18 Months

This past Monday Colton turned 18 months. There have been so many big changes in the last three months in terms of development. He definitely looks more and more like a little boy and less like a baby. He has so much personality and so many new words, phrases and sounds and his movements are becoming a lot less wobbly and unsteady.

His check-up with Dr. Kathy was great. He weighed 27.4 lbs. (70th percentile), head circumference in the 70th percentile and he was a whopping 35 inches tall which was not even on the chart (chart stopped at 99th percentile). He grew three inches since his last visit. I could tell he was getting taller but I hadn’t realized it was three inches!! What’s so crazy is that his little buddy James is even taller than he is, I’m not sure what’s in the water with boys these days but I definitely think we will have a generation of tall men!!

Let’s see, personality wise he is such a happy guy. He smiles all the time and loves to show off his 16 “teef”. He only has four molars left to get around two years old. He knows all of his body parts and can point them out on other people and animals as well. He counts to four at home but school says he counts to 10 there. I’ve noticed he does a lot more at school around the other kids but at home he doesn’t always like to perform his new “tricks” for mommy and daddy ☺ He was a little slow saying legible words but in the last month he has really gotten a lot better. He loves to talk and have conversations but most of the time we have no idea what he’s saying.

He LOVES his Darby and other dogs. The only bad thing is that he is sensitive to dog saliva. I never knew that some people are allergic to the dander (he is not) and some it’s just the saliva. Thankfully it just results in little hives and red bumps when he gets licked, primarily on the face. Now try telling a toddler who LOVES to rub himself all over doggies that he can't get licked!! If it gets really bad we’ll give him a little Benadryl but otherwise they usually go away shortly after.

His big allergy has thankfully not given us trouble recently. Daycare has been extremely helpful in monitoring and warning the other parents and all of the parents have been very respectful and made sure to provide peanut free snacks and foods for their kids. We are looking forward to introducing sunflower butter soon and hope to be able to share some sunflower snacks with his classmates since they can’t enjoy peanut butter ☺

Colton is a good eater. He usually eats bigger meals for breakfast and lunch and will sometimes refuse dinner if he’s not hungry. At first I would worry and prepare any kind of food I could think of but I think he just has a good idea of when he’s full and when he’s hungry so I stopped worrying if he doesn’t eat as much at one meal. He loves his whole milk and still drinks it three times a day and otherwise it’s water, water and more water. Once in a blue moon I’ll give him apple juice which, of course, he LOVES.

The only challenge we have (right now) is napping. He is a champ at daycare and gets on his mat without any trouble and naps for an hour to two hours. At home, that’s not the case. We are lucky to get 30 minutes and it’s a battle!! I’ve tried everything from recreating the set-up at daycare to crying it out and nothing works. On occasion he’ll fall asleep in the stroller or car and I can get him into bed for a long nap but that’s pretty rare. I still work hard to make sure he at least has the opportunity to nap but I’ve given up on ever planning to get anything done during that time of day on the weekends!! As long as his bedtime stays consistent and he gets good night time sleep that works for us. He usually goes to bed between 7:30 and 8 and wakes up between 7 and 7:30. He’s probably only woken up a few times in the middle of the night during the past two or three months. Bedtime routine is still the same, bath, pjs, three books, water, prayers and then he points to his crib because he’s ready to go to sleep. Most of the time I lay him down and blow him a kiss and walk out and we won’t hear a peep until the morning. On occasion we like to pop back up and make mommy or daddy do it all over again!!

As far as playtime Colton loves to drive –the tractor, the truck or car, and basically anything with a wheel. He’ll turn the steering wheel and pound on the horn and say “beep beep.” He loves the big boy swing, slides and mud and/or sand. The dirtier he is, the better. He loves to dance and Mickey Mouse Club House is his favorite cartoon. He now attempts to do the “hot dog dance” at the end of the show. He also loves “badoons” and any sort of ball that he can throw or steal and run away with.

His only major dislike is being on his changing table. Not sure why but he still cries and throws a fit when we lay him down for a diaper change. After 18 months you’d think he’d be over that!! He’s shown some really early signs of potty training cues such as saying “I stinky”, “pee pee” and “poo”. He also will cry and get very upset if he accidently goes on the floor while waiting to get in the bath. The doctor suggested we get a small potty for him to start sitting on but we won’t start officially training until close to 2 years old. Thankfully school starts that very early and he’s been watching the potty video and other kids go for potty breaks so he’s had some introduction. From what I hear boys can be tough so we’ll just keep praying he sends us these good signs!!

Last, but not least, Colton is a biter. There, I said it. He gets at least two to three reports a week (sometimes more). They keep assuring me it’s just a stage that went along with getting all those teeth right around the same time. Now that they are all pretty much in we are working extra hard to nip this in the bud!! It’s so hard though because he doesn’t do it at home, only to his little friends at school. They use the thinking chair and time out and have provided us a few books that we read at bedtime such as “Teeth are not for biting.” I feel horrible and always want to apologize to other child’s parents but they don’t allow you to know who bit or was bitten. He’s been bitten at least twice that we know of so maybe soon he’ll get the hint??? Any tips from other moms of biters?

Alright, that’s a long enough update!! We don’t return to the doctor until two years old. It’s kind of crazy to think that our next visit will be two weeks before I give birth to a new brother or sister!!

** The photos above are courtesy of Anwen Elizabeth Photography and were taken at his girlfriend Bri's 1st birthday party.

Love,

Jenny