William: 18 Months

18 Month Stats

Weight: 25 lbs 10 oz (I was shocked at this, I thought he'd be closer to 30 lbs!) (70%)

Length: 33 in (71%)

Head Circumference: 18.75 in (57%)

Eating: William eats like a man, for the most part. He eats pretty much anything we put in front of him (still no green beans!). He will have his whole portion and ask for more. He is great about eating fruits, but we need to get him to eat more fresh veggies as well. We give him squeeze pouches that are veggies purees, so he's getting some but not the real deal. His favorite thing to eat is tortillas, we can give them to him with any meal and he will be happy. In fact, we usually have to delay giving him any tortilla so we are sure he eats the other food on his tray ;)

Bedtime: Bedtime hasn't wavered over the summer. He still goes down for bed by 7:45pm. He (knock on wood) has always been a great sleeper, as soon as we got him to sleep in long stretches. Because it's summer and we don't have to rush to daycare, I get him up in the morning between 7:30-8am. It goes back and forth, he is either up and ready to go or acts like he could sleep another twenty minutes.

Naps: Just one nap a day for Will. He starts getting a little grumpy around 11:45am, but then perks back up for lunch. He eats and then we have some quiet/calm play time before putting him down about 12:30/12:45pm. He sleeps for a solid two & a half hours, sometimes three! He is quiet when he wakes up, so sometimes we don't know that he's awake and go into his room to find him playing in his crib.

Diapers: Size 4s & overnights 4s 

Clothes: William is fully into his 18 month clothes. There are a couple 12 month shirts he can wear, but getting them over his head is difficult and they are a little short on him. 12 month shorts/pants are a no-go for sure! I'm sure we will be into the 24 month/2T soon enough.

Bret and I went through all of his clothes (we have some all the way through 5T) and got it all sorted and organized. This kid has a lot of clothing!

Favorites: Being on the go is definitely a favorite. When we were at his 18 month appt, the nurse said, "Man, he just doesn't stop!" Nope, Will is always moving! If there's something happening, he wants to be part of it and won't be happy until he is. That said, he has an amazing disposition and is a happy little guy. But he knows when it's naptime/bedtime and you better let him have it ;) He loves to eat as well. There's not too much he hasn't liked that he's tried (green beans, of course) and he loves his afternoon snack after his nap. He likes to watch and play with big kids at the park. He thinks he's big like them and wants to do all the fun stuff they can do.

Dislikes: William does not like not being able to do something on his own. He will try and try before whining and asking/yelling for help. Other times, he thinks he needs help to do something we know he can do. We tell him to try his best and usually he figures out a way to do it.

Development: William is working on coordination and speech development. He can get up stairs very easily now, crawling. Going down the stairs is a different story. He thinks he should be able to just step like we do, but that doesn't work out so well. He is learning to sit & scoot or hang on to an available railing. I make him walk as much as possible when we go places. He walks & holds my hand (which I love!!) in the parking lot from car to building and when we are inside of places that don't have carts. He hasn't started pulling away too much and I let him know he has two choices: hold a hand or be held; he usually chooses to hold a hand. He stacks his toys and throws a ball (working on promoting the left-handed throw!). He moves from standing to squatting to sitting and back very fluidly and doesn't have problems ducking under tables or moving around objects. He uses a fork and spoon when eating, though sometimes he just holds them and uses other hand to feed himself. He has started to prefer to have his food given to him in bowls or plates instead of just on his tray. I'm thinking he wants to be a big kid and that's how big kids eat!

Words he can say: dada, mama, shhhh (he does this when Bret is sleeping during the day), Nemo, ball, hat, truck, baseball, basketball, down, let's go!, snack, Pop Pop, Nana, Papa, nana (banana), night-night, bye-bye, belly, toes, doctor, a variety of animal sounds (woof, baa, neigh, eee-ahhh, moo, quack)
*He understands so much more than he can say. We can give him directions or as him questions and he will comply. He likes to get Bret's shoes for him when he's getting ready for work, he's gotten good at finding the matches.

Looking Forward To: I am excited for the rest of the summer and having fun together. I try to get out of the house with him at least once a day. It makes me feel better that we aren't being noisy for Bret to sleep and the change of scenery is good for both William & me.

Dr. Appt: Clean bill of health and development from Dr. Nash! He has his sensitive skin & a little excema so we are sure to lather him with sunscreen anytime we go out & have cream for any itches he gets. She said that he is right at average or above average for his measurements. She will be able to better predict his future height at his 2 year appt. No shots at this appt and he won't need any until December (besides the flu shot), then he's done until kindergarten!

According to our doctor, what we need to be working on between now & his next appointment (2 year appointment): 
-Continue to support coordination & gross/fine motor skills and his language skills
-Listen to music & sing to him
-Read book (check!)
-Keep discipline brief (quick time outs for tantrums) and be sure to give choices to avoid behavior
-Eat together for family time and to model utensil skills
-Allow for expression of feelings and recognize/name them ("I understand you are mad right now. What can we do to help?" "You are smiling so you must be happy!")
-Model, model, model- he's watching us all the time and mimicking everything we do

Paging Dr. Brown