Monday, November 18, 2013

Nathan at 18 Months

We had Nathan's 18 month check up last week and he got a clean bill of health!

Stats:
Weight - 22.5 lbs. (25th %)
Height - 34.5 inches (90th %)

Long and lean, baby!!! I had suspected that he'd really shot up in the last month or two by the fact that practically overnight his shirts and onsies were all pretty stretched at the neck and giving him a wedgie. He's pretty much solidly into 18mo or 18-24mo shirts and almost out of his 12-18mo pants.

He pretty much understands everything we say at this point, and it makes it all the more frustrating when I know he's purposefully doing something that I've asked him not to. He's pretty good about following directions in general, but still!

Talking: He's slowly starting to add more words. The ones we hear daily (MANY TIMES A DAY) are mom, dad, up, yeah, no, downstairs, Elmo (melmo), bus, nana (banana), apple, row row (Row Row Row Your Boat Request), ba ba (Ba Ba Black Sheep), round (Wheels on the Bus), sock (ock), ice, hi, bye, oh no, woah, water, babies (may be my favorite), bubble, box, night night, etc. Those are the main ones I can think of right now but there are certainly more each day.
More and more he's making the same noises we randomly make. Hysterical, especially when it's me grunting getting up off the floor.

Food: He's a pretty great eater in general. He's going through a stage where he doesn't always want to sit down in his chair to eat (just wants you to hold him) which I think is a combination of clinginess and low blood sugar. Usually a few bites shoved in his face and he's back to himself. We found that his life seemed better if we cut out dairy and eggs, so we've cut those out. Thankfully, that has been pretty easy to adapt to. He's a huge fan of meat, all kids. Loves fruit, all kinds, especially grapes, apples, bananas, strawberries, and blueberries. Loves bread. Full stop. He's pretty good about vegetables, surprising us by chowing down on brussel sprouts, red peppers carrots, asparagus, green beans, etc. Generally, pretty easy overall. Do I wish I could fall back on grilled cheese or quesadillas periodically? Yes. Ah well.

Play: He's loving playing around on cushions and beds right now. Hiding under blankets is a lot of fun, really any small, dark space. He loves closets (lights off), his tent, under tables and chairs, etc. He loves hiding and surprising you, but he also just likes being in there by himself, indefinitely. He is also into trucks right now, zooming them around along with noises (this happened pretty unprompted and reminded me that that he is a BOY).

He loves giving kisses and hugs, especially if he thinks it will get him something he wants, but he also just seems to be wildly affectionate to us and his stuffed animals. He also randomly will kiss his toys, and sometimes even his food. Darling.

This is generally a pretty great age. While we have entered solidly into tantrum territory, I'm still a pretty big fan. They don't happen often, and are pretty short lived when they do. It's hard to ignore your child when they look that upset, but it's certainly the quickest way to resolution that I've found.

I haven't done a typical day post in a while so I wanted to get it down while I was thinking of it. Below is what we usually see (disclaimer - every day is different!)

A typical day:
7:00-7:30 - Awake- plays, snuggles with us, gets changed/dressed, and we get ready
8:00 - Breakfast for us all and play
9:30 - 10:30 - goes down for his first nap (usually an hour or hour and a half)
11:00-11:30 - gets up from his nap
12:00ish - lunch
2ish - second nap (usually an hour or hour and a half) - sometimes this nap doesn't happen and bedtime gets pushed up a bit.
3:00 or 4ish - snack after nap
5:30 - 6:30 dinner/play
6:30 - Bedtime starts - bath every other night, books, and a song
7:00 - 7:15 - Bedtime

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