17/18 months...and a little cousin time

We got to spend some much needed time with my brother and his family at the beginning of the month. Shaw and Easton, who are 9 months a part, really play great together and enjoy each others company. They play a lot like brothers. haha! They could entertain each other for hours but also had some issues with sharing and did a little "fighting".  We love when they get to come into town and pray that one day God's plan for them will include a church a little closer to home.

Helping Easton open Christmas presents.

 

 

Playing with his RaeRae and Easton. 

 

 

Sweet, sweet kids!

 

While they were here, Shaw turned 17 months and since it is already the middle of the month, I am combining his 17/18 month post. Plus, he won't go for his well child checkup until he is really 19 months because I will then be taking two boys to the Dr. for a check up! Holy smokes! He seems to change and advance so much during each month now it is hard to keep up but here goes!

• He had a small outpatient procedure done last week and before hand, he weighed between 21-22 pounds and was about 31 inches tall. Eager to see his stats at his check up next month! UPDATE: at the Dr. this past week (went for bronchitis) he weighed 22.6 lbs. For those that don't know the average toddler gains 5 lbs from year 1-2. He has gained almost 5 lbs in just 6 months!! The boy is really trying to catch up!
• Still wearing all the same size clothes, diapers, shoes. Some of his size 4 shoes are getting too small and some size 5s are way too big...just depends on the brand! UPDATE: Just in the last two weeks I have had to put up several pair of pants for being too short. Some were even 12-18 months in size!
• He has successfully been sleeping in his toddler bed for a few weeks now. Some nights we still have issues of him getting out of his bed and falling asleep by his door, but most nights he lays there and will go right to sleep. When he wakes up every morning he will either stay in bed and yell for us or get up and knock on his door while yelling "mommy, daddy!".
• His new thing right now is he hates to get dressed or have his diaper changed. He runs from us screaming "no, no, no!".
• Having issues with discipline this month. Trying to find the thing that works for him. Swats on the bottom work but we are also trying a "time out" spot which he still doesn't understand completely. Being a parent is HARD!
• He can ID several body parts and will usually say them while he points to them including eyes, nose, teeth, ear, hair, belly, and toes.
• He can make the animal sounds for a dog and cow. Sometimes he can do a cat, bird, horse, and frog. He also can ID several animals in his books including dog, monkey, cat, fish, giraffe, horse, pig, cow, duck, and donkey.
• I can no longer keep up with his words. He says new stuff every day and each new word surprises me! I also can't keep up with all his sayings. He says several 2 words phrases and some 3 word. He can usually tell us "want ___", "all done (while he signs it)", "more _____", "no no _____", "thank you".
• What has surprised me most about his speech is how he actually says the words right. There are only a few things that he has made words up for. For example, bath is "beeba", horse is an "E-I", and fan is "ba".
• He is into throwing fits right now. BIG fits where he bangs his head on the floor, kicks, and screams! YIKES!
• Cheese is his absolute favorite but for the last few weeks, we haven't been able to feed him enough! The boy has eaten any and everything we put in front of him. I text my mom a couple of nights ago just to let her know what all he ate and it included, "10 raspberries, 10 grapes, some rice with chicken broth, a fruit/veggie pouch, 5 pieces of broccoli, 2 pieces of cauliflower, and a whole cheese stick". WOW!
• He loves cars and trucks, and loves to scoot behind them saying "beep beep".
• Loves to color. I will give him his toddler markers or crayons and he will color in his coloring book and he also loves to color while taking a bath!
• I saw him walk backwards the other day! He is also doing really good with steps.
• Today we were playing outside, I looked over and he was half way up the climbing wall of his wooden play set! He was also trying to jump today but his little feet just couldn't leave the ground!
• He loves being around other kids! I love how social he is!
• He now has 10 or 11 teeth. He won't let me look to see if both top molars have come in. UPDATE: He for sure has 11 teeth. I believe 12 and 13 are also coming in.
• Loves to brush his teeth every night
• Loves our dogs more and more but is also getting more aggressive with them! They don't like it one bit and just run from him!

Shaw Michael you surprise us every single day with the things you do! You are becoming such a big boy. We could not be more proud of you! Mommy also can not believe you are going to be a big brother in just a few weeks. I hope the transition is smooth and you love your "bubba" from the very start!