18 months old!

Colton will be 19 months tomorrow, so I figured I still had time to write about our one and a half year old! Colton gets more and more fun as he ages, and we just love every minute we have with him. It's fun to watch him grow and change, but its definitely been hard for me to see him leave his 'baby' phase! I guess we'll get our baby fix here in a few weeks...grateful for the blessing of our 18 month old son, and soon to be newborn baby girl. :)

Colton, we can hardly believe you are 18 months old! Here's a bit of info on our little tike at this year and half milestone:

Colton weighs 24.8 pounds (35%) and is 32 1/2 inches tall (80%)...tall and skinny like his daddy. He's already gained a pound since his 18 month appointment...he is very active, so I'm not surprised he didn't gain much between 15-18 months.

Wearing size 4 diapers and typically wearing size 18 month clothes and a size 6 shoe.

Colton, you are into everything! I love putting up a gate at the end of the hallway so I know you only have the option to wander into the bedrooms and bathroom. You love to pull things out and then quickly move on to the next thing, creating lots of messes that mommy tries to get you to help her clean. Instead of saying "no" to everything I'm trying to be specific with my requests. You do a fabulous job of sitting at the end of the hallway in time out, but lately you've been exercising your vocal chords to make sure I know you are there (how could I forget!)...your mood swings are definitely a part of your daily routine and we try to take deep breaths as we deal with unexpected temper flare-ups!

*Colton loves to do his "silly colton walk" and it usually happens when company is over...it seems to be part of his show-off routine....picture this little guy walking with his legs spread apart and taking big steps while swaying from side to side saying "whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa". ...we love it because he's done it so often around his best pal Mia that she does it now too!

*Colton LOVES to give hugs and say "ahhhhhh" as he leans in.... He often tries to hug us to make-up for taking a swing at David or I during a frustrating moment, but we're smarter than he is and he still gets disciplined for his right hooks. Its very sweet to watch him hug his little friends...they are all into hugging these days.

*Colton loves the park. LOVES the PARK. He points at any playground we drive by and says park from the backseat. We enjoy walking to the neighborhood elementary school playground to play a few days a week. He loves sliding, throwing rocks, and watching older kids play. Actually he just loves being outside, so we spend lots of time in the front and back yards pushing toys around and exploring new things.

*He is really into reading books, especially ones with animals. He brings you a book, then scoots backwards into you lap so you can read it to him.

*He's very verbal around David and I (and pretty quiet in groups), but has really been trying some funny words lately: buckle, dishwasher, outside, doctor. I can get him to try any word by simply asking him to say it...it's so cute to hear him try big words like elephant and avocado.

* All day long he asks about "dada"...a few days ago at the post office he stopped and looked at every man we saw and said "dada?" to each one...it was funny, but also seemed like he was trying to figure out if one of the men was actually his dada!

*I gave him a whole grape the other day and he handed it to me so I could bite it in half for him...I guess that was his way of telling me it was a choking hazard! Now he loves doing this every time he gets a grape on his tray.

*His usual wake up time is around 5:30-5:45am (WAY TOO EARLY). We're trying to drop the morning nap, but he still loves a good catnap in the car around 10:00a.m., and then we get a long nap around 12:30/1:00...I'm remaining flexible...who knows what he'll do once Sadie gets here!

I could write so much more, but I'm going to stop!