Eighteen at Eighteen

It's something I've dreaded for months. The big 1-8.

It's here.
Okay, it was here 2 1/2 weeks ago, but perhaps I'm still in denial. The 18 months old mark is the one that has hit me the hardest. Knox will always be my baby - but now he's my little boy, too. While still oh-so-young, 18 months just symbolizes the boy -and no more baby.

To celebrate his 18 month birthday, I wrote down 18 things about him. It's taken me this long to break down and type this. As hard as I've tried, I can't stop time. So here goes nothing:

1. He LOVES his four-wheeler. He calls it “oleoleo.” The poor kid thinks it won’t work unless he has his helmet on. (Makes Moma proud!) He also loves to push it around in the yard. His motto: the faster, the better.

2. Unfortunately, he has gained a deep passion for our bed. He loves to climb up on it, lay down on a pillow, and say, “Night, night!” We do not let him go to sleep in our bed, but he does usually end up there at some point during the night or the next morning.
He usually wakes me up and says three things: "Mulk" (go get me some milk), "Mee Mou" (turn the tv on Mickey Mouse), and then later, "UUUP!!!!!!" (get up and let's go play!).

3. We're still remodeling our house, so the construction crew is here on a daily basis. One of Knox's favorite people now is Johnny, or as Knox calls him, “Nonnie.” When they were still working outside, Knox stood in the window sill for several minutes at a time supervising them while yelling at Nonnie every minute or two. He also loves Dan, but he has yet to acknowledge Stephen. I have no idea why. Stephen has tried to make friends with Knox, but Knox just isn't feeling it. We ate lunch with the crew one day, and during the ENTIRE meal, he repeated, “Nonnie. Dan. Dan. Nonnie. Nonnie.” And being the great guys that they are, they answered him EVERY time.
Our plumber and electrician’s name is Rick. Knox calls him “Ick” and sometimes “Wick.” What amazes me about Knox is he recognizes all of their voices. We rarely ever see Ick, but Knox always lets me know when he hears Ick.

4. As soon as we pull into the parking lot at Mi Toro – or even mention going there– Knox says, “Oh-Dah!” (That’s his version of “hola.”) He looks at every Mexican worker in the restaurant, throws up his hand and says, “Oh-Dah!" to them. They all adore him - but what's not to love? They all say "Hola" back to him. Some of them are trying to teach him, "Adious" - but he's only said it once. So far, he's only concerned with "Oh-Dah!" and "Peesse" (peace). He can't hold up just two fingers, so he holds up five. Hilarious.

5. He loves to be outside. The weather appears to be cooling off some, but all of the construction is putting a damper on our outdoor activities. He thinks he should ride the golf cart (“goll gark”) every single day. He also must tell us each and every time he sees the golf cart, tractor, lawnmower, and truck.

6. His vocabulary changes a lot. He learns new words almost every day (or perhaps I should say that we understand more of what he's saying every day). Most people can now understand when he says, “Thank you.” He’s actually very good at saying it right now, and I hope this always continues.
For outsiders, it often appeared that Knox had three people he called Daddy. They were Daddy, Grandaddy, and Uncle Jack. All of their names sounded like he was saying Daddy, although those close to him could always distinguish between Daddy/"Da Dee," Grandaddy/"Dee Dee," and Uncle Jack/"Dah Dee." Fortunately for Uncle Jack, Knox now pronounces Uncle Jack's name as “Dack.”

7. I've always thought Knox was a smart little dude, but sometimes he just downright impresses me. When asked who is ____, he knows: Benjie is Daddy; Tina is Mommy; and Peyton is Bubba.

8. Knox still doesn’t sit still long enough to watch a lot of tv, but when you ask him what he wants to watch, the answers range from “Dora” or “Backpack,” “Pets” (Wonderpets), “Elmo,” or “Mee Mou” (Mickey Mouse). He mainly just watches tv in my truck, but he isn’t always allowed to. I love to see him get excited when we tell him yes.

9. Be warned: Do not cough, sneeze, walk funny, clap, or wave unless you want this little man to do it, also.

10. He loves to go to Walmart (“Mallmar”), but it's not for toys. He just likes to go and see everyone. He sits in the buggy and looks for a friend, old or new. However, Walmart is no longer his favorite store. Lowe’s, by far, tops the charts! We usually always let him push the buggy (“bah gee”). Saying he LOVES it is an understatement!

11. He loves animals, and he can identify most of them, as well as mimic their sounds. There are a few that he has his own language for. Some of those are:
“Mow” (pronounced similar to “cow”) for cat/meow
“Puppy” for dog
“Ibbit” for frog/ribbit
“Piggy” for pig

12. Knox has pretty much always had two syllables with each word. I have a horrible habit of mumbling that makes my loved ones so proud. In a conscious effort to teach Knox to speak clearly, I always annunciate very clearly for him. Because of this, I guess he thinks he has to talk that way also. My favorite right now is “Duckkkkk” or “Buggggg” but I’d rather hear him say monkey (“mon-kee”) [or "okaaaayy"] than anything.

13. He loves the fact that Piggly Wiggly has a huge pig (or “piggy”) on their sign.

14. He thinks it’s sooooo cool to go to the mailbox. He loves when the “MaMan” (mailman) stops at our house.

15. Every day at Mrs. Kim’s, he points out (in this order), “Ish” while pointing to the lake (for “fish”), “Mow” while pointing to the cat, and “Ball” while pointing to the basketball sitting near the basketball goal. When we leave Mrs. Kim’s, he always points and says, “Bus” at the busses across the road.

16. He’s pretty good at identifying vehicles. He knows both of Daddy’s trucks, Mommy’s, Poppy’s, Nana’s, Grandaddy’s, Aunt Barbie’s, Pop’s, Amy’s, Shawn’s, Johnny’s, and Rick’s. He insists that Pop is driving every Avalanche in town, no matter what color.

17. He still sounds like he’s hocking a loogie when he imitates a tiger or lion. That’s his version of ROAR!
He says, “Immin” (swimming) when he sees a pool, swimming trunks, or a life jacket.

18. He can now say his name, which comes out as “Knots.”
When asked how old he is, he will hold up his pointer finger and say, “Un!”

The amount of joy that this little boy gives us is immeasurable!