BeurskensBaby: Can't Believe He's Already 18...

Happy 1.5 years Tommy!

...18 months, that is! Tommy turned 18 months today - March 10th. He even woke up at 5:10am ready to celebrate...we had a stretch of about a week going where he was sleeping til at least 6:15, with one day closer to 7am.

His 18 month check up was scheduled for tonight too, so here are the latest stats: 24 pounds, 8 ounces - same as 15 month check up; 32 inches - so he grew 2 inches, and head circumference 49.5cm, which is 1.5cm more than last time. I knew he had gotten taller as his pants looked a little shorter the other day, and the sleeves on some of his size 18 month shirts are a little short. I was not surprised his weight had not changed, as I think because he grew a few inches, the weight re-distributed itself as a result. Plus, he is SO active and alway running around, he burns off calories I think. Dr. Nito was not concerned about that. Tommy was pretty active in the office, climbing up onto a chair all by himself in the room, so he saw first-hand how active our little guy is. As we have on some of our past appointments, we did ask what he thought about Tommy's bow legs, and if it was something we should have looked at. While he is not that concerned about it since it is something that runs in John's family, he did give us a referral to a pediatric orthopedic doctor to get his opinion. We are not really concerned about it, but figured it's better to address it now while Tommy is young. I have never heard that they can do anything about bow legs. John also reached out to a friend of his who supplies orthopedic doctors to see if he had a recommendation, and it was the same one that Dr. Nito gave us to call.

Tails wanted to sit with us while we read bedtime stories

Tommy kisses his "brother" Tails...he really loves that cat!

Here the highlights of the life of this 18 month old:

-his favorite thing to play is ball - throwing, rolling, catching, banging them on the windows; soccer balls, basketballs, footballs, whatever.

-his vocabulary has dramatically increased the past 2 weeks. I have no idea how many words he actually says, and while some of the words may not sound perfect, we know what he's saying, since he's often repeating what we say. Among the most common - ball, sneeze, cheese, baby, bow-wow, pee-pee (yes, that's referring to what you are thinking); moon, and the funniest one - actually, it's two words strung together: "Oh no!" And he says it with such an inflection on the "no" you can't help but laugh - somewhat dramatic too!

-when looking at pictures in a book, Tommy is really good at identifying things that you ask him about. He also loves to learn new words. One of his new favorite books is just a book of pictures with the names of the items under them, and he points at them and looks to me to name them. He will go over and over a page sometimes, and then later on if I ask him to tell me where something is, he is able to.

-Tommy loves to show you where different body parts are when you ask him where they are - nose, eyes, ears, cheeks, chin, fingers, toes, tongue, teeth, mouth. Now I never ask him where this is, but in the tub and on the changing table, he enjoys pointing out his pee-pee. John was a little freaked out by this at first, but I told him we can't make a big deal out of it - it's completely normal. So we just respond, "yes, that's your pee-pee."

-Favorite TV show is The Fresh Beat Band. Of all the shows that are on, I can definitely tolerate that one. It's a bit cheesey, but still better than some of the cartoons that are on. He also likes Dora, Diego, Blue's Clues and Sesame Street. One morning when he was up way too early, nothing that was on was to his liking. We kept flipping channels trying to find anything...and while I swore we'd avoid this one - I have to thank BARNEY for relaxing Tommy enough that we could fall back asleep while he watched the purple guy on TV.

-Favorite food is strawberries and pears. Tommy loves his fruit - he prefers to smash bananas instead of eat them lately though. Applesauce is another favorite, along with yogurt. His favorite pasta is tortellini or ravioli. Chicken nuggets are another staple of his diet, and the occasional turkey and cheese sandwich, though lately he's been refusing that. I sent in peanut butter and jelly one day this week - even though "they" tell you to hold off on peanut butter til kids are 2. I was getting desperate for something new to try though because he was refusing the turkey and cheese lately. He has had peanut butter on crackers and when he ate a few of my peanut butter candy cakes, with no reactions, so we think we are okay on this. All in moderation. As for veggies...when I can get him to eat them, it's pureed and hidden in yogurt. Likes his snacks (veggie sticks, wagon wheels, crackers, etc.) and likes to graze. So he's not the worst eater, but not the best eater. Just like his mama.

-We have week 3 of swim lessons on Saturday. I did week 2 solo with him which I somehow survived. Tommy cried for about half the class - though I have no idea why. It wasn't cold, his friend Colin was there, and he did enjoy splashing and doing some of the activities. But he wanted out of the pool. But I'm determined we are going to stick with it!

- We are taking cues from Tommy as far as potty training goes. He is not ready to start by any means, but he does show interest when he comes in with me, likes to get the toilet paper ready, sometimes flush the toilet, and make sure I wash my hands in the sink by pointing to it when I'm done on the potty! We have a potty seat for him in his bathroom, which we ask if he wants to sit on before he takes a bath. The answer is always no, because he can't wait to get in the bathtub. So we may need to change up when we ask if he wants to do that at some point. But, he will sit on and stand in the seat fully clothed, when he feels like it. Baby steps.