Happy half birthday!

I can't believe my baby boy is 18 months old already. He's gotten so big - about 32 inches tall and about 22 pounds. He's doing so much and saying so much. He loves being outside. He'll go around the yard and pick up sticks to put in the yard waste trash can. He even helps out the lady next door by getting her sticks, too.

He knows where things (shoes, clothes, books, dirty dishes) go and will put them away when asked...most of the time. He knows which room is which. If I tell him to go to the living room then that's where he goes. Same with the kitchen, playbaby room, bedroom and Oliver's room. He also knows where to go to get his shoes and jacket when it's time to go out.

He's gotten really good at opening and closing doors as long as he doesn't have to turn the handle to do it. He's getting into the kitchen cabinets now, too, and pulling out all the plastic bowls and lids for the pans. This is great motivation for me to keep my kitchen floor clean!

He's doing better with eating by himself. He uses a fork and spoon fairly well, although sometimes he still just holds in it one hand and shovels the food into his mouth with the other. He's also getting better at taking bites instead of shoving the whole thing (cracker, piece of bread, apple slice, banana, etc etc) in his mouth at once. He's still pretty messy, but not as much as before.

He's picked up a bunch of new words since the last time I posted it. truck, door, wall, two, potato, Pappy, cool!, button, blanket, bed, turtle, poke, wait!, apple and pepper (as in green pepper). He's also got a few new signs. bunny, flower, hairbrush, turtle. It's amazing how he picks words up so quickly. Sometimes if I say something new to him he'll repeat it back. We practice things a lot! He loves looking through books and telling me what the pictures are. It's funny - he'll say and sign cow, then say "booooooo!"

He's started taking an interest in puzzles. He has a few that he got for Christmas and there are some at the museum we go to. He's beginning to recognize that every shape/piece has it's own place. It's fun to watch him try to match it up.

He's such an amazing little guy! - and getting more amazing every day!