A Year and a Half!!!

I'm 18-months old today. My checkup isn't till next week, so I don't have any new stats. But I figured I'd at least start on an 18-Month Update...

MOVEMENT: Mommy says I've regressed as she'll often find me crawling around . . . pretending to be a cat or cow, "meowing" or "mooing". But mostly, I run around to get from place to place. I'm getting quite proficient at hopping and jumping. When I want to be silly, I like to spin and twirl around. I especially like it when mommy or daddy spins me around. I like to help mommy sweep and wipe my hands & clean my tray when I'm done eating. I can climb onto the couch and into my parents' bed.

COMMUNICATION: I've been working on my 3-word sentences these past few months - "I get down.", "I got it.", "I broke it.", "I want it.", "Where is it?", and most recently "I love you." I say a new word or two almost every day. I like to repeat whatever words my parents say, especially when daddy is driving in annoying traffic, much to his chagrin. I say "thank you" often. I still sign some words quite frequently like "milk", "airplane", and "more". I've created my own signs for "help" and "spin" which I use quite often, too. I can identify several more body parts now like mouth, teeth, lips, chin, hair, fingers, hands, knees, and feet. I also like to make animals sounds when asked "What does an X say?" like horse, cow, cat, dog, duck, sheep, chicken, sea lion/seal, chimpanzee/monkey, pig, bird, lion, and frog.

EATING: I've had 16-teeth for most of the last 3 months. Mommy doesn't have to cut my food as small anymore, but sometimes she forgets. I'll eat almost anything, especially Chinese. My current everyday favorites are hot dogs, broccoli, cheese, and rice. Still like noodles of all kinds, especially spaghetti and mac-n-cheese. Apples right off the core have become my favorite fruit. I enjoy eating my Cheerios in milk without any assistance. Yogurt is also quite tasty for breakfast. I'm eating two breakfasts, lunch, and two dinners with snacks in between these days. I've pretty much given up milk before bedtime.

PLAYING: Not much has changed in this arena. I still like playing outdoors and will whine & fuss when it's time to come in. Balls and balloons are still my favorite. I'm getting really good at throwing overhand. I can even aim what direction to throw at. I've been practicing with our next door neighbor. I'm also getting good at playing with other kids not just around them, like taking turns on the slide or playing bumber cars at daycare. I can cruise quite quickly, forwards and backwards, on my riding toys and even steer, although often I just muscle it. My current favorite book is Baby Einstein's Jane's Animal Expedition. I like all the animals hiding behind the flaps.

SLEEPING: I can climb in and out of my crib with ease. These days, I prefer sleeping in the big bed next to my crib, but I need mommy or daddy to keep me company until I fall asleep. Once I fall asleep, I'm usually out till morning.

It's Official . . .

I can climb out of my crib all by myself.

I snuck out of my crib FIVE times last night after Mommy put me to bed. The 1st time, Mommy spotted me in the doorway to my room. The 2nd time, I found her in the office. The 3rd time, I found Daddy watching TV in the livingroom. The 4th time, I hung out in the kitchen for a little bit before weaving my way through the diningroom to the livingroom. The 5th time, Daddy was waiting for me in the hallway. I was too tuckered out to try again, so I just wailed out my displeasure from my crib. After I had quieted down, Mommy came in and rocked me for a little bit. This time when she lay me in the crib, I crashed out till morning.

Happy Easter!!

We started Easter off with breakfast at Hobee's. I got a plastic Easter egg that I tried balancing on a spoon and eating whole. This one had a coupon for a free kid's meal. So, I got to enjoy my funny face fruit platter of kiwi & grape eyes, strawberry nose, whipped cream cheeks, and cantaloupe mouth, 2 sausage links, 2 scrambled eggs, and a huge slice of blueberry coffeecake on the house. It was starting off to be an excellent Easter Sunday.

After breakfast, we stopped by Washington Park on the way home. I enjoyed climbing on the different structures, sliding down the slides, riding the bronco dolphin (which mommy mistook for a fish), and swinging on the swing.

More Egg Hunting

My mommy's company had their Spring Carnival today. There were all sorts of inflatable attractions - obstacle course, bungie tug-o-war, velcro wall, and bounce house. Daddy really wanted to try out the velcro wall, but there didn't appear to being any adults doing it. The 'rents tried to get me to go in the bounce house, but I wasn't interested. But I did enjoy being bounced on the wall of the obstacle course. When it was time for the 2 year old or younger Egg Hunt, all of us toddlers lined up around the egg hunt field. Once I spotted all the colorful eggs in the grass, I was biting at the bit to load my bunny basket full of them, but Mommy kept holding me back cuz they weren't quite ready to start the hunt. After taking forever to setup, they started having technical difficulties with their microphone. They went through two cordless mics before hooking up a wired one. By then, the excitement had passed. The hunt was old news. The mic & speaker were actually quite loud & annoying. I only put a few eggs in my basket before I was ready to move on. At which point, I discovered POPCORN - yummy wondrous popcorn. I probably ate two conefuls all by myself under the watchful eyes of my parents. I also ate half an ice cream sandwich. Mmmmm

Backyard Bumper Cars

After an afternoon of Easter egg hunting, cupcakes, and egg dying, we got to burn off some energy outdoors at daycare. The gang and I love driving around the patio. Today, I got to drive the convertible.

