18 months old

18 months old.  I really can't believe it, but it is here and there is no turning back now!  Can I just share 10 reasons why I love this little guy so much?

1. his adventurous spirit

2. his playful nature

3. his capacity to love already at 18 months

4. the way he asks for one blankie and then another one

5. how much he loves his sleep (and his bed, and blankie, and paci)

6. the way he lights up when he hears that daddy is coming home

7. his sweet voice (even when he's said truck for the 15th time in a row)

8. his got-get-um attitude toward life

9. the way he says some of his words, like umbrella, sofa, tv, truck, and ambulance.

10. because God gave him to Chad and me to love on like no body's business and he is a precious gift to us!!!!

i also love his bright blue eyes, and his soft hair, and his amazing smile

and the way he throws his head back when he laughs

and the way his cheeks light up when he giggles

So, what did we do to celebrate Nathan's birthday?  Well, exactly what he wanted.  The conversation went something like this...

Mommy: Nathan would you like to go to the lake?

Nathan: boat boat fast

M: would you like to ride in the boat

N: nay nay drive

M: sure you can drive

N: seat nay nay?

M:absolutely you can sit in the big seat all by your self

N: boardin?

M: i don't know, daddy might go wake boarding

N: swim nay nay 

M: you want to go swimming

N: yes (with whole body shaking)

N: in peas

That's about how that conversation went, and once we got there and told him he could get in...

 he was wet!

He climbed back up on the back of the boat (learning to push up his weight on his hands)

and jumped in again to daddy... sort of.

He decided to sit and scoot in to daddy! :)

Splash!

This is one happy kiddo, swimming in one beautiful lake!

He can float in the bath tub on his back and we're working on doing it in the lake in his life vest too.  He's a bit unsure, but willing to try it for a few seconds.

Remember last May when Nathan went for his first boat ride?  A lot has changed. Don't you think?

Last summer, he was too small to swim in his life jacket, so it was impossible to throw out an anchor in deep water and enjoy the benefits of 75 ft deep water (aka - not ever touching the bottom).  Well, next to impossible.  Chad and Quinton had Nathan and Colton out in the deep water one day, but it wasn't all that enjoyable.

 This year, Nathan is super confident in his life jacket and it fits him better, so swimming out in the deep is lots more fun!

He's really using his arms to paddle!

And daddy's sad because Nathan splashed water into daddy's contacts.  Oops.  

Swim swim little fish!

Daddy saying "kick kick kick"

He's not at all happy is he?

We'll keep working on swimming without a life jacket in pools, in the tub, and in shallow water, but in the deep water, we'll keep it on for a while!

What better way to celebrate 18 months that to meet up with Colton and his mom and dad (and some of their friends) and their boat and have a little swim together!

Yep, that's 3 mommies and 3 kiddos (15-18 months) in the water - and boy was it warm!

Swimming to the boat to find daddy.

Well, as you can see, Nathan has gotten back into the swing of things with swimming.  In the bath tub, he loves to float on his back (ears under water) and just lay there.  Sometimes he kicks his legs too.  He's also discovered he can lay on his tummy and kick and really make a huge splash.  He's blowing some serious bubbles that way too.  He has enough control to blow a stream of bubbles and breathe in more air through his nose and blow more bubbles keeping his mouth in the water the whole time!  He will also jump into any body of water at any time without putting any thought into it.  This means we have to be perfectly diligent when we're anywhere near water, not that we wouldn't have been if he were timid, but the fact that he'll run to the end of the dock and step right off makes us that much more diligent!  :)  I can't wait for the water to warm up at my folks house so he can get in more at their house!

So what else is Nathan up to?  Plenty.  He's in constant motion and mostly runs.  He has a great awareness of his body in space and ducks when he goes under things like the grill, table, etc.  He can turn round and round in circles on the trampoline and "splash" do a seat drop.  He has learned what a donkey kick is (a handstand) and will stand on his hands, feet, and head and say hee haw waiting for you to lift up his legs.  He loves to ride on your shoulders and prefers this to any other method of carrying, though he always prefers to walk/run.  He goes up and down the stairs with ease, however his method of going up and down changes mid flight which doesn't look so safe, so we still stay a step or two behind/ahead of him always.  He is an excellent climber and loves this new found ability.  He's trying it out in more places too.  Just today he tried to climb into his high chair.  The other day, he climbed from the seat in the boat up onto the steering wheel, and almost onto the dash board before we caught him (the boat was parked in the driveway, but still, we'll be watching a bit more closely now!).

