Mama is currently in Atlanta, Georgia!  I am here on a work conference and HOLY COW do I miss you! You and daddy took me to the airport yesterday and Mama cried like a baby when I had to say goodbye to you. You had no idea what was going on; you just wanted to get down and push the stroller yourself, but I just wanted to hold you and hug you forever. I have never been away from you and last night was definitely tough; I miss cuddling with you at nighttime! I come home in two days and I am more than ready for it. I have face-timed you and daddy a few times...I am just happy to see you guys... Mama is just made to be a mommy. That's where my heart is...this traveling, "enjoy your free time" "take some time to yourself" business isnt for me...nothing makes me happier than being home in topeka kansas with my little Lathan. I know daddy is enjoying his boy time with you though... You need your special daddy time also. 

The day before I left you had to get stitches :( You wanted to stand up in the back of Poppy's truck so Daddy let you;  you tripped and fell HARD on the side of the truck.  I knew immediately that it wasn't good. Daddy grabbed you up and there was blood everywhere. I remember ma always told me to be prepared for these things while raising a boy...but I definitely am not. We rushed you in and the doctor told us if we did not do stithes to your lip...it would heal disfigured becuase it had a flap to it; It was not a straight up and down wound.  Mama was not reeady for it...they had to put you in a swaddle/strait jacket to hold you down, Daddy stood by you and I hid in the corner like a baby. The fact that you were being held down made you the saddest... The numbing shot probably was a close second.  You Ionly needed two stitches and the doctor was able to do them pretty quick...but it still wasn't quick enough. You kept saying "Dada" and looking at daddy...it was so sad. We were all crying!!!  You have absolutely done fantastic though; they do not seem to bother you at all.  We thought that you would mess with them, they'd hurt, itch...something! But nope, as soon as we scooped you up when the doctor was finished, you have not even fussed about them.  

You melted Poppy's heart the other day...you said Papa for the first time. It was absolutely adorable!!!! He said he thought about that and smiled all night long.  Auntie came to visit the day Mana was leaving and she asked you about your bed...she asked you to show her where your bed was. So, you got up and happily took her into mama and daddy's room and pointed at our bed.  She said " This is Mama's bed! Where is Lathan's?" You looked at her, pointed at it again and very clearly said "This is!"  We all laughed and laughed!  Yes Lathan, that is your bed. Truth be told...I wouldn't change it even if I could!  

You learn something new everyday...I say that all the time...but it still surprises me. I love seeing you grow and mature into such a handsome and intelligent toddler...but I also know you're getting farther and farther from my little tiny baby boy that I held in my arms for hundreds of thousands of hours. Holding you, staring at you, watching you smile in your sleep. I still do that though...just this past weekend Mama laid down with you at nap time just so I could cuddle with you and look at how peaceful you are.  Mama still gets to cuddle with you every night though... That's a guilty pleasure of mine!  It's such a bad habit...but you're only little for so long. So I'll let my arm fall asleep every night, I'll let you wake me up ten times a night with your tossing and turning, your cries because my blanket rubbed your foot, I'll let my entire body hurt each morning because I was sleeping funny but didn't want to wake you. It's worth that snuggle time. 

You have started saying a lot of new words... "Keys" was one you learned tonight while looking at your picture book.  Some of your other new words are grapes, gold (for goldfish) tall (for giraffe, so adorable) hot, cold, shoes, hotdog (you scream that every time Mickey Mouse comes on; Mickey does a Hotdog Dance that you absolutely love.) You say zoo, circle, star, angle (triangle) blue, and tons more. I just wanted to tell you a few!!!  You just make us so proud! 

Things are going good at daycare; I think being back there has helped you start eating A LITTLE better... Not much, but some. She says you eat great with her and we are starting to make progress at home. You loooove fruits, FINALLY!  Bananas are your absolute favorite but you also like blueberries, grapes, and strawberries.  You won't touch vegetables...but YAY for fruits!!!!  

