Andrew's 18-Month Appointment

Just a quick update on Andy's 18-month well visit appointment this past Monday. He checked out as healthy and developing well, which confirms what we already knew. Andy measured at 27 lbs. 10 oz (12.5 kg), putting him around the 88th percentile (and about a pound heavier than Matt at this point). His drop in percentile undoubtedly comes from his being very active. He was approximately 34 1/8 inches (86.7 cm), or around the 95th percentile for height. (He's within 1/8 of an inch, which is probably the margin of error for measuring a wiggling toddler, of Matt at this point.) Here's hoping he keeps growing as well and we can all stay relatively healthy for the rest of this cold and flu season!

Happy 18-Month Birthday, Andrew!

Thursday Andrew turned 18 months old.

Here is the 18 month old:

Being silly at the table

Doing stickers (someone has been watching his brother!)

Andy continues to be one busy, busy little guy. He is active, talkative, vivacious, silly, good-natured, affectionate (he loves to give hugs and kisses), goofy, happy, and fun.

Andy's vocabulary has just exploded, especially this past week. He has added a lot of new words the past month: yum, berry, ear, up, boot, Matt, box, fan, bowl, light, wall, butterfly (although he may be calling them birds), truck, and off. He is saying more two-word phrases. He had been saying "more please" or "more (something)" or "(something) please," but now he says "Ma(tt) bye bye" when Matt leaves, "cat bed" to point out the cat is on the bed, and "cat sleep" to point out a napping cat.

On a related note, he also is making more and more connections between things he sees or does. He is in general more aware of things. That has its drawbacks: the other night it was a bit of a struggle to convince him to go to sleep because he kept getting distracted by the dinosaurs on his pajamas. He has really made a lot of developmental leaps the past couple of weeks especially.

Andy is finally starting to show more interest in books and want to have them read to him, not just listen to something read to Matt as he plays with something else. He will pick out a book and sit through it more often. He likes to hear the same book several times in a row, too.

Andy remains a big fan of dinosaurs ("rawrs") as well as cars and trucks. He likes trains and is starting to show an interest in Thomas in particular. He also likes Winnie the Pooh and friends, Curious George, and the Disney Pixar cars - basically what Matt likes. He likes animals and is starting to realize they might make different noises; his default animal noise is "rawr" (whether it's a giraffe, goat, or lion). Andy's favorite animal is still the cat. Unlike Matt, who is wary of the cat after a few too many scratches, Andy continues to pursue the cat enthusiastically. One day perhaps she will appreciate the attention - most likely once it's a little less enthusiastic.

Andy's 18-month well visit appointment is coming up, so we'll learn soon exactly how much he has grown. He's still in 2T clothes and size 6 shoes, but we'll see how much longer that lasts. He is leaning out a little because he is so active but remains quite tall for his age.

December 2017 Recap

I've posted our Christmas-related activities already, so here are the rest of our December photos:

As usual, we went to a lot of library programs.

Using rhythm sticks at Music & Movement

Marching in the "parade" at Music & Movement

Pajama storytime

Andy building with blocks

Matt building with Legos

Andy playing with train tracks

 

Scarf fun at Color My World with Science

Andy "reading" after story time

 

Making a mitten (second photo courtesy of the library)

Light table fun

 

Making masks

Decorating a picture frame

After we visited Santa (which we did after our gingerbread house decorating), we stayed to play on the indoor play space for a few minutes.

On Clifford

All aboard!

 

Riding in the hot dog truck

I took Andy to an indoor play space while Matt was at school one morning.

Trying out the chairs

Scooting along

We went to the "museum full of science" with Uncle Vic before Christmas break.

Working on a build

Building a carbon molecule

With the festive T Rex

Studying some info - or figuring out which buttons to push

Trying the Freedom Chair

Learning about playground physics

Watching the ball suspended in air

Rearranging worms and acorns in the bird's nest

More fun with balls suspended in air

Triceratops time

Matt watching his favorite video on how fossils are made and discovered

We ran some errands

Taking advantage of Costco's samples

And we went to a New Year's Eve open house at the local Y.

 

Rocking

Playing the organ

More scooting around

Marshmallow tasting

And we went outside when the weather permitted.

In the Batmobile

Sliding in snow gear is tricky

Wearing snow pants and boots because there is snow on the ground but eating a popsicle because it is "warm"

Longing for warmer days when he can play with his ducks in his water table

 

At the playground

Sliding at the playground

But when the weather didn't cooperate and/or the days got too dark too soon we found plenty to do indoors.

Cars and trucks

Art at the easel (and on themselves)

Helping put together a bookshelf

Sampling homemade ice cream

Duplo fun

Dinosaurs

Building together

Building with magnetic tiles with Aunt Liz

Lining up the Little People

Silly goof running around the kitchen

Play Doh fun with Aunt Liz

Doing puzzles (100 pieces!) with Aunt Liz

Showing off his solar system mobile he made with the help of his Aunt Liz

Andy having fun driving friends around

Enjoying some split pea soup made with the leftover Christmas ham

And as a bonus here is a photo from Matt's school of the zoo he and some classmates constructed: