Ayden at 18 months!

Well, techinically 18.5 months...I'm a little behind! Ayden is doing and saying so many new things lately that I have actually started a list and every chance I get I try to jot things down in his baby book because I never ever want to forget these precious times! I am at work tonight and therefore have internet access so in between saving lives and pushing Morphine, I am going to blog about my little man!

-18 month stats: We have nothing official, his 18 month well baby check-up was cancelled because his pedicatrician had a super-busy week this past week at none other than the hospital where I work. Lots and lots of new babies this week! But, unofficially, he is holding steady at a solid 27 pounds according to our home scale (he weighs every morning right after me, lol). No height measurement though...guess I need to get out the tape measure :)

-He is a VERY picky eater. JUST LIKE HIS DADDY!! Most days I make it a point to offer a variety of foods on his plate, trying to follow the advice that someday he will eventually eat it. So far though, lots of food goes into the floor and subsequently into Andy's belly. We are saving loads on dog food! He is the classic "toddler" eater- some days he doesn't eat enough for a bird, other days he eats everything he can get his hands on. He would drink milk all day if we would let him. He basically eats the same things everyday (again-JUST LIKE HIS DADDY!). He has the strongest gag reflex, it is hilarious! If we offer him something he doesn't like or when he is not hungry, he will literally gag and vomit. He actually looked at a cucumber once and threw up, I'm not kidding! It's insane! His favorite foods are: milk, cheese, yogurt, cheerios, goldfish crackers, nutrigrain bars, blueberry pancakes, turkey sausage (sometimes), turkey hotdogs, mac and cheese (sometimes), peanut butter and jelly, bananas, peaches, chicken, and pizza. Notice there are no veggies in there...this would be one of the foods that ellicits the vomit response! Where did that overdramatization come from?!!

-His vocabulary has exploded in the past month! He still uses plenty of his precious "Ayden talk" but is saying so many more 2 and 3 word phrases. Just to name a few: "I don't know" (while flipping is hands up and shrugging), Where's --?(daddy, Andy, etc), "all done", "another bite", "want milk (or whatever else he wants), "wanna go bye-bye" "da-da go work", "go outside", "go play"(in reference to going to Mother's day out). He has also started saying "love you!" So so cute! He stills calls his drink "gunk" unless its milk, then he says milk, and he calls his binky a "bunk". He loves his gunk and his bunk!

-He is SUPER affectionate, he gives me the best full body hugs several times a day, topped off with a "mmm-a" kissing noise.

-He is doing great at Mother's day out. We decided it was for the best that he go into the class with his own age group. The teachers say he plays very well, never cries, and takes his nap like a big boy!

-We converted his crib to a toddler bed when we moved, and he is getting himself to sleep and taking naps all by himself like a big boy now! He is still our little cuddle bug in our bed at night, though, and no plans to change that anytime soon :)

-Within 30 seconds of waking up in the morning, he says "want milk" and then "want Elmo" Like some people need their coffee and newspaper, Ayden needs his milk and an episode of Sesame Street before he can even think about starting his day!

-I bought the Elmo learns to go potty DVD for him and he loves it. I am planting the potty training seed in his little mind and plan to invest in an Elmo potty chair soon, but it will still probably be a few more months before we hit the potty training full force, I just don't think he is ready yet. I just want him to become familiar with the terminology and equipment.

-Besides being the most undeniably lovable and affectionate baby on this planet...this kid can also throw a fit with the best of them! Twice in the past week I have had the pleasure of leaving a store with a screaming, kicking kid! He wants "down" to run around in the store (in this case it was Best Buy and a furniture store), and when we don't let him, all hell breaks loose! He also has falling on the floor fits when Sesame Street goes off and I switch the channel over to The View, LOL; when he wants milk and we give him water instead, he will throw his cup at us and scream "milk!" (precious, I know); or when one of us goes outside and/or leaves and doesn't take him with us. I'm certain that he is just getting this tantrum throwing out of his system and will be a very calm and well-mannered 2 year old, right? :) Fortunately, he saves these fits just for mommy and daddy...according to his Mother's day out teachers, he is an angel!

-His favorite thing to do is to be read to or pretend to read. Chris and I very often will find him sitting in the floor of his room with a book, "reading" aloud...it is SOO precious!

-He is loving his new backyard! (Another fit commences when it's time to go inside!)

-He is overall such a good and happy little boy! He is a social butterfly, he's never met a stranger! He is very observant, always paying attention to everyone and everything around him and taking it all in. I can't say it enough...we are so very blessed to be his parents!