18 months old

Whew. This toddler business is wearing me out & I can't believe another month has gone by! It's been a full month with all sorts of new developments.

Logan's sleeping patterns are starting to shift a bit. He's had some early mornings & early bedtimes. I think being sick threw him off a little. There was that growth spurt that he slept through too. I'm sure that didn't help the consistency. He's been trying to take his binky & blanket out with him when he wakes up too. We try to keep these in the crib, telling him that "binkies & blankies are for bedtime only", then I ask him to drop them back in his crib. He was putting up a fight for a while there, but now he's back on the same page.

His first molar came through this last month & his second is on it's way. It will probably make an appearance in the next couple of weeks. Brushing his teeth can be a pain in the butt, even if I try to make it fun & sing the "ah" song so he opens his mouth.

Meals are still very frustrating with his finickiness. The floor is always covered with food & it drives me absolutely nuts. He is still pretty much vegetarian & only eating meat every blue moon. However, he has a major love for milk & asks for it all day long. I would give him more than I do, but he has had an eczema outbreak on his arms for a few weeks & dairy tends to exacerbate the flare up. Poor kid.

His temper tantrums are escalating, with this morning being the worst one yet. We had a park day with some other moms & kids. Logan seems to think that it's snack time at every function we go to, regardless of the time, when he had his last meal or if we're outside in the dirt. He pitched a huge fit because I didn't bring his snacks (even though he just had breakfast). He screamed like I've never seen him scream before, trying to throw the diaper bag around & flailing himself to the ground. I just rolled my eyes, exasperated & tried to not laugh, because the rolling around on the ground was pretty comical as all of his friends stood around & watched. All of the other moms are sympathetic, always commenting that things get better. So far? It's getting worse & I'm ready for the better part.

Again, I know these tantrums will calm down when he learns how to talk. This is happening very. Slowly. He says "yeah" to every question & nods his head in agreement, which is pretty cute. This morning he said "meow" for the first time when Kitty walked into his room during a diaper change. In a baby gibberish kind of way, I think he tries to repeat "good job" as this is a standard comment to things he does. I repeat the alphabet to him & count his toes, but it all comes out "ah" or "eh" when he mimics. Basically, it's all grunts. Mama & dada (or yaya) are rarities, but "Da!" (Buddha) & a form of "cat" or "Kitty" are common. He also says "uck" & "ack" (duck & quack), "MMMMmm" (moo), "iss" (penis) & "shh" (fish). I think that's about it.

The sign language is helping a bit, but as of now he constantly signs "help" & "more" when he asks for something. It's hard to determine what he wants & I'm always asking him, "More of what? Help with what? Point to what you want. Mommy's trying to understand you. Logan, use your words".

He's still as active as ever, climbing on everything like a little monkey. He jumps down from the couch (or rolls off & lands on whatever & laughing). He can go up & down the stairs by himself & he's less clumsy when he runs. He can also go down the slide by himself, no problem. He tries to get in the bath by himself (head first) keeping me on my toes as I grab him by the waist, making sure he doesn't drown himself. He loves to pull out the scale & stand on it before bath time, making me wonder if I get on there too often. Monkey see, monkey do.
He super social with his friends, chasing them around & playing with toys. He's great at sharing, even his snacks. He does get pretty mad when others don't share with him or take a toy away, but I think it's good that he doesn't get bullied. He's been uber cuddly recently, always on my lap or Bill's & giving us hugs & kisses. He gives Kitty & Buddha hugs, blows kisses to Bill as he leaves for work & is learning how to hug his friends (he's not too keen on this idea yet).

He just keeps learning & doing more everyday. His 18th month check-up is next week, so it will be interesting to see how much he's grown & what the Doctor has to say about his language development.

I just can't believe how big he's getting. It amazes me everyday.