Brantley: 18 months

Brantley,

At 18 months old, you are becoming more of a little boy and less of our little baby day by day.

Your current obsession is the fireplace… go figure. I guess you’ll always be your Daddy’s son. Now that the weather is getting colder, Daddy builds a fire in the fireplace every night he’s home (and Mommy tries when he’s at the station) so you’re learning not to go near it. Our rule is not to stand on the tile in front of the fireplace and you’re so good about following rules at this age that even when there’s no fire and your ball rolls on the tile, you stand there and point at the ball waiting for us to get it for you. Next year you might be jumping off the table and trying to crawl inside the fireplace but at least for now, you’re making it easy. 🙂

Along with your fireplace obsession and growing vocabulary, every time you see a fireplace anywhere you have to point it out and make sure we see it, talk about it, and “ooh aah” over it for a few minutes before moving along. I know all about the fireplaces in all of your books and even at Busch Gardens.

Your Papa also taught you about smoke detectors because they scared you for a little while, but again, you always point them out and notice the ones that are missing… I’m make sure your firefighter Daddy gets to replacing those.

Your new words this month are “Dada, Mama, Papa, uh-oh, up, Shadow,” and “apple.” You’ve added a few new word games where you and your Daddy just call for each other back and forth and apparently this is the funniest thing in your little toddler world. I often walk downstairs and hear “Dada! Brantley! Dada! Brantley!” being yelled from the kitchen. IN addition to that, you made your speech therapist Mama so happy with your first 2-word phrase “Dada uh-oh” after throwing your food on the floor from your highchair. Yeah, uh-oh.

And you had your first haircut this month! It was probably about time, too cause your hair was starting to look a little shaggy!

At Christmastime of course there were lots of events going on for the Roberson family! We strolled down the oceanfront to see the new Christmas Village and also took a day trip to Busch Gardens for Christmas Town! You were so enamored with all of the animals, lights, and attractions at both. It’s so fun to enjoy all of our favorite things at this time of year through your eyes.

We also got to see Santa at Christmas Town! We didn’t know how well you’d go along with sitting on a random stranger’s lap who happens to look quite frightening while other strangers try to holler at you and get your attention so bright lights can flash in your face… but you just sat there happy as ever. 🙂

Your favorite part of Christmas Town was the “Deck the Halls” show at Fest Haus. We thought you’d like all the lights and dancing and singing but oh no… all you wanted to do was point out the musician’s instruments. Between the drummer and the guitarist, your eyes were glued for the whole show. Afterward, you insisted that we stay nearby until all the musicians had left and wouldn’t let us move a muscle as long as you could still watch them move their instruments around while they packed up for the break. The bas guitarist walked down to where we were and showed you his guitar, even letting you strum it a few times. He thought it was so cool that you were so interested in the instruments and we were so happy to have had such a cool experience.

On Christmas Eve, it was unusually hot but perfect for our new ridiculous cheesy matching Christmas outfits! We had sweatshirts (which we took off the second we walked outside) but your onesie was perfect all night long. At Nanny and PaPa’s house, we had a delicious dinner and your made your second appearance in the family nativity as Baby Jesus. You didn’t last long and eventually started wandering around the room wanting to see Nanny play the piano while you were sweating through your “swaddling clothes.” It was a little bit of a disaster but what’s Christmas Eve without a little chaos?

On Christmas Day, you finally had a grasp on opening gifts and went to town on your presents! At first, you really seemed interested in the blocks and fire truck toy but as soon as you opened your little broom it was game over. Later in the day, we drove over to your Grandma’s and Pa Joe’s house where we celebrated Christmas with Daddy’s side of the family.

All the boys got musical instruments for Christmas, so after family band practice, we headed home to ride your tricycle and set up your drum set… and that was the end of it. All you wanted to do from that moment on was play drums. (The broom got the boot.)

On New Years Day, we invited friends over and wrangled all the kids together for a photo on the couch. Of course, it didn’t work very well but at least we tried.

A few things I don’t want to forget about this month:

• You never want me to leave the house and cry when I sit you in your highchair and Nana and Papa’s house because you know I leave while you eat breakfast.
• You are so ticklish under your arms, behind your knees, on the bottoms of your feet and under your chin. We love to torture you with tickles.
• Your favorite toys are your drum set (obviously), your straw and cup set where you push the straws through the holes in the lid, and you love to bounce a balloon around the house.
• Your favorite books are Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and I Love You Through and Through, especially how Daddy reads them.
• You love to help Daddy light the fire every night.
• Whenever you get hurt you ask us to kiss your fingers, no matter what body part is hurting.

You are so much fun and every day we love watching you explore your world. Every morning you wake up and go sit at your drum set for morning band practice and it gives us just a little taste of the vibrant, energetic, and exciting life you have ahead of you.

Happy 18 months, Brantley.

Love, Mama