18 Months Old

Lewis is 1 1/2 years old today which suddenly sounds really old to me!

18 Months

His doctor's appointment went well--he had to get three injections and screamed more than ever while he was getting them, but was fine again once it was over. He got some sweet hot pink band-aids and an Elmo sticker out of the deal. :) We don't go back in for a check-up now until 2 years.

Update: He's hobbling around a bit this afternoon from his tetanus shot and looking at me like, 'Ma, what is wrong with my leg?' Poor buddy. :)

His stats (from the doctor's office):
Height: 35 1/4 inches (100th percentile)
Weight: 29 pounds 13.5 ounces (98th percentile)
Head Size: 19 1/2 inches (93rd percentile)

What he's doing this month:

• Is still interested in/getting better at putting things into things. He likes to unload all of the tools from his tool bag and then put them all back. He likes to help put leftover food away into its containers (though he also sometimes puts in in the container and then pulls it back out and into his mouth). Toys back into their storage bins (sometimes, when we directly ask him to). Books back on the bookshelf (and he gets really frustrated if he can't get the book back into the empty spot).
• His love/obsession of all things motorized continues. He has a couple of books of trucks that he loves to flip through, and he still points out big/loud trucks when we're out and about.
• He is getting better at eating with a fork (when we remember to give him one). He's sort of gotten the hang of stabbing the food and bringing it to his mouth, but he usually just pulls the food off of the fork and eats it with his hands instead.
• Mealtimes are messy times. Eating itself is pretty clean, but once he decides he's done or once the dogs start swooping in for leftovers, he can clear his tray with the slightest flick of a wrist and bits of food are flying everywhere. He also loves to hand feed leftovers to Peter (Hattie probably would be trying for them, too, if she were taller). Peter's mouth is at just the right height for easy access.
• He still loves shoes. He loves to bring us ours (usually when we don't need them), and he'll go find his when we ask him where they are.
• He really seems to be picking up on our reactions this month (and then acting/reacting, accordingly). The biggest example I can think of is when he climbs up on the entertainment center behind the TV and shakes the TV and laughs--as I get up to get him (totally pissed off but trying-and obviously failing-to appear calm), he just laughs like a crazy man. (I have tried just calmly asking him to get down, but he ignores me/shakes the TV even harder.) That is usually my cue for no more The Today Show and that it's time to get going for the day. I have my eye out at Goodwill for a taller entertainment center. He's either going to fall off (bad for him), push the TV off (bad for the TV), or a combination of both (bad for us all).
• His language skills seem to be forming a little more each day. He'll look at us and rattle off some jibberish, to which we nod and agree. His most clear word is 'Uh oh!' He also definitely has a 'Dah' for 'dog' that is different from his 'DAH!' for most any/everything else. He points and 'DAH!'s to everything (in books, outside, in the house) and we tell him the name of everything he points to--I guess he's storing up that knowledge and will one day unleash his mad vocab skills on us. He still does 'Na-na-na' for 'no.' His favorite sound to repeat lately is 'Blah'...after Kevin puts him down for bedtime, he'll lay in his crib and just say 'blah-blah-blah-blah' with pauses in between. Other than that, he doesn't say much else.
• He HAS started answering us! We've been asking him questions for awhile now as we go about the day (from something I read about in What to Expect the Toddler Years, I think), and now he'll sometimes say 'Yea!' or something that sounds like that if it's something he really wants to do. It's pretty great to be able to communicate with him clearly, even in those fleeting instances. I know it will only grow.
• He loves books. He will point to pictures and say 'Dah!' and we say what it is that he's pointing to. He'll also read to himself--it goes a little something like 'Dah! Dah! Dah! Dah!' He loves to coax Kevin into reading more and more books at bedtime (they usually just skip through and hit the high points).
• He has started going to the refrigerator and grabbing at the doors first thing in the morning, wanting his milk.
• On that note, he started turning his sippy cup upside down, depressing the soft spout just enough to let milk out. Just enough to make a puddle on his high chair tray and then splash milk everywhere with both hands. :) On the walls, the floor, our dining room table. Kate suggested it was time to move onto a different style of cup, and Lewis just happened to start drinking from a straw while he was at my parents' house a few weeks ago, so the timing worked out perfectly. We switched to cups with straws that flip up and down which are going well as far as milk messes are concerned. However, he can flip the straw down and can't open it back up on his own, so we play a lot of 'Where's the straw?' until sometimes he gets frustrated when he can't take a drink.
• Current Tooth Count: 16