18 Month Update

It’s that time again, here’s what the boys have been up to.

• Had their 18 month appointment. Zach is still somewhere in the 5th percentile for height and weight even though he’s been eating like a moose lately. He literally will eat all of his food and then all of the food that Adam doesn’t like and he is still itsy bitsy. We consider Adam to be our “big” child, but even he is only around the 30th percentile in weight and near the 50th for height so he’s not really that big.
• Adam used to be allergic to milk but not any more. Now he’s lactose-intolerant. Yay. We mentioned his sleep problems (as in, he doesn’t) and general fussiness and gassiness to the pediatrician and she suggested we try a lactose-free milk. Once again Adam has an expensive, specialized drink that we must separate from Zach’s. The good news is that lactose-free milk lasts just about forever in comparison to regular milk: most cartons don’t expire for 1 – 1.5 months after we buy them.
• Zach has been practicing his names. He often points at everyone in the room and tries to name them – Mommy, Daddy, GiGi, Brother, Adam, Hannah, and Holly. He get so excited and has such a big smile after naming someone. It’s so adorable!
• It’s taken a year-and-a-half, but the boys are finally saying “please”. With their mouths! They have signed “more” for a long time and used that as their version of “please”. Whenever we tried to get them to say please, we’d get “mo” which is their verbalized version of the more sign. Recently they have started saying “peese” or “peace” when we ask them to. Now we are trying to get them to chain it with another word – “more please”, “water please”, etc. We can also get them to say “thank you” (or “ja-ju”) occasionally as well. The Taylor twins will have manners in no time.
• The boys love dancing, even in the car. They like pop music more than rock music and can often be seen bebopping in their car seats on the way to school in the morning. Zach gets really serious about it and throws his hands in the air and waves them in front of himself when he’s in the groove. Just like Daddy.
• Adam is starting to speak more. He hadn’t taken an interest in repeating us for quite a while and he has just recently started to parrot like his brother does. We have some pretty chattery evenings in our household.
• The boys have been upgraded to booster seats in the dining room. They can now sit at the table without trays. Its kind of scary so we have a clear plastic tablecloth cover over the table to protect it from the mess. Just wipe it down afterward and voila! no mess. It is really nice because we can eat at the table with them, even though we can no longer rely on the convenience of removable trays. Oh well, the price of progress.
• We are working feverishly to get the boys to say multi-word phases, and so far its been a challenge. They will get it eventually but sometimes we do get a surprise. Last week Zach was in the kitchen and was involved in a fit of sadness. I asked him “Zach, what do you want?” and he replied “I want mama!”, or at least that’s what I like to think he said 🙂
• Adam has always been into patterns. He learned some new ones. He loves to come out with us when we take the dogs to do their business. We have an area behind the garage where we take them and Adam likes to sit on the door sill of the garage and watch them do what they do. Lately he’s been scooching over to the side, slapping the space next to him, and saying “sit”. He’s extended it to the couch and the floor where he likes Sally and I to sit around him. It’s too cute. He also likes to come to the garage with me to fill the pellet bucket for our pellet stove. If I drop any pellets he will stay behind and pick up every single one and bring it to me to put in the bucket. What a kid!
• As the boys age they become more, shall we say, “useful”. They have taken a liking to cleaning up their toys. Not always, but sometimes. If we ask them correctly, both boys will wander around the living room, grab a toy, and put it in their toy box. It’s really cute. Next: vacuuming.
• A note on “stranger danger”: We don’t need to worry about Adam. He won’t go near anybody he doesn’t know. As soon as he meets a new person he hides behind Mommy or Daddy’s leg and asks to be picked up. Zach is a different story. All you need to be is a human and he’ll run over to you and ask you to pick him up. A dog or food is a plus, but not required. He asks to be picked up by strangers all the time when we go out. It’s adorable, but reminds me that we have to keep an eye on that one.

So there you have it, an update on our active little boys. They are getting more independent by the day and we are able to start doing more with them. They help us do laundry, clean the house, take the girls, and I was even able to take down the Halloween decorations in the garage without incident. They are still busy as ever and they are changing all the time. Every day is something new!