Frankie + "Dah-dee"

I don't think we can call Frankie a baby anymore but a toddler instead! It's so cute to see his little personality develop and the funny ways he tries to imitate what we say and do.

He and Frank are the best of pals these days. Nobody can make him laugh quite like his dad can! I think Frank is really enjoying the new-found affection from Frankie after all the months of Frankie preferring me during the baby phase.

Matching outfits at Easter

Here are a few recent stories of those two best buddies...

Frankie said "Daddy" for the first time the night of July 11! First he slowly sounded out "dahhh-dee" and then switched to "dahhh-doo" for a few days. But now it's back to either "dada" or "dah-dee" almost all the time. The best.

One great thing about co-sleeping is that you can see all the funny, cute things your baby does between sleep cycles. A few weeks ago, Frankie sat up in bed in the middle of the night and said, "Dada?" Frank was fast asleep, so Frankie leaned over to plant his face on him, and at first I thought he was biting him! But then I heard his little lips smacking and I realized he was KISSING him instead. Then he dropped down and went right back to sleep like nothing happened!

Another night, Frankie was clearly having a hilarious dream. He was giggling and chuckling in his sleep, and I lay there wondering what on earth could be so funny, and wishing it were possible to know what he was dreaming about. Well, my wish was granted, because suddenly he let out an especially loud laugh and said, "Daaa-daaaa!" all without waking up. How cute to know that he was dreaming about having fun with his dad.

One evening I served soup for dinner, and it was still really hot so Frank began to blow on his spoon to cool the soup down before lifting it to his lips. As I served Frankie his not-hot-at-all baby food, he began to blow on each bite too, laughing and looking at Frank the whole time.

Frankie loves going to Frank's softball games every Monday night, and the real highlight for him is if he gets his own "baw" (ball) to play with and can throw it to me just like Frank pitches it from the mound. He's getting really good at playing catch from watching Frank do it!

Watching dad pitch

Frank has taught him that the dog says "woof", except when Frankie imitates the dog it sounds more like "woo! woo!" in the softest little voice ever. Now Frankie starts to "woof" every time he sees a dog, and once he even got down on his hands and knees to really get into the imitating. Last week we walked past a cat in front of a house, and right on cue Frankie began to "woof" at the cat too! Frank also taught him to "roar" like the lion, which in Frankie-speak is more like "woe!" again in such a sweet little voice.

Whenever he sees Frank's tie rack or his potted plants outside, he points and yells "Dadadadada!" Possibly because I always tell him they're "Dada's ties" and "Dada's plants."

And my personal favorite... every morning before he leaves for work, Frank gives me a kiss goodbye, and Frankie has started to imitate him and give me a kiss right after his dad does! It makes me so happy to see our boy imitating this sweet habit.

I sure do love those two Franks of mine.