The Daycare Gang1st Row: Yaniv, Ava, Kyle, Liam, ??? w/Leron, Ryan2nd Row: Ori, Aiden, ???, Me, ???3rd Row: Arlene, ??? w/Anastasia, Maytal, Darlene, Sonya, Ryland, Karla w/ Brianna

Animal Sounds

Round and round . . .

What's for Breakfast

Just another day at the park . . .

Dirt Jumping

Ride 'em Dino

Just hanging out at the park with the 'rents.

Cheerios in Milk

I got to eat my own bowl of Cheerios in milk for the first time today. When scooping the yummy morsels out with the spoon got to be too messy and time-consuming, I used the old standby - my fingers.

My favorite part is drinking the milk out of the bowl. I ate THREE bowls of cereal this morning!

Sick :-(

I've been sick since Thursday - sore throat, coughing, red puffy eyes, fever, and runny nose. The 'rents have been giving me all sorts of medicine, eye drops, and even some weird honey concoctions like honey in apple cider vinegar. They've also been letting me watch a lot of Noggin TV to cheer me up. Someting must have worked cuz by Sunday I was feeling good enough to play in a box and on the kitchen counter.

P.S. You probably can't tell, but Mommy trimmed my hair the other day. She was afraid to cut too much, so she just trimmed my bangs, around my ears, and above my neck. She was so worried that she'd mess up that she forgot to take "before" and "after" pics. Not too bad for her first time, eh?

Free Ride

Who said there was no such thing as a free ride? Mr. Monkey and I get a lift at the mall.

Ambidextrous Artist

We went to Hobee's for breakfast, and I got to sit in a booster seat for the first time. I'm a big boy now. This video shows off my 2-handed scribbling skills.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Please & Thank You

Mommy has been trying to get me to say "please" and "thank you" lately. I surprised her this morning by giving her my empty cereal bowl and standing in front of the cupboard and saying "peas". Then I surprised her even more by signing "thank you" when she asked me to say it.

Sea Ranch Weekend

We spent a 4-day weekend with the Fischers near the Sonoma coast where my parents got married. This was my 3rd trip there. Every time, it seems further and further away. I didn't care for the curvy coastal highway and complained with every twist and turn. We arrived at our vacation home around dinnertime. We had soy sauce chicken, fried rice, and pea sprouts for our "Year of the Rat" New Year's dinner. I got to take a bath in the jacuzzi tub with Daddy. I didn't really like the jets cuz they were too loud, but I had fun playing with the bubbles they made afterwards. I got to sleep in the big bed with my parents. It was huge, at least 3 feet tall. Mommy says I was fearless cuz I would scoot off the bed just like I do at home oblivious to the extra height. Course, she was always there to catch me. Friday, we all slept in and I played with Evan. He's just a baby, though. But I kept trying to give him toys and his pacifier. We went to the local Mexican Restaurant for lunch. I got to eat chips & salsa. I really surprised my parents by eating the spicy salsa. Afterwards, we picked up some provisions from the grocery store. Mommy made spaghetti and Mr. John made broccoli for dinner. Mommy let me hold Evan on my lap. I liked pretending to be a big brother and complained whenever she picked Evan back up. I crashed out early, so the grownups ate popcorn and watched Transformers. Saturday, Mommy made blueberry muffins for breakfast. Later, we went to the local bar & grill for lunch where I got to eat fried calamari and my own ice cream sundae. Afterwards, we went for a stroll along the Blufftop Trail. I got to throw twigs into the water from a small bridge over a stream. Then, we went to One-Eyed Jack's playground, where my parents had the wedding rehearsal dinner. I got to play on the slide. Later, we ate the rack of baby back ribs that we bought from the grill in front of the store along with more broccoli and leftover rice. I got to gnaw on my very own rib bone. It was yummy. All the fresh air tired me and daddy out, so we hit the sack early while the rest of the grownups watch Finding Neverland. Sunday, Mommy made egg scrambles for breakfast. Then we had to pack up and get ready to head home. I complained quite a bit during the curvy ride back, so we stopped quite often to check out the vistas. Near Jenner, we saw lots of sea lions sunbathing on the beach. We stopped for lunch in Santa Rosa at a Japanese restaurant where the server gave me a bunch of cool dinosaurs to play with. I enjoyed eating tonkatsu and lots of rice. There was a cool fountain with a huge spinning ball. It was almost my bedtime by the time we got home. I ate some watermelon and crackers before crashing out for the night. It was a good weekend.

Par-TAY Weekend

It was a very busy weekend, starting with Baby Loves Disco on Saturday. I wasn't too interested in dancing this time (because Daddy tagged along with the video camera). I preferred chasing after stray balloons and playing with the toys scattered throughout. I got a cool football with flames on it as a party favor, perfect size for throwing. Afterwards, we went to Kevin's 4th birthday party. There were lots of kids and toys to play with. Kevin has a cool robot that I made walk back and forth. I ate lots of pizza and got to try blueberries for the first time. They're yummy. On Sunday, we went to the Hohmann's Annual Super Bowl Party with even more kids to play with and toys everywhere. I enjoyed drawing on their little table, playing in the toy kitchen, and rolling around in the giant basketball bean bag chair. I even got to go in their backyard and play on their jungle gym complete with fort, slide, and swings. The grown-ups did a lot of yelling and shouting. I think they made more noise than us kids. Jena, the hostess, made four different kinds of soups, a casserole, and four loaves of homemade bread after running a half marathon in the morning. Mommy let me taste some of her yummy soup, but I mostly ate April's pasta and more blueberries plus a couple cookies. Yum yum. It was a good weekend.

I still like boxes...