This post is a little behind but my awesome kid is now 18 months plus one month. And I sure like him. It's been a busy few months and he is getting so big and smart.
He's got a vocabulary of about 60 or so words and he's finally started to use them to communicate much better like the other day he and I had gone outside to see the moon and stars and when Dan asked him about it he said "Moon, side (outside), brr" Brr meaning it was cold. Some of my favorite things he says are pinecone (Cone-Cone), more (He puckers his lips and draws out the word for about 10 seconds), bum, shoo (to the flies), he says dark when I turn off the lights or when a lightbulb is burned out and he'll hide his hand up in his sleeve and say "gone!". He also will tell me (or his toys) that he'll be right back and then yell that he's back excitedly upon his return. He also understands things very well and has since he was little. We can give him very specific instructions and he'll follow them.
He knows his colors for the most part. we can ask him to point to a color or sort them. He loves to tell us about anything that is blue or green no matter the shade (the way he say green is my favorite). And for pink he makes pig noises because pigs are pink.
He still loves animals. He can label them really well, even if they're very cartoonish and he does very realistic animal sounds. The best ones are chicken, pig, goose, wolf, elephant and when he runs around on all fours pretending to be a dog. He also will tell you what Buzz Lightyear, Batman, Yoda, Darth Vader, and Chewbacca say. He makes great noises as well for tractors, motorcycles, airplanes, and trains.
He's not a good sleeper. He never has been. On average he wakes up around 5 each morning (average meaning sometimes it's as early as four... Boo.) He's a morning napper and usually naps for an hour and a half before lunch. He has nightmares sometimes and will wake up in panic mode freak out for about 20 minutes and then pass back out. I am tired.
He has his four front teeth and two molars that are still working on coming in all the way. The doctor says it's possible he may not get his other front teeth. Awesome.
He loves to make choices. He always picks out his clothes and loves to choose what books and movies we will watch. He also will try to choose things he can't actually choose. Like he'll try to choose pictures from a book as if it will be a different story.
He's mostly a snuggler. When he gets up in the wee hours of the morning we cuddle and watch PBS. He loves to lay his head on my face or on my back. And when we're in the car and he's upset, he just reaches to hold my hand so he feels better. When he gets hurt he asks for hugs
He can point out just about all of his body parts, including elbows, knees, armpits (he loves to pretend to put on deodorant) neck, eyebrows, nipples (thanks to Dan), etc.
He is a very good helper. He loves to vacuum and sweep and help me with the laundry. He will clean up any mess he's made if I tell him I'm going to vacuum.
He's getting better at playing with other kids. He loves our little neighbors Franny and Holland. Nursery he does okay with, if he doesn't notice when I leave but then he usually cries when I come back because he finally noticed I had left. He loves to try to scare people by growling at them and he'll wrestle any of his toys. Including his bike and batcave. He loves to dance. We have daily dance parties and he loves to (try) to jump. Oh! Another favorite of mine that he does is when I tell him to look behind him. He does it by bending down and looking through his legs.
His tiny baby stats:
Weight: 21 lbs which is the 4th percentile (moving on up the fat scale!!)
Height: 34 inches. That's the 38%. I don't know why he's so short. Dan and I are not short.
And his head circumference is is the 55%. Gets that from me...
A million pictures!
We maybe should've named him Linus after all. He drags his Yankee Blankie around with him everywhere and frequently checks behind him to make sure it's following him.
He does not love bugs. He says bug in the most strained upset voice and will not go near them (or anything if I say it has bugs) However he loves these big fluffy caterpillars that are all over our yard.
This one he was teary because a bug got too close to him.
He's motorcycle obsessed. When he makes a motorcycle sound he revs an imaginary gear shift with his hand.
Some pictures at the cabin.
With his big cousin, Eli.
This is one of my favorites. He is so good at saying prayers. This one was when I was kneeling to clean up the floor and he came over to say prayers.
We had some great September thunderstorms. He thought the thunder was a motorcycle and he loved running in the rain. Also, this kid in overalls = best.
This is one of our super early mornings (By that I mean 4am) and then he'd be out for his nap by 9am.
My tough little paleantologist.
He loves to cuddle his animals and watch Buzz Lightyear.
He loves watching fish and ducks and playing in the freezing cold water. Seriously, the kid loves the water. He doesn't care if water is dumped over him, he sticks his face in and blows bubbles, and he'd stay in all day if I let him.
His other great loves are dancing, and most especially, his hats. Once I've let him wear a hat for the day, it's almost impossible to convince him to take it off. He throws fits when I don't let him wear them to bed. And often the first thing he asks for when he wakes up in the morning or post nap, is for a hat to wear.
Boy George
Enjoying his first sucker after getting 5 or 6 shots at his 18 month check up.
He's really good at color and shape matching. He does his puzzles and he plays memory games on our phones really well. He strategically tries out all the different matches to one card until he finds it, but if he discovers a new match while looking for the first, he'll put that match together too. His memory is crazy good. He remembered where the toys went at his babysitter after not being there for 3 months. He remembers parts (before we get to them) in books, movies, or songs after only hearing/seeing them once. He can also point out people in pictures etc after just meeting them.
Ye-Haw!
Cuddling with grandpa while we made applesauce.
More snuggles.
Kisses for his lamby. He loves to make his animals give each other and myself kisses.
He is quite the entertainer. He loves to tell stories and jokes. When he laughs he loves to slap his knee or cover his face. He also loves to mimic Bert's (of Sesame Street) laugh.
This is him giggling and joking with his pal William. (My cousin Brooke's baby)
On his way to his first day in nursery. He does pretty well in nursery because all the toys are there. Church starts at 11 which is exactly when he goes down for his nap. So a few times when he's cried in nursery until he passes out. His nursery leaders are troopers and never come get me on those days. (Okay it's happened twice.)
He thinks it's so funny to take selfies with me.
When he's sleepy he loves to play with my hair, but also, drives cars in it.
Playing with dad.
