What I love about my 16 month old

Is it possible that tomorrow Luke will be 16 months old?  I saw this done on another blog and decided that it is a great way to not only share with all of you what Luke is up to, but also for me to document his toddlerhood (speaking of documenting, if you are a fellow blogger, check out blurb.com where you can create a blog book, or permanent record of your blog .... all the more reason to blog often!).

The Top 10 things I love about Luke at 16 months: 

1) I love how he started walking this month and just toddles around everywhere.  He is so proud of himself.  Seriously, his "walk" is the cutest I've ever seen.  More video of this to come soon because I just can't get enough.

2) I love how he's such a sponge right now - I can do something, even just once, and he'll try to imitate me.

3) I love how he will stand by the front window EVERY SINGLE night and wait for Michael to come home.  Repeating over and over again "hi-dad, hi-dad" and then squealing when Michael approaches.

4)  I love how much he loves books - his favorite is "Goodnight Moon," we read it every night, but he likes others too (namely "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," "Five Little Monkeys," and anything train related).  AND, he knows how to turn the pages and loves to take his time and point out stuff that he knows or wants to learn the name of.

5)  I love how much he understands, even if he can't say the words himself.  He can follow instructions, nod his head 'yes' or 'no,' or just show us in a variety of ways that he knows EXACTLY what we are talking about.

6)  I love how as soon as I say the word "monkey," he starts wagging his finger like I do when the "Dr. said, 'No more monkey's jumping on the bed!'"  And, when I say "this little piggy," he starts tickling himself on his tummy and laughing just like I do to him after the last piggy goes "wee, wee, wee, wee all the way home!"

7)  I love how wherever we go and whoever we interact with they always end up describing Luke as such a kind, sweet, shy, and gentle boy.  He SO is ... and I am enjoying EVERY SINGLE MINUTE of him because who knows if I'll ever have another baby like this.

8)  I love how sometimes Luke allows and wants me to rock him to sleep.  He lays his head on my chest and sits so quietly ... and I remember all those baby/parenting books that I bought as a first-time mom that tell you not to rock your toddlers to sleep.  Well, those books now sit on a shelf gathering dust because I  know that there is only a limited amount of time when Luke will fit so perfectly, so comfortably, and so contentedly into my lap, so I'm taking advantage of every single second.

9)  I love how when I put on a DVD for Luke to watch, he is most in heaven if I watch it with him - both of us snuggled on the couch, him in my lap, talking and pointing (and sometimes dancing) at the TV.

10)  I love how his pretend play is blossoming - he loves to take his toy trains and say "zoom, zoom," and if no toy trains are handy he'll use anything he can as a substitute.  He also pretends to cook for us, and loves to pretend to taste his fabulous concoctions!

11)  I was only going to post my top 10 things, but I just can't stop there ... so, here's one more:  I love how much he loves Brooklyn and Linus.  He is constantly talking about them, loves to laugh and play with Linus by throwing his toys for him, and has recently taken to just sitting next to one or the other and giving them "gentle" pets - too cute!