18 months old

It's so hard for me to believe he's already 18 months old! He's a signing, talking, very opinionated, happy little toddler! He loves Bailey so much; she's usually the first thing he asks for when he wakes up in the morning and he wants her to do everything with him. He sits on her lap and reads to her, he figured up how to climb on her couch last week and was very proud of himself. He giver her kisses and tells her goodbye every time we leave the house, he always wants to take her when we go on walks, he has picnics with her, and he even tries to make sure she's dressed with her hat and gloves and shoes like we are before going outside.

He's quite the helper around the house and likes to put away Tupperware, put things in the trash, help clean up, feed Bailey, and take out the trash and recycling. We've noticed in the last couple of weeks his "concern" for things being clean. He is constantly bringing us tiny pieces of "trash" he finds on the floor. Dirt, lint, leaves, dog hair, anything! He did this at home first but not it happens anywhere, at school (the toddler room doesn't have the cleanest floor, are you surprised? So it sometimes takes us 5 minutes just to leave his room as he picks up everything he sees and hands it to me.), at the museum, on the sidewalk, anywhere. He also has to make sure his high chair is clean before getting into it. When we take the tray off he inspects it and if is isn't clean enough he asks us to clean it with a rag, and then cleans it himself! The first time he did this I was a bit shocked, now it's just normal routine and I need to video it :-)

He loves transportation(cars, busses, trucks, airplanes, helicopters) and can usually hear them before we do. He also loves being outside and playing in the yard. He collects acorns, plays in his house, and follows Bailey around.

He continues to be very interested in Elmo, mostly books that have Elmo in them.   We just got a new bath math with Elmo on it and it's a big hit!!!  He even sits down in the tub now :-).  He has an aardvark stuffed animal named Ardie who he's been very interested in carrying around for the last week, we'll see if that amounts to any more of an attachment.  He also is beginning to learn his colors.  He likes talking about colors and is sometimes able to put his stacking rings in the correct order if we tell him which color goes next.  He's most consistently able to identify green, and he really likes talking about the color yellow.

Friday he had his 18 month check up with the pediatrician. He only had to get one shot, and otherwise had a great check up. We don't go back for another check up until he's 2! So crazy! He weighs 28lbs, 3oz(75th percentile), he is 33.5 inches tall (75th percentile), and his head circumference is 47cm(15th percentile). He's growing like a weed and right on his perfect little curve!
His vocabulary is exploding and his imagination is growing. He loves having picnics and pretending to cook in his kitchen. He loves music and singing and dancing, and he loves playing outside. His laugh is contagious and his smile brightens the day of so many people everyday! He's just a happy kid!