You have started singing a lot ; you song "A, A, A, Teeee" when we sing your ABC's, you love to dance... And you absolutely love doing anything that makes you feel independent. You love helping with anything we will let you help with and you just really feel like a big boy afterwards!  You also love leading a parade... We stand behind you and we all march and sing a song. You turn around and check on Daddy and me to make sure we are still matching... You lead us all through the house.

Your best friends are still your girls... I love watching you with them. It's also so neat to see how gentle you are with Baby KamKam.  You give her so many hugs and so many kisses and just have a completely different demeanor with her.  You're just so gentle!!!  We were at a cook out with Baby Malachi and you swatted him on the head... Haha. Thank goodness Crystal didn't get upset!  I told you to be nice and you got mad when I wouldn't let you hit him again so you slapped the coffee table instead. Haha... Thank goodness you're an only child!  You ornery little boy. I wonder why you're so fantastic with Kam and so mad Mama was holding Malachi.  

That's all for now my baby boy!!! 

You started back at Nancy's daycare this week - it is you and two other kiddos. Tyler and Tatiyana. You seem to have adjusted well to being back there... Probably better than I did!  I was soooo bummed out Sunday night at the thought; Amber has been so great with you...I wanted you to stay with her. However, like I said...you are perfectly fine and happy as ever being back with Nancy! 

Daddy and Mama signed up for life insurance the other night... It's scary and terrible to think about...but we want you to be protected regardless. After losing Ma...you can never be too safe. That's why I have also signed up to be assessed for my risk of breast cancer; Mama is considered high risk because of Ma's young age at her diagnosis...so I am taking all steps to prevent it as much as possible. I'm going to the clinic in October to be tested for the "breast cancer gene" and will take additional steps if necessary. Also, I've started dieting and exercising like crazy bc that prevents cancer risk. As of today...I am down eighteen pounds since May!  I'm doing it for you, little mister!!!! 

More positive notes... You continue to crack us up constantly!  You loooove putting in performances. Sometimes you pretend like you're "sad" until we ask you and then you bust up laughing. Also, you love "meeting people."  You shake people's hands and love when we say "Nice to meet ya sir!"  You laugh and laugh. 

You can recognize a star and a triangle!  We still work on new words and animal sounds...but we've also started shapes and colors. You are doing pretty spectacular!  

Boy, oh boy. You are such a toddler these days. :) You are in the stage where you love to explore, touch, eat, jump, run, throw... Any and every thing is subject to your path of destruction!  The dog's water bowl has been dumped over hundreds of times, things have been thrown in the toilet, you have stood and jumped on the coffee table, you have pushed the water dispenser on the refrigerator so it sprays every where, you pull every thing out of the drawers, you chase and torture the dogs, you climb every where.... You're just a complete and total toddler boy.  Don't get me wrong, I find a lot of it funny. I try not to let you know that...but it is so hard to not laugh when you're being purely ornery. You aren't being bad...you're just a normal toddler doing silly things.  In the same breath...you're still very much a little baby boy.  You still cuddle with me a lot... I hope you never outgrow that.  Mama loves her baby boy and I don't want you to ever get too big for me. 

You played "Where's Lathan?" with Daddy tonight and you'd jump out from underneath the blanket and say "There he is!" It is so clear and so stinking cute... You're first actual sentence.  

Current words: Mama, Daddy, dog, duck. Quack, don't, lets go, stop, no, shoe, sock, There he is, goat, wa-wa (water) stuck, truck, car, Dave, aCoy (MaCoy) star & more. 

I am sure there are others but that's all I can remember right now.  I really do think you learn something new everyday... Whether it's a new word, or a new task like "brushing your teeth" on your own or "brushing your hair" without any help... It's just so neat to see your little mind constantly at work. 

Eighteen Months

A year and a half! Holy moly!  We had your eighteen month appointment and the doctor was pleased with your development. You weighed 24 lbs (46th percentile) and were 33 inches tall (70th percentile!) He said you are doing great with your milestones and are right on track!  You are talking more and more - sometimes we understand and other times it's in your own little language. :) Everything is "stuck" right now. That's still the favorite word. 

