18 Months

Weight: 25 pounds, 7 oz (64th percentile)

Height:  33.5 inches (70th percentile)
Head: 19.3 inches (87th percentile)

Clothes: 12-18 months (pants) and 18-24 months (tops and PJs)

Diapers: Size 4

Well, dude, where do I begin? I haven't posted a monthly update since your 15 month update, and boy have you changed! Routine for you is still pretty much the same - up at 7/7:30, nap from 12-2:30ish, down for the night at 8. You eat ALL. THE. TIME. I was warned by friends with boys that once you became a toddler you would eat me out of house and home, and boy were they right! We try to stay on your school schedule - breakfast at home (7:30ish), snack at 9, lunch at 11, snack after nap, snack at 4:30, and dinner at 6. (See? ALL THE TIME.) Your current obsessions are yogurt ("go-gurt"), cheese ("chiz"), nutri-grain bars ("bahs"), strawberries (you don't try to say that one, yet), fruit snacks ("fru snahks"), peas ("piz"), and apple sauce ("apple sah"). The biggest difference lately is that you can actually ask for what you want...a blessing and a curse!

Lately, you have been a complete chatter box! Now, granted, I have no comparison to go on, but I think you are VERY verbal for your age and being a boy. (I think it's partially due to your OBSESSION with books...when we finish one, you immediately say "more!" and turn back to the first page so I can start it over again.) I would bet that you say at least 50 words by now, and you LOVE to identify things outside, in pictures, on TV, and in your books. You amaze us daily with what you know - you can identify all your body parts, most everything in your books (flowers, animals, boy/girl, vehicles, food, etc), almost anything in the pantry (ha), and almost all your family members in pictures. (Oh, and Elmo...any cartoon character you see is Elmo. So sweet.) Again, I'm no doctor, but I think that's pretty good for 18 months!

You have started figuring out ownership...and by that I mean, that at dinner, for example, we all have our own cups, our own plates, our own forks, etc. When you want something of mine, I show you where yours is, and you smile so big knowing you have one just for you. It's SO sweet when you realize what a big boy you are that you have your own utensils, plate, etc. You eat using utensils now, and you do wonderfully with a fork...spoons are more difficult. You don't quite grasp the whole gravity thing yet and why the yogurt falls off the spoon between the cup and your mouth. You'll get it eventually though! 

As far as your health goes, you lost one of your tubes already. You had an ear infection about two weeks ago, and when Dr. Newton was checking your ears at the appointment, he pulled out the bright blue tube in a ball of wax. (Ew.) We are hopeful that you don't have many more infections because we do NOT want to have to put in another tube. On that note, you are having surgery this coming Wednesday to correct the hydrocele I talked about back in your 15-month blog. We had a surgery date back in September, but the surgeon made us reschedule because you had come down with a cold and it wasn't safe to operate. You are coughing quite a bit this weekend, but so far no runny nose or anything else, so we are hoping that this will be behind us after Wednesday. Fingers crossed! We are SO ready to get this thing over with...

Hmmm...what else...you are doing so well at your new daycare. You were in the first classroom (12-18 month olds) until October 1 when they moved you up to the 18-24 month room. They basically said you had "outsmarted" that room and were starting to get into trouble, i.e. biting the babies when they wouldn't play with you, so you needed to move up with older kids who were more on your level intellectually and socially. You haven't been too fond of your teacher, Ms. Corine, in this room because she forced you to give up your lovey except during nap time. Oh well - gotta be a big boy eventually, right?!  

Well, I guess that about wraps things up! We are putting off your 18-month well-check until my Thanksgiving break, so we won't know your official stats for two more weeks. We love you big guy! Keep learning!