Our “Baby” is 18 months old! (by kelli)
Wow- how did that happen? 18 months. A year and a half. 47,304,000 seconds old. (Well, even more now, since it is past his 7:51pm birth time).
Caden has been going through some transitions lately that have been exciting (for the most part). He finally transitioned from two naps per day to one nap per day about a month ago. Unfortunately his one nap was at times very short during our recent holiday travel, but overall- it is great to have a consistent schedule where we have a nice chunk of time in the morning to get out for some fun!
Yesterday Caden played independently in an unfamiliar place for an extended time. This was a first! He tends to be such a Mama’s boy and clings to me or wants me to join in his play, but yesterday he was happy playing on his own at a new local “play cafe”. I was able to actually converse with other Moms as we watched our toddlers play on the other side of a glass wall. We have been to similar places before, and Caden always wanted me nearby. I am so happy he is becoming more independent. When his little brother or sister comes along in a few months, he will need to be able to play on his own at times. Who am I kidding?!? He will need to play on his own quite a bit. It is so nice that this independence appeared naturally… I don’t want to force too many changes.
Caden’s vocabulary has taken off. Over our holiday travel to Fresno and Santa Barbara, his favorite saying was “all done”. And although he has said “all done” for quite awhile- he was using it for many many different things. “All done” with his nap. “All done” with the magazine Mommy… put that down. “All done” with anything he is finished playing with. “All done” when songs are over. It has been very cute when he says it, so we all laugh, which obviously encourages him. Soon we will be “all done” with this saying I am sure. And most likely on to “on” and “off” as he is already saying those words for many things now.
Another cute, new development is Caden’s interest in make believe. He will pretend things are hats, airplanes, or phones. He feeds his stuffed animals and gives them kisses (usually after prompting, but sometimes on his own accord). It is fun to see his imagination develop!
Caden can correctly identify and point to many people in his life, including himself. He will kiss himself in the mirror at times. He can also identify many body parts, foods, colors, letters, animals, and many other objects.
One of the not so adorable traits that Caden has taken on is testing us more. He will stare directly at us as he starts to move a crayon towards his lips. It seems like he is starting to realize that he gets one or two warnings before something gets taken away. Luckily removing things from his grasp hasn’t led to any tantrums yet.
Another not-so-cute trait that Caden has (but isn’t new) is that he often will wake up from his afternoon nap extremely cranky. He will sometimes cry inconsolably when he wakes up. It is so frustrating. We think that he is not taking a long enough afternoon nap, so he is waking up still tired. I wish it was easy to teach him how wonderful sleep is. I am sure
later in life he will wish he could nap more. He is sometimes cranky in the morning, but that seems to be getting a bit better. He has a harder time calming down when Dave gets him up in the morning. We are trying to get him used to different people getting up with him, since Mommy definitely won’t be able to console him after every waking when the baby arrives in May.
So, I think that is it for now. Although I don’t post often, I will try to be thorough when I do post here. To the left is another photo from the evening of his 18 month “birthday”. Such a ham at times… and clearly not as cranky as when he wakes up! 