I had every intention of putting up an 18 month post about Robert, but here we are at 19.5 months, so a 19 month post it is.
Robert is wearing 24 month and 2T clothes and some of his 18 month stuff still fits. He's in size 4 diaper and I just had his feet measured last week and it turns out he's size 7 wide but I've never bought him wide shoes. Oopsie. I'm sure his feet are thanking me for his new, wider sneakers.
He is a wonderful sleeper and usually goes down without a fight. His nighttime routine starts with a breathing treatment (on his own as of this week) while watching Pink Panther, bath, story and in bed at 7:30. He usually wakes between 7 and 7:30. Naptime is around 12:30 and he sleeps 1.5-3 hours.
Robert got teeth number 15 and 16 right at 18 months and just this week has started working on his two year molars. He hates having his teeth brushed but doesn't mind sucking all of the toothpaste off of the toothbrush.
He is still a poor eater. He loves his milk and most any fruit but everything else is hit or miss. Some of his favorites (when he's in the mood) are pasta, chicken, olives, pizza without the cheese, crackers, raisins, smoothies, waffles and wow, I can't think of anything else. That's just sad. We've got to work on getting more food in him. He's starting to refuse some of his favorites now because he's eaten them too much. There are plenty of meals where he only eats one or two bites of anything. He's lactose intolerant so that means no cheese or yogurt and we're holding off on peanuts until he's older.
He was 25 pounds at his 18 month checkup (which was a month late) and they didn't measure him so I have no idea how long he is.
Robert is starting to talk a little more. He says dee dee (drink), hot (tot), tractor (tacktuh), fish (shhhh), dog (dot), duck (dut), Clara (Clala), giraffe (jaff), shoes (shoosh), socks (tocks), shirt (um, 'shirt' without the 'r') and we hear thank you (cah-coo) on occasion. He just started saying "cheese" for the camera and says, "uh-oh, dot" when he drops something. He no longer says "nah nah nah" at all and instead says "uh-uh" anytime you ask him a question. "Uh-uh" means yes and no so I never know what the kid wants. For everything else he just pitches a fit until you figure out what he wants or give up. I'll be pleased as punch when he learns "I'm hurting", " I'm hungry", "no, I'd rather not nap thank you", "my diaper is soiled" and "please return the car you took from me dear sister".
He can tell you what a dinosaur, lion, tiger, bear, elephant, bird, monkey, car, firetruck, and train say. A dog says "dog, dog, dog" or he just started panting when you ask him and a duck says "duck, duck, duck".
He can point out most body parts, but doesn't say any of them yet. He doesn't point out his eyes and mouth though. When you ask him where his eyes are, he flutters his eyelashes quickly and puckers his lips when you ask where his mouth is.
When he hits or bites any of us (including the dogs), he has to tell us he's sorry. He comes over, pats our head and says "ssssssss" and then gives a hug. And then usually hits again because it's a fun game. Hit, pat, hug, hit, pat, hug.
Robert has absolutely no interest in numbers or letters. He flat out refuses to repeat things when you ask him. When you ask him how old he is, he says "two". When you ask him to repeat numbers, he says "two" after every one. He does love to read though. He pulls all of his books off the shelf and just sits in the pile looking through all of them. He especially loves books about dinosaurs and cars and trucks. At bedtime, his favorites are "How Does a Dinosaur Say Goodnight?", "Goodnight Moon", and "Llama Llama Red Pajama".
His favorite toys right now are cars and trains. His absolute favorite toy that usually goes with him wherever he goes is the die cast Mini we brought him from London. He also likes his double decker bus and London taxi, his Little People school bus, Clara's pink shopping cart and that's about it. If it doesn't have wheels, he's really not interested. I take that back. He loves to pull each and every toy off of the shelf. That's great fun in his book. He also loves blankets. He doesn't have a single security blanket, but when he remembers, he pulls all of the blankets out of his drawers and carries them around the house, just snuggling them, burying his face in them and laying on the floor with them. His face just lights up when he finds one.
Robert gives the best hugs and kisses, opens doors and child-locked cabinets, loves to climb onto the kitchen table, still comes running when I open the dishwasher, is a screamer when he doesn't get his way, throws lovely fits and runs until he finds a wall to throw himself against and cry on, will not stay out of the dvd cases or tv stand cabinets, is drawn to remotes and electronics like a moth to flame, loves to eat dog food, hates people food (unless it's in the trash, then it's good eatin'), walks along behind me all day long pulling things out of their proper place and depositing them on the floor, has eaten dog poop, loves to be outside and adores tormenting his sister. In other words, I need another vacation!
He may be a ridiculous amount of work, but he's still a cutie and can melt my heart with his little smile. I feel very blessed to be his mama.
