Henry - 18 (19) Months

I took Henry to his 18 month checkup Monday - although he is 19 months old! I better schedule earlier next time! He was weighed and measured - and he is 25 lbs. 3 oz. and 34 inches. His weight was surprisingly in the lower percentiles (40%) but his length was higher (80%). He looks kind of skinny, but he still feels heavy to me!

He wandered around the exam room while we waited for Dr. Joe, climbing up and down from the chairs, looking at books and naming things. When our pediatrician came in Henry waved up at him from the floor and yelled "hi!!!" with a big smile. What a charmer. He showed Dr. Joe his "jumping" skills too ;).

He hated having his ears checked, or basically anything having to do with the physical examination! He's so grabby and doesn't like being poked or prodded at all. Well, that's normal. He had two shots - MMR and Chicken Pox, and let out his trademark ear-piercing scream... but I'm not really one to get too upset at these appointments (I think vaccinations are awesome, personally), so when I scooped him back up and gave him a cuddle he settled down right away. With a big tear under his eye, he even smiled at me, then he looked at the nurse and gave her a big frown :(. He walked out to the car with me... I find that I don't always need to carry him on my hip. Reality check: he's getting to be a big boy. We even took away pacifiers, which is going really well!

Here Fishy Fishy!

Lucy caught her first fish this afternoon - a little bluegill, which was tossed back into the water shortly after this photo was taken. She was very excited!

More pictures here

Locks

Lucy has been able to unlock the deadbolt and the doorknob lock for a few months now, but it hasn't been a problem until recently. She has crossed the street once without one of us with her, and she has repeatedly opened the door and stepped out onto the porch before I could stop her. We have told her about cars hitting her, people taking her away, but chose not to mention the fact that if she unlocks the door while I am not aware, someone might be able to come into the house and do bad things.

Since she stopped napping a year and a half ago (I know I could "make" her... trust me, it's NOT worth the 2 hour battle for a 90 minute nap. If you have a kid like this, you might sympathize. If not, you will have to take my word for it, I am tougher than a preschooler, but I have better things to do with my time than force her to sleep). She wakes me up in the morning around 7:00 asking for breakfast, and she is up and doing silly, busy things until she falls asleep around 8:30 PM (extended because of the later daylight). In order to do anything, literally - shower, throw in a load of laundry, change Henry's diaper, anything - that might require me not to be staring at her, that means she is unattended for short periods of time throughout the day.

She decided to use a couple of those short periods of time to go outside without one of us too many times. This morning she went for it, and when I pried her hands off the doorknob, she fell face down to the floor, requiring me to drag her out of the way, in order to close the door and lock it again. I immediately went to our cabinet in the mudroom, found another Safety 1st doorknob cover, and clicked it in place over the doorknob. Lucy swatted at it with dramatized futility, and as it loosely spun around the doorknob... my blood pressure dropped 3 points. That battle is over.

Henry - 18 months

Well - I need some big parenting demerits because I have been completely neglectful of record keeping in the form of a baby book - relying on this blog as a resource for information when I get around to it. Awful! Someday, an incredible baby book for both kids, as well as beautiful family albums, will grace our shelves. That being said, here's what Henry is up to at 18 months.

• He is insistent on self-feeding, getting pretty good with a fork and spoon, hates if you try to feed him, (screams "no" and pushes your fork-wielding hand away violently).
• He no longer uses a sippy lid, and has mastered drinking from a "normal" cup or glass, does not spill and dump it all on is face. He might tip it over on purpose, just for the purpose of splashing in liquid on his tray. Drops bits of food into his drink. Grr..
• Trying to jump (he's really close) - see previous entry.
• Dances to music - seems to respond most to hard rock - and spins in a circle.
  
• CLIMBS a lot! Climbs onto chairs and tables, and into bins, baskets, and drawers.
• Opens cabinets and drawers and empties them (loves the draw with tea packets and coffee).
  
• Says lots of new words every week, we stopped keeping track, but no sentences. Uses plural "s" correctly sometimes.
• Says, "peez... peez!" ("please") whenever he sees you eating something.
  
• Still loves bathtime, stands up in the tub to get a reaction. Loves to splash!
• Good at following directions, like "put the ___ in the basket."
  
• Can identify (by patting or pointing) his tummy, feet, eyes, hands, nose, mouth, ears, head, and his "pee pee". If anyone has suggestions for a better name for it, please let me know! Thought there should be an understanding before we start potty training (we haven't yet).
• When he points to his nose he always says, "beep!"
  
• Eats sand and dirt.
• He's getting a couple molars!
• Enjoys hiding. What are you doing? "hiding". Crouches into corners and in closets.
• His physical "stats" are unknown, his appointment is at the end of this month. All I know is, he's getting heavy!

I can bet I will think of things I'm forgetting here, but this is what I came up with off the top of my head! I hope to include notes about what he is like, what he does, and what he says along with my favorite photos of him (and I hope this blog proves to be a good reference for me to document Lucy in the same way - because I have been fairly good about keeping up on it ever since she was born!). It's very easy to forget when these stages took place if you don't write it down somewhere. It seems like only a few months ago she could only take a couple unstable steps before falling over. It is insane how the time flies. I'm sure my kids' grandparents can attest to that.

Jump Around!

Henry is learning how to jump... which basically means he crouches down a little bit, and then straightens up as if he's trying to use his upper body to pull his feet off the ground. It's really cute.... and of course involves squealing (from both kids)!

Lucy showing Henry how to jump from Mindy on Vimeo.