valen has been saying mama, dada, o, eye, uhoh for a while now, but a few days ago he said kitty and then the next day he said elmo. so clear too. he wanders around looking for dahlias underwear because they have a picture of elmo on them. dahlia didnt start saying actual words till she was two years old. they are completely different in everything! whenever we are outside and there is a dog or animal, valen squeels so loud! and points and will not stop till they are out of sight. so adorable! he is even putting two words together. he says "hi dada" or "more o".he said "dahlia" the other day and"girl" dahlia cant even say dahlia!

he has grown over 1 1/2 inches in the past month or so. i bought him some 18 month old jeans and they are still a bit big, but he was outgrowing his 12 month corduroys.

valen is very bow legged. i read that it isnt uncommon for babies to be and they usually outgrow it by age 3. so i am not too worried, and i sure hope he does grow out of it, he is not going to be a cowboy!!! but it is kind of cute the way he walks (=

valen has started pushing dahlia around. it is very funny. she gets all whiny and doesnt want to play. he thinks it is hillarious and just keeps doing it. i really dont think he is trying to be mean, but it is funny since she is always beating him up, now the tables are turning!

at night when it is time for bed, he knows it and sometimes starts heading for his room, or on his naps too, i will tell him it is time for a nap and he will look for his puppy and go by the crib. he doesnt go to sleep right away, he usually is talking for 15 minutes or so playing with his puppy and blanket, but mostly content to go in there. 

for a while now valen has been sleeping in the morning till about 830 or 9! that has been so wonderful because when he was teething before that for months he would wake up at 6 or 7 am. but recently dahlia has been waking up before him at 7 or 8 or whenever and going in to his room. they play together well but we cant really keep sleeping at that point. furthermore the busses are back now and come by our house at 7:15 am and make so much noise! i think they are doing donuts and reversing around the cul-de-sac just to annoy us (= so if this keeps up i think we will just put them in the same room and then they can keep each other company in the morning and maybe we can sleep... she isnt too young to babysit right (=

we are having too much fun over here... valen is such a goofy guy and constantly doing something new. he is almost at the age dahlia was when i gave birth to valen... oh my! i cant imagine having another one right now, that would be insane. he is certainly the cutest boy i could have ever imagined and i am so glad he is here! i really smother him in smooches all day long, and i get them back too! he is a big smoochie guy (=

last thing, valen loves books!!! it really is nuts how long he can sit and look at books with dahlia or read them with us. he is never done and definitly loves "the cat and the hat", by far his favorite! if he is going to be obsessed with a book at least it is a dr suess book!