18 months

I can't believe my "baby" is a year and a half old!

At Kennywood Park

Neil has made some leaps and bounds with motor skills recently. He's starting to climb more, up on the couch, into the car at daycare, etc. But he still wants me to hold him over walking/climbing himself. I feel mean but sometimes I tell him he has legs and he can walk. He actually used to go up and down the stairs more than he does now (maybe the novelty wore off). 

Peek a boo! (At a Pirates game)

Neil is still eating really well. He has good days and bad but in general he still eats more than I do. If he doesn't eat as much one day, daycare keeps the extra. I check the fridge every day so I know if I should pack less for the following day (if he has leftovers).

In general, Neil's not biting as much BUT he bit a kid at daycare leaving marks. I'm mortified and apologized a bunch of times. It turns out he and the other kid (who is a year older and new to daycare) got into a little argument and according to the other kid's dad his kid hits a lot. So who knows what really happened there. I keep a close eye on Neil when other kids are around and if it looks like there's a chance he's going to bite I will step in. However, I haven't seen it myself around other kids.

Neil is also getting more assertive. I blame part of this on the other kids at daycare and seeing other behaviors but I know individual personality also comes into play so we'll see what happens as he continues to get older. He pushes people away if he doesn't want them close. He does seem to be okay with sharing toys, etc. from what I can see though.

Eating ice cream (mine)

Since this is 18 months I'll talk again about schedule although it's pretty settled at this point.

7:00am wakes up for the day- 7 days a week

• On the weekend nurses and then has yogurt for breakfast

• During the week goes to daycare and has yogurt/what I pumped for breakfast at daycare

11:00am lunch

• I try to send a protein, veggie, and fruit along with cow's milk

12:30pm nap

• Usually 2-3 hours

3:30pm snack

• At daycare this is almost always a banana. I send a banana almost daily to daycare. He gets milk or water whenever he wants it throughout the day.

5:45pm dinner

• Again I try to get protein, veggie, and fruit, and we often give him animal crackers. With cow's milk

7:00-7:30 start bedtime routine

• Bath  (not daily)

• Change diaper

• Put on pajamas (let him choose out of two)

• Choose book(s)

• Brush teeth

• Read book(s) with Daddy

• Nurse

Neil has started to pick out books that he really likes. He likes to talk along with the book and knows what's coming in a lot of the parts. His favorites right now are:

• The Little Engine That Could

• Hand, Hand, Fingers Thumb

• We All Go Traveling By

Neil still throws tantrums but it's getting more predictable. Knock on wood! Usually it's because he's not getting what he wants and of course it's worse when he's tired. One day I made him walk in from the car after we got home and he threw himself on the driveway. Since we're on a pretty dead street and I could hear him screaming, I ran in the house to drop some stuff off, keeping an eye on him. I could hear the screaming getting closer as he walked into the garage still throwing a tantrum. I guess he just wants attention!

We did a study at the University of Pittsburgh where he proved that he doesn't help or share. They told me this is normal for his age. They did things like drop something on the floor to see how he would react. He watched but did nothing- not when she reached out her hand for the item, and not even when she asked him to get the thing she dropped. It was hard to sit there and not tell him to go get the items or help. (I was in a chair filling out surveys.) He may not help other people but he does help us. He throws things in the garbage for us (we used this trick on my brother who is 16 years younger than me), helps me carry in the diaper bag from the car after daycare, and sometimes just comes up and pats me on the shoulder or back. It's interesting to see that he won't do any of that for someone he doesn't know.

Waiting patiently at the doctor's office

Neil is still talking like crazy. He repeats pretty much everything. He of course can't pronounce everything correctly, but he talks quite a bit, to us. He doesn't talk as much around other people until he gets comfortable. There are a lot of times that we can't understand what he's saying unless we can get some context but he definitely repeats the same syllables.

He looks forward to this at church now

This is too early, but potty training. Apparently at daycare they have gotten him to go to the bathroom on the toilet (both peeing and pooping). I think it's when they've moved him to the toilet before he actually goes- when he squats to start pooping. We did buy him a toilet seat for home but he hasn't gone at home yet, although he likes to sit on it and asks to sit on the potty sometimes. So we're going with it but not taking away diapers or anything. I'm not sure he's really ready, just very interested. He doesn't tell us when he has to go, yet. And so far when he's asked, he's just sat there and not actually gone to the bathroom.

Stats:
Clothing - 18 month tops and 12 month bottoms. He's also in 18 month pajamas. 

Diapers – size 3
Shoes - size 5

Weight - I will update this after the doctor appointment, which isn't for a few weeks. I actually did have him at the doctor's for something else and he weighed in at 25 pounds with clothes and shoes on.

Height -  I will update this after the doctor appointment, which isn't for a few weeks.