Thursday, October 11 ... 18 months

Remember when I said, "we can stop counting in months after 18 months." Remember how that seemed ages ago. Remember how we thought that day wouldn't really come? Remember when we thought that eventually we would know what we were doing?

Well, we're here. 18 months old. 1 and a half years. I've been doing a lot more of "this time last year", because last year was 6 months old -- the point where he became tolerable, I felt like in was actually
being a good mom (or really a mon at all -- remember when I just felt like a really good babysitter?), and he started doing things worth remembering.

For example, one year ago we went to the farm. We took pictures in the pumpkin patch and he tried to crawl in the grass while we drank apple cider. He did baby yoga and scooted one inch at a time. This year (though after this 18 month day) he ran around the pumpkins, carried them around, danced in the grass, and ate Pumpkin Ice Cream.

Since last month ...

He sings "head, shoulders, knees, and toes", usually while standing up on something he should be (his ride-on dinosaur or the ottoman).

He pretends the ottoman, the couch, and anything with an incline is a slide, saying "WEEEEEEEEEE!" He pretends to cook, usually soup. He takes after his dad!

And on the actual slide, he's a total pro. Dadda lets him go by himself ... Momma's not ready for that yet.

He pretends to leave for work -- picks up a bag or book, waves bye bye, and gives me a kiss. Sometimes he rides to work on his dinosaur.

He obeys when it's important, standing on his "oven spot" (a tile in the kitchen) when we open the oven.

He does "Cheers'" at dinner, clinking his cup on ours. We've had to limit it to once per meal (an once during cocktail hour) or else it never stops.

He asks for certain foods - "nana" is banana, "mil" is milk, and "ka-ka" is cookie. He also asks EVERY NIGHT to take a bath, "buh-buh". And every morning he asks for blues clues.

He says bye-bye to everything when it's done -- Blue's Clues, the laundry, breakfast.

He can go to bed without nursing. Whimpers for a few minutes but usually goes down very well. We nurse in the morning and as soon as I get home (Usually a "MOMMA!!!" and then immediately the sign for nursing).

We've set up a "book nook" -- really just a pile of pillows on top of the old egg-crate mattress. We sit and read a book, sing a goodnight song, and put him to bed. Before we got rid of the guest bed, we put the beanbag chair next to the crib and started reading there. One day baby pulled a bunch of pillows over and sat down and read a book, all by himself.

He says some of the words in "goodnight moon" - cow, moon, house, mouse, hush, stars, and sometimes kittens. (which, apparently, is SUPER advanced for his age. I know all parents think their kids are geniuses, but I think we may have a nerd on our hands).

He's trying to jump. He bends down and sort of lurches forward.

He can correctly point to each body part, including Elbow and Back. He points to himself when we ask "Where is Rowan?" At his 18 month checkup he pointed to the doctor when we asked "Where is Dr. Newman?" Dr. Newman was very impressed (and I don't think he's impressed by much, having done this for 40 years).

Oh, and he's started smacking people. sometimes for fun. that's been awesome.