1 year 10 months

Dear North,

There were some big achievements in the last month. You're demanding various food stuff like cookies, crackers and juice throughout the day using those words, which is exciting and frightening. I admit to previously knowing what you wanted when I heard you making your puppy noise, but I attempted to distract you until you forgot about whatever carbohydrate you were begging for in that moment. But now you know the word for those things and we can't pretend to not understand you. Or you might just take matters into your own hands...

So now that you can open the pantry door, you have very little need for your parents. If it weren't for our ability to locate hidden cookies and open the refrigerator, you might just leave home with a sack tied to a stick thinking you are ready for the world.

You currently hang out in the pantry, squatting on top of carton of mason jars and spend your time relocating the condiments to different shelves. Half of our pantry storage is now crammed into the upper shelves you haven't figured out how to access yet. Eventually, you spot the cracker box, grab it and hunt down the parental unit while repeating over and over "CA-CKU? CA-CKU?..." You can easily open the box, but when you bring it to me, I give you one. I like to think that at least you brought it to me to ask for one rather than tearing into it and creating cracker mayhem in the process. But I don't think it's about the food, I think you're just damn impressed with yourself for being able to say what you want in that particular minute. Nonetheless, our house is still covered in cracker crumbs all the time.

Sometimes, I hear you over the baby monitor right before you fall asleep going through your repertoire of words. I think you know that someone can hear you. Maybe you are looking for rescue from your crib. Daddy? Mommy? Puppy?

I love to call home from work and be able to talk to you. Since your vocabulary is still limited, I say words and you repeat them back to me or I ask you what something says and you make that sound. No matter how my day is going, hearing your tiny voice makes my heart leap out of my chest. But nothing is like seeing you say words in person, with your chest swelled up with pride and a twinkle in your eye.

Oh and by the way, here is evidence of the daddy and me matching flannel phenomenon.

1 Year 9 Months

Dear North,

The excitement of the holiday season is behind us and we are left with a house brimming with toys. Although you didn't seem to understand Christmas per say, you sure enjoyed ripping into presents.

In the winter, most animals slow down and hunker down for the chilly months. But you are not one of those mammals. Being stuck indoors has been a challenge. We have removed the gates, excepting the one accessing the stairs and you now have free range to roam and explore. It is rare to see you sit still, especially when you could be rooting for carbs in the pantry or flushing the toilet, two of your most recent obsessions.

Hide and seek is one of your favorite pastimes, except you have a hilarious twist to the rules. When you are the hider, which is most of the time, the seeker is expected to ignore you staring straight at them smiling like a mad man. No, instead they must look for you in ridiculous places while repeating "where are you North?" until you emerge from your hiding spot and get closer and closer. Eventually, you put your face right in front of their face. That's when the seeker is allowed to say "there you are!" and everyone falls into a pile of giggles.

You're finally over a bad cough that lasted a week or so. I've never seen such an unhappy puppy. Of course, during those sick days we gave you whatever you wanted. By day three you were surviving on graham crackers, juice and honey. Entire days were spent watching youtube videos on the computer because that's what you wanted. I'd say you enjoyed calling the shots for a few days. Then you started to feel better and your parents turned on you.

We are still dealing with the fallout, of course. Your dad told me that you followed him around the house throwing mobile tantrums the other day. You threw yourself down and let out a cry. Your dad left the room. You looked up, realized no one was watching your awesome display of dismay, you pressed the pause button on your tantrum setting and picked yourself up to go in search of an audience. Once you found him, you immediately resumed the gruesome production for his viewing pleasure. I hope to get it on video one day. Here are a couple of moments we have been able to capture on video.

Merry Christmas

1 Year 8 Months

Dear North,

I am convinced you are Mister McGoo. You always seem to be walking on the brink of certain painful injury and are saved just in the nick of time. It's not due to blindness, as is the case of McGoo. Rather, you just cannot stop yourself from exploring all things dangerous. I know I've written about this before, but it's only getting worse as you gain confidence in your climbing abilities and electrical knowledge. Meanwhile, your dad and I stand guard beside you, attempting to catch you when you fall and keep you from electrocuting yourself. That's our job now and for a long time to come.

