A little over a week ago Charlie turned 18 months old. It’s so hard to believe that my (current) baby is turning into such a little boy. I know that I say this with every update but wow, time sure does fly by!

I love this age, some of the others I could do without, but 18 months is by far one of my favorites. Charlie is fiercely determined, independent and stubborn to boot but incredibly affectionate, sweet and just plain happy most of the time. He’s precious and I wish I could bottle him up at this age and save a little bit of this sweetness for later.

Stats:
Weight- 22lbs
Height- 31.75″
Teeth- Charlie has the oddest combination of teeth in that little head of his. He currently has 12 teeth, including the top four center teeth, three of his bottom front teeth, his one year old molars and one canine. They have come in in no particular order so honestly we have no idea what will come next, although I know that more are coming as we speak.

Things of Note:
-Charlie is talking up a storm and has been for quite a while. He had been putting together 3 word sentences for months and continues to say new words daily. His currently list of words include: Mommy, Daddy, Jay, what, this, that, I, where, want, down, me, more (moe), two, nine, ten, cheese, hi, hey, no, oh, goodness, Mimi, “I’m coming”,go
-He adores his brother Jay. Most of the time you can find him following Jay around the house. Not really imitating what he does but rather just wanting to be around him and play with him. He asks for him most days after he gets up from his nap if Jay is still sleeping and if I don’t watch him closely he will stand outside his door yelling for him. He frequently asks “Where’s Jay?” if he can’t find him and is always trying to keep up with him.
-He is a pretty good eater for the most part. He has his good and bad eating days and I don’t worry when he doesn’t eat much because he will eat more than enough on the days that he is really hungry. His current favorites include cottage cheese, cheese, hot dogs, watermelon, beans, ice cream and milk.
-Sleeping is still pretty great. He is still in the crib for now but we might transition him into a big boy bed soon before the baby comes (this will be interesting because he and Jay will be sharing a room at this point). He still takes a morning nap, although if we are out and busy he can skip it, an afternoon nap, is in bed between 7:30 and 8 most nights and sleeps until 7:30 or 8 in the morning. When he wakes up he usually just plays in his bed quietly (or not so quietly) until someone comes to get him. But as soon as you open his door he says “I want down!”
-He is fiercely stubborn, even more so than Jay was at this age. We find that if he wants something he will stop at nothing to make sure he gets it and is not easily deterred.

Likes:
*Books- He still loves to read with us and will sit through as many as you will read to him at night. Book length is increasing as well. He doesn’t always pick the simple ones anymore so we are able to read a little more variety to him. A few of his current favorites are Little Blue Truck, The Bear Snores On and Going on a Bear Hunt. When you read Going on a Bear Hunt he will recite some of the phrases to you and do the snowstorm sound effects while you read.
*Blankie- nothing new here but it needs to be said. Charlie does not go anywhere in the house without his blankie and he would take it everywhere if I would let him (I don’t let it leave the house so it doesn’t get dirty and ruined) and he won’t sleep without it.
*Water- Bath, water table, hose, kiddie pool, big pool… you name it! If it has water he pretty much loves it. He is currently taking swim lessons and doing really well and while he doesn’t love the lessons (he doesn’t like to do things until he knows he can do them) he still does everything his instructor tells him to do and is does it well.
*Buckles- he has a new-found love of buckles. He has just discovered how to clasp them and he will have you undo the buckle multiple times so he can clip it again.
*Being outside- both of my boys have always loved being outside and this hasn’t changed with Charlie. He will play out there for hours and is instantly happy when you ask if he would like to go out.
*Combs, Brushes, Vacuum attachments etc- Charlie has a thing for small objects that you can hold in your hand and walk around with. He frequently has one of them in his hand as he walks around the house. I honestly wish our vacuum wasn’t so hard to push or I think I could get him to vacuum the house for me.
*Cars- he is starting to really enjoy playing with cars. His is nowhere near to Jay’s obsession with cars but he likes pushing them around and making noises while he does. Fillmore (Moe Moe) is his current favorite car, it’s a VW bus from the Pixar movie Cars.
*GO, GO- Charlie loves running these days and loves even more when you say “Go, Go” and even more when you chase him.
*Bella and Piper- Charlie adores our pets and is constantly crawling all over them, giving them hugs and kisses. He helps Jamie let Piper outside in the morning and then helps to feed her. He is generally pretty sweet to both of them and they get a whole lot of Charlie love.

TaDa!

We celebrate half-birthdays with half of a cake and a new half-birthday book. These next few photos are of Charlie enjoying the post-frosting beaters and finally realizing what the thing on the stand in front of him was…

he’s got a mean stink-eye

finally realizing that it was cake in front of him

A lot of the things Charlie enjoys are similar to Jay’s. If you want to read about Jay at 18 months check out this post.