18 Month Old Jellybean

My 18 Month Old Jellybean

It blows my mind when I have my boys side by side. They're so different, but they're only separated by 16 months. The amount of growing babies and toddlers do in such a small amount of time is so impressive. Growing like a weed for sure! So here are JB's 18 month stats.

Weight: 27 pounds

Height: 34 inches

Favorite Foods

Bananas, teddy grahams, cereal, cheese, grapes, yogurt (frozen Gogurt sticks), apples, popcorn, carrots (from a can with a touch of honey), spam!, pasta, smoothies, raisins

My not picky eater has all of a sudden become quite picky. I'm hoping it's just a phase. We're still working on eating with utensils, half the food usually falls off the spoon before he can get it in his mouth but he's trying. He can drink out a cup pretty well. We still aren't giving him juice, he eats enough fruit, he doesn't need juice. Strictly milk and water with the occasional sip of lemonade or hot chocolate every now and then for this kid. He still refuses to let us feed him. While I appreciate his desire for independence, it makes for long/messy/difficult meal sessions. We have to watch him like a hawk because he always seems to find something small on the ground and puts it in his mouth. There are times he just walks up to us with something clearly in his mouth. We do our best to keep the floors clean, but I'm not taking any chances. Eyes on this kid at all times!

Favorite Activities

This kid loves books! He's always eager to sit with us and read a book. He loves counting the characters on the pages, and has memorized a few pages from certain books. We have a book about  Seattle and right when we're turning to the page with the fish market, he's already saying "Fish! Fish! Fish!" even before he sees the fish.  

Sitting with his brother is another favorite activity. It warms my heart in a way I never thought possible when I see the love and infatuation JB has with his little bro. When Tater Tot cries, JB comes running to "pat" him. When I say "you want to hold your brother?" he eagerly sits on the couch or the steps waiting for me to put his brother in his lap. He won't always give us kisses when we ask for them but he will ALWAYS give Tater Tot a kiss when asked. It's the sweetest thing. While he is struggling with not getting as much attention as he used to, he never takes it out on the little person that's taking the attention away from him.

BUBBLES! He loves bubbles. Chasing them, stomping on them, being surrounded by them.... when we first bought the bubbles about 6 months ago, he wasn't very interested. But now, he could play with bubbles ALL DAY LONG!

Arts and crafts. I have a little table in my craft room for him. He loves to sit there and color with jumbo crayons or play with the stickers I give him. I'm looking for other ways to get him more active in the arts and crafts department, but he seems content. I've done paint a few times, but he seems to be most interested in the crayons and stickers.

Climbing. We have started climbing. Climbing on tables, chairs, boxes, toys, everything. There are a few places around the house that we discourage the climbing: the coffee table and the ledge to the bathtub, but other than that, I'm ok letting my boy be a boy. He needs to know what he's capable of. Encouraging the climbing and running helps him know his limits, builds his confidence, and exerts energy to make nap time that much easier! I still struggle with letting my kid be crazy and rambunctious and drawing the line for safety and discipline. I don't want that kid that goes to someone's house and thinks it's ok to climb up the bookshelf, but I don't want that kid that's too timid and has all his energy bottled up either.

Behaviors

The 18 month sleep regression is no joke! This kid wakes up a few times during the night just crying and squirming. He used to sleep until 0500 or even later just fine. I've read that this sleep regression period can last anywhere from a few weeks to a few months! We're definitely in the a few weeks range and will most likely go into the a few months.

Tantrums! Oh the screaming, the throwing himself on the floor, the fake crying, the crocodile tears.... I'm trying to work with Matt on ignoring the tantrum, any attention is good attention in his eyes even if it's yelling at him. JB likes to challenge dad's patience though so the ignoring thing doesn't always work.  We'll get there eventually. It's easier for me to tune out the tantrum than for Matt. While we have no problem with spankings, I don't think tantrums warrant one. It's not a safety issue and it's not a malicious action, it's just him seeking attention, and even a spanking is attention . Besides, at this age, spankings don't do much. Time outs and taking toys away are what 18 month olds respond to the best.

We have overcome the hitting phase. He still does it every now and then we he gets excited but nowhere to the degree that he used to. I think the excitement finally lost its luster and he's moved on to other ways to get his energy out (like climbing).  

Learning

Right now we're learning numbers. He doesn't know he's learning numbers, but he's getting used to counting objects/things and understands  that there's a sequence to the words coming out of my mouth when we count.

He's pretty good at identifying body parts. We try and reinforce that every day by asking us to show us parts of his body, ours, baby brothers, or on his toys.

Animal noises. When we're in the car and not singing along to the nursery rhyme station on Pandora (which he loves!) we go over animal noises. Dad also does this when he reads "Brown Bear Brown Bear" to JB. Jellybean's horse impression is my favorite.

Brushing teeth. During our last dental visit, the doctor said his teeth were great, especially since he doesn't get juice or walk around with a sippy cup attached to him. He plays with the toothbrush and knows it belongs in his mouth, but the brushing motion is still being worked on.

He had diarrhea at daycare which mandates a pick up. I had way too much work to do so I just took him to the office. They guys love him anyway. Here we are goofing off at my desk. :) It's always fun trying to talk to the boss while a JB blabbers away in the background. One of the great things about the military though is they completely embrace family time. Doctors' appointment? No problem, go take care of it. You need to bring your kid in the office? No problem.

Playing on top of our huge box from Amazon. It's full of wipes and diapers.

Loving on some carrots...and the Seahawks of course.

He loves to come up from behind me and put his arms around my neck. Usually he's expecting a ride on my back but he's happy just hugging me too. :)

My mom got us this popcorn maker for Matt's "man cave." JB LOVES popcorn, just like his dad.

Tantrum fun.

Climbing on everything, especially things that rock. Makes for fun times.

Still climbing....

This kid is sooooooo very goofy and fun loving. He loves dancing, making silly faces, and running around (especially when you're chasing him). He's got the best personality.