You are still quite picky when it comes to eating... We try so hard to get you to eat fruits and vegetables, or normal "kid" foods like chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese but you absolutely refuse!  As long as you eat something, I guess, we should be happy!  We but little fruit pouches - puréed fruits and veggies for toddlers - and you'll eat it that way, like a smoothie... So you're getting some nutrients! 

You continue to sleep right beside mama in bed!  Daddy tries to cuddle with you...but you always manage to find your way back to me. We lay in there with you at bedtime until you fall asleep and then sneak out! You have been doing much better with bedtimes though!  I know we should put you in your own crib, but you're only little for so long. I know we won't have those special cuddle times forever. 

Daddy and I took off for your half birthday!  We had such a fun day!  We did the train and carousel with Auntie and your girls...played in the slip and water slide, and then had a mini half birthday party!  Mama made you half a cake!! :) You seemed to have had a great day! 

Red, White, and Boom

Well little mister, we celebrated the 4th last week!  Another holiday without Ma... It's hard Lathan but our family tries and makes the most of it. We did our usual annual shooting of fireworks at Lake Shawnee on the 3rd; nothing scared you!  Not even your daddy's sparkler bombs (don't get any ideas) :) In fact, you clapped your hands after the ridiculously loud BOOM went off!  I kind of hopes you would have a little fear of them so we wouldn't have to worry quite so much... But we could not take our eyes or hands off of you for a second or you were running into the fireworks warzone!  Fearless little boy!  On the actual 4th, we had a cook out at Uncle Ezra's and Auntie's... You had a blast with your cousins and all your family running around and playing every where!  We did a little swimming afterwards and then we went to shoot off a few fireworks for Ma. Life just still feels so empty and being at her resting piece provides a tiny amount of comfort. We did sparklers and fountains...I am sure she thought they were beautiful as ever. 

That weekend, we took you out to the huge pool out North and you had an absolute blast!  We went with Auntie and your girls and all of you had so much fun!  There was a baby slide that you went down a lot and some water fountains that you loved running through; you would scream and yell with pure excitement. It was great!  You wore yourself out though and definitely crashed on the way home... The sun wore the baby out!  We also went on the Gage Park "choo choo" and their carousel on Saturday. You loved the train and you loved me holding you on the carousel - you had no desire to sit on a horse by yourself. Daddy was a good sport and Ross along side us though... You found that quite amusing! :) 

You are talking a lot more!  As I said on the last page...we absolutely love seeing what new thing you are going to do or say each say!  Although...we were not too thrilled the other day when you had your first ever time-out! Uh-oh!  A certain little boy would not stop slapping Rocky in his face... Mama told you repeatedly to stop and you would laugh and hit him again! Soooo you had to sit beside me for 20 whole seconds!!! (I know, I know...sounds ridiculous) but you were completely heart broken!  Afterwards, you just laid on my lap crying for several minutes...that 20 second time out apparently was the worst thing ever!!! 

We have mastered animals and the sounds they make, some body parts, and Mama has started colors with you. Basically, you're a baby genius.  You are excited to learn too, you are constantly pointing at things saying "what's that?" We tell you and you just absorb it and ask about something else.  You were so sweet this morning...I was getting ready to leave for work and I gave you your goodbye kiss and you leaned in for another one...I have you another. Then you did the sign for "more" so I gave you more. It was adorable. 

You lose your little mind everytime you're around your girls. You scream that same little shriek of excitement and just run and chase them. They have just as much fun with you too... I love watching the three of you. I know when Kambree gets old enough, she will certainly have a blast with you all as well.  You're quite the threesome...but soon enough, it'll be a foursome!!! 

