18 Month Old Charlie

The day has come! My little boy is officially 18 months old. I'm not sure why, but I feel like this is a huge milestone for kids. Maybe it's because I feel like it's the age they are officially not a "baby" anymore and have  entered into the realm of true "toddlerhood". Maybe it's because he can go to nursery, his first class at church, so I don't have to wrestle/entertain him for three straight hours on Sundays. Maybe it's because he's got the hang of walking and running and is on the cusp of talking! I'm not sure what it is, but I'm loving this can't-sit-still, babble-all-day, get-into-everything stage.

You can't tell much in this picture, but I feel like he has really been growing like a weed the last few months! More hair, bigger hands and feet, getting taller and stronger! And cuter. How does he possibly keep getting cuter? I am so blessed to be his mom!

Here are some fun things about Charlie at 18 months:

• Wears size 12-18 month (just about grown out of those), 18 month, and 18-24 month clothes. Size 4 or 5 shoes.
• Has 8 teeth (5 on top, 3 on bottom) and is currently working on cutting in one more on top, and we're expecting a bottom one soon-ish so he can be even. :) This includes 2 molars on top.
• Because of his great chompers, he can eat basically anything now and WILL eat just about anything if you let him. So glad he's not a picky boy, although recently he has been deciding that he doesn't like a few things and will use his tongue to push it back out of his mouth. It seems to be a texture thing, and on occasion he won't like the taste of something.
• Drinks whole milk twice a day still (one sippy cup full in mid-morning, and a comforting bottle at night!)
• Great sleeper still. Goes to bed around 8pm and wakes up around 7:30am or so. He LOVES to be in his crib. He'll sometimes fake being tired so we'll let him go "nigh nigh" and he'll just stay up and play and babble in his crib until he passes out. Haha.
• His favorite hobby is to gather, pick up, and sort a variety of toys and objects... basically whatever he can get his hands on. He likes to try to pick up as many different things in his hands as he can and will get mad if he can't grab something else because his hands are too full.
• He LOVES to read. We will ask him to go get a book and he'll disappear into the other room and come back with a book of his choice. And sometimes even without having to be ask, he grabs a book and brings it up to me and puts it on me and says "uhh?" and looks at me with those cute eyes, and let's be honest, I can't resist. Even if I'm really busy, I'll read him that book. Even if I've read that book a bajillion times, I'll read that book. He's just that sweet.
• Points to pictures in books. I'll ask him, "Charlie, where's the moon?" and he'll point to it, or "Where's Curious George?" and he'll point. He gets it right a lot, but often he just points to the biggest, most obvious object. So I try to make it hard and then when he gets it wrong, I get to teach him, which is one of my favorite things to do. He also likes to repetitively point at books like he's "counting" the things on the page. Silly little copycat.
• Knows two hand signs! "More" and "All done". These two signs have saved our lives. No more screaming at mealtime when he wants more. Now he knows to quietly sign it and he'll get more. Amazing. Also, whenever we're done with anything (food, TV, toys, etc) and I have to take it away from him, I just tell him "all done" and do the sign. He'll do it with me and then he just understands that we're all done now and it prevents him from getting mad or crying. Genius, I tell you. 
• Waves hello and goodbye
• Gives hugs and kisses freely
• Folds his arms when we tell him it's time to pray
• Claps his hands and stomps his feet when we sing the "Roll Your Hands" primary song. And then, of course, folds and rocks his arms back and forth. It's really really cute.
• Personality-wise, he's still just the sweetest boy. He doesn't throw or hit or spit. He's just so nice and gentle and happy. Like a typical boy, he loves to be outside and loves to play in dirt. He also is incapable of sitting still and doesn't really pay attention when I take him places like story time, but that's okay... we'll just get some practice with structured learning/play time. I just feel so happy and so lucky and so blessed to be his mother. 

Words Charlie knows:

• "Uck" or "Guck" for duck, stuck, truck, and car
• "Ba Ba" for bottle/milk
• "Uh oh" for uh oh ;)
• "Ma Ma" when asked to say it (I'm not sure if he knows that means Mommy yet)
• "Ahh uhh" (high to low pitch) for All Done
• "Aaayyyy" for hey/hi
• "Aa mmen" for amen (at the end of a prayer)
• "Bah" for ball, when asked to repeat it
• "Moon" for moon :)
• Makes animal noises when we ask him what the animal says: 
• "Mooooo" for cow
• "Bawh bah baw" (really high pitched and cute) for kitty and puppy dog - He loves to talk to all animals in this cute high-pitched voice, like he knows he's bigger than they are. 
• And he has been known to attempt a "cock a doodle doo" for a rooster
• And here's the list of words I know he understands but doesn't say:
• Charlie
• Book
• Blanket
• Prayer
• Daddy
• Mommy
• Let's go/Ready to go?
• Night night
• Bath
• Food/hungry/eat/snack/cracker
• Drink
• Toys/play

I am sure there are a thousand little things that he does that I'm forgetting because he's learning so much and changing every day. It's so rewarding to watch him learn and grow. Finally, here's a picture of my sweet 18 month old toddler posing and looking oh-so dapper:

We love you, Charlie!