ONE and a HALF!

We have a 1 1/2 year old! While a lot changes physically in the first year, it is amazing to see the growth in year 2. Luke is constantly learning, developing and growing. He has become such a fun, sweet little boy. He loves to be the center of attention and performs for company. He is also starting to test his limits and his parents' patience. Stubborn and strong-willed this one. So begins a life-long effort to smooth the edges of this will without stifling his God-given brazen personality.

I will apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I use this blog as my way to journal, so I like to get in all the details. 

18 month updates:

• Weight 27.3 lbs (75th percentile); height 34.5 inches (90th percentile, he is a tall boy); head circumference 50th percentile
• Wears mostly 12-18 month and 18 month sizes; size 6.5-7 shoe (W or XW)
• Still in a size 4 diaper (finally able to move away from the organic diapers, allergy cured!); size 5 overnight diapers
• Has several words, but must say "uh-oh" and "no" or "no-no-no-no" a million times a day. Other words include "bye" with a cute wave, "hello", "ba" (bath), "bar" (Barney), "buh" (bubbles), "doggie", "cracker" and more.
• His walking skills have progressed to include the toddler run, which is adorable. Still likes to walk on his toes.
• Loves songs with hand motions and, for this reason, the kid L-O-V-E-S Barney. I mean loves him. I'm talking the old Barney made in the 90s. They play several episodes a day on the Sprout channel and we have our DVR record them all so we can play them at our convenience. He still has a short attention span, so he never really watches for more then 5-10 minutes at a time, but he will bring you the remote and say "Bar" so you will turn it on for him. This happens probably 5 times a day.  He is not into any other show, just Barney. He dances with the kids and even ran to get one of his hats the other day when the show featured a little segment where they all wore hats. I love that it is so educational and fun for him at the same time. The kids are little weird, but he doesn't have to know that yet.
• Finally, at 16 months, he started fully sleeping through the night. By that I mean no more wakings in the 5:00 hour for milk. He was fully sleeping and waking regularly in the 6:00 hour, sometimes later. 
• Just got another tooth, bringing the grand total to I think maybe 5 on the bottom, and at least 10 on top. He now thinks he is invincible and can eat anything. He adores fruit and likes to put entire strawberries in his mouth. Made me nervous at first, but he chomps right away at them and, if he bit off more than he could chew (ha! pardon the pun) he will spit it out. 
• Regular meals include any of the following: apple sweet potato pancakes, scrambled eggs (sometimes with cheese and cauliflower puree), yogurt, carrot/zucchini muffins, applesauce, applesauce mixed with pureed veggies to sweeten the veggies a bit but still get them in him, special mac and cheese with pureed cauliflower, grilled cheese (sometimes regular, sometimes with veggie puree mixed with the cheese), peanut butter and strawberry jelly, ravioli, chicken meatballs, brown rice, spaghetti, pesto pasta, chicken burgers with spinach and aged cheddar, and sloppy joe meat with veggie puree. The kid loves sweet things and savors the rare little bites of chocolate, cookie, or ice cream. Solid veggies are still not so popular. We sneak in a few green beans when we can, but he usually won't touch veggies, thus my effors to get them in other ways. Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook has become a popular one at our house. Say what you will, but I am determined to get this kid on the right nutrition track. 
• Loves to play in the bath and pool. We recently got a baby pool and he splashed up a storm! As soon as I mention "bath" at the end of the day, he goes running back to his bathroom and starts pulling at his clothes. Tonight he said "on" as he pulled as his shirt. Wrong word, Buddy, but close!
• Loves to push buttons, turn lights on and off. I recently got him a few Melissa and Doug puzzles with the big handles and also some that make noise to see if his love for touching everything will translate to puzzles. 
• Makes kissy faces and sounds and will put his lips together and lean in when you ask for a kiss. Love this! Also gives great little hugs, but only when he is not too busy.
• Climbs on everything: chair, couch, ottoman, our bed, and soon (I am afraid) out of his crib. He has not yet mastered the latter. But he has been caught with one leg stuck at the top of his crib as if he was about to attempt escape, but realized his legs were too short to make it happen, and had to cry out for help.
• Getting better at communicating. Still likes to point at everything and just squeal or mostly say "uh" or "dis" (this), but we're working to change this. Has a few baby signs, but has decided the "more" sign is for universal use whenever he wants anything. Makes it difficult to decipher exactly what he wants sometimes, but at least he is not just whining about wanting something (though this happens, too!).
• Still attached to the paci and blankie and takes milk from a bottle. Our pediatrician told us not to worry about it. He has a large paci basket that all kids contribute to at their 2 year check-up if they still have pacis at that point. They get to exchange all their pacis for suckers. He also said it was no big deal to allow him to continue with the bottle because it ensured he still got the milk his body needs at this age. 
• Loves to play in mommy's stuff: purse, make-up (and writes all over his face with my eyeliner), shoes, etc. Everything is fun and fascinating to him. He also loves to put bags and purses on his arm and walk around. We know he has excellent fine motor skills because he easily unscrews the lids on my moisturizer jars and can put the mascara wand back in the tube with little effort. I know all this sounds like questionable behavior, but come on, he's a baby, and a curious one at that! He would also go to town in daddy's stuff if only he could get his hands on that camera bag....

