Dear Henry,
18 months, a year and half old, half way to two years old... Whatever you want to call it, you're not my baby anymore. I feel like you turned 18 months and instantly became a toddler or better yet, a big boy.
I feel like the there has been lots of physical development over the last 18 months, but lately there has been a surge of language development. You know LOTS of words now:
- on
- hat
- sock
- shoe
- boots
- coat
- car
- truck
- boat
- ball
- bubbles
- snack
- cheese
- yogurt
- teeth
- cup
- poop
- daddy
- mama
- papa
- bye-bye
- it's hot
- cool
- keys
- show
Besides knowing all of these words, you also know several animal sounds (lion, monkey, sheep, tiger, cow). You also love to:
- point to pictures of things in both your picture books and on your flashcards,
- thanks to Mother Nature, spend most of your days outside (it is proving harder and harder to get you back inside when you need a nap),
- playing with your bin of baseballs, basketballs and footballs,
- riding in your various strollers, wagons and cars,
- take each of your Matchbox Cars out one by one and line them up perfectly in a row,
- build towers and other structures with your blocks,
- play with Mommy's old Bristle Buddies from back when she was your age,
- walk to the park and otherwise roam the sidewalks of our town, walking miles a day without anywhere in particular to go,
- point out each and every car or truck that drives by all day long,
You still eat very well, but Daddy has accurately coined the phrase "moody eater" for you. You love every single thing we've ever put in front of you, but depending on your mood sometimes you want nothing to do with what we give you yet you'll eat the exact same thing for leftovers the next day.
Sleeping remains great, and we are about to start transitioning you to one nap a day. Hopefully you'll take to it! The key is keeping you up until lunchtime and getting your belly full before you pass out on us.
You're continually developing your own little personality and are starting to be sillier and sillier when you want to play, you know what you want at any given moment, you find things funny and laugh at them without being prompted (especially Goofy and Donald Duck!)... but this brings a lot of challenges as you get upset easily when things don't go your way and you don't have the words to express what's bothering you or what's gone wrong. We will try to divert you to something else when one of these mini-meltdowns occur, but sometimes its a complete mystery to us.
We love you, we love you, we love you. You're the best little man we could ever have hoped for. Your hugs and slobbery kisses melt our hearts everyday.
Love,
Mommy and Daddy
