translation: Turn the ceiling fan off!) Honestly, everyday you say a new word. Some of the "better" ones (don't get me wrong, they're all great, just some are more...interesting than others) are: cucumber; ravioli; tushy; chicka; and macaroni.

And you understand so much now, it's amazing. Over the past two or three months you've really begun transitioning from baby to little boy. Which, of course, is bittersweet for a mom.

So in other news (I was thinking today that I should be sure to include some current events in these posts so you won't think that our lives revolve solely around you, although they really kinda do...), the economy is still the hot topic. The housing market has crashed, the stock market crashed a while ago and remains crashed for the most part, unemployment is at an all time high, and the government is deficit spending. Fun times. I cannot fathom how or when we'll pull out of this, but certainly something has to give.

As far as our contribution, I continue to work, Papa continues to keep the store going, and we're planning a trip to France this summer that we really can't afford but which I feel strongly we need to take anyway (not just because we need to do our part to stimulate the global economy, but because Papa needs to go see his friends and show you off). I've never traveled on a plane with a child your age and quite honestly I'm imaging it's going to be hellish, but I do hope we can pull it off and that it will be mostly enjoyable for all concerned.

That's all for now!

See you in a month!

Love and kisses,

Mommy