18 months old

Time truly flies. How is my little baby boy already 18 months old!?!!?! It cannot be possible. Yet, it is.



Every month, it's becoming more and more challenging to get him to sit still for his monthly photo.



He tries to take down the "sign"...


He tries to get down...


He'll flash me an occasional smile...


And eventually he wins, gets down, runs across the room and declares himself the victor:


He is often very strong willed and outright defiant, but for the most part he is our happy little guy. He smiles and laughs all day long and it brightens my world. It's hard to be frustrated with someone who is so cute. :-)

He chats a lot, but we're not really sure what he's saying most of the time. I'm sure it's more frustrating for him than it is for us.

I'm not sure how many teeth he has now, but he's been getting some molars in (at least four) for about a month now. I think one is just now popping through because he's become more irritable and upset in the last few days (and I've heard him being a little more restless during the night...with lovely 4 am brief play sessions in his crib (consisting of turning on his crib aquarium and waking me up)). Generally he's a pretty good sleeper though. He goes down at 8 (usually doesn't fall asleep until closer to 9 though), and wakes around 7-7:30. He takes a 2.5-3 hour nap every afternoon from 2-5, which is my little bit of heaven. :)

He's starting to play more with other children. You know, up until now the kids always play alongside each other, but not really with each other. So it's fun to see them develop more into children who are actually interested in interacting with each other. It's just so amazing watching children grow, period. We are so blessed.

He loves his dog and he loves going fast. He loves to run and he's become a pro at riding his little "car" (powered by his legs). I need to get a video of him scooting around the house. He goes so fast! And if we are in the way, he loves to play bumper cars and run into us. Lots of fun. His other love is being outside. It's been rainy for a few days and that has curtailed our outdoor play time and I know it must be about to drive him crazy. Since he loves playing in water, he stood at the front door and fussed/cried for 10 minutes the other day because he wanted me to take him out in the rain.

Not much else to say. He's a joy and a blessing and I cannot believe he is already a year and a half old. Wow.

PS - Yes, I backdated this. It's truly 10.25 as I write this, but I'm going to make it look like I'm on top of things. :-)