My mother and father in law have been in town with us for almost a month. We have just a few precious days left together on this visit in Oregon. While it has had its ups and downs as we all live together for a whole month, there is no debating that it has been really great for the toddler. He is speaking more Serbian each day because there are many adults speaking in Serbian around him. He is playing with so many of his trusted tribe in the morning and when he gets back from his childcare and on the weekends to the max. And it is truly sweet to see how he and his Deda (Serbian for grandpa) are like two peas in a pod together. They truly adore one another.

My kiddo is so incredibly lucky to have four grandparents that just love him so completely and want the very best for him. They adore our child.

And honestly, so do I! As so many of you know, I never thought that motherhood would be in my life journey and through a whole crazy set of circumstances I find myself with a 21 month old (tomorrow he will be 21 months technically). Even though there are some truly hard and exhausting moments I can say without a doubt….Tadej is my very favorite person on this planet.

We went to the coast last weekend to show my in laws a different part of the coast than where we went before when they visited last November. The last time we were at the beach, Tadej liked it but this time he LOVED the sand. I think my kiddo would live outside if he could these days. We keep hearing his little voice say, “outside?” in complete toddler speak. He swam in the sand this time. He ran to each of us and dove into whatever sand he could. He giggled and squealed and pointed to the ocean in awe. He loved every second of it.

He is just a joy to watch and interact with. The other day I heard him moving and moving in his carseat to look behind to see him lifting his foot to his head. I wanted to see what his brain was concocting and then heard him say, “Hello?” Foot phone! ha!

Tadej is speaking in three languages and each language carries new words for him each day. And he is switching languages depending on the person.

He was kissing his bears this morning in his bed because they had “Ouchies, mama, ouchies. Kiss?”

He loves to sing. And when he does sing, it is full on singing. He requests his favorites throughout the day.

Tadej likes to ask for, “a cuddle?” And I am all about giving him those.

He loves to see what you are up to and be a part of it.

He laughs with such delight.

He loves to eat cheese, fruit pouches (pureed fruit in these pouches for kids), crackers, plums, blackberries, and yogurt these days. He will try some things…we offer him everything we eat.

He loves to run. He loves to kick a ball. He has a pretty great throwing arm already.

Animals are his fav so we are going to the zoo tomorrow so we can watch him get delighted with all the animals. These grandparents don’t want to miss out.

There are groups that call him the Mayor of Menucha around here.

Tadej is for sure my favorite person.