As I sit down to type this post, I’m still having a hard time grasping the fact that my little baby is already a year and a half old (today, actually!). The speed at which the last 18 months has flown is kind of overwhelming at times, if I’m being honest. But at the same time, it’s also exciting because it just keeps bringing us one day closer to something fun and new. Because, really? I swear there’s something new developing by the day!
Weight & Height: Lucas has his 18 month appointment next Monday, but according to our (very) unofficial measurements, Lucas weighs about 31lbs (I question that, we’ll see next week) and is about 33-1/2 inches tall.
Eating: Gahhh…totally hit or miss here. Some days, I swear he eats more than I do. Other days, it’s a struggle to get him to eat anything, including most of his (usual) standbys. When he isn’t being super picky, we can usually count on him eating something from his favorites: chicken meatballs, hot dogs (we love Applegate Farms), cheesy spinach pasta, cold plain pasta (I know…?), blueberries, pears, grapes, apples, yogurt, PB&J, eggs, goldfish, graham crackers, Nutrigrain bars, string cheese, and most food pouches that aren’t super textured.
He also likes Gerber cookies…as does his mama.
Lucas, as you probably already read, FINALLY dropped his last bottle! He was only getting one at bedtime and, honestly, I wasn’t really pushing it. It didn’t bother me, and I figured he’d let me know when he was no longer interested. Well, he certainty did just that and, now, the bottles are tucked nicely away in the basement. WOO HOO!
Sleeping (naps): We’re finally at a time where we can be somewhat flexible with his naps, if needed. Most days, we’re (sadly) down to one nap, and he usually goes down somewhere between 10-11am. His naps can last anywhere between 1-1/2 to 3-1/2 hours. If his first nap is early enough (and short enough), he’ll occasionally take a short afternoon nap, too.
Sleeping (at night): Currently, we’re doing great and he’s sleeping anywhere between 11-13 hours a night (usually going down between 7:30-8pm and waking up between 7-8am). However, we did go through a few different issues these past few months of him waking up during the night, wide awake, and just wanting to play. And each time, he’d be up for at least two hours…it was exhausting. We finally realized that he usually ended up sporting a new tooth sometime around these wakeups, so we attributed it somewhat to that.
There was also a couple of weeks where he was waking up because he couldn’t find his paci, which was really odd (this was never an issue for him). We ended up taking a blanket out of his crib and also gave him two extra pacis in there and we’ve been fine since. I’d love to get rid of the paci, but I don’t think any of us are quite ready yet…
I was talking with one of my girlfriends about it last week, and we were both saying that if worse comes to worst, I’ll probably wait until he’s old to understand if I were to tell him that we’re “giving it to another baby to use.” Lucas has actually been the “recipient” of some bottles and pacis from friends’ of ours (i.e., not really, that’s just what the parents told their kids) and I’ve had no problem with that. So, we’ll see what happens!
Clothing: Mostly 18-24 month clothing (although some 18 month things are getting short/tight), size 5 shoes, and size 5 diapers. He’s our big boy! And I don’t think we really realized it until we saw that he’s one of the tallest in his soccer class but definitely the youngest.
Teeth: Current count = 8 fully in (4 on top, 3 on bottom, 1 molar) and 3 on the way (one on bottom, 2 molars…). These poor babes and their teeth!
What does Lucas like and what’s new lately?
- Loves cars and trucks – driving them around the house, up the walls, on people…
- Playing with his Mega Blocks and sorting them by size
- Loooooves music and dancing
- Reading books, but very particular about which ones (he’s currently obsessed with his baby prayer book, anything by Leslie Patricelli, and things with flaps or buttons
- Climbing on anything he can
- Loves putting things together and taking them apart. He will sit with an empty bottle of his for a good 10 minutes trying to put it together then taking it apart.
- Testing his limits – he’s very aware of things he shouldn’t be doing and likes to watch and see what we’ll do about it. TROUBLE, I’ll tell ya.
- Jumping on beds, couches, and…well, anything he can
- Big Block Singsong (playing this on YouTube is a saving grace some nights)
- Giving kisses and hugs
- Riding his rocking horse saying “yeee haaaa”
- Saying “Hiiiiiiiieeee” when entering a room (or to strangers at the grocery store)
- Says please and thank you (“peeez” and “dacooo”)
- Will respond with a head shake of yes or no when answering questions
- Can name most body parts and point to them on himself and others: head, hair, eyes, ears, nose, teeth, chin, cheeks, belly, hands, butt, knees, toes, fingers
- Loves to help us clean! He’ll push the broom around, follow along with the vacuum (he’s obsessed), and pick up things to put in the “garooo” (garbage).
- Likes to follow mommy into the “barooom” (bathroom) to go potty (mommy doesn’t pee alone these days).
- Can open doors on his own (i.e., the bullet above)
- Still loves his teddy
- Get’s SO excited when we say we’re going to visit Grandma/Papa/Grammie/Papa T
- Calls most things “MA, MOM, or MAMA” but knows that it’s really me
- Can identify about 3/4 of the objects from his magnet set (we have this Melissa and Doug set) and now we’re working on letters. He’s pretty good with B, L, J, and M.
- Has just recently started showing more of an interest in talking (I feel like it’s probably going to happen overnight!). He doesn’t have too many words, but his favorites (not perfect, of course) are: cheese, mom, dad, papa, pizza, car, banana (“menamena”), fish, Big Block (“keekah”), zebra, panda, cat, baby
- Obsessed with cats and “meowing” any time he sees one (real, fake, cartoon – doesn’t matter)
- Knows animal sounds for cat, horse, monkey, dog, and almost lion (we’re working on that one now!)
- His receptive language amazes us everyday – we can ask him to do tasks like go to his room and get a bib, or pick something up and throw it in the garbage, and he can do it with no problem.
- Starting to imitate (or at least try) a lot of what we say and do. We’ve definitely become aware of the fact that we need to be careful of what we say these days!
- He is quite animated…the faces he makes crack us up every single day.
Comparison:
Happy half birthday, my sweet Lucas. You certainly keep us on our toes and I have no doubt you are just going to continue to give us a run for our money. We love you to pieces, Mister. <3
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