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!