Happy 18 Months!

Another month older. 1 year and 6 months ago Louis was welcomed into this world. It is hard to believe it is almost 2 years. Also hard to believe that soon we will have ANOTHER baby joining our family.

Louis is a joy to be around. He is generally calm and laid back. He is very affectionate. Always ready with a hug and kiss. He is also verbally expressive, more so than I expected him to be at 18 months.

He loves to listen to music and to dance to it. He actually tries to do dance moves he observes his big sister or people on tv doing. We have at least 1 hour of music and dance every day. We went to a Family Day Picnic at Leah's school and there was a dj. Louis partied with the elementary school students trying to dance with them. He did a good job of keeping up. We recently went to a friend's baby shower and of all the little kids there he was the only one in front of the speakers dancing.

Milestones by 18 months that few/some/most 18 month old kids have reached:

Will "read" board books on his own - He loves to read books. Leah will sit and read her own books and Louis will climb up next to her with his books reading along.

Scribbles well - Every day after school Leah works on her on completing her homework and Louis will sit at the table with her coloring.

Strings two words together in phrases - In the past month Louis has started to things like down please, pick up, outside now.

Brushes teeth with help - He loves to stand in front of the mirror and have his teeth brushed. He is getting better at holding the brush on his own.

Stacks four blocks - 4,5,6 and however many more he can get stacked up...only to them knock them all down.

Throws a ball overhand - I just noticed he is throwing overhand the other day. He loves to play catch.

Takes toys apart and puts them back together - He will take apart his stack toys & put them back together, as well as the accessories for the ponies and dolls he plays with.

Shows signs of toilet training readiness - We practice elimination communication so Louis has been using the potty for the past year pretty regularly. In the past month though he has been alerting me verbally when he needs to go and most days he uses the toilet for his poops. We're working on peeing in the toilet but he isn't crazy about it. No rush on my part.

Is able to get onto small chairs without help - Hard to miss how capable Louis is at climbing. Not only can he handle his own small chairs but he can get up onto most adult sized chairs as well. He will climb up into his high chair on his own, and climb down as well.

Walks up stairs while holding on with one hand - Louis still prefers to crawl up stairs. He can walk up while holding on with one hand but isn't crazy about it.

Can use a spoon and cup with help to feed himself - Louis prefers to feed himself, always has. We never really spent much time with pureed baby foods so it isn't surprising to me that he likes to self feed. He likes to have a spoon and fork to eat. Often times he is more likely to eat more if you give him his own fork.

Can say 10 or more words when asked - Louis talks a lot when he wants to. He has a good handle on vocabulary and it helps us when he is frustrated to try and talk it through. This is something new for me as Leah was not a big talker until she was well past 2 years of age. Though most people don't remember that as Leah never stops talking now.

Identifies one or more parts of the body - Depending on his mood he will likely identify parts in Spanish and in English

Understands and is able to point to and identify common objects

Is able to take off some clothing items, such as gloves, hats, and socks - Louis does not like to wear socks and shoes. As soon as he is inside or in the car off come his sandals. If he doesn't want to wear his shirt or pants off they go.

Begins to feel a sense of ownership, identifying people and objects by saying "my" - Lately Louis had started to identify things as 'mine', including his big sister.

The Photogenics

There is no doubt in my mind that Leah and Louis get their smiles from Matt, along with the ability to look great in photos.

Dancing Man

Leah's school hosted a Family Day picnic today. Louis had a great time. He climbed every thing he could get on in the playground. Afterward he danced away to whatever the DJ was playing. He tried to keep up with the kids and at one point he tried to do the line dances as well. I love having another dancing baby.




Listening carefully and waiting to start Cotton Eye Joe


Stomping his leg at all the right places.