Growing Boy!

Gage had his 18 month check-up a couple of days ago and I wanted to write about some of the things he is doing at this age. He is in the 20th percentile at 23lbs 5oz and 32.5in. Some fun facts:

- He is our wild child! He is in to everything and loves to climb. Bruises and scrapes are pretty normal around here...

- He still has his strawberry blonde hair, but it is becoming more blonde and less strawberry as it grows out and has to be cut. So sad to see the little red snippets in the sink. :(

- His talking is coming along. He is starting to mimic more and using more of his sounds, although he definitely still favors the "d" sound. He uses a lot of inflection in his words which is great. Words and phrases he is saying now: uh-oh (this was his 1st word), mama, dada, sister (dit-tah), bye-bye (dah-dye!), all done, what's that, cheese, cracker, up, down, Addie (Add-oe), thank you (aye-oo), moon, star, toothbrush (ooo-buh), we're home (weh-hoe), more, no (which is basically nuh-uh while emphatically shaking his head), Nolan (Nolo), Emily (Mem), Papa, Grandmama (ahmama), dog, quack-quack, yo ho ho, bird, water, tree, truck, stairs (steh), shoes (soos), and the list goes on.

- He will gently tap tap tap your arm when he wants your attention.

- He loves Sesame Street, especially Elmo. He started calling it "Aldo", which progressed to "Almo", which is now Elmo. :)

- He is so stubborn! I asked Cam this morning where he thought all his stubborness comes from, and he just looked at me like, "Really?..." and laughed. Ok, so I guess from me... He likes to disagree just for the sake of being able to say "nuh-uh", little stinker. Teaching him to say "thank you" and to come when we ask him to are ongoing battles in our house.

- He loves to do anything and everything his sister does including "playing" Lego Star Wars on the Playstation with an unconnected controller. :) They get along so well for the most part and are both very loving and protective toward the other.

- Dancing and listening to music are his favorite! He claps and spins in circles and just laughs. His favorite CD is the soundtrack to Jake and the Neverland Pirates from Disney Jr. and in true pirate form he belts out, "Yohoho!" whenever it plays.

- He is sleeping about 12 hours at night and takes about a 2 hour nap each afternoon. We LOVE what a good sleeper he is. His favorite lovey is a blue elephant that plays a lullaby when you pull the tail.

- He will eat just about anything you feed him, but his faves are fruit, cheese, macaroni, and CRACKERS! He says the word "cracker" perfectly, with pathetic longing in his voice. Gage would marry crackers if he could.

- He is learning his body parts and loves to point out and say eyes, ear, nose, mouth, hair, toes, tummy, and belly button.

- Even though he is our little wildman, he has a gentle spirit and loves to snuggle and give hugs and kisses (big, slobbery, open mouth ones).