What is it about this milestone that feels so ... so ... monumental? Is one and a half that big a deal, or is it a fabricated age marker predicated on the fact that baby/toddler clothing includes "18 month" as a size? Well, in any case, it does in fact feel like a big deal, and perhaps it also has something to do with the fact that Judah is closer to 2 than 1 and will close quickly on his second birthday. I count it all joy to watch him develop on a daily basis and would never wish the reverse, although occasionally I look at him and wonder where my baby went.
At this point I can't really keep up with his word bank. He has hit the stage where he can mimic almost any word he hears (careful!), but here is my best shot at a list of added words since 17 months (and this will probably be the last mention of vocabulary, it's all words from here!):
- Belly
- Taco
- Outside ('side)
- Apple
- Hat
- Water (wa-er)
- Bite
- Cup
- Seat
- Buckle
- Down
- Empty (em-mo)
- Hungry (hun-gee)
- Lunch (yunch)
- Pizza
- Yes (ya!)
- Eyes
- Sure
- All right
- Whoa
- Bubbles
He also likes to say "no" for everything, but not emphatically. For example: "Judah, would you like your breakfast?" ... "no" and then proceeds to dig into his banana. When he is feeling strongly about his "no" he usually adds the head shake and holds the "oooo" sound for a few seconds to indicate dislike or disagreement.
The eye teeth are arriving, ugh! He takes so long to pop a tooth through, poor thing, and they always come in in pairs. So, he's fighting with the bottom two eye teeth now and the upper eye teeth gums are red and swollen, just waiting their turn to torture Judah. Every time we think about phasing out his pacifier (which is still only allowed at bed time), he starts teething again, and he finds such comfort in his "froggy" we can't bear to take it away, especially because we avoid using pain relievers for teething. Well, as his pediatrician says, he won't go to college with it so don't worry too much.
Happily, even though he is 18 months, he doesn't see his doctor again until July. After his last reaction to the vaccinations his doctor said we could wait until July for another check, whew! I'll make another post with his stats at that time. I can tell you he is "fat and happy"! Everyone always comments on his cute little, round belly. Love it!
Back to the linguistic progress, he also seems to be experimenting with sentences. Like the other night, he walked over to the bath tub and said : "help please. bath." He also continues with "I want more" and has varied it to being specific like "I want frog" or "I want water". It's nice to do a little bit less guessing these days on what he wants or needs!
He is able to name a few body parts when asked, such as nose, eyes, ears, hands, feet, and belly. His appetite is as good as ever, his favorite foods being bananas, avocados and squeezies. He also is pretty adamant about his utensils if you give him a baby fork or spoon, he won't eat his dinner until you give him an adult fork or spoon, then he digs right it.
Half of his second year down, half a year to go - Happy 18 Months Judah!
