What's New at 18 Months Old

On the one hand, I can't believe that my kids are 18 months old, because it seems like just yesterday they were my chubby little lumps that only smiled and drank breastmilk every 3 hours. On the other hand, they seem like such big kids to me recently that I think to myself, of course they're 18 months old -- they act practically all grown up at times!

Ariana has improved so much with her sitting and overall trunk support. All of her therapists are so proud of her -- we sometimes just sit and revel at how far she has come. She has some days that are better than others, which is to be expected, but she can generally sit without support for several minutes before needing some help getting readjusted. On her best days, she doesn't even need anyone to help her, but only remind her to "sit up Ari", to which she immediately responds by correcting her posture and flashing you a big grin. Ariana has also started making the "ba" sound with regularity. When I ask her to say "bye" to someone, she will give her famous enthusiatic wave and proudly say "ba," but I swear it sounds just like "bye." Ariana is more than ever responding to simple commands like "put the toy in your mouth" or "splash the water" or "give mommy a kiss." Her breadth of verbal understanding has grown so much lately. Another thing that Ariana is doing this month that she hasn't done before is retrieval of a dropped item in a sitting position. When I am taking my shower, I sit Ariana in her Bumbo seat (which offers hip support but no back support, so she needs to hold herself upright). When she's sitting in her seat, she gets to play with a toy or my cell phone to keep her occupied. Up until recently, once she dropped the toy the first time, it was lost to her until I came out and resued it. Now, she can drop it and pick it up over and over again all by herself (provided that she drops it to her left and not her right side). Ariana is also initiating a roll from right to left onto her tummy. While she can't complete the roll on her own yet, she gets so close and she knows it. She sometimes cracks up laughing while she's teetering on her side. It won't be long before she's rolling in all directions. Another gross motor skill that Ariana is slowly developing is the beginning of a crawling pattern. Ari has been trying to pull her legs up under her while using her arms to pivot or reach towards an item out of her reach. I get so excited every time I see her do this, which is increasing in frequency all the time. Sadly, Ariana is also beginning to get pickier with foods and is trying to turn herself into a vegetarian (she did not get this from me). It used to be that I could get her to eat chicken and ground beef, but she is protesting most dinner (savory) foods these days and spends many a dinnertime screaming every time we try to slip a bite into her mouth -- very frustrating. Her favorite foods lately are fruit (all kinds), crackers, scrambled eggs, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, cereal, yogurt, macaroni and cheese, and sometimes veggies like beets, carrots, and green beans. She would eat an all fruit diet if I let her. This week, I'm venturing towards new sources of protein like hummus to see if I can win her over -- wish me luck. As sweet as she is, my little peach is starting to get a bit of an attitude at times. I guess it comes with the territory, but she can be pretty demanding of my attention and she does not like to share with Gabriel anymore. By 6 o'clock PM (my pumpkin time), I've pretty much had it with the whining and Jake playfully calls me a "baby hater," which is an exaggeration... but not by much.

Gabriel has turned into a big boy practically overnight. I know I say this every month, and I'm starting to sound like an old lady, but I can't deny it. It would be impossible to name every one of his many little achievements and milestones, so here are just a few. While Gabriel's spoken vocabulary is rapidly approaching 50 words, Gabriel has about a 20 word sign language vocabulary. It blew me away that he had learned more signs than me from his sign language DVDs, so I literally had to play catch up just to figure out what he was trying to communicate with me. The signs he uses most frequently are milk, help, please, blanket, and bear (referring to his teddy bear). Gabriel has recently gotten so attached to his blankets and teddy bear that he wants to carry them around with him everywhere. He hoards blankets (literally), by gathering all of the baby blankets in the house (4-6 at a time) and dragging them behind him. He also loves playing in piles of pillows. Gabriel's favorite toys this month are cars and his flash cards. While cars "ca" and trucks "tuck" are no brainers for little boys, the flash card thing just cracks me up. He begs me to drill him with his color flash cards. And as a result, my 1 1/2 year old (I'm going to brag here, so skip over this if excessive pride makes you cringe) knows 4 colors: red "ray", green "geen", blue "boo", and purple "poo poo". While he gets it right only about 75% of the time, I still think that's pretty dang good for a baby. Gabe can also identify about 10 animals (his favorites are lion and dog, which he signs all day) and 10 body parts (his favorites are belly button, teeth, and "pee pee"). Some of Gabe's gross motor developments include coming down the stairs by himself (safely). He can come all the way down backwards (which I prefer) or scoot down on his bottom. He opens the doors to the garage and the front door, which scare the crap out of me. I've found him playing happily in the garage on more than one occasion. Gabriel is also walking up his wedges in the playroom and sliding down on his own (something his physical therapist has been encouraging for a while). Gabriel is starting to climb on furniture, and he is trying on our shoes (which involves balancing on one leg and requires a lot of motor planning). Gabriel and Ariana have both started going to nursery at church and they love the socialization. I think that Gabriel learns so much from being around older kids. He and Ari had the time of their lives when their 3 and 4 year old cousins, Brayden and Trevor came to visit this past weekend. I only wish they lived closer to us. Of course, there are pros and cons to every age and stage (or that's what I tell myself anyway): Gabe has acquired a award-winning toddler attitude. Don't get me wrong, he is as loveable and affectionate as little boys come; frequently lunging into my arms for a hug and a kiss, cuddling in my lap while I read him a story. But he can throw a tantrum with the best of them. Needless to say, time out isn't a game anymore. What really gets me is that Gabe already knows how to push my buttons. For instance, when we are out in public and the babies are in the side-by-side double stroller and Gabriel wants my attention, he knows that all he has to do is hit or scratch Ariana. I can't help it -- I instinctively react. I've sworn that I'm going to get a front-back (tandem double stroller) if it kills me. If anyone has a used one that they don't need anymore, please lend it to save Ariana from Gabe's wrath. And it wouldn't be a month if there wasn't a sickness, would it? Gabe has come down with croup. He was having really awful sounding breathing so we took him into our favorite urgent care on Labor Day. They did a chest x-ray and came up with the diagnosis. It's viral, so he's only on a steriod medicine for 5 days to help ease his breathing. I hope it will pass soon, without Ari catching it.