18 months old

Wow, what happened to January? 

I started this post about 3 different times over the last couple of weeks, yet always got distracted, didn't finish it, didn't post it, and somehow never saved them.  Here I am again.  Let's hope I can see this one through!

I keep thinking I'll catch you all up on everything that's been going since I last had a post of any substance, but then I probably wouldn't get it done. 

Instead, how about a little story from this morning? 

Yesterday we went to Chinle for a Super Bowl Party.  Marlin happily played for hours, content with a houseful of new toys and friends to play with; the game went long; we finally headed home far past his bed time, and he was too wired and chatty to even fall asleep in the half hour ride home. 

So it was a late night. 

Then this morning, when I heard that he was awake, babbling away in his crib, I walked in to get him.  The first thing he said to me was "Coff, Coffee." 



Needless to say, he's really been talking a lot and soaking up everything!  At Christmastime, I wrote down every word I could think of that he had been saying, and it was probably about 30 words.  Now he has far too many to count.   My current favorite is smoothie.  "Moosie, mama!  Moosie!" 

Also, he's been quite difficult to capture for his monthly "portraits" that I've been trying to take.  He's such a moving target, mostly it's this:

 and this:

 and this:

 But I have to stick with it long enough, and find something captivating enough that he sits still.  Through the winter months, it's so dry here that we often slather balm on his rosy chapped cheeks.  Now he equates chapstick to being for the same purpose:

Then if I can manage to get him to look up at the camera and smile, I might capture a few good ones:

 You can see the whole album here. 

Not to make this a footnote, but Happy [now belated] Birthday to Ryan!  We had a nice relaxing day at home filled with good food and dessert.  Here's a couple recent pics of him and Marlin cuddling together (a special treat since he's so on-the-go)!

Hopefully soon I'll catch up on photos and share Christmas ones!