18 Months

Okay, even though I've felt like he has been 18 months for awhile now, now he is that age "officially," so here are my thoughts on our toddler at 18 months. He's a happy kid most of the time! The photo below was from his 18-month doctor's appointment.We let him run around the hallway in this getup while waiting for the doctor to make his rounds. lol.: Lo Lo is growing in abilities every day. He regularly talks in sentences ("Daddy Pao Bu," or "No No No Mommy, More!" for example when I put away the candy ...hooray, "No" is a favorite word). He can walk up and down stairs if he is holding my hand. He tosses a ball every way imaginable and catches it, which we have got to get on film because I know y'all don't believe me. =) He naps a good 2 hours or so in the middle of the day. I'm not sure what else to say, because he has had such an explosion of changes in the past few months, it is overwhelming to take stock of it all and try to summarize. I suppose I'll give a few of his favorite things...

Favorite toys: Little People sets (he has started doing pretend play pretty regularly and now loves the Little People sets Aunt Jennifer gave us last year); shape sorter (he does this one all by himself finally); Mommy's keys (he hasn't lost them yet, knock on wood); magnets; and coins. The latter three objects Lo Lo enjoys putting into slots, like he shoves magnets through the slatted furnace room door, puts coins down the cracks of his basketball hoop base (losing them forever), etc. Are we tempting fate that he might one day choke on a coin? Perhaps. But he really doesn't seem to be one of those "mouthy" kids, so maybe that's why I feel relaxed about it.

Favorite thing to do: help with chores. Seriously, if I don't let him have his own garbage bag to drag out to the dumpster when I take out the trash, he protests vehemently. He also likes to "help" crack eggs into the pan each morning (again, I cater to him).

Favorite words: Woah! or Wow; Mut Mut (sock in Cantonese); and Dime (he calls all coins dimes and frequently throughout the day asks me to give him a "Dime? Dime? Dime?" to play with). He still signs a lot too, picking up new signs every day when we watch the Signing Time DVD.

Favorite person: Daddy. Even though I'm in nursery with Lo Lo, he spends a good portion of each Sunday knocking on the nursery room door asking to leave so we can go find Daddy. Lo still loves me of course too, and sometimes cries pretty sad if I leave to go somewhere which I don't do often.

Favorite foods: breastmilk (he still nurses a lot); regular milk from the fridge (he uses the same word for it as when he wants to nurse--"Nai" which is the Chinese word for "milk"); crackers; cheese--esp. Sharp Cheddar or Cottage Cheese; any kind of fruit. Oh, and the photo below is a classic olives-on-the-fingers shot:

Favorite books: The Angry Moon, by William Sleator.  I think he likes the moon's scary face? Anything with cars, trucks, etc. though we have a "big book of animals" Lo Lo likes to look at. He "reads" books to himself pretty often now, which is adorable. The interesting thing about reading is that I have found we do less of it since he has become more active in playing over the past few months. I need to stay conscientious about implementing at least a half hour of reading time into each day.

Least favorite things: his high chair (I think we are almost completely done with it...at mealtimes he just sits on his knees on a chair at the table with us now or on Mommy/Daddy's lap...we've got to get him his own little mini table and chair); spending a "long time" strapped in his stroller, carseat, a shopping cart etc. (20 mins. or so is his limit at which time he starts to get predictably restless).

Overall this age is the most fun part of parenting yet, but I do feel a need to revamp my daily routine with Lo. He has changed so much, and I can't keep up. I am starting to learn some Montessori principles to apply in our home, so hopefully that will help add structure and learning to our days.





I know the video picture quality isn't the best, but he yells a couple times "pao bu," which is precious for us to have recorded. It means "run" in Chinese which is another of Lo's favorite words.