Happy 18 Months!

Weight: 25 lbs. 15.5 oz (let's just say 26 lbs.)...72nd percentile
Height: 35.25 inches (just shy of 3 feet??)...above 97th percentile
Head: 19 in...89th percentile

This child has had a major growth spurt in the past three months!  He's still in size three diapers and will be for a little while longer because he's so lean, even though the suggested weight limit on the diaper box for size three is 27 pounds.

His favorite thing to do is still "cooking," whether it's pretend or helping out.  It's become a regular thing to make pancakes together on the weekends, and he loves dumping in the ingredients and mixing.

Cooking packets of tea

He graduated to a toddler forward-facing car seat last week.  We had a Chicco 30 pound car seat that we've used since the beginning, but Weston's way too tall for it now.  I know, the new recommendations are to keep them rear-facing until they're at least two, but this is what we could swing right now.  I think he enjoys the new view in the car.

He melts my heart on a daily basis, but the other night was a good one.  When he's ready to go upstairs for his bath, I always tell him, "Say 'Goodnight, Dada.' " as we head up.  He usually responds and says it, along with a super cute wave.  I also tell him to say the same thing to me when I put him down in the crib.  Well, last night as I was putting him in the crib, he said all on his own in an adorable sleepy voice, "A-night, Mama."  

Sigh.  Makes a mom forget about all the food thrown on the floor, the endless mess of toys downstairs, the crying, the early morning wake ups, etc.

He's also repeated some not-so-desirable phrases, which is always really funny, and I know I'm not supposed to laugh.  But, there's something so cute about hearing a toddler try to say, "Oh, shit!"

We've also got continued good news on the lead poisoning front.  His latest lab work shows a 6.8 μg/dL, which is nearly a 10 point drop from when he first was diagnosed back in May.  We have the lead abatement work currently being done on the outside of the house, and once they're finished with that, they'll begin their work indoors.  Thanks to a grant through the city of Cincinnati, we're able to get the work done so that we're not in some horrible financial situation.


I had to take down the sign on the front door on Halloween so that we'd get some trick-or-treaters, and I've not put it back up:

One of three bright yellow signs on our property...

Do You Understand Me?

I teach English to students whose first language isn't English.  It's a challenging career choice, but I've learned over the years how to get my point across as well as figure out what my students are saying.  Drawing pictures and acting out scenarios are tactics that come in handy.

But...communicating with a child who doesn't have any language to begin with is slightly more interesting.  We're teaching Weston sign language whenever we can.  He can do "hot," "more," "dog," "bell" (we live near a church and the bells ring at 6pm every evening and he gets so excited when he hears them), and "duck."  There might be a few more.  Anyway, he has started to use the sign for "more" to mean "I'm-thinking-of-something-and-you-don't-know-what-that-thing-is-but-I-want-it-now-and-you-should-really-figure-out-what-I'm-thinking.  DUH."

My favorite example of this is when I get him up in the morning.  We go over to the window and look outside onto the backyard.  We have the kiddie pool and Weston's bike out there, and lately, he will make the sign for "more" while babbling excitedly about something.  "More" used to mean that he was hungry and wanted more food, but now I think it means "I want to swim / ride my bike / eat another banana."  Only he knows what he wants, but it's getting a bit easier to figure it out.

We've had some 90-degree days here, and Weston LOVES his swimming pool.  All day long: "Water?  Water?"