Walking with the Cooks: Happy 18 months, Josiah!

I'll be honest, I am really liking this age and I know it only gets better from here! Communication is blossoming and we are back to being able to do more fun things as a family. It is hard to believe that when Sarah was this age I was about 6 months along in my Josiah pregnancy. In fact, it makes me tired just thinking about it . . . So glad our little boy is here and growing and giggling. We do lots of giggling!

Weight: 28 lbs 4 ozs (92%)
Height: 35 in (99%)
Head: 19 in (72%)
Diaper: cloth and size 5
Clothing: 18 and 24 month, some 2T, shoe- size 6

Likes: markers (we don't always like that he likes them!), sandbox time, swinging, holding a finger, whispering, saying "amen," being chased, doing whatever Sarah is doing (especially when she is pretending or showing me what she has drawn), rough-housing with dad, maracas and the tambourine, water bottles, tickle time (especially his feet)

Dislikes: being dropped off at nursery (though he really loves playing at church and settles down quickly), new people (sometimes- he doesn't fuss, but he keeps a firm grip on mom or dad), not getting the food he wants to eat (so don't let him see doughnuts before dinner!), pooping (he was a little constipated this month), Sarah swinging in the baby swing before him

Schedule: When we are home we still stick to this routine and we try to always be home by 1pm when Sarah also has a rest time.

7 am: Up and at 'em
9am: Nap (when we're at home)
11am: Wake and eat
1pm: Nap
3-4 pm: Wake and eat (then eat a little more at dinner)
7 pm: Bed time!

Sleeping: Again, I can say we are so thankful that Josiah usually is happy to stay in bed until 7am. We don't take that for granted with this boy! He is also still generally napping in the morning when we are at home, but we don't sweat it if he doesn't. I find that even if he just lays down upstairs for an hour he is more likely to happily make it to his 1pm nap. The 1pm nap is the nap we really fight for since it is when Sarah also lies down. When everyone is healthy we are at church three mornings a week and are probably out one other day for shopping and such, so he probably takes his first nap about three mornings a week- I love it!

Eating: Josiah loves his "muk" (milk) and asks for water more than Sarah ever has between meals. He usually has eggs or banana with peanut butter (with peanut butter because Dave did it for Sarah and Josiah wants to be like Sarah) for breakfast. For lunch we have leftovers or a peanut butter sandwich. His favorite sides are mozzarella cheese, fruit (haven't found one he doesn't love), and crackers. Still doesn't love vegetables, but eats them in small regular doses. The sweet boy definitely has a sweet tooth!

Moving: He is an active boy. He loves it when we let him walk up the stairs with us and likes to try to jump. Josiah loves to slide. Climbing is a favorite activity now and he sometimes surprises me. I recently put him in his booster seat to color and pushed him up to the table, but didn't strap him in. Rather than calling me when he was finished, he slide/twisted down and surprised me by showing up by my side. He still loves to jump on the couch and turn the lights and fan on/off.

Communication: This is the area where I feel like he has blossomed the most and it is super fun! He will repeat any word we ask him to say, though, of course, he says it quite his own way. He says "thank you", "please", "hi", and "bye bye" really consistently, often without being asked, which makes us so proud. He also likes to say "bite", "shoe", "crayon" (but he now means marker!), "down down" (when I'm holding him), "amen", "baby", and "night night."

Teething: I don't even know :) I seem to remember his being fussy and we thought it was teething a while back, but I don't remember now!

Random:
-He had his first cold of the season last week. It was not fun for anyone. He didn't mind having his nose wiped so much, but generally became quite the fussy pants. So glad our little guy is feeling better now!
-Recently he accidentally elbowed Sarah in the nose and I asked him to say he was sorry and he just kind of smiled, so I asked him to give her a kiss and he leaned right in and gave her a good open mouth smackeroo!

Next appointment: Monday, May 5, 2013 at 10:20am