His vocabulary increases by the day and he speaks so many words, I might have lost count... maybe, well exact count, but it's around 300.  He is eager to learn new words and is starting to fluidly connect 2 and 3 words.  In the past, he's put a pause in between the words to think of the next one, but recently we've noticed he's chaining them together much faster.  Like any 18 month old, he lacks the motor control to make many of the consonant sounds and most all of the consant blends, so some of his words require translation.  "am-blah-blah-s" is an ambulance... "pim" is our neighbor kim...  "factor" is tractor...  "brusha" is brush (hair or teeth)... "feevee" is tv, "fofa" is sofa, but bygolly um-BRELL-a is loud and clear as are most of his words.  I love the way he desires to talk to us and how he uses his words so often, even when he's playing in his crib.  I also love the way he will repeat a word until you acknowledge what he's saying.  He desires conversation!  So sweet!

Nathan still has 16 baby teeth and seems to be chewing a lot in the back of his mouth, but I can't imagine that his 2 year molars are coming in yet.  Perhaps, he just likes to chew.  Speaking of chewing and things in the mouth, no changes on the paci.  Car, nap time, bed time... that's it, unless special circumstances call for it... you know, like when we take him into the church service to hear the worship, or when he's 1 hour past time for a nap and I'm still out running errands with him and I need just 5 more minutes.  :)

Food - this kid can eat and does.  He will eat most things except mac and cheese, most all pasta, and most french fries.  He eats more than any kiddo I've ever seen, and although we've questioned his doc numerous times, she assures us that he will stop when he's full and that he's not even close to being overweight so let him continue but offer him healthy choices as much as possible.  At his last visit, last week, he was 26 pounds 14 ounces (just above 50th percentile).  I have no idea how tall he is and he won't be measured until late June, but I'd guess he's around 33 inches which is close to 75th percentile.  We'll see in about a month!

He's wearing a size 6W shoe, but it's about time to move to a 6.5W.  He's in a 24 month shirt in general and 24 month pants too.  He'd fit in 18 month pants if it weren't for the cloth diapers.

Speaking of those, Nathan is cloth diapered full time and has been for over a month.  We love it and don't look back.  In fact, I just found out that the place we're staying in Disney has in room washer and dryer, and so yep, we're taking cloth for when we're not at the parks.  I love them and HIGHLY recommend trying them!  

Sleeping - Nathan continues to need lots of sleep.  He generally gets in bed between 730-745 and plays in his bed until he falls asleep sometime around 8.  He sleeps until at least 830 and plays in his bed until 845-930, sometimes later.  He lets us know he's ready to get up when he fusses.  He goes back down for a nap at 1pm and sleeps until 330 and plays until 4 when he lets me know he's ready to get up.  Of course some days this is not the case, but in general he sleeps 13 hours at night and 2.5 during the day.  Crazy.

Nathan is beggning to test the boundaries a bit more these days as well.  I think this is very typical toddler behavior and I'm glad he's expoloring his world and ability to influence things.  He is very strong willed, yet quite obedient most of the time.  He responds well when asked to "walk away" from something and he can name every "no no" in our house, our neighbors house, Papa and Yaya's house, and the car and the boat - but he's still going to touch them every once in a while as he looks you in the eye and say's "no no".  

With all of our tot school posts, I think you get a great feel for what he's up to, so I'll leave you with a few pictures...

This is how Nathan feels about being 18 months old.  :)

mama, up.  seat.  rock  lion.  book.

nuther one

mama, lion.  nuther one (as he points to the lion in the book).

You all know by this post, and this one, that I love baby feet... well toddler feet are no different - even if they are scratched, bug bitten, rashy from the grass, and in need of a nail clipping... I love my kiddo's feet!