21 months old

Baby Doodle turned 21 months old yesterday. It seems cumbersome to continue to say his age in months, but in just three short months he'll be two and we'll have to start counting in years. Sometimes I look at baby Doodle and he seems so grown up already. He's getting taller and some of his facial expressions are so mature. He had a wonderful Christmas surrounded by everyone he loves the most (Grandma, Grammy, Grandad, Uncle Doodlebug, Mr. Doodlebug and me). Santa Claus brought him a train set, which he plays with for at least three hours a day. He also loves all of the new books he received, his recycling truck and a colored shape stacker he got from our neighbors.

I won't go through the litany of developments -- both motor and mental -- this month. His two most noteworthy advancements are: reciting the last third of the alphabet and saying a couple of six-word sentences without any prompting. He is a complete joy to be around. Most people who encounter him, whether they're complete strangers at Target, family or friends, comment using some combination of the following adjectives: adorable, smart, cute, unbelievable, intelligent, pleasant, sweet, good.

He's such an unbelievably good boy. I feel so lucky to have him. He's so sweet and good natured. He's a lot fun to be around.

Here he is in his bathrobe after a bath on new year's eve.