Recent pictures:

Luke LOVES to play with my old pots/pans and mixing bowls that I have set aside just for him. He will pretend to pour things in the bowls, then stir them. The other day he put his blankie in a bowl and stirred it around with his spoon. He also makes what my mom calls "potions" with his food by pouring one thing into another, then stirring and mixing, but never eating. Hmm...

The kid is so silly. He loves to climb into an empty laundry basket or even fill it with random things and push it all around the floor. 

The crazy boy also thinks it is hilarious to walk around with this bucket on his head!

And to push Grammie's vacuum around the room. He seriously did laps with it! It was hysterical!

The child loves to play outside. I recently bought him this little push trike that he loves. The long handle comes off so that Luke can ride it later as a real trike, and mommy and daddy won't have to look like such dorks pushing him around. The things we do for a happy boy!

He was playing on the hammock and then...flipped out and hit his head on the metal bar below. I even had my hand on him the entire time! He screamed, of course, and Allen ran to get some ice cream to both attempt to calm him down and also allow us to better assess the injury. We called the pediatrician (who has awesome after hours services!) and were just advised to keep ice on it. His first black eye! :(

We tried to get the black eye on camera, but it went away quickly. Pic below was a day or 2 later. 

We decided that the only way Mommy and Daddy could play with the boy outside was if there was a way to cool down. Allen found this fun baby pool at Target. Luke loves the water slide and the sprinkler that comes out of the elephant trunk. 

Intently watching Barney while cuddling with his puppy. 

Granny Dot and Grand Dad wanted to take the grandboys to Chuck E Cheese when they were here for a visit. Luke had a ball.

With Aunt April and Nanna.

How precious is this? He loves to talk on the phone, and even uses hand gestures! Just today he brought Grammie the phone and said "Ma-Ma", so they called me. I love talking to him during the work day!

His silly face.

His "aren't I cute?" face.

His sweet face.

The kid is non-stop action, so we recently enrolled him in Kindermusik. We definitely had the ADD child in the bunch, but he was also the youngest (18 mos - 3 yrs), so that was part of it. The class encourages children to just be kids and have fun, so his running amuck was fine.

Here he is jumping high! 

And this would be his "look at me, everybody!" pose. 

In order to encourage socialization, we are looking to enroll Luke in a little Mother's Day Out program a couple days a week starting in September. I got him the cutest little backpack and lunch box for "school" and can't wait to put up pictures for our next post!

We continued to feel beyond blessed by God's goodness in entrusting this sweet package to us. 

It brings us such joy to watch him grow.