23 Month "Aminal"

Zane is 23 months old and I honestly can't believe he hasn't turned into a little tornado or Tasmanian Devil before my eyes, like some weird exorcist/scary movie. He is constantly on the go and has recently learned a new playing style, eating style, and sleeping style that Food Network calls "deconstructed."

Everything about this little guy is quick and messy and brilliant all in one. From his dance moves to his combat skills, he is constantly surprising me with how resilient a little body is. We've had more scraped knees and "all better kisses" than ever before. Usually he gives these kisses to himself, sometimes he gives them to me when I'm being too hormonal. Most of the time, I'm having to give giant, oozy scrapes and scratches "all better kisses" only to have Zane immediately sprint away and leave me eating dust... and oozy-ness.

This month, Zane has gone from stringing together a few known words to repeating exactly what comes out of our mouths in the perfect contexts. He especially loves the passion and emotion behind certain statements like, "Oh my goodness!" and "Holy cow!" He personally chooses to say, "Holy goodness!" whenever something extremely exciting occurs, such as seeing a semi-truck, a tractor, or a horse. The other day he asked me what a donkey says and to be clever, I said 'meow'. He looked at me like he was birthed by the biggest idiot on earth.

He loves to put his hands in his pockets, wear hats, shoot pretend guns, copy everything his dad does, and spot animals. He is especially manly - except for his die-hard blanket obsession. I'm totally reaping what I sowed when I was a blanket-obsessed kid. It's terrible. Someone should have beaten me. I wish that washing machines were instant because this little manboy takes his blanket everywhere and it gets so disgusting! We've had many a meltdowns from his blanket being in the wash.

Zane is curious and lovable, with the right dose of snotty and sassy too. He knows how to push buttons and boundaries, and he knows how long it actually takes me to lift my 30+ week pregnant self off the couch to chase him. He usually wins.

My favorite thing about Zane this past month has been how expressive he has become. My least favorite thing about Zane is I can totally understand now how a child can fall into a gorilla pen in a matter of seconds. He's well on his way to doing everything possible to make me go into pre-term labor. Maybe in a few more weeks, I'll let him. We'll see.

He is full-on rambunctious boy, the kind that live on mars, are made from snails, dirt, and puppy dog tails (which he also loves), and the kind that will spit before they play a sport. It's exciting and disgusting all wrapped into one. However, he is also sweet and kind, well-mannered, and conscious of others' feelings. It is a pretty great combo, if I do say so myself.

23 months has been quite the learning curve, with Zane and I spending most of the month fending for ourselves as Mitch has been gone with military training. We've grown close together but the little stinkah still prefers snuggling with dad any day.

To see Zane's 22 month pictures, click here.