The Countdown Has Begun

hiya, quinny!

today, you are 22 months old. in just two short months, i will no longer think of your age in months...i will then think of it in years. this astounds me. i swear you just got here yesterday, yet, here you are bulldozing your way around the house and into my heart. you are a force to be reckoned with, buddy (do you see a pattern here?).

we have had a lot of fun this summer. you have grown by leaps and bounds in every way. you are taller, stronger, and more communicative all the time. you still climb anything that's standing still or at least a little still (like mommy), you are trying to jump, and you have mastered the stairs. we are planning to take the bottom gate down soon. it's not much good when you climb it all the time anyway, right?

you have started to put two words together to get your ideas across, but oddly enough, you haven't really added a whole lot of words to your vocabulary. you're just combining the ones you already had.

you have a new obsession : lightning mcqueen. thomas the tank engine has some stiff competition. i recently put a lightning sheet on your crib mattress and every time i go get you from your crib, you are telling me cah! cah! cah! you have a set of lightning PJs and you cry your big blue eyes out whenever i have to remove them from your person to put on your day clothes. it's tempting to let you run around in your PJs all day, buddy ;-p

in less than a week, you will start preschool for the very first time. you will attend a local church-based preschool on tuesdays and thursdays. i am excited for you and a little sad for me. i suspect i will be the one crying all morning while you crash toy trucks and cars. it turns out that all of the kids in your class are boys. ooooh, boy. i can see where this is going to go. sissy will be in class right down the hall from you, and i hope that you get to see her during the day and that this gives you comfort.

speaking of sissy, you have begun to interact with her more and more. you two chase each other all over the house most mornings. god forbid she gets out of your line of vision. you seriously lose your doo-doo anytime you are separated from her. dropping her off at her gymnastics class has become a very painful ordeal. you two still annoy one another, but you also love one another. i guess that's how it goes with siblings. ask aunt kimmy and uncle brian :-)

we have had such a fantastic summer visiting family and playing with friends. sadly, we have also lost a dear friend - one of your first girlfriends. she was bitten by a rattlesnake and died from the bite. i have never experienced a pain like this one, buddy. i cannot fathom what her parents are feeling. she was a friend we played with often, and to see you play with our other friends without her...well, there's a really big hole where she should be. i am so glad that you do not understand. sissy understands just a little bit, and that's more than enough to handle.

i am looking forward to what's next with you, quinny. you always keep me on my toes; life is NEVER dull with you around.

i love you,
-mommy