Dear Aurick, you turned 20 months on the 7th of June, 2022.

This past month was something of a whirlwind. We had Flannery just before you turned 19 months, so the house was deep in the fog of those newborn days.

You never missed a beat when we brought Flannery into the family. You were fascinated with her, and loved to come and sit with her and I. You never showed any jealousy, even though you were something of a clinger with me already before she came, asking me “eeeee-UP” when you wanted me to pick you up, and fussing a little if I said I couldn’t.

We took a few trips as a family of ten–going to antique stores, a Strawberry Festival, etc. Since you weren’t walking yet, we put you and Beatrice in the fold-out wagon as we walked around these places. You hadn’t ever sat in the wagon like that, but you loved it, and you were very good at staying seated and keeping your hands to yourself.

You liked to go outside and play in the sandbox. This was helpful as generally I knew if you went outside and I lost sight of you, that’s where you would probably be. But it meant you would come back into the house looking like this:

Hrothgar, the dog, liked to dig in the sandbox and lie in the cool, wet sand he uncovered. Maybe you gravitated towards the sandbox because he was there. He, however, was not always thrilled that you came to play while he was trying to get his cool sand nap.

Since I was no longer pregnant and tired, we made it a point to go out weekly to a playground. You, however, would never go out and play, but just sit by me and Flannery on the bench and drink your water and watch everyone else. I imagine part of this was because you were still not walking, and the wood chips on the ground could not have been comfortable on your knees. I had been trying to get you to stand up, and then hopefully to take steps, but you just wouldn’t do it!

Aurick, you turned nineteen months on the seventh of May.

On the 30th of April, you became a big brother as Flannery officially joined us. You were very sweet with the baby and didn’t show any signs of jealousy at all.

Along with your incessant head-shaking, you started saying “no” along with the gesture. You also started saying “ball”, and I think this was the time you started this funny little word that sounded like “mahmoh”. I thought you were using it to refer to me, but maybe instead it meant “hey, you!” because you started using it for everyone to get their attention.

This month you started running a fever that wouldn’t come down with meds, so I took you back to the walk-in-clinic. They said you had another ear infection, which I thought was strange. The medicine they prescribed you was one that Ephraim is allergic to (but Clive isn’t) so I gave it, but watched you closely for any reactions. About an hour after taking it, your fever spiked to over 105. I don’t know why it did that, but I was worried it was related to the medicine somehow, so I didn’t give you any more. That was a long night, waiting for your fever to come down. It also coincided with the time we were expecting Flannery any minute, so it was an exciting couple of days. The next morning I called your real doctor and asked for a different medicine. She checked you out and said you didn’t have an ear infection at all, so any medicine would be useless anyway. That is the last time I will take a child to that walk-in clinic. Anyway, it was apparently just a virus you had. It went away in a couple of days. Thankfully we didn’t have Flannery while you were sick. You were pretty miserable.

Oh! While we were at the pediatrician you stuck your finger up my nose and made it bleed like crazy. Thanks!

As mentioned in your last update, you had decided pretty quickly that you didn’t like being in the playpen, no matter how many new toys were in there. You did love the mega blocks that we got for you, however, and you loved for a sibling to come into your room and play with them with you. So we did succeed in getting some kind of corralled play to happen after all.

Aurick, you turned eighteen months on the seventh of April.

We had a stomach virus go through the house this month that you, fortunately, never caught! I don’t know how we managed that, but I’m very glad you didn’t get it, because I haven’t the slightest idea how to handle a vomiting toddler, and I could imagine that the whole experience would have upset you very much. Plus I was sick myself, which only complicated things. But you, Daddy, and Beatrice never caught it. The rest of us were not so lucky.

I have a picture of you in the high chair. I had left you with Ephraim, asking him to feed you your yogurt. When I came back, he had just handed you the spoon, and you were gleefully feeding yourself huge globs of yogurt, getting half of it (or more) on the tray and your face in the process. You did certainly love to do things yourself. This was a brief period where you really loved yogurt. It didn’t last too long.

I cut your hair this month. I just used the clippers like I do for everyone else. You did great with the whole process. Having your hair cut short made you look so much older!

The weather continued to get warmer, and you continued to love being outdoors.

In preparation for the new baby, I set up our large playpen for you and bought several toys. You were okay with this setup for a little while, but after a couple of weeks, rather than acclimating to the playpen, you began to really despise it. This is the opposite of what usually happens with independent playtime, but then again, you are Mr. Contrary. We did get a little bit of time out of it, but not what I had hoped.

Your naps schedule hovered between one nap and two. Two nap days were glorious because you could be really, really difficult sometimes, and that gave us (and you) a break that we all still apparently needed!

You became the official youngest Kransling to learn to blow out candles. And that was the last time I was able to leave a candle burning on the coffee table. Because along you’d come, and–poof! Blow it right out. You were very good at it.

You did not talk at all–not at all, if I remember correctly–except for shaking your head. You would sing, though. You liked to sing “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” and “Old MacDonald” and “One Little Finger”, but rarely would you do it so that other people could see. Mr. Contrary, as usual.