18 Months Old

Today is Luke's half birthday!  Today our boy turns 1 1/2 year old!  It's so crazy to think that he's "so old" but at the same time it feels like he should be older.  I know I've said it before but he seriously keeps getting more and more fun.

Luke's personality is getting so big and fun.  This kiddo is a complete goofball and loves to make others laugh.  He gets the giggles a lot lately and it's one of my most favorite sounds.  He and Tyke feed off of each other and once they start giggling they have a hard time stopping.  Of course, they usually giggle the best when they're doing something naughty...like throwing food on the floor, slapping, tossing toys, etc.  Luke is definitely mischievous!

Luke is still completely drawn to bathrooms if we leave the doors open.  There's just something about them that we can't figure out.  He doesn't get into too much trouble with them at our house but at Grandma Cheryl's house he does.  He has now ruined three toothbrushes there by scrubbing the toilet with them.  He loves to play in the toilet at her house and simply closing the door isn't enough to keep him out.  Grandma Cheryl has to lock the door and close it otherwise he sneaks in and gets into trouble.  He's also thrown an entire roll of toilet paper into the toilet for her too.  Troub-a-Lu!

Louie LOVES playing outside!  He is in such a better mood if he can spend some time outside.

Luke's vocabulary hasn't advanced much.  He understands words and knows what we're saying but refuses to repeat us.  He follows simple instructions and is starting to like helping around the house.  He likes to bring us small items we ask for.  He likes to throw dirty dishes in the sink.  He runs to his high chair when we say it's time to eat.  He likes to run to the bath tub after meal time and check the water temperature constantly.  Luke can say:

• Ty (Tyke)
• Li (light)
• Mil (milk)
• Buh (bum)
• What?!
• Dad!
• Mom!
• and once, he said "Grandpa" plain as day when he saw Bampa Terry!  It shocked both Chad and I.  He said it so perfectly you would have thought an adult had said it.

Luke has started pointing and grunting at things he wants.  He will sometimes get mad and cry and if we ask him what he wants/needs he will run to the pantry and open it up and point at his treat bucket.  He usually needs one of three things: apple sauce pouch, mandarin oranges or potato chips. 

Bedtime with this kid is a bit hard lately.  He loves the freedom of a toddler bed but I don't.  I have to sit guard by him until he falls asleep.  When he thinks I'm not "watching" he will slowly slide of his bed and stand up to run away.  I'll tell him to get back in his bed and he will dive right back on and giggle.  It's about an hour long battle every night and it's exhausting.  He goes to bed with a bottle of milk every night.  Sometimes he needs two before he can comfortably fall asleep.  He's a little piggy sometimes.  On the nights that he has two bottles before bed he sleeps the entire night but for the most part Lu is still waking up once a night, sometimes twice.  He usually wakes around 1:30 a.m. and has to have a bottle before calming down and going back to sleep.  Someday he might sleep through the night, someday... 

Luke isn't a major fan of any of the toys in our house really.  He plays well with them all but doesn't seem to have a favorite or a real interest in anything.  He likes to play with the elefun quite a bit and he walks around a lot with a screw, from the play work bench, in his mouth blowing on it to make a whistling noise.  Other than that he just likes to run around with his binky and blanket.  We're slowly trying to phase out the binky but it's such a lifesaver for us that we don't want to be rid of it too quickly.  We all rely on those darn binkies more than we should and I'm sure that his near constant use of the bink is part of the reason he doesn't say more words than he does. 

Our big boy is phasing into size 24 month/2t clothing.  He still fits into a few of his 12-18 month jeans but not for much longer.  He wears 24 month/2t shirts.  He's not a huge fan of long sleeved shirts, at least I don't think he is.  Every time we put one on him he starts tugging at the sleeves and usually gets one arm out before taking off.  Luke is in size 5 diapers with plenty of room to grow.  We are using Kirkland brand diapers on him now because Huggies leaked big time for some reason.  Luke is in a size 7 shoe but is getting close to needing an 8.  He weighs 29 pounds even.  He's solid as can be and it's starting to get awkward to hold him in certain positions.  My baby is growing right up!  Luke doesn't have any new teeth to report.  He still only has twelve teeth with no sign of new ones coming in.  He's still a great eater and eats most everything we offer to him.  He's starting to dislike grilled cheese sandwiches.  I think it's because he needs meat and flavor unlike his brother.  Luke loves fruit, sharp cheddar cheese (LOVES it!), salsa(!), chicken, ruffle potato chips, sausage, fruit snacks, juice, plain milk (he's not a huge fan of chocolate milk.  He is Tyke's exact opposite in nearly every way!).

We love our Bubba-Lu so much and can't believe that he's a year and a half old already!  He brings so much joy to our family and I can't help but smile just thinking of him and his cute, sassy, stubborn, bubbly personality.  Happy half birthday buddy!