linden | 18 months

Linden boy, you are 18 months already!

 

I can't imagine any other kid like you.  You are the perfect boy to make our family of four.  Your personality comes through more and more each month and it's so exciting to watch you develop your own likes and dislikes, and watching you get excited for things.

 

PLAY

Now that the weather has warmed up a bit, you have discovered how much fun it is to be outside.  All I have to do is say the word "outside" and you go running for your shoes and carrying them back yelling "SSSHOOOES". It never gets old.  You've also quickly developed a love for daddy's tractor. The second you hear that thing fired up you're running over there with your arms lifted up demanding that you get a ride.  And really, there's nothing cuter than watching you ride around wearing adult sized ear muffs on daddy's lap. 

 

You also love any toys with wheels (so much like your brother). It's not surprising to find you with a toy train in your hand scooting it around the floor saying "choo-choo".  You're still not quite sure what to do with all the bubbles when we run the bubble machine outside but one thing you do have figured out is your love for water.  It still isn't warm enough to go swimming at the beach but it doesn't stop you from going straight in while you have your clothes on and splashing around.  You have a huge love of water little boy!

 

TALK

There is definitely a list of words that you know and you know how to say them well! And the rest of it still sounds like a jumbled mess, but you look like you know exactly what you're saying when you have something to say.  Your vocab list includes words like "up", "hi", "bye" (you love telling anyone bye), "choo-choo", "food", "shoes", "uh-oh", "sit down", "get down", "go", "no" and "want this".  And even though I might be missing words and there are still a lot of words for you to learn, you seem to understand what we say very clearly.  You're great at following through with commands, that is unless you're being a little stinker who is intentionally ignoring me as part of a game.  You do that often these days.

 

SLEEP

You're not a huge fan of nap time, and I can't really blame you because who is? But you go back and forth between taking one nap a day and two naps a days.  Usually you'll protest for five minutes in your crib but then eventually quiet down and either play until you fall asleep or just lay down.

 

Nighttime, however, is a different story.  These days, you get so excited for going to bed at night. We've bumped your bedtime back to 8pm and you seem to do really well with that.  By the time I say "it's time for nigh-night" you start running over to your daddy or Conner to give them a hug good night.  Then you open your mouth wide so I can brush your teeth (and you have 12 teeth now by the way!) and eventually grab the brush and move it around in your mouth to finish off the task.  Then it's off to the crib when I hand you your favorite blanket and you give me a final wave and sweet little "bye" for the night.  My heart ends up in a puddle every night.

 

FOOD

Let's just say you've been quite the picky little eater.  I've always had trouble getting you to drink milk but I'm not concerned.  When you have an appetite, you eat an adult-sized meal.  It amazes me that you're only in the 20th percentile in weight for kids your age.  You love raspberries and this is quite possibly your favorite food ever.  Following close behind are strawberries, yogurt, peanut butter, pancakes, oatmeal bars, pizza and ranch. You love to dunk food whether it's salsa, ranch, guac, you name it.  If you see anyone dunking food into anything you start letting us know that you want whatever we have!