18 Month Update

Big Boy turned 18 months old on Christmas Eve. This week he weighed in at 27.13 pounds (67th percentile) and measured 33 inches long (75th percentile). He is a healthy and happy little guy.

His language is developing quickly, although we guess at much of what he says. "da da da da" or "ba ba?" often mean, "I want that!", "Read me this book!", or "Gimme!". He still uses sign language daily to help communicate what he wants.

He LOVES lights. We think he might just become an electrician. He knows where all of the light switches are, and often asks us to turn lights on for him to see. His favorite lights are in the basement and kitchen.

He still loves his "dogga", Ralphie. They're still trying to figure out exactly how to play with each other. They like to chase each other around, but Ralphie tends to get a little too excited. That usually leads to Cole getting knocked over or Ralphie running off with one of Cole's toys. We're working on it, and Ralphie is usually the first thing Cole asks for each morning.

We had a 6 month review for his speech, occupational, and nutrition therapy yesterday. We will continue weekly speech therapy for his feeding quirks, and will start to work on language development. He's been a little slow to develop some vowel and consonant sounds, and that is likely related to his low facial tone. We are going to continue visits with his dietician as needed. No issues gaining weight with this guy, and he generally has a pretty healthy diet. He loves his veggies, and we are thankful for that. Occupational therapy will continue weekly for the time being, but we are likely getting ready to wind down on that.

He is getting more exploratory (and therefore, messy) with his food. On Sunday he tried (and didn't like) kale and celery. Yesterday he agreed that coconut milk yogurt can be tasty, and this morning he had fun dipping his banana bread in his yogurt. Our next quest is to try some spaghetti squash. He is not a fan of noodles, so odds aren't good that he'll like the squash, but it could be a fun finger food for him.

Favorite activities these days include reading, reading, reading, playing in his kitchen, "helping" with laundry, and playing with his Little People play sets. His VTech learning walker is still one of his favorite toys.

He's a little stinker, and we love him to pieces.