As I was creating this post, it occurred to me that we never posted anything about Dom’s first birthday. Life was complicated about then and there weren’t a ton of pictures, so we never really got around to it. We marked the occasion by moving our annual summer BBQ to Labor Day weekend (Dom’s actual birthday was Labor Day and we went to a Mariners game).  We invited friends old and new and, well, wrapped everything up well before our previous BBQs did.

Anyway… 18 months. Dom’s about the size of a two or three year old, depending on the kid. We have a bunch of sounds that resemble words, but he’s still not really using them to communicate. The sounds things, like animals and trains, make are our sweet spot at the moment. Well, except he does say please at times when he wants something. Other than that, he’s very much a toddler. He tests boundaries, pretends he can’t hear you, but also understands consequences… like when I give him a choice to listen to his mother or be put to bed. Overall, he’s a really well-behaved kid who always eats at the table with utensils and tells us when he wants to go to bed (~7:15p) nightly. He sleeps 11 hours a night and naps 2-2.5 hours mid-day, so we have no serious complaints. That said, we’re definitely feeling being 40 and chasing a toddler around.

Here are some photos I took today, to help mark the occasion. We had breakfast with friends in the area, so we decided to run around a bit on the playground at Volunteer Park. Steps seem to be Dom’s favorite thing these days, so we spent much of the time climbing them and finding fun ways to get down. We were <10 minute walk from Bruce Lee’s grave, but getting home for nap time was our top priority. That’ll have to wait for another day.

P.S. – This new 35 mm is really working out well.