18 Months

It seems like Jackson's 1st birthday was yesterday, but here we are, half-way to his 2nd birthday already! 

We had his check-up today and he continues to top the charts:

• Weight = 30 lbs (90th+ percentile)
• Height = 35.5" (95th+ percentile)
• Head = 19 cm (50th percentile)

Developmentally he's right on track and the doc was impressed with the words he heard him say (including "thank you") and with how well Jackson understands what you say to him. Jackson enjoyed sharing his goldfish crackers and puffs with the doctor and only cried a few times with him; however, the nurse was a different story.  From the moment she came to the waiting room to call us back until the moment she left the room (and then again when she came back for shots), he screamed his head off.  To weigh him, she had to have me get on an adult scale while holding the screaming, naked babe, who then got even more upset when I had to hand him over to the her, so that she could weigh me alone and figure out the weight difference.  Slight separation anxiety/stranger danger, right?  Fun times.

Aside form that, the last few months have been very fun with J.  He's literally running all over the place, and is learning new tricks and words constantly.  In just the past few days, he's been babbling constantly in almost full sentences --- while we can't understand much of what he's saying, he's definitely turning into a chatterbox like his mama.

He continues to love playing with balls - kicking, throwing (which has translated into the throwing of other things like small pumpkins onto the ground, plastic bowls across the table, and the like), shooting baskets.  He continues to love reading, but doesn't ask us to stop everything to read quite as much as before.

He is still a great little helper around the house. He loves to pick things up off the floor and hand them to me or throw them into the garbage on his own (he even helped empty my lunch bag the other day, throwing away wrappers into the garbage without being asked - very cute), loves to "help" me with laundry (i.e. put everything I've taken out of the dryer back into it), loves to bring us our shoes in the a.m. (he runs them to us saying "mama! mama!" or "dada! dada!" as he brings them over, and then waits to make sure we put them on), and always tells daddy to take his shoes off when he gets home from work.  And he is great at following directions like "please go get your shoes and bring them back so I can put them on for you".

From an eating perspective, he had an adventurous streak a few weeks back, often putting most of what we asked him to try into his month and many times liking whatever it was (broccoli, tomatoes, edamame, lasagna, cauliflower, etc).  Sadly, this has ended and he's actually been extra picky lately.  Food that he continues to love, or recently tried and still enjoyes, are lasagna, macaroni, quesadillas, cereal (with milk, which daddy shares with him most mornings), bananas, grapes, crackers, string cheese, brown rice, and of course, lots of milk.

Jackson had been sleeping wonderfully since about January (minus a few rough nights shortly after our move), but September brought four molars and some rough nights along with them.  His overnight sleeping started to improve last week, but we've had some rough nights again lately.  Luckily though, it's not every night, and luckily, he usually only requires a quick trip into his room to lay him down and cover him back up once or twice.  We continue to tell ourselves that it's just a phase, and that it's a good thing his cute (a quote I find myself using a lot these days).

Naps continue to be great - he sleeps from 12 p.m. to at least 3 p.m., and sometimes even 3:30 or 3:45. 

He loves to point out body parts as we ask about them (i.e. "Jackson, where's your head?") and actually knows quite a few.  He can also make some fun animal sounds - dog, cow, sheep, lion, horse.

Tantrums are fewer and farther between, but still occur and often out of nowhere.  We typically give him space and time, and then try to distract him or make him laugh after he starts to calm down.

He continues to love to play with and organize anything he can find in the kitchen cabinets, but doesn't spend as much time snacking and drinking milk in his car (that was a very cute phase).  He laughs hysterically when tickled, especially if his tummy, armpits or thighs are involved, enjoys opening and shutting drawers/doors/cupboards, and absolutely loves turning on any lights or fans that he can reach the switches for.

He's been extra affectionate lately, even puckering up and saying "muah" while giving kisses on the mouth and he loves to give big hugs.  He always tells me "buh-bye" in the morning, often along with a blown kiss, when we're packing him into Corey's car for daycare.

Our love for this cute kid grows more and more every day, and more every month that goes by.  I absolutely cannot imagine life without him.