18 months

This one snuck up on me. Possibly because I've been rounding up and SAYING that he's 18 months for a couple of weeks. But now he really is.

Vitals: 26ish lbs. 32ish inches. I can't keep him still long enough to find out. Hmmm... he probably has a doctor's appointment soon to tell me these things. I should check into that (mother of the YEAR)

Highlights:
2 hair cuts total now. I'm not really getting any better at it. Poor kid.
First playground--swings and slides
first pony tail (he begged for one after I gave Eleanor one)
First trip to Faire
First puke! (milestones man...)
He finished his first year of Mother's Day Out.
He's got 10 teeth now.


Skills:
Moderate proficiency with spoon and fork
JUST YESTERDAY he started saying "Please" instead of only signing it. It was his first signed word.
He says lots of words. More than I've bothered to count recently. He mimics nearly everything we ask him to say, which is really the best stage of verbal development.
Animal identification. Monkey, snake & alligator are my favorite. He also does the noises

He likes:
SHOES!!! He will put on any shoes he can cram his feet into, which is usually not his own shoes, but mine and Eleanor's.
Balls--anything that rolls is fair game. Trucks are a recent addition. He's also a big fan of Eleanor's tricycle.
BOOKS! He will bring you a book, very adamantly demand that you pick him up (Uppa! Uppa! booook) and then snuggle into you in the very best way while he flips the pages and you say the words. It's pretty much my favorite.
Climbing into things, the smaller the better
Playing with his sister
baby dolls
hats
BUBBLES
snuggles ("guggle?" he says)
Our pets. More so than Eleanor ever did, he's taken a real interest in the pets. He calls Banshee Bebee.
His blanket & pacifier (which he calls his buppa. I don't even know)

He dislikes:
being told no. (We have entered the age of fits and tantrums and hitting. It's not the best)
Some foods, some of the time. I can't pin it down, it depends on the freaking weather, I swear.
Being snuggled to sleep. This has been true for quite a while, just one of the ways he's totally unlike his sister (who still requires a crazy intricate stalling ritual before bed, EVERY NIGHT) but recently, it's very hit or miss. Some nights he wants to snuggle until he's asleep, other nights he's jumping out of your arms to get to his bed.

I like:
All the smiles and snuggles.
The word development. So much communication!
He's still the cutest little boy I know.

I dislike:
the tantrums
the inconsistency
teething

 So here, have some more pictures of my kids, ok?

  Don't be fooled. They're not actually sleeping. Just playing "nap." FASCINATING game. I wish they'd actually take them.