You spend a good amount of time with dad in the garage these days too, sorting bins and playing with the tape measure. Maybe that explains your recent pastimes like hammering on the sliding glass doors and taking a screwdriver to your train. You imitate everything you see us doing, which makes you somewhat of a mirror. It's terrifying really and means we have to start acting appropriately while driving.

Because you are a parrot, language is improving slowly but surely. You can say dada, mama, green, meow, daddy, baby. Those last 2 just came out this weekend and we've been practicing other "y" ending words ever since. Believe me when I say, your father would happily sit for hours listening to you say "da dee" over and over again. He would melt into a puddle each time too.

Between you and me, on the weekends, your dad has been dressing you in flannel shirts to compliment his own color palette of the day. On Saturday, you both wore red flannel and on Sunday, the hue was blue. It's pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen.

And now, some pictures!

"Are you trying to trick me into eating vegetables again?"

"Alright I'll eat it, but don't try any funny stuff. I've got my eye on you."

Any guesses on what the cameraman is wearing?

1 Year 7 Months

Dear North,

Every month that goes by becomes our new favorite version of you. In the past month, your comprehension of what we are saying is more obvious than ever. You delight in pointing to body parts as we call them out to you. Chores are made more enjoyable with you as a helper, eager to follow our directions. Even being told no is more acceptable lately as long as we explain the reasoning behind the denial. With the chill in the air, you often grab a book and a blanket and plop down in the nearest lap for story time. Maybe being stuck indoors for the winter won't be so bad after all?

Left to your own devices, I can normally find you surfing the internets, squirting the cat (or any object really) with the spray bottle or moving a chair across the living room to access the light switch. Occasionally, you even touch your actual toys. You take them out one by one, pile them in a new location and then carefully put them back in your toy bin. I do not know where you get your OCD from though.

The other day as we played with blocks in the living room, I caught myself staring at you and studying your every feature. Had you noticed my glazed over eyes and strange smile, it might have freaked you out. You are our little boy! It's a stupidly simple realization that occurs to me less frequently as I allow myself to get caught up in meaningless day to day activities of life. But in that moment, I recaptured some of the awe I felt holding you in my arms those first minutes of your life. I promise to open myself up to that amazement more often. But I cannot promise that I won't smother you with kisses as a result.

I flipped the screen over so he could look at himself while I filmed him. He obviously liked what he saw.

A rare glimpse into life with a North.

1 Year 6 Months

Dear North,

You are a whopping eighteen months old already. Even if I didn't know it myself, the season change seems to be reminding me of how quickly time moves. I will always enjoy how your birthday is the beginning of Spring because it's pleasant to mark time in conjunction with the season changes of North Carolina.

Our early fall has been filled with camping trips to Jordan Lake. Around the campsite, you like to tidy up by mowing the pine straw and relocating rocks. The camping experience has changed with you in the picture. As always, you are independent and drawn to dangerous situations like investigating the fire pit and turning the knob on the propane tank. If not being watched at all times, you will wander off into the woods or down the road in search of new sticks, rocks and often, garbage. We always leave our campsite cleaner than we found it thanks to you.

One of our campsites had a marked path down to a private beach along the lake. You were free to roam up and down the sands pointing at the different debris that had washed ashore. Sticks seemed to be your favorite find. Sometimes it is pointless to take toys to the beach, although you always love a simple bucket and shovel. But you often abandon everything in search of adventure. Then one of your mean parents chases after you, cutting your quest short again.

This is your reaction to being told not to do something. We see this face a lot. I admit, it makes me laugh. Of course, I hate seeing you so unhappy, but I find it amusing that the simplest things can bring your world crashing down. Like both of your parents, you hate being told what not to do. To get back at us, you have mastered the art of fake crying. It sounds like a machine gun, a very fake machine gun that fires at the utterance of the word "no" that is.

Then it's right back to being adorable.