eighteen months

he turned eighteen months today ... seems like a big milestone. here are a few photos from our futile attempts to play photographers ... enjoy!

eighteen month update:

• has mastered walking and is now attempting running. his running in place is really funny.
• still a good eater and has gotten much better about eating things with varied consistency. he would eat pretty much most things, but if the consistency wasn't mushy, he wasn't too crazy about it. not anymore-yea! no more pureeing certain things.
• still a good sleeper ... wakes up between 6:45-7:15am, naps 2-2.5 (occasionally 3) hours in the afternoon, and goes to bed at 7pm. for this we are very grateful and I still stand by the words, babywise (the book) works, it really does! :)
• starting to really understand a lot of what we say - he can follow directions pretty well. you can literally watch him learn something new every single day; so much fun!
• not crazy about the nursery at church or mother's day out. he does okay, but some days are worse than others as far as him just being unsettled. he rarely cries any other time, but it never fails when I pick him up, they will say he cried off and on the whole time. this is hard ... as a parent you never want your child to be sad. I know he will get through this but it is still no fun.
• wants to talk a lot, and he tries to talk a lot too! he can put two words together, like "momma car" or "blue truck." he will often "jabber" riding in his car seat, which is really amusing.
• still doing well with his sign language. he's learned a few new ones: dirty, train, water, and bike.
• he is in the squirmy phase ... if you aren't reading, sitting in a high chair or car seat, he likes to be moving around. lots of energy!
• getting much better at blanket time (telling him to stay on a blanket with several toys and playing by himself, until Momma says he can get off the blanket). 20 minutes is his record so far.
• still loves stuffed animals and pillows.
• his eyes have turned more green and less blue. they are almost identical to my brother's.
• loves to try to eat with a fork and a spoon. he's much better with a fork though!
• loves to be outside
• has started to interact with the dogs a lot more - he brings them their toys and tries to pet and play with them. bricks is afraid of him (go figure, bricks is a 95 pound teddy bear), shelby doesn't really "play," and savannah will sometimes play, sometimes not.
• loves shoes. if there are shoes laying around the house, he will pick them up and bring them to their rightful owner saying "momma shoes" or "da-da shoes."
• henry is curious but not overly so. we have not "baby-proofed" anything in our house (which may or may not be wise) and don't plan on doing so. I guess we figure he needs to learn what cabinets he can and can't get into and if we go to someone else's house, that house may not be baby-proof either. we just keep a close eye on him and try to work with him on what he can and can't touch. so far this has worked pretty well (that doesn't mean there won't be a post down the road where I eat these words!).
• he weighs 26 pounds. not sure how tall he is. he hasn't gained weight in a while-all the walking is burning calories I suppose!
• he still has the sweetest smile ever.
• he still likes to be rocked from time to time and enjoys snuggling.
• who knows what the next 18 months will bring, but these past 18 have been a blessing and a journey. God is good!