18 Months

Fred is 18 months old today. This is such a fun age. He is growing and learning so fast. To document this stage I’m going to celebrate blog-style by listing 18 things about Fred that make me smile. (Not 18 things ‘I love’ because lots of these things cause extra work for me. But they still make me smile.)

1. He says, “ahm” almost every time he takes a bite of food.
2. He gives hugs by laying his head on you. So, he’ll walk up to you and tilt his head until it is resting on you.
3. I tried to teach him to sign ‘eat’ and ‘more’. He quickly learned to say, “mao” for more and for ‘eat’ he gives his pointer finger a suck. So cute.
4. He has three styles of kissing. He’ll come at you with his tongue sticking out, with his mouth wide open or with a fish-face pucker (my favorite).
5. He sings a lot. Including Hannah Montana’s ‘Best of Both Worlds’. Not kidding. “behhhh bohhhh.”
6. He loves to dance. He can rock out or twirl like a graceful ballerina.
7. He rides his spring horse with reckless abandon, often standing up in the saddle. But before mounting up he has to find his cowboy hat.
8. He really loves books right now. He is always bringing us books and asking, “boo-uh?” But he is really hard on them. I tape them back together but he just pulls them apart again.
9. He has a natural mohawk/alfalfa—two cowlicks that swirl in. He also has the mullet that each of our kids have been blessed with. So ugly on the girls but I kind of like it on Fred.
10. He is very resourceful. He has learned to push chairs around to reach what he wants. Or he’ll get a pot out and stand on it—just the right height to reach into drawers.
11. When he doesn’t want me to set him down he’ll wrap his legs around mine.
12. He is really good at using sound effects to emphasize his actions. Usually, “whoa!” or “uh!”.
13. He likes to open the dishwasher and take out a spoon then open the cupboard and take out a pot and create ‘music’.
14. My girls used to guide me by the finger to show me what they wanted. Fred tries to push or lift me up. He really thinks he can do it.
15. He rarely says 'no' but when he does he screams it. “Nnnnah!!” And he’ll swing his arm around. Usually when I put something in the microwave.
16. He tickles whenever skin on a midsection is revealed and says, “Ticka ticka”. He also tries to tickle Stella’s bum when I’m changing her diaper. (Or he’ll get a wipe and try to help.)
17. He sings “cheese” for the camera. But he won’t let us film him anymore because he just wants to look at himself. (Why did I show him that?!)
18. He is a good climber. He loves to be on the counter or the table.

I’m already to 18? Well, I really want to remember these things so I’m going to keep going…

• Whenever he does something he says, “deh” for ‘there’. If it is really cool then he’ll raise his arms and say “ta-dah!”
• He takes two good naps a day then goes to bed at 8 until about 8.
• He loves to bury his face in the cat’s fur. Or just knock her off whatever she is perched on.
• He usually has something on his face or in his hair. Usually marker but sometimes cream, chapstick, maskera, superglue, toothpaste or anything that has a lid that he can remove.
• He finds it very entertaining to throw things down the stairs or over the railing.
• He can squirm his way out of safety straps no matter how tight I get them. This makes shopping and eating out a pain. I can get the shopping cart strap really tight but somehow he manages to climb over the back of the seat while still in the strap and ends up hanging by his waist.

Ok, I think that will do. We love Fred. We think it is so fun to have a boy around. We are really glad that he is old enough to go into nursery on Sundays.