Elmer at 18 months

Well, Elmer is now 19 months old, but this should be mostly accurate as of 18 months since I actually made notes without writing the whole post!  I'm going to write it from the point of when he was 18 months. 

- He weighed 23 pounds (33rd %ile)  and was 32 inches (34th %ile) at his 18-month checkup.  Two hours later at WIC, he was 31 inches (9th %ile)!  I trust the WIC measurement more, though, because they used the slider measurement device, rather than just marking on the paper on the exam table.

- He is so smart! 
At 18 months, he said more than 80 words on his own, and keeps adding more every day!
He connects concepts and has a really good memory. 
One day while climbing the stairs, he picked up a piece of debris, and I said, "Oh, yeah, I need to vacuum."  Then when he got to the top of the stairs, he began grunting and motioning toward the vacuum cleaner.  The time between those two things was enough that I had already forgotten what I said on the stairs and had to take a minute to figure out why he was pointing to the vacuum cleaner!  There was also a couple of weeks that we had been to the pediatrician several times.  On one of these visits, I had pointed out the fish's big eyes on the mural in one of the treatment rooms.  Ten days later, when we were there again, I drew an eyeball on the magn-doodle and said, "eye."  He quickly turned to the mural on the wall, looking for the fish's eye!  We were in a different room with a different mural, so it wasn't there. 

- We are doing "Mommy and Me" gymnastics class every week, and he loves it!  The first class we went to, the teacher thought we were making up the class from a different day rather than it being his first time because he was so cooperative. 

- He loves to help me!  He will put the laundry into the dryer when I pass it to him, scoops out and dumps the cat's food, and throws things in the trash when I ask him.  One day he also helped me clean out and organize the pantry - he put things in the right piles as I told him, or took things to the trash can. 

- He feeds himself with spoon and fork pretty consistently, and usually does a good job with it.  Sometimes I have tried to feed him so we can do it quickly or not end up with oatmeal in his hair, but he CRIES and points to his high chair, or goes to the silverware drawer to get his own spoon.  I guess I can't hold down independence! 

- Speaking of independence, he has hit the Terrible Twos early!  When I tell him to do something he doesn't want to, he will say, "NO!" and hit at me.  He also has started throwing some tantrums.  {Thankfully by 19 months, this has improved a good bit!}

- He imitates EVERYTHING!  For example, I was vacuuming the blinds and he picked up one of the vacuum attachments and started doing it, too.  He pays attention to even the very little things and imitates - like when I licked my finger to turn some magazine pages, he did the exact same thing!  And every little movement my six-year old nephew Bop does, he does too.  Bop fell down on the floor on top of a book and rolled around kicking his legs; Elmer found a book to put on the floor and did the exact same thing.  When we were at a baseball game, Bop walked over to the fence; so did Elmer.  Bop squatted down on one knee while holding the fence; Elmer did the exact same thing. 

- He LOVES balls of all types and sizes.  Anything that is remotely round is a "ball" - eggs, a pregnant lady, my chest!  LOL  One day I got a watermelon and a cantaloupe at the grocery store.  From the minute I put them in the cart, he kept saying, "Ball!  Ball!"  He was DEVASTATED when I put them on the counter at home and wouldn't let him play with the new balls we had!  He also has quite the arm and leg for throwing and kicking. 

- I have learned when brushing his teeth that I need to give him his own toothbrush because otherwise, we are fighting over the one toothbrush.  He has gotten pretty good at brushing his teeth.

- He has started trying to jump, and occasionally gets both feet off the ground at the same time to really jump. 

- He discovered his shadow!  When he first saw it outside, I was trying to get him to make the connection that it was his body and was showing him how to wave and make his shadow move, while saying, "Hi."  He spend the next couple of weeks almost obsessively saying, "Hi" to his shadow on the floor, wall, or wherever else (and sometimes when there really was no shadow but he was expecting one). 

- One of his favorite activities these days is to sit on the curb outside and re-arrange the leaves that have gathered in the corner. 

Elmer is growing and developing so quickly.  I continue to be truly amazed at all of the things that he is able to do, and the fact that he is age-appropriate with everything (and ahead of his age for most things).  My sweet baby is such a joy!