Connor!

I'm writing this because I want to remember Connor at this age. This baby is so cute and pleasant to be around. He turned one the week before we moved to Utah. He was not even walking then. We were so nervous about him falling down the stairs at that age. He quickly learned to walk and do stairs. Now he runs everywhere. He doesn't really bend his knees yet so you'll see him running down the hall with his legs going in circles beside him. It's quite entertaining.

Turns out, I don't have too many pictures of him, or anyone lately. Gotta do better about that. Here's one of his cute smile.He still drinks bottles, which is the longest any of my kids have been on bottles. He loves them and will not have anything to do with sippy cups. He will throw it at your head if you try to give him one. He also throws his dinner plate, fork and cup off his high chair when he is done with it. Sitting next to him is known as the splash zone. He loves to snuggle with you while drinking his bottle. I love this time with him. I love looking at his little baby features and being snuggly with him. He's such a sweet boy.
Oh, I almost forgot. He also puts his finger on his belly button when he drinks his bottle, just like Marissa does when she sucks her thumb. Funny.

Along with being sweet, he is also a rough kid. He does have a habit of hitting people, which usually means Marissa gets the brunt of it. A couple of months ago I said, "When is Connor going to start to talk?" and then Marissa said, "When is Connor going to start to be nice?" We have been working on being soft, and he has now started stroking someone's head softly right after he hits them. It's a step in the right direction anyway.

Connor talks all the time, it's just in a language that nobody can understand. He has started to say some words. He says "ma-ma" when he wants milk, or "ba-ba" for bottle. When he looks in the mirror he says "Ca" or "Da", both meaning Connor I think. When he is referring to me, he says "ma-MA?" like a question. It is so cute. Yesterday when he saw grandpa he looked at me and said, "Bompa". He says "toe" for toast, "ch" for cheese, and shoe and sock. And he's getting good at pointing to all of his body parts, including sputtering his lips when you ask about those. He yells a hearty "AYE!" (meaning hi) to anyone that comes home or whenever we pick up Erin from school. He is starting to say the animal sounds as well. My favorite is his growl. He will repeat "wow" and "cool" when he is watching cool videos that Jared shows the kids on the computer. His favorite word by far is "ba" which of course means ball.

This boy loves, I mean LOVES balls. I guess if you have enough kids, you are bound to get a ball lover. He has the amazing ability to find a ball in any room in anyone's house. If there is a ball in the house, he will find it. If there are two, he will have one in each hand. Literally, there is no other toy he would rather play with than a ball and he could probably be happy with a ball for quite some time. He gets pretty frustrated in nursery when they blow "balls" for him to play with and then they all pop. How is that fun? You don't even get to throw it? A while back he started really getting into his throws by putting one leg back, bending his knees and winding up like a pitcher would. Then he says "go" before he throws it to you. It is so cute to see on a baby. I don't know how he thought of doing it, but I think he has a lot of natural athletic ability. I feel like all we have to get him for Christmas is balls and he will be a happy kid.

(Not the best picture, but it's the only one I have of his throwing stance)

He loves to say prayers. He will fold his arms, bow his head and mumble for as long as he thinks the prayer should be. Another funny thing he started doing is raising his hand whenever someone asks a question. "Who had fun today?" and he'll raise his hand with everyone else. "Who wants to change Connor's diaper?" and he'll be the only one to eagerly raise his hand. As long as you say "Who wants to..." excitedly like a question, he will raise his hand. He always wants to be part of things and do whatever the other kids are doing.

He loves to brush his teeth and play in the toilet, sometimes at the same time. One week I found three toothbrushes in the toilet three days in a row. He likes to dump out all the hair stuff or my makeup, and has learned to unload and load the dishwasher, although he almost always does the opposite of what I am trying to do. We often find dirty spoons in the clean drawer. So he is pretty much a typical 18 month old. He also loves to empty my wallet of all cards. I still haven't found my credit card that he lost at my parents' house.

He has recently started liking to read books. He will get the book he wants, grab your thumb with one hand and place the book in your hand to tell you that you need to read him the book. If you stop reading, he will do it again. He's pretty good at communicating without words like that. He will also get a cup out and place it in your hand telling you that he wants water.

He is happy and sweet and will be 18 months next week. I think I really like this age. Old enough to walk, feed himself and get his own diapers out, but young enough to not be defiant. I love that kid! We started taking him to nursery a couple of months ago and just stayed there with him because he wasn't official yet. This week we can finally leave him. He does well sitting and holding props for singing time. I think we will all enjoy nursery (as long as we don't get called as the leaders).

Keep being your sweet, lovable, ball lovin' self, Connor. We all love you!