Eighteen Month Birthday

Our little guy turned 18 months old today! That's a year and half old--unbelievable! Our baby is turning into a little boy before our eyes. He is growing everywhere, gaining a strong will, and keeping his Mommy and Daddy very busy. In celebration of this wonderful milestone and the budding personality that joins it, I share with you...

18 Things Jack LOVES

1. Food--yes, he still loves to eat. You name it, he'll try it. His current favorites are maple glazed turkey breast and drinkable yogurt. Just pop in a straw and it's gone in about 20 seconds. Yum!

2. The Cookie Monster--that big furry blue guy who loves to eat has stolen our J's heart.

3. Cookies-- maybe #2 has something to do with this one. Jack will hang, and I literally mean hang, on the pantry door and whine "coooookie". If we gave into his will every time he did this, he could very possibly weigh twice as much as he does now.

4. Rocks--he loves rocks so much that we had made a rock garden in our yard just for him. It was quite easy. We bought some small landscaping rocks at Home Depot, poured them in a nice array on the side of the yard, threw in a pail and some plastic spoons, and WAH LAH, Jack is happy. He could play out in his rock pile for hours.

5. Speed Tables--our new neighborhood streets are complete with brick and cement speed tables. Jack loves to take his push toy bus to the one in front of our house and go over and over and over and over and over it again. Back and forth with Mommy on his heels is how we spend a lot of our afternoons.

6. ABC's--he doesn't know which one is which yet, but he is trying. He points to the letters in his name that hang above his crib and spouts something random off like..A, D, K, O. I then repeat the proper letter names and he tries again, occasionally getting one or two right. This happens most places where we see large letters. He also loves to repeat the alphabet after Daddy. I've got to pull the video camera out for that one. Before I know it, he'll be doing it all by himself--So bittersweet!

7. Stepping Stones--we have about 10 stepping stones in our new front yard. Jack has developed a unique fondness for them. Just like the speed table, he goes back and forth and back and forth. He loves when Mommy sings the "Stepping Stones" song from music class with it. He even does the motions as he travels back and forth. Who knew landscaping could be so much fun?

8. Talking--or should I say jabbering with some real words thrown in? He loves to tell Mommy and Daddy all about EVERYTHING! And we love to listen. His vocabulary has multiplied just in the last two weeks. It is truly amazing how these little ones begin to verbalize. Here is a sampling of his new word list...sheese (cheese), cooookie, Cobe (Cosby), side (outside), dow (down), ahhff (off), teeeveee(tv/computer), luvee (lovey), nana (banana), evee (heavy), go, cah (car), ack (Jack), unree (hungry), mil mil (milk), fish, memo (Elmo), eyeee (eye), iss (kiss), nnn (nose), eeah (ear), doggy, bir (bird), tree, bah (ball), shu (shoe), bee, wee wee (pig), cowh (cow), uh (up), elyo (yellow), sligh (slide), sing (swing), us (bus), shu (shoe), pease (please), ank ooh (thank you), and of course the original staples like hi, bye bye, mama, dada.

9. Books & Puzzles--his current favorite book, "Go dog Go". I think it's because he can say the title all by himself. And his current favorite puzzle is the Melissa and Doug chunky farm animal one. There are times when I swear he does this puzzle 20 times in a row. We even had to take it to dinner with us the other night.

10. Lovey--still his favorite buddy around here. Depending on the day and his mood, we may see Lovey only at naps or all day long. Usually a cranky mood=a lot of Lovey time. Thank goodness for that piece of material that serves as a source of comfort.

11. Sleeping--since the day he was born (or close to it) Jack has been a good sleeper. With his wild awake time, God must have been trying to compensate...and I'm forever grateful! We are officially down to one nap. It was confirmed right at 17 months. It actually has worked out extremely well. I'm no longer in nap jail meaning we can do anything we want until about 1:30. However once the clock ticks to that time, it's snoozeville around here. His naps last anywhere from 2-3 hours. A 3 hour nap is on a REALLY good day. Bedtime is a breeze. J practically dives into his crib before kissing us goodnight and we don't hear another peep until the am. And since the loss of the am nap, J likes to sleep in a bit. No complaints here!

12. The Park--my once cautious boy is now a true park explorer. He is up and down and all around the slides, tunnels, ladders, ramps, swings, tubes, etc., etc. When he sees the park from the back window of the car, his eyes immediately light up. And once released from his car seat, he is off. He makes occasional pit stops to check in with me and then he is off again. No more watching the other kiddos and then giving it a try, he is now the park pioneer.

13. Chores--okay, I'm going to enjoy this one while it lasts. Jack has two chores that he loves. 1) feeding Cosby 2) the laundry When it comes time to feed Cosby, I give Jack the measuring cup filled with dog food. He carefully leans down and pours the cup over Cosby's bowl. Of course, only about 8 of the morsels make it into the bowl and the rest scatter around the kitchen floor. This is where Jack gives a very animated "uh oh". Not wanting to leave a mess, J squats down and picks up each pebble of food one by one and places them back in the bowl. On a good day, Cosby helps him out. As for laundry, Jack loves to put the wet clothes in the dryer one article at a time, followed by the dryer sheet, then he closes the door, and last he completes his chore with a push of the start button. He is so proud that gives himself a large round of applause every time.

14. The Computer--so, I'm not really proud of this one. You see his love has turned into a obsession. If he spots a laptop anywhere in the house, you better be ready to play on the computer with him. His favorite website is http://www.sesamestreet.org/ His favorite game is Big Bird's ABC's. I swear this child could live on the computer, which I put right up there with TV. Everything in moderation...

15. Balls--or as J would say "bah". Big balls, small balls, red balls, blue balls, tennis balls, footballs, bouncy balls, flat balls, or anything that resembles a ball-he loves them.

16. TV--again, not really proud of this one. But, what can I say, the kiddo loves Sesame Street. And my disclaimer here is...that is the only TV time he gets. Again, everything in moderation or at least I try.

17. Gym Class--J started a Little Explorers class at the beginning of the month. He is learning to do somersaults, jump, balance, and other various gym activities. And can I say, he loves it. This may be his favorite Mommy and Me class yet.

18. Mommy, Daddy, & Cosby--our little Jack is quite the family man. If someone is missing from our family of four, Jack is out to find them. He loves when we are all together. He will make his rounds repeating every ones name and nodding their direction. Happiness is togetherness for our little guy! And boy, do we love him too! Happy 18 big guy!