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We were in Denver last week and we hit up the Denver Zoo (which, in my humble opinion, is the best zoo I've ever been to) and Evan took this picture of our not-so-little baby.

I'm not real sure when he decided that it was okay to look more like a little boy than a baby. But he decided it and so it is. Also do you like his shorts? Because I made those. (By made those I mean that I cut off a pair of his jeans that he had crawled through. Thrifty and crafty. [If by crafty you mean able to wield a pair of scissors.] {This is out of hand.})

But now we have a toddler. A walking, talking (ish), very opinionated toddler. A toddler who likes to share his snacks by putting them in your mouth and then pulling them out real quick and eating them. A toddler who prefers to walk everywhere but if I say, "Hold my hand," he'll reach his hand up and take my hand and walk with me. A toddler who thinks that Eskimo kisses are the funniest thing and who gives the most adorable chuckle when we rub noses.

And not a day goes by where I'm not so over-the-moon thankful for this gift. I go to bed at night and miss the baby who is asleep in the next room so much that it physically hurts me. I spend my entire day with him and sit on the ground and watch him run around the room and then run to me and hug my neck and I still miss him. I think that's probably a good-ish quality for a mom to have. It's good that I like my child, right? I probably just need to tone it down so I don't become a helicopter mom. dot dot dot, more than I already am.

The other night Evan and I stayed up an extra hour just looking through old pictures and watching hilarious videos of surprise spit up and first baby laughs and little wobbly heads and our hearts filled and burst with love for this tiny human. I want to pause these moments and bottle them up and keep them forever. I will forever say that about every new stage we enter, but this right here is my favorite.