18 Months

I can't quite believe it, but Cole is 18-months today! Seriously - time is absolutely flying.

Cole has grown and developed so much over the last few months, and his personality (goofy, BUSY, loud, and all boy) is really coming out.

Here are 18 fun Coley facts, in honor of his 18-months:

1. Has quite a few words, including = hi, bye (always said with a friendly wave), dada, mama, Jackson ("jah-son"), Roxy ("rah-rah"), airplane, bottle (baba), car, more, Elmo (which he's also been known to call himself when asked who he is), no, yeah, up, down, outside, please ("pwa" while using the sign), nose, eye, bink, help, owie, milk, all done, hot, bless (said after you sneeze, and meant to be 'bless you'), animal sounds for cow/horse/sheep/snake/dog/cat
2. Enjoys trying to mimic us when we encourage him to try saying a new word. He watches our lips very closely as we say the word and then eagerly tries to say it himself.
3. Loves cars and airplanes - constantly points at airplanes when he hears them flying overhead, and points out vehicles around us (all of which are "cars", regardless of whether they're buses, trucks, etc.)
4. Constantly on the move - running, walking, rolling, climbing - with his favorite being climbing on the couch, rolling around, sliding off and repeating numerous times
5. Knows many body parts and can point to/move/wiggle them when you name them
6. Loves Itsy Bitsy Spider - one of his books has a spider in it and he will continue to point at it until you sing the song several times, after which he applauds and says "yay!"
7. No longer uses a bottle at night, which means I've been able to get rid of all the bottles and the drying rack.  It's amazing having my kitchen counters back.
8. Loves a frog book that he has, which is about finding a heart and there's a page where the frog shouts "ARGHHHH!" and Cole will shout "AHHHH!" as soon as you turn to that page
9. Bed time is between 7 and 7:30 and he wakes up between 5:45 and 6:30 (typically babbles and rolls around in bed until we get him up around 6:30)
10. Four more teeth - the eye teeth on top and bottom.
11. While he's gotten more picky with vegetables, he absolutely loves to eat. If he spots me setting the table, he'll often climb into his chair, ready to eat.  If you try to take his food away before he's done, he'll snatch it right back, and he often eats more than Jackson.
12. One of his favorite foods is meatballs/sausage (he will eat almost all the sausage out of the sausage and pepper sandwich I get at the farmer's market each week).
13. Has been going through a naughty phase at school, pushing and pulling hair, and today, he even pulled someone's eyelashes (I didn't know that was even possible?!).  Sigh.
14.  Loves shoes and picking out which shoes he'd like to wear. Crocs are often his 'go to' pair.
15. Had an allergic reaction back in early June (hives all over his body), and after some tests, we discovered that he is allergic to peanuts, cashews, pistachios and dogs. We knew doggie licks gave him hives but the nut allergy was news to us.  While the doctor couldn't tell us how bad any future reactions could be, we now have epipens with us and at school in case he ever has a serious reaction that leaves him unable to easily breathe.  Hopefully we won't ever have to deal with that though.  
16. Cole loves to pester Jackson - sits RIGHT next to him while Jackson is watching a show, tries to do things on Jackson's tablet when Jackson's using it, pulls J's ears, etc.  
17. Is very quick to start crying when he doesn't get his way but is very easily distracted by other things we bring to his attention to stop the crying.
18. When Jackson is sad or has gotten hurt, Cole becomes very concerned. He goes right over to him and pats him on the head (the way that they teach him to say "sorry" at school).

 Impatiently waiting for food, with toes on the table.

 

His arms are very expressive - the more excited he is, the more they will wiggle and shoot out from his sides.

 

Mama was trying on a new pair of shoes the other day, and I looked down to see that he'd made himself comfy in the box they were shipped in

 Helping Jackson water the flowers ends with Cole drenched from head to toe, and by no fault of Jackson.

 

Guarding his cereal bowl, that I'd tried to take from him since I thought he was done.

 

He wanted these slippers on the other morning and spent some time running around and exploring in his diaper. Gotta love the bootie crack poking out.

 Please disregard my (awful) singing and just listen to Cole.