Blessed Beyond Measure: Toddler Tales: 18 Months!

Our little guy is now 18 months old...a whole year and a half! My how time flies. Earlier this week, I read a few old posts from back when Asher was about the same age and I realized I am probably quite guilty of babying this little guy. In my defense though as my youngest (& potentially ALWAYS my youngest) he is the baby. When Asher was 18 months I had just learned I was pregnant with Avery and I think I pushed him a bit to grow up knowing I would soon be taking care of two little ones. With Avery though I see him moving forward and growing up and it is all I can do to keep him my baby. I know he has to grow and I love watching it happen, but man is it hard!

At 18 months Avery is very similar to his big brother in many ways. Size wise, they are pretty close. Asher was a little larger at this age but not much. At this point Avery weighs in at 25 lb 9 oz (roughly 60%), while Asher was one pound heavier. Avery also measures up at 33.5" (roughly 85%) with a 19.5" head (90 something %!) while Asher was a half inch taller and had a half inch more head circumference! Thus, like Asher I see myself stretching out sweatshirts in my future to fit them over his large head!

Personality wise, he is strong like Asher but in different ways. Asher is very strong willed and always has been, at the same time though he has always been quite good at taking directions and minding our rules. Avery on the other hand seems to give in to things a little easier (although I'm sure this will changes as he continues to exercise his independence), but when it comes to minding the rules he seems to be a bit bull-headed and likes to test our limits. Also while Asher tends to be a softer, quieter personality Avery loves to be loud. He yells and screams to make himself heard and thinks he's hilarious all the while.

Appetite wise he is also quite a bit like his big brother. Although he can be pretty picky at times, he does have a pretty good appetite and will sometimes eat as much or more than me! His favorite thing is to drink milk, but he also LOVES fruit (bananas are his favorite), and gets very excited and protective about his squeezies. He is also a big fan of sausage, cheese, french fries and tomatoes. Additionally, like his momma he has quite a sweet tooth and on Sundays when Eric and Asher bring donuts home from Meijer, Avery starts to clap and squeal as he awaits the chocolatey goodness and I sadly share my chocolate cake donut with the little dude.

Unlike Asher, Avery still doesn't talk much. At this age, Asher had a pretty sizable collection of words, but Avery's vocabulary is still quite limited. We have noticed though that he does seem to have certain sounds for different words and seems to use one syllable for several words rather than saying the whole word...making it difficult to understand, but we're getting it slowly. For example here are Avery's words... Mama (Mama or Emma), Dada, da (yes), doe (no), ba (ball), sh (shoes), boo (boots), sea (cereal), ba (banana), chee (cheese), ah (hi), sh (fish), mo (more), do (down), gama (grandma), ush (Asher) and tckl tckle (tickle tickle). So, as I said we are working on it and slowly he is getting more words and more sounds. Additionally, he is also quite good at several animal and vehicle noises such as Moo (said with an adorable high pitched ending), roar, chuga chuga ooo, motor noises, tweet tweet, oo oo, elephant noises and more.

Avery continues to be a very affectional little dude and I fret that he is going to give me lots more gray hairs (than I already have) in his teenage years. While I would guess that Asher will be shy and quiet around girls, given his present personality, Avery is pretty outgoing. He loves to share kisses and has already kissed his friend Lilou in addition to attempting a kiss of a friend's little girl at Easter. He also loves hugs, snuggles and kisses from family. When a movie is on he will frequently come and snuggle in on our laps and when he wants to read he will bring a book to us and then turn around and back up to us until he falls into our laps. While he is very affectionate again he also seems to be exercising his independence. While he used to give me kisses whenever I asked for them, he now will often decline my request. Also some times lately he will hit me out of the blue, just to see what type of reaction he will get. When we tell him no and to say sorry though he quickly will give me an "I love you look" and then softly touch my head or face.

For fun, Avery's favorite toys are balls, cars/trucks/trains (specifically the blue truck we gave Asher for his 1st birthday which he can only drive backwards until he gets stuck and we move him forward again or the trains for the track we got him for Christmas, but he loves them all), and the dinosaur hand puppet that Asher got for his last birthday. Avery loves to put it on his hand and make the dinosaur chase us or eat cars or other stuffed animals.

Avery also continues to love dinosaurs. He gets excited whenever he sees them and is happy when he gets to wear dinosaur shirts or jammies. Just the other day I pulled a pair of pjs out of the drawer in his room to get him ready for bed. He looked at me and said a firm "doe". Then he ran across his room and grabbed the dino jammies he had worn the night before and brought them back to me to happily put them on!

For teeth, Avery has had all but his 2 year molars for some time now (16 teeth), and with all of his teeth in he is a great sleeper these days. In fact he is almost a little too great. The evenings that I get to put him to bed are my favorite because rather than fighting with Asher about bedtime Avery is such a willing participate, however I am also sad to put him to bed and wish for just a few more minutes of snuggles. For our routine, we brush teeth (not so willing for this part), read a couple of stories, say goodnight to Mr. Penguin (and press his button to turn on his music and light) and then snuggle in the dark on the rocking chair to say bedtime prayers and get a few more cuddles before bed. I LOVE this part of the day. Asher has always been pretty difficult at bedtime. He would yell and scream as we got him ready for bed and then scream more when we put him in the crib. Prior to Avery, Eric and I always tag-teamed this operation. Avery on the other hand enjoys a few minutes of snuggles and then points to his crib. I ask him "do you want to go na-night?" and he responds "da". I ask if I can get a kiss first and he turns to me with his lips puckered, gives me a slobbery kiss and then point to his crib again. I say good night, place him in bed and then he rolls over and goes to sleep without a peep! I know this probably won't always be the case, but as we deal with the bedtime antics of our current 3 (almost 4) year old, one can hope!

One of the things about Avery (& Asher) that I absolutely love these days is their blossoming relationship. Although they often will fight or be mean to one another, it is also obvious that their relationship is growing. Asher does a great job taking care of Avery by fetching things for him, comforting him when he is sad or hurt and looking out for him when he knows Avery is doing something dangerous. At the same time it is quite obvious that Avery idolizes his big brother. He wants to be just like his big brother and do everything that he does. If Asher laughs, Avery laughs (even though he probably doesn't know way). If Asher does something silly, Avery is quick to follow and if Asher does something that might be dangerous (especially for an 18 month old), Avery is quick to follow that as well. He LOVES his big brother!

Avery is also quite silly and he loves do silly things to make us smile. He also loves to tickle both us and himself (I frequently hear him tickling himself in his carseat). He also thinks that farts and burps are hilarious and will often try to make the noises himself and then laugh at them!

In addition to playing with his toys, Avery also loves to read. These days his favorite books are Dog, Noisy Dinosaurs, Noisy Peekaboo: Roar! Roar!, peekaboo tractor book, Baby Touch & Feel Animals, and Pets (My First Touch & Feel).

Avery also loves to dance, and starts shaking it whenever he hears music. I love this age. If only we could stay so care free! These days if he isn't sleeping or wanting to snuggle he is on the move. There is no keeping still...ever!

I don't want to lay down!

Big brother wanted pictures too!

Silly Guy!

Finally, while Avery is quite affectionate and loving to people, he also loves his buddies. His elephant blanket and froggy sleep with him every night and he is sure to snuggle them up, also often demanding that they come out of the crib with him in the morning. Thankfully, we've avoided them having to go places with us so far, but with how touchy-feely he is, I won't be surprised if that is in our future.