Torsten/picture catchup #11: 18 months – Mr. Independence

(N.B. Lots of pictures, written several months later, etc.)

Dearest Torsten,

This was a big month for all. Mama and Papa were preparing to move out of the house at the end of the following month, you became so independent that you started taking us for walks, and you finally, finally learned how to eat on your own (note that after our move to Europe, you promptly sort-of-forgot about that, so we miss it). In fact, in this last activity, you even started to find some enjoyment.

Your ability to efficiently make an enormous mess grew quite quickly as well, which didn’t much help, since Mama and Papa had also started to try to sort out the house so that we could eventually move.

Your personality was out in spades by this time as well. You were (and are) charming, curious, and very silly.

You finally started to leave the bottle behind as well, and weren’t just interested in sippy cups, but in anyone’s bottles of anything you could get your hands on.

And did I mention you were charming? Even with a face full of teething drool, you were (and are) still totally charming. Here, you decide to share your car with Mama, which, given your absolute obsession with all things wheeled, was no small thing.

But, as I said, you really started to come into your own this month. You really started to know what you want, and you were able to express it. You’d walk up, hold out your hand, and say, “Hold me?”, which was Torstenish for “Come with me – I need you to get something for me/see something/go somewhere with me”, and you’d do the same thing and say, “Walk!” when you’d decided it was time for us to go walk down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand, to see the neighborhood.

The days of content strollerhood were over.

By the end of this month, things were really nuts. Packing was in full gear, as we were moving out of the house at the end of our lease no matter what, and, in fact, Mama and Papa had basically decided we’d treat our vacation to Germany as a move regardless of what happened. The idea was that if things worked out the way we were praying for, we would already be here and our affairs would be in order (while we had time to put them in order), and if they did not, well, we were planning to move anyway. This made for a busy Mama and Papa, but since most of what was being packed up were books and study stuff and other things you rarely saw because they were in the basement, it was no big deal. We started to sell off small stuff that we weren’t really using anymore anyone on Craigslist to make packing as easy as possible, but nothing you saw everyday was effected at this point. All you probably really noticed was that Mama and Papa were a bit busy and stressed, and quite frankly, you were having way too much fun at Sherice’s to really notice. Papa started to take you over to Sherice’s in the morning on his bike, and you totally stopped crying when you were going over there. In fact, you started to say “Sheece!” and “Doggie!” (they have a dog) on weekends and mornings when we didn’t have you over there, hoping we’d hop on the bus or a bike and just go. You were really like a part of their family too, and that made it so much easier for Mama or Papa to happily drop you off there at the beginning of the day.

It wasn’t all work and stress though… although Papa was extra busy because his quarter wasn’t over yet, we did get to spend some fun time together as a family, and you had finally hit the age where we really could do family stuff and everyone could consciously enjoy the togetherness.

Better still (especially for Mama), one of Mama’s bestest friends in the world (one she’s known for, egads… at least 25 years now) and her husband came to visit with her new baby (who is about 6 months younger than you are), and we all had a good time. You still weren’t really at the “playing with other kids” stage, but it was really nice to meet Madyson, and David and LaQuisha are always awesome to see. Since I moved away from Milwaukee a long time ago, it just was a lot of fun to see our kids playing together, since I rarely have the opportunity to hang out with old friends.

The pictures below are at the end of our playdate at Wash Park, where the two of you swung and explored and generally tired yourselves (and us) out. You’re both extreme cuties

I know I keep talking about the eating thing, but this was a really big deal. We started to be able to have meals together in the morning before you left for Sherice’s, and things started to seem kind of… well… normal. Except for the whole moving thing. Funny how things seem to come together before they are about to fall apart, but anyhow… In the pictures at the top of the page, you were eating, but we had to put the food on the spoon or fork for you. Not so by the end of the month:

This meant more family meals, when we could find time for them, and we even got to enjoy them in the fine weather outside in the backyard at the beginning of our last month in Denver:

This was the last month (as of the writing of this letter) that things were stable in your life… you had your favorite foods, the house was totally your own domain (with very little to say “no” to, because we’d set it up that way), you were well-acquainted with all of your toys and all of the places we could go, and our routines were fairly set. You’re still a happy little boy, but this was probably the most confident and comfortable month for you as a toddler.

As the next month began, it wasn’t very confident or comfortable for anyone, and by the time it ended, I suspect all three of us were going insane… but you are a little trooper, you made it through it all with flying colors, and all is well

Not much more to say on this one, but since I have three more months left to write before I’m caught up to today, I suspect that’s ok

I love you, little monster!

Mama