6/25

FathIt is absolutely crazy how you learn something new each and every day!  We get so excited and just swoon over each and every little thing that you do...but we are just so proud of you!  I don't know if I have told you this before...but we think you are just absolutely perfect! ;)

Some of your new and favorite things to do are to make snake sounds (SSSSSSSS) and you make this little mean face when you do it! haha.  You also do the cutest Choo!Choo! for a train sound... Auntie said it's the cutest thing she has ever heard and Uncle David made you do it on speaker phone so Sheena could hear.  We have tried to get it on video but you become a mute when a camcorder is in front of you!  You just stare at it and refuse to do it...BUT when we are replaying the video back and you hear us say "What's a train say?"  THEN you answer it... you little butt.   You also do cow, sheep, dog, cat, elephant, monkey, and lion noises....you cluck for a chicken, and you hop when you see a bunny rabbit.   Genius, I tell ya...GENIUS! 

You love saying "Uh-oh!"  You also say "Uh-Uh" when you know you are doing something you are not supposed to be doing... or when you want to say no.  You say Uh-Uh and you shake your entire upper half "no"...not just your head...but everything!  you say "KiKi" for yucky and you also have started throwing your arms in the air and saying "All Done!"  You say "I stuck!"  If you fall down, you'll say "I stuck!"  If the dogs are laying down and won't get up...."Stuck!"  It's the cutest.  You call Macoy "Coy" and Rocky is "Dog."  (You used to chase Macoy around and yell Cat...so I still wonder if you understand they are both doggies...)

You are certainly a little boy that loves being outside!  We have bought you so many different toys for summertime and you are just getting the biggest kick out of all of them... you have different cars you can ride it, a water table you can play at, side walk chalk (which you just want to eat) but you absolutely love playing in your swing in the tree...and of course the pool.  Daddy and I are getting concerned though because you have learned to climb the stairs to the deck surrounding it... we are trying to figure out how to put a gate around it now.  You love the water so much it worries us that you will climb the stairs and try to reach in it or something which would result in you falling in... of course, this is assuming that we are not watching your every single move...which we usually are. Better safe than sorry though.

You are really enjoying spending the days with Amber!  She is always doing something fun with you and she sends Mama lots of pictures all throughout the day of your fun activities!!  I am so glad you have warmed up to her... you were pretty sad the first week or two...but now you two have fun together!!! 

You are still in love with your little girlies... you run up to Baby Kambree and give her the sweetest little kisses.  You just want to run and play with the big girls though (of course!)  They love you and get so excited anytime they get to spend time with you... it makes me happy to know that you will be close to your cousins growing up!  Kendalyn begged me to let you stay the night last night... "Please! I'll take the best care of him, I'll feed him, make sure he has a clean diaper, Please Steen!"   It was pretty cute!

You are still obsessed with Mickey Mouse and Chuggington.  I am pretty sure Mickey will be the theme of your second birthday party but your Daddy said I can't start planning quite yet!  You are still in the Mama's Boy phase...it makes Daddy sad sometimes because you give me so many hugs and kisses!  At bedtime, you only want to sleep next to me...-'d you cry most times I leave.  I love all the extra special kisses and cuddle time...but I know Dada wants some too! You are truly such a sweetheart; you love giving and blowing kisses... You love holding hands...you love cuddling...you are just a little lover boy!  You might be the cutest little sweetheart around...but you also are an ornery little fella as well!  You have started climbing everywhere!  You were standing on the coffee table dancing the other day!  You are just all boy. Rough and tough... But a softie on the inside :) 

Father's Day was last weekend!  You bought your daddy a weed eater and made him a platter for grilling. We used your handprint to make a lion's mane and we painted "Daddy is King of the Grill" If you bake the paint into the platter then it supposedly stays that way!  He loved it!  We had Poppy and everyone over to cook out and swim that evening. It was a nice day...but it was also a tough one. It was also Ma's 51st birthday. We smiled and had a good day...but in the back of our minds...we were thinking about how wrong it felt and how hollow our lives still feel without her.  After everyone left...me, you, and Poppy went out to her resting site to take a birthday card and flowers. That was the first time you have gone out to see her. It breaks my heart to see you in a place like that. I miss Ma so much. I wish you would have gotten to spend more time with her... :(