Eighteen Months

It's hard to believe that Jack is a year and a half old already. He has certainly grown from babyhood into toddlerhood these last couple of months. I took him to the doctor this morning. He remains in the 50th percentile for height and weight at 32 1/4 inches tall and 26 pounds. He completed all the shots he will need until he is ready for school. Woo hoo! He has 16 teeth. His next teeth will be his 2 year molars and that completes the baby teeth. Jack's vocabulary is expanding every day. The doctor asked if he has said at least a dozen words. He has. His favorite dozen are cow, kitty, thank you, more, dog (said with a southern accent!!), car, strawberries, cheese, book, mama, dad, and yeah.

The things Jack knows amazes me. If he sees me or John do something once, that's what's supposed to be done and he can do it! Recently, Jack saw John putting the shoe tree in his dress shoes. Now he wants to put them in every shoe. The other day I got out a book that has photographs of lots of people who love Jack in it. If I asked him questions like, Can you find Grandma?, he'd turn the pages until he found her photograph. I was amazed that he knew everyone's name because he doesn't say their names.

Jack loves the outdoors. Unfortunately, it's been so hot that it's been hard to get him outside. That's been a source of frustration for my willful little toddler. Since we've had to play inside, I've been noticing how much Jack likes to dress up. If he rides his motorcycle, he thinks he should wear Daddy's cycling helmet.

If he rides his pony, he thinks he should wear his hat. 

It's awfully cute to see his imagination kicking in. He continues to play with his kitchen daily. He likes to pretend he has made something and then eat it. Cars continue to be an obsession. He loves puzzles and books. His new favorite thing is his motorcycle (big wheel). He rides it all over the house. We've been working on the shape sorter, but he cheats at the task. If it doesn't go right in, he lifts off the lid and tosses it in the bucket. He's quite the problem solver!

Jack's a good sleeper. I expected the doctor to tell me that he was anemic again, but he isn't. Typically, he sleeps from 8 pm to 8 am. Then he naps from about 11-2. I am so grateful that he got the Thorn sleep gene!

I've been a little concerned that since I stay home with Jack he may not be getting as much interaction with other children as he needs to develop socially. We've been making an effort to get to church every Sunday where Jack thoroughly enjoys the nursery. We've also been going to the library once a week for toddler story hour. He hasn't quite decided if he likes that or not! I expressed my social concerns to the pediatrician this morning. She said that it's obvious to her that Jack is plenty social and that I don't need to worry. She said generally kids don't play together when they are Jack's age anyway. That made me feel better.

Overall, we have a healthy, happy eighteen month old. Thanks for putting up with my list of Jack's milestones today. I tend to use this as a tool to catch up on Jack's baby book, so it helps to have it all documented. I swear I'm not just bragging about my brilliant child! :-)