Cohen is 15 Months Old

Dear Cohen,

Ok, whenever you want to slow down with this whole growing up thing, I'm totally fine with it. You are growing up and changing and becoming a little boy so quickly!

So much has happened this month, and you are just so different than you were a month ago. You are definitely way more fun. I think you become more entertaining each day. You have a great sense of humor, and you love to make people laugh. You do some really silly things to get a laugh out of people!

You have also learned so much this month -- stuff that no one taught you -- you just learned. Like when you see me with food on your tray, you run to you high chair and climb inside it. When I take off your sleepers or socks, you pick up one foot at a time to let me get the clothes off. When I kiss your forehead, you turn your face and plant a big kiss right on my lips. When you wake up too early in the morning and I come in your room, you don't even bother sitting up -- you just hand me your bottle so I can fill it with water. You've recently mastered drinking from a straw, and that has made public outings so much easier.

In the past couple weeks, you learned how to scoot down the stairs on your bottom. It has been so much fun spending my days bouncing downstairs with you. You get so proud of yourself when we reach the bottom that sometimes you climb back up so we can do it again.

You love books, but you will only read them if you're sitting in my lap. You love to point to animals and imitate the animal sounds I make. You love to lift up the flaps and see what's underneath. When we finish one book, you'll get up and get another book and sit back down in my lap.

You've started to become a little more picky about what you eat. You used to love broccoli, but now it literally makes you throw up. You will not touch a strawberry or a grape, no matter how many times I offer them. Noodles make you shudder when you put them in your mouth. If there's something on your tray that you don't want, you simply throw it on the floor (which the dogs love).But you still love your bread. And you love to eat bananas and peaches and pears. You love to gnaw on apple slices. You go wild over cheese. You're more willing to eat meat than you ever have been: you really like chicken and tuna and ground beef.

You are fascinated with drawers and cabinets. You love to explore them and find new treasures. You are so happy when you've got a tube of lotion in one hand and my contact lens case in the other. You like to reorganize things, taking something from one drawer and putting it in another. I laugh when I open a drawer and find a graham cracker inside.

You are so full of joy, and it radiates out of you. Life excites you, and you make sure each day is lived to the fullest. Your smile is contagious, and anyone who meets you can't help but to love you. I don't go a day without thanking God for giving you to me. I don't deserve you, but I am so glad you call me mama. You are a treasure, little boy. You are a perfect gift, and I love you to the moon and back, forever and ever.

Until next month,

Mama