Chiquito Travieso

That's what my mom called him the other day when he was tearing up her house. It means little boy troublemaker. I thought it was funny because I'd been calling him the same thing.

I often debate in my head whether or not life feels easier or harder now that Axel is 16 months old and becoming a toddler. The easy part is that he can walk by himself to the car, get in by himself, carry his own sippy cup, eat by himself, and still sleeps really well. But the easy part with babies was that they don't move, they nurse so there's no food or snacks to pack, and you are free to sit on a blanket or go for a walk with a friend and have a nice conversation or cup of coffee. At our mom group meetups there are two groups, the groups with babies and the group with toddlers. The moms with young babies get to sit and talk and gaze at their perfect babies, while the rest of us hope to get a minute or two to talk while we make sure our kid doesn't try to throw sand or jump off of the jungle gym.

He is getting to be pretty crazy. He figured out how to open our front gate (we have a white picket fence). We pondered the idea of building a higher, better fence, which would cost us several thousand dollars. we ended up buying some small gate safety latches for $1.50 each instead, and they've worked out just fine! I think I've mentioned it before that much of our time is spent trying to find ways to outsmart the baby. As soon as he realized he couldn't open the gate, he started climbing it. Great.


Watching the flamingos at the zoo

He is completely infatuted with all things with engines: Buses, cars, trucks, garbage trucks, vans, airplanes, helicopters. If it makes noise and moves, he will let you know by pointing at it and grunting "da". He can almost say bus. He says "das". He will point and grunt during our entire morning walk. Many times I have no idea what he's pointing at because he can't talk, but he is amazingly good at spotting a garbage truck from up to 50 yards away.

Just this week he went down to one nap. He was fighting his afternoon nap, so we figured it was time. I was dreading going to one nap because I really cherished my two breaks each day. But my friend, Brittney, told me that it was actually so much better to have one nap. So we pushed his morning nap later and it actually has been really nice! He sleeps for about 3 hours, so I have one long, nice break instead of two shorter ones. And it's been so hot lately, that I do appreciate being inside during the hottest hours.


Eating his chicken drumstick

Yesterday we went to the zoo for the first time in months. This was the first time it felt like he really understood that there were animals around. I think he could have watched the flamingos for an hour. He was so excited at everything. I let him out of the stroller and he ran around pointing at everything saying "da!". We really need to work on our words. But it was really fun to see him having such a great time. That is probably the best thing about this age compared to the baby days....that look of excitement in their eyes and their laugh when they think something is funny just makes your day.

I think he is his absolute happiest when he is with Johan. He is definitely a daddy's boy. When Johan walks in the door Axel gets the hugest smile and will run up to him and hug him. Then they laugh and play until he falls asleep.

Last weekend we went to see The Tallest Man on Earth at the North Park Birch Theatre. We got a babysitter and walked with our friend, Stephanie, through North Park to the Theatre. We stopped for sushi first and just laughed at what an awful, stressful day it had been, but thank God it was ending like this. When we got to the theatre we walked in and my mouth just dropped. It was such a beautiful, old, restored theatre. Bright colors and mouldings, it was incredible. And Tallest Man was probably one of the best performers I've ever seen. He was amazing, and to be a one man band and have music that good is so rare. We left feeling so grateful to live in our neighborhood, and as we were walking home we both said "I'm so glad we decided not to move!"