Perrin 1.5

Smunchie Face is now 18 months old. 18 whole months since he came earth side. This feels like the last milestone before we just start sticking to years. A lot has happened in the last 6 months. I have started working part time. We started using a babysitter occasionally. Joey and I have started a new and exciting journey of growth through some intensive therapy. So what is 18 month old Perrin like? Well….

He is very communicative, though he is still not incredibly verbal. He has several words, but his annunciation is so that a person on the street probably wouldn’t recognize any of them. However, he also signs a lot.

Among his verbal words are: llama, giraffe, turtle, puppy dog, kitty cat, fishy, yum, snack, other side, no, um-hmm, please, cheese, night night, bye, high five, Mama, Daddy, Granddaddy, Mimi, Gigi, Diggle, chicken, duck, cow, rhino, dinosaur, teeth, eyes, nose, toes, owl.

He signs: More, please, thank you, elephant, bird, duck, chicken, frog, pig, cat, hot, giraffe, sad, help, hurt, outside, all done, plane, hard, potty, happy.

Speaking of potty- this kid is freaking teaching himself all about the potty. Potty learning was not even near being on my radar. We have done very relaxed/part time style elimination communication since he was about 8 months old. He has known what the potty is and what it’s for and used it off and on since then. But lately he will tell me before he pees and ask to use the potty. In the past week there has been a couple days when his diapers were mostly dry for the day. It seems surreal that diaper laundry might soon be in our (well, Joey’s) past.

He still nurses like a champ. Some days less than others, but he loves his milkies. And yes, he still nurses at night. But luckily he is also still in our bed with us, so I remain pretty oblivious to most of his night time snacking. I feel like 6 months to about 14 months was a really good stride for nursing. We had figured things out for the most part and it felt easy and was relaxed. It’s still easy, but now we are navigating toddlerisms like setting personal boundaries and using respectful manners (i.e. “milk please” or “other side” instead of “AAAAHAHHHHHHHH!!!!” and clawing at my shirt). Also, as his mouth changes and he slowly (oh so slowly…) gets more teeth, his latch goes through stages of being fairly uncomfortable.

So. Many. Feels. Huge, terrifying explosive feelings trapped inside a tiny toddler body. Oh my goodness. But he’s learning to recognize them in himself and others and can identify happy and sad.

Favorites:

Book: Nose and Toes, Animals Everywhere, Farm Book

Music: Shake it Off, the new Foo Fighters, Godsmack, the princess potty at Target

Animal: Llamas, otters, and rhinos.

Toy: Blocks, train, puzzles, balls

Activity: Swinging, anything with water, reading books, throwing stuff

Food: Cheese, apples, green beans, broccoli, yogurt, mandarin oranges, bananas.

Dislikes: the carseat, being stung by bees, fake Cheerios

Stats:

Height: About 35 inches

Weight: 28 lbs. even

Eyes: Bright blue

Hair: White blonde

Teeth: 8 (all the incisors)

Shoe size: 7

Clothing size: 2T

Other fun tidbits- Perrin has started to do some imaginative play. He will feed his toys and make smacking sounds. He likes to help me cook and has gotten really good at cutting veggies and mushrooms with a butter knife. He also loves getting his nails trimmed and painted. I swear it’s the only time this kid will sit still. He can climb the ladders on the playground all by himself and now he sits on the big kid swing, too. He can almost jump, but doesn’t quite get both feet of the ground. He is really, really into high-fives. Like, we have to high-five all the mannequins we walk by in a store. He’s a pretty cool kid.