22 months

Sometime this month, it seems that Mason became so much more of a little boy than a baby and it was a bittersweet change. The reality of his 2nd birthday has set in and I've started thinking more about his party, but seeing the changes in his face and language and behaviors just cemented the fact that he's really not a baby anymore.

**His left bottom canine broke through on 10.16 and the right bottom canine broke through on 10.24.
**The absolute biggest change in the past month has been in his language. He's gone through small language spurts over the past 6 months, but this month brought big changes, like 2 word sentences ("look mommy" and "I see" are the most common"), the dreaded "why" and his willingness to repeat more words that he hears. Plus, other people besides us are starting to understand him.
**We've been experimenting with food and are pretty close to settling on the fact that baked or cooked in dairy and soy are ok in small doses. If he eats a lot of it over a few days, I'll notice more bowel movements, but once or twice a week seems to be ok for now. This makes like easier, especially for going out to eat.
**He really enjoyed Halloween this year. He was so proud of himself for holding his bucket and getting candy from people. Even though we only let him eat a few pieces, he was happy to be able to do what his sister was doing.
**He is getting much better at climbing on  taller things, including the couch and the toys in the mall play area.
**He gets so excited when he sees basketball ("beeball") or football ("bootball") on tv
**He is getting so much more independent. He'll only eat if feeds himself. He wants to climb up stuff instead of being placed or carried.
**He is getting more and more difficult to get in his car seat. He screams when you strap him down and its even worse if Aubrey isn't in the car.
**He melts my heart every time we go pick Aubrey up from school. He refuses to wait in line for her so he runs past everyone and pushes his way into her classroom to find her. When he sees her, he yells "Aubee" and gives her the biggest hug. I really need to work on his patience, but I just can't break that excitement he has for seeing her. It is too precious.