Sage: 18 Months Old Update (A Letter)

Hey hey!

I have not done an update on my sweet baby (that’s no longer a baby) since he turned one.  I thought 18 months old was the perfect time to do another update and I know I’ll never remember all the details if I don’t document it.  Let me start by saying I love this age.  I’m sure I’ve said that with many of the other updates, but it’s the truth.  Suddenly I have this little person walking around my house, voicing his opinion, making us laugh constantly, and always keeping us on our toes.  There’s no table he won’t climb.  If he sees the gate to the stairs open, he immediately wants to zoom down the stairs.  If we’re eating anything and it looks good to Sage, he wants it.  If I’m cooking dinner and he wants to play, he grabs my hand and takes me to where I should be.  He’ll say “up” which means sit here and play mommy.  Dinner goes out the window (momentarily) because I cherish every moment of playtime.  He’s growing and developing at such a rapid rate these days.  The other day my husband asked him if he wanted a “bite of pasta” and Sage responded “bite”.  Immediately I added “bite” to the list of words he says (because I’m a mama who keeps a list).  I’m going to do this update in the format of a letter.  I’ve seen this done by another blogger and I think it’s so sweet.

Dear Sage,

You’ve been in our lives for 18 months now and we’re so thankful for you every day.  Being your mama is the greatest gift.  You are growing so fast before my eyes these days and I’m trying to keep up with you.  For a while you were the quieter but observant type and didn’t say too much, but now your vocabulary is growing and you are using your voice so much more.  You surprise me with a new word daily.  Your very favorite words are dog, owl, daddy, ball, up, go, bye and woof.  We point to pictures and you always find Jax (our dog) first.  He’s your favorite.  You also adore both daddy and I.  Sometimes you want to sit in my lap and be hugged and other times you run to daddy’s and don’t want to leave his arms.  We love you to the moon and back and soak up every moment that you want to cuddle.  Most of the time you’re on the move!  You push your car around our house and the toy lawnmower too.  You love to move the magnets from the dishwasher to the fridge.  Books are always a fun time and you’re very good at finding things in the pictures.  You love your tent that we set up in the family room.  You grab my hand so I’ll come and lay down next to you in the tent and cuddle with the stuffed animals.  Two minutes later you’re up and wanting to play with the next toy.

You’re a very good eater.  Your favorite foods are blackberries, blueberries, yogurt, rice and beans with avocado, pesto pasta, noodles in peanut sauce, mac & cheese with peas, and you’ll take any fruit or veggie pouch.  You drink oat milk and hemp milk most and sometimes almond milk.  You don’t take a bottle anymore and the transition to all sippy cups was effortless.  You’re such a big boy now and you were ready.  Dinner time is sometimes tough because you don’t want to sit still for long.  The same goes for diaper changes.  We have to be really quick these days.

When it’s time for bath, I say “bath time” and you usually immediately run to the bathroom.  You love to play in the bath.  Bubbles!  After bath, daddy and I get you ready for bed.  We comb your hair and put on your pajamas.  We look at the animal stickers on your wall and you point out the owl, bug and balloons.  You are completely attached to your small soft blanket that we call your blankie.  We’ve accumulated four of them just to make sure we always have one in the car, in your crib and for the sitter’s.  You grab your blankie when you know it’s time to go to bed and either cuddle in my or daddy’s arms for a few minutes before we put you in your crib to go to sleep.  Your bedtime is around 7:30PM.  Most of the time you go to sleep quite quickly, sometimes you talk to yourself for a bit, but then you sleep til morning.  Lately you’ve been sleeping until 6:30AM.  You wake up with a smile on your face and ready for the day.

You also started going to toddler gym once a week and it is so much fun.  You’d stay in the ball pit the whole time if you could.  You really liked when the teacher held you in a handstand position last weekend.  That was really funny.  We take you on all our errands and love having you by our side.  The grocery store is always a blast.  Most times you sit happily in the car cart because you get to turn the steering wheel, but sometimes you want to help push the cart.  Every weekend we go to the diner for breakfast and you get blueberry pancakes.  Really you just like to pick out the blueberries, but we’re ok with that because you sit so nicely then.

During the week, you go to the sitter and play with your friends.  At the end of the day, daddy or I pick you up and you always greet us at the top of the stairs with a big smile.  You start walking down the stairs and grab my hand because you know the routine.  It’s time to go home.  My very favorite part of the workday is seeing your face at the end of it.  When I pick you up, I tell you that we are going home to see daddy and the dog and you know just what I’m saying.  You’re so smart and I’m so proud of you.  You’re also stubborn and feisty at times and I’m proud of you for that too.  You’re learning to navigate the world and sometimes things don’t go your way.  You voice how you feel by crying or whining, or you come running to daddy or I for a hug so we can let you know it is alright.  We want to help you learn.

Thank you for being my little boy.  Thank you for giving me the gift of motherhood.  I’m a better person because of you.

Daddy and I will love you always and forever.  We’re so excited to watch you grow.  In a few months you’re going to become a big brother and I can’t wait to see you in that role.  It’s going to change our family dynamic, but it’s only going to add more love.  After all, you’ll always be my baby boy.

Love,

Mama