18 Months

Yeah, I'm over a week late with this post..and such a big event to acknowledge - Dylan's half birthday! Thursday last week my little guy turned 1 and a half. He still loves the birthday song so grinned from ear to ear when we sang it to him. (He got to enjoy it again when we sang it to his Pipaw a few days later.)

As usual, he changes so much from month to month. Let's do a run down of some of his new skills.

One of the developments in his personality that gives me a lot of personal joy is how he now says hello and goodbye to me. Kids thrive in routine and he is getting mine down. He understand what it means when we say "Mommy is going to work" and he'll run over and give me a hug. Then, some days, he excitedly run to the door to greet me. Those days are pretty awesome. Before he did that, he would need some time to warm up to me while he clung to Daddy.....usually because he was just waking up from his second nap. That still happens every now and again, but it's really great to see him excited for me to get home. Love it!

Another development I love is his want to snuggle more. With him getting nice and settled into our current nap\nighttime routine (which if you have kids, you know it changes pretty frequently before this age), Dylan has become a bit of a snuggle bug. When we go to put him down into his crib, we always sing a song. During that period, he likes to nuzzle into our shoulders and hug us with his body. I find myself rocking him like that long after we've finished the song to get in more snuggle time. As a little guy on the go, he doesn't often slow down enough for prolonged affection for us so we soak it up when we can.

Speaking of routine, it's only taken a year and a half but Mike has finally successfully found the sweet nap time. Dylan's never been a great napper so it's been challenging to find ways to have him get the daytime sleep he needs to function well. With lots of experimentation, Mike found the perfect schedule for him in December. Even with holiday travel, he settled back into the routine very nicely when we returned home. It's been great for Mike because he's been able to get regular workouts in during the week while Dylan takes his morning nap and it's become a lot easier to plan their days. Now that we've found the sweet spot, I'm sure it will change again soon just to keep us on our toes.

Christmas activities and decor gave Dylan a lot of joy...so much so that we waited to take our decorations down until just last weekend. He was so mesmerized by snowmen that he memorized all his books that had them in it. One day, Dylan very carefully collected all of his books with them, turned immediately to the page with one on it and pronounced "NoNo!" (That's snowman in Dylan speak.) Also, thanks to Santa, we've been able to get Dylan to wear hats a little easier. It's great to see him in the Red Sox hat his Nana gave to him last Spring. He looks super cute wearing it around.

Closing doors is one of Dylan's favorite activities around the house. He can't open them yet but the day will be coming soon so we are definitely a lot more careful about locking the front and back doors to keep him in. He's been able to get up on chairs and couches for a while but we've noticed a general improvement in his climbing skills and he's expanding where he's trying them out....a great thing for a playground but not great for him trying to scale other non safe household things.

Another toddler behavior coming out is testing boundaries. Dylan's forced Mike and I to have many conversations about what our steadfast rules are and how we're going to implement them. I'm sure that challenge will only increase over time. Right now we're sticking to things\activities that will cause physical harm and letting the rest be. As a parent, you learn the "pick your battles" adage early and frequently.

For Christmas, I gave Dylan a year long membership to our local YMCA and also enrolled him (and Mike by default) into a swim class. They had their first class on the first Monday of the year and it went really well. Mike got them there a bit early so he could walk Dylan around the pool area for a bit to get him comfortable with the area before plopping him in the pool. So, by the time class was ready to start, Dylan was open to getting into the water! He's had fun splashing in the water, sitting on floats and playing with toys in the pool.

Dylan's had a long time interest in the cats but we've noticed and increased interest in interacting with them and playing with them. Much to Oliver and Luci's dismay, Dylan very often tries to share toys with them while they're sleeping and then follow them around the house. It's a constant balance of making the cats get used to this behavior and keeping our cute tot from irritating them past their breaking point. Very often, the cats make themselves scarce during the day and them come hang out with Mike and I once Dylan is tucked into bed.

Under is a concept Dylan has learned and loves to do. He likes to go "under" the table, play "under" the bed covers and go "under" the rocking chair (behind really but we're making the correction slowly...don't want to discourage that budding vocabulary).

Today we went to his 18 month check up. Apparently, we're horrible parents because we didn't know until today that we were supposed to have gone for a 15 month check up! Whoops! The appointment went well, though, and the doctor confirmed what we already knew - that Dylan is long and lean (58% height, 38% weight), a genius (has many more words than average) and a cute, healthy, brave boy. Since we missed the 15 month vaccinations, he had a little more than his due for this appointment. After 4 shots, a short cry and a big hug from mama, he recovered to his happy self quickly. And, after a nice long nap, he was in a great mood. Normally after getting vaccinations, he doesn't feel that great and is a big crank but we enjoyed a pleasant Friday night at home together.

Dylan - 18 Months (With His Cats - Luci and Oliver)