19 months!

Ezra is 19 months now and so many changes are happening. The most drastic change over the past week or so has been that he only nurses for about two minutes before naptime and bedtime, and then asks to go to "cozy bed" (his crib). Before this, he was always nursing to sleep. He's growing up I guess! I'm a bit sad/sentimental, but also grateful as we prepare to have another newborn soon!

Ezra is just as talkative as can be these days. In fact, we talk to each other all day long! This week he's learned the words "actually" and "probably," and it is so funny to hear this little kid using such big words! A couple of his other big words these days include "armadillo," "centipede," "instruments," and "something."

His favorite songs include "I've got the joy, joy, joy joy down in my heart," "over in the meadow," and "this little piggy".

Ezra now knows both of the name options we've discussed for our new baby, but whenever we ask him what we'll name the new baby, he always replies with the boy name. :) I was talking to him the other day, and telling him, yes, that's the name we'll use if it's a boy, but here's the name we'll use if it's a girl. His reply? "Like brother." Well, I guess he wants a brother then!

Everything these days seems to be "big boy" for Ezra. That is, he wants to do it himself! From climbing in the highchair to buckling himself in, to trying to climb in or out of the car,

Another favorite activity of Ezra's is pushing the assortment of buttons when we arrive home from errands. When he knows we're getting close to home you can hear him in the backseat, "grrrage, doorbell, light!"

Ezra has been quite delighted with the snow this winter, but our recent surprise snow storm was a little too deep for him...all the way up to his knees. He kept falling and asking for help. :)

Now that he's about 19 1/2 months, Ezra has, in the past week or so, started using those "extra" filler words in a sentence--prepositions and the like. You know, like "after," "with," etc. So he's starting to sound like he's talking in more complete sentences now. Today (3/1), when I was putting him down for his nap, he said, "after nap play snow daddy". :)

Another funny little tidbit we've noticed about Ezra--he is not afraid of the dark; in fact, he seems to love it! He likes to come in my room and close the door when the light is off to make it completely dark. Today he walked over to my bed and said, "sit!", implying that he wanted to just bask in the darkness of the room. :)

Today when I was making lunch, Ezra was expressing his interest in helping with the cooking. I think he was pretty excited when I let him help mix the French toast mix and make banana bread last week. I wonder if he'd like a set of play food or if it wouldn't be real enough for him.

Speaking of food...some of Ezra's favorites these days include French toast (good thing I love it too, because he requests it for breakfast all the time!), and anything you can dip in olive oil (which, I might add, is quite the broad category...French toast, veggies, rice and beans, etc., etc.) He particularly likes you to add Old Bay or "falt" (salt) to his olive oil for dipping. I'm afraid he really might become quite the foodie! In February (so he was about 18 1/2 months), we visited with my family in a nearby town and ended up going to an olive oil and vinegar tasting room as something fun to do. The high-browed shopkeepers intimidated me at first (what would they think of us bringing a rambunctious toddler into their shop), but Ezra quickly won them over with his smile and eagerness to try the olive oil right along with us. :) It's so fun to watch him learn various ingredients. He's also learning about the various toppings he likes for his oatmeal, including milk, cinnamon, frozen berries, and stevia. He calls it "special treat." He also loves to have a spoonful of almond butter, but sometimes feels that he needs to have multiple spoonfuls accessible all at once. The more the merrier! I realize this paragraph about his interests is long, but such is the the life of a boy--much of it revolves around food!

Once more tiny antidote before I sign off. About once a month I have been getting together with Aaron's mom, sister, and our sister in law for a breakfast/coffee/sharing time. (So special). Because weekends are our main time together and I typically would drive 1.5 hours round trip to make it to the gathering, on top of the 2 hours being there, sweet Aaron comes along. And last time, he took Ezra to Mcdonalds for a special "daddy date" to get pancakes. Ezra was SO excited! So yesterday morning (Saturday), I asked Ezra what he wanted for breakfast. His quick reply? "pancakes!" (And I don't make pancakes often, so I know where he learned that one!) So we whipped up some pancakes with whole wheat flour (the healthy part) and chocolate chips (the not so healthy part) and he had a good old Saturday morning "daddy date" in bed with daddy. :)