Jason - finally walking after nearly 18 months

Well, it happened.  My third heavy-talker, slow-walker child is finally walking!  Thankfully, he graced us with his first official steps before we left for San Francisco.  Now, just two weeks later, he shows off by walking across the room multiple times a day.  And yesterday, he walked across the entire length of the yard. He thinks he's pretty hot stuff, but no one's told him that he'll be 18 months old on the 23rd and that this is very, very, VERY late to start cruising!

I haven't written a post about Jason in ages, so I'm going to narrate through pictures.  He's getting so big, so fast, I can hardly keep up.  Out of no where, he's turning into this adorable little man...he looked huge when we returned from San Francisco.  What happened to my baby boy???

This adorable, mouth-full-of-apples boy is a total ham, and he loves every second of the attention.

He can stand himself up almost anywhere...even the middle of the couch...

He chants, "walk, walk, walk" as he toddles around. Or sometimes, "walk-ee" which means "walking."

He knows many of his body parts and sings along to "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" - his favorite song after the alphabet.

He reminds us to pray at every meal. And snacks. And mid-way through each meal. And snack.  He folds his little hands and asks, "Pay? Pay?" Then proceeds to ask for food through the entire prayer to get attention. Is it rude to shush a child while you're praying...?

If only this were on video...he blew me a kiss in the picture, saying, "I know!" which is how he says, "I love you."  Just yesterday, "I know" turned into "I nah now!"  Getting closer...

He looks SO OLD to me in this picture.  And I think I could probably dig up a baby picture of myself with this same look.  He definitely has my nose and mouth.

This kid's eating habits are bizarre. Of course, he'll eat endless sweets and carbs, but is picky about when and which veggies and meat he'll eat.  Yet he'll gnaw on a lemon wedge like it's an orange...such a strange little fellow.

Look at this little fishy-faced kid!  I just want to eat him up.  Too bad his term of endearment is "ko-ko" which means "knuckles."  No kisses, no hugs, no more snuggling...he gives everyone knuckles.  And if he's left hanging, he gives himself knuckles, even exploding both hands at the end.  All. Boy.

Jason loves to escape out the front door.  If I forget to lock the screen, he knows it.  When I hear the front screen shut, I look around to count my kids and 99% of the time, he's missing.  He's very polite, though, opening the door on his tippy toes, crawling out, turning around and shutting it behind him.  And this is how I find him: in the grass, chanting happily, "Side? Side?"  He loves being outside.

Did I mention that this kid LOVES to be outside?  I did?  Well it's worth repeating.  Too bad he breaks out in hives every time his skin touches the grass.  I seriously need to get him checked out for allergies!  In the meantime, I let him crawl around as a special treat, then give him Benadryl to ease the potential pain or itchiness.

Sweet boy, please stop growing.  Please stay little for just a bit longer!  I'm not ready for the terrible twos or the trying threes just yet.  If I could just pause time...!!!