My little Tobin,

Your dad and I have been marveling over what a good communicator you are.  Not only are you good with nonverbal signals (nodding, shaking your head, using some signs, doing actions along with songs), you’ve had a big uptick in your vocabulary lately.  You consistently and meaningfully use a good number of words now:  mommy, daddy, bubby (Big Brother), kitty, read (actually more like “ree ree ree,” and it’s often accompanied by you plunking your butt into someone’s lap with a book in your hand), more, Mubby (which can refer to either Mubby or Skittergramps), pumpkin, ball, ding-dong, okay, opie-opie-opie, and probably a bunch more I’m forgetting right now.  You can also do lots of animals sounds, including baa-baa, moo, a lip-flapping thing that means what a stingray says, hoo, woof-woof, meow-meow, the mouth-clicking chatter of squirrels, and a roar for bears, tigers, and lions.

The other night you gestured that you wanted to put on Miles’s Spider-Man mask, so I helped you with that.  You looked in the mirror, laughed and laughed, and said “Bubby!”  I don’t know if you actually thought that was your brother in the mirror, or if you just knew it was his mask and it made you think of him.  We know that you understand much more than you can say, since you are very good at answering yes/no questions with a nod or head shake.  You also respond to other verbal cues.  The other day I told you I needed to dry my hair, and you got up, walked into the bathroom, and tugged on the cabinet where I keep my hairdryer.  If someone asks how old you are, you hold up one finger.

As I said to your dad last night, you’re going to be a genius as long as you don’t knock the smarts out of your skull.  You are brave-brave-brave.  You love to climb, you love the thrill of tossing yourself backward onto pillows, and you love to run and jump.  You are curious and fun-loving, and your contagious laugh is a joy to hear.

You don’t love being in your carseat.  I can’t blame you.  It must be crappy to be stuck facing backward when all the interesting stuff is happening up ahead.  When your brother was your age, he was already in his forward-facing seat, but the guidelines have now changed.  Now a kid is supposed to remain rear-facing until he or she is two.  I don’t know how we’re going to manage that.  At least you have Miles back there to keep you company.  That helps a lot.  He sings and dangles your toys in front of you, and I’ve gotten pretty good at handing you Cheddar Bunnies from the front seat.  You don’t always eat them; your dad vacuumed out the car recently, and I think he found a lot of bunnies and goldfish.  I think you just enjoy seeing the hand come from the heavens and bestow a snack upon you.

We’ve had some big events in the last month.  We went to two weddings, the best part of which for you was the swimming.  I say again:  you are so brave.  You dunked your head in the water over and over again, and you just laughed.  You were a good boy both times, though I know it’s not easy to be up past your bedtime in a place full of noise and people.  But as always, you were a champ.

You’ve been doing pretty well at sleeping lately overall, though last night wasn’t great.  I think you just cut a new tooth, which brings your total up to twelve:  eight incisors and four bicuspids.  Now you just need some molars and canines and you’ll be all set.

You are sweet and affectionate.  This morning while I was in the shower, you reached in and hugged my leg.  You got all wet.  I had a hard time washing.  I didn’t care.  You ask for kisses by saying “mo, mo” and making a kiss noise.  Every time I stand you up on your changing table to pull up your pants, you lean your head onto my shoulder and hug me.  You still have such a great disposition.  The only time you get grumpy is when your daddy takes you to put you to bed or when we take something you like away from you.  Life would be easier if you didn’t like so many choking hazards, sweetheart.

You eat all kinds of different foods now.  You ate a lot of chicken and cashew stir-fry tonight, and you really enjoy pizza.  It’s so nice not to have to take the extra steps of getting baby food ready anymore.  You don’t always eat exactly what we eat, but there’s always something on the dinner table that you can have.  That’s very helpful, because by dinner time, after a full day of playing with you and your brother, I’m ready for things to be simple.

You know what’s very simple?  How much I love you.

With kisses and shower-hugs and blurples,

Mommy