18 Months Old

Wow, Butters turned 18 months old so long ago that I just don't recall much of what to say.  That's so awful in my book.  I do know that I took the photo series early in the morning, and I think Marek wasn't feeling well.  I think.  And amazingly, I recall that Ellison wanted to be the one to make his sign. :-)  And I love it so much.  It's, like, the cutest "18" ever.

He was so over me acting as paparrazi this day...

Oh, but wait, he seems to suddenly recall that he's obsessed with the camera.  Hence, him reaching out and repeating his version of "camera, camera"...

Ah, yes.  It's starting to come back to me now.  He was sick.  A viral 103.4 temp.  I remember because Ellison said, "Poor Bubbers - he's always sick on his birthday." (See age 1).

Marek is such a character!  He loves laughing and being funny.  The kid's always dancing around with the grooviest moves, and he loves to sing.  As soon as he bursts into song, you can tell exactly which one he's singing - he's got the right tune, and his version of the words.  The faves - "Twinkle, Twinkle" (in love with the way he does "up above the world so high"), "ABC's" (he gets through most of the alphabet himself, with just a little help filling in a few along the way), and "Jesus Loves Me".  He does a remarkable job counting - if you fill in just a couple of numbers along the way, he'll almost count to 10!  One of the benefits of having stairs in the house to count several times a day.

Marek throws some good tantrums, and will absolutely turn your day into misery if you don't allow him to play either outside or in the van a few times a day.  I've thought several times, "Who's the parent here?" and put my foot down, but I quickly learned my sanity is prolonged throughout the day if I just give him that time.  I used to be able to keep the big garage door shut with the door to the kitchen open and just shut him in the van while I keep an eye on him, but Brutus Beefcake now unlocks the doors and open/shuts even the big sliding side door by himself!  Absolutely freaks me out as I think of those sweet, pudgy little-but-big fingers getting caught in the door.  So now it's my time to just sit in the van and play "Hello Kitty Salon" on my phone.

Marek's not a TV kid in any way.  He'll look for about 1 minute if the Wiggles are on, 'cause he likes to try to do the dances with them, and he'll laugh at Cookie Monster on Sesame Street as he grumbles in a raspy voice, "Cookie..."

Marek is hilarious with Nonne Joan and Papi Bill.  Give him just a couple of minutes being outside in the front, and he'll quickly make his way to their front porch through a little path in between the bushes.  Then he and Ellison will turn into peeping Tom's, peaking in their front door while waiting for them to answer.  As soon as one of them opens the door even a tiny crack, Marek takes his chubby hand and flings the door open and practically runs through it like he owns the place.

The boy can eat!  At his 18 month appointment, he was weighing in at 27 lbs, 10 oz (82nd percentile), and was in the 56th percentile for length. :-)

So, for some reason, Bubba is very in tune with his elimination system, if you will.  He was still often telling us, "Diaper" or "Pee Pee" or "Poo Poo" when he needed to be changed, but he started telling me just before he would go.  He also kept repeating "Potty" and going over to it, so I decided to let him try it out.  He loved sitting on it.  You really would've thought it was a throne.  So I decided to get out the little potties just to have out and get him used to it during this curious window.  Well, he sometimes asks to go on it now.  He's actually gone pee-pee on the potty a few times now!  He absolutely loves it and acts like this is a fun new game.  It's so cute and funny seeing him be so fascinated with how his boy parts work.  Don't misunderstand - we are NOT potty training!  I am not ready for that yet!  We're just letting him have some fun with it so it's not a dreaded thing when the time comes.

OK, seeing as I need to write up his 19 month birthday soon (it actually happened a few days ago as I write this), I'll save some for then...

[July 18, 2012]