Julian is doing the toddler thing where he eats unbelievably huge amounts of food one day, then almost nothing the next. It's kind of unsettling, but then I have to remind myself that it's normal for a child his age. In fact, I do the very same thing, just on a lesser scale. Some days I'm a bottomless pit, other days I can barely finish what's on my plate.

New words that Julian can now say:
book clock ant hat hot wet puppy baby truck, and the favorite word of the moment....
BALL! He is very proud of his new words, and when we walk the dog in the afternoon, Julian rides in his backpack and chants all his new words in rhythm with my steps, "DOG-gie, BA-by, PUP-py, BALL, BOOK, HAT, BA-by, DOG-gie, PUP-py, BA-by, PUP-py" and so on. I chant with him, because it's kind of addictive. And just when I think we've covered them all, he'll remember a new one, or I will remind HIM of one we haven't chanted in a while. Or sometimes I'll throw in a new made-up word like "gish", and he'll repeat that just like a parrot. But he'll never say "cat" even though we've seen cats a million times and he can certainly pronounce "c-a-t. He insists every time that a cat is a "doggie".

"Doggie" is still a major favorite. He says "ball" and "doggie" all day long, always with just as much excitement as the first time he said them. Those two concepts never get old, apparently.

The ball is his latest obsession, very exciting, especially so because J has developed quite a wicked sideways throw. He still does a comical curveball that ends up going backwards over his own shoulder, but just as you start to chuckle over his curveball, he will suddenly whip the ball with a sideways snap and absolutely LAUNCH it. Then you stop laughing and your mouth drops open in awe.

He is also experimenting with dribbling his little soft soccer ball. He will carefully place it on the ground, then give it a little kick with his foot, then follow it around and continue to kick it. Dan has just about burst open with pride at this new development, as you can imagine. His boy, the 17-month-old soccer star!

The diaper-free thing is still going well. He only wears a diaper at night because his lazy Mama can't drag herself out of bed to take him potty. Oh well. No biggie.