Skyler at 18 Months

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Tomorrow, Skyler will be 19 months. Which is past one-and-a-half and where did my baby go??

Skyler's eighteenth month was a lot of fun. We got to celebrate his second Christmas and he has now lived in 2012, 2013, and 2014, which boggles my mind.

My 6 lbs 6 oz and 19" baby boy is now a 24 lb 7 oz and 31.75" toddler! His percentiles have not changed much. His height and weight are always around 25% for his age, and his head circumference is around 90% - just like his daddy :)

He has changed so much this month. His vocabulary has sky rocketed (and he already was a big talker!), his walking (or running I should say) is keeping me constantly on my toes, and every day is just more fun. While I miss the toothless smiles, the babbling, and the attempts to keep his head in the air, every day gets even better.

Some of his favorite things right now are books (as always), ECFE and music class, long baths, playing in his tent, snow, kicking soccer balls, any musical instruments, painting, sweet potatoes, beeping his kitties noses, smiling, dancing to music, singing, filling up and rolling around his puppy backpack, vehicles of any kind, the occasional sip of mama's orange juice, talking on anything that looks like a phone, attempting somersaults, the very occasional bite of cookie when he sees mama and daddy sneaking one, his tool bench, his see 'n say, the pasta sensory bin, and teensy fruit snacks.

Vocabulary

When Skyler turned 18 months, my husband and I decided to write down all the words he said, after his doctor asked me earlier in the day and I honestly didn't know. We got to one hundred and then stopped trying to remember any more, and in the past month, the amount of new words he says increases every day. Some favorites of mine are banana, yellow, happy, soccer, love you, and the best pig snort I have ever heard (does that count as a word?). He still does a lot of sign language, and actually started signing please instead of saying it this month, even though it is a word he has said for many months. Some other common signs we see from Skyler are thank you, more, eat, kisses, hi and bye, and there are others that he does less frequently. Something Skyler does that I think is great is change 'you' to 'I' - if we ask him a question like "Do you want milk or water?" he will say "I want wawa."

My least favorite word: Ow. Skyler will say "ow" or "owie" when he is stuck or if we are holding him when he does not want to be held. It is really fun with he does this is a crowded restaurant. Since it is obvious we aren't hurting him, we cannot help but laugh sometimes when he says this.

Independence

Gone are the days when I could hold his hands to help him walk (except when he wants to walk up the stairs!) Which also means, he only gets to walk free in places where I know he won't be in danger. I look forward to the days when I can say "You have to hold my hand to walk in the parking lot" and he will know what that means. Skyler was a fairly late walker at sixteen months, so watching him get comfortable moving around, running, dancing, and so very close to jumping, is a lot of fun. I still can't help but smile every time I see him barreling toward me.

Before this month Skyler had been proficient with a fork, but feeding himself with a spoon was much harder. This month I worked at making him meals to practice with a spoon. Instead of buying yogurt pouches, we got big containers of yogurt and added our own fruits or flavoring. I also made a lot of soups, oatmeal, and put pieces of fruit in a bowl instead of just on a plate. He went from trying a spoon every once in awhile to getting one at almost every meal, and now he can use a spoon as efficiently as he can a fork. Now we are working on using cups with no lids, and have been pretty successful!

My little guy has become the best helper this month! Not only with cleaning up toys with the help of his picture labels, but he has started helping with three new tasks - he loves to help me cook/bake, wash dishes in the sink, and stand next to the dishwasher to hand me clean dishes to put away (we hand wash all of our sharp knives, so it is completely safe to have him help!)

Temperament 

Skyler has always had an easy going temperament. He is always smiling and happy. He is great at self soothing or sometimes needing just a short cuddle and some kisses from mama when he gets hurt or is sad (usually when he is tired). That changed a little bit this month. 

In Skyler's eighteenth month, this face became an almost every day occurrence.

Oh, the joys of having a discombobulated toddler ;) I actually kind of love this face (and picture) because I know it means he is so confused by everything going on in his busy brain, being a toddler is hard and unpredictable. I get to take these opportunities to cuddle with him and calm him down. It is kind of the best!

I know the next five months will go by like a flash and then I will have a two year old. I try not to think like that - so many emotions!!

I just try to appreciate every day, every single moment. The mostly incredible moments, and even the challenging ones. I don't want to forget any of it.

I am so blessed to be his mama. 

All photos are from our 18 month photo shoot at MJ Fotography, Inc.