18 months!

Our cameras are breaking down, so all his 18 mth pictures are from my phone.

Of course, a Magic Pop in each hand...I'm sure Gina ended up with one of them.
Table and chairs from Ghee and Poppy, now he doesn't have to sit on the floor to color!
He loves the water facet on the patio. I had to put a chair in front of it, he is always asking for "help" so I'll turn it on and let him play in it so he gets soaked.
Not happy unless he is on top of the table. If he sees us walking up he will climb up on it as fast as he can.
He loves chalk and draws on EVERYTHING.
And of course his favorite person, the best Daddy in the world :)

Some new words: Poop, dump truck, Bicycle or cycle, Hair, Help, chair, done
He is starting to put everything behind bye-bye "bye-bye truck", bye-bye kitty" bye-bye Mama"... We taught him to sign help, so he signed it for a few weeks, but he started just saying the word now and is not signing it so much. Since he is saying so many words, he is dropping some of his signs. But a very important one is "all done" for when he is done eating. He has said "Done" a few times, but usually he always signs this, which involves his dirty food hands going on his head. He said "poop" one time this week when he was actually pooping! I was pretty impressed, but then in the bath he peed and said "poop". I think we need to work on that. The words he uses the most are "Dada" and "milk"- I believe these are his two favorite things in the whole world right now!

Joseph is a really good eater. I am sticking to my basics, but have added grits as a breakfast item. So now he doesn't have oatmeal w/ an additive every morning. Here are some things I feed him: fish, tuna and salmon usually, baked tofu with bbq sauce, fried breaded tofu, lots and lots of beans, grilled cheeses, eggs fixed all ways, and I add kale to the scrambled egg or omelet, yogurt with tahini, hummus, kiwi, strawberry, banana, prunes, raisins (he would eat these all day if I let him), cereal (cheerios, chex, flakes, rice krispies), magic pops, protein veggie links (it's a wanna-be weenie) and he ate it, but not his favorite, all kinds of pasta, and he only drinks water and milk. During dinner I will offer him what we are eating, but he usually will not eat ground beef and only a little chicken if it is tender. I believe he stays so healthy because he eats so healthy.

At his 18 mth check up the doctor gave me a hand out. The title is "Mr. No". Although Joseph says no all the time, it is toward Gina and not us. He has told me no several times, but that is when I just help his body do what it is suppose to do, like sit down in the chair. The hand out talked about tantrums and disciplining our 18 mth old. Joseph's tantrums consist of him crying and falling to the floor, but once we get his attention on something else he is fine. He doesn't have them often. Mainly when he is tired or wants to nurse.

He is developing great! He understands simple directions, he can throw things in the trash, close the door, get Gina's dog food, put the chalk outside...just to name a few, but the list goes on and on. He often surprises me when I'm not sure he will get it, but he does. Like when I told him the chalk belongs outside, he walked to the open door and threw it outside!

He is coming along great with his letters. He can spell his name, mainly J-O-E and sometime he'll say the Y. I can sing the alphabet and he knows the first 5 letters, O, P, and Z. He will fill in the blank :) Numbers are a slower process. He still says "two" all the time. For some reason he is saying "six". We practice 1,2,3 so not sure where he picked up "six".

His stats: weight 23lbs2oz, 35%
height 33 inches, 72%
Head circumference 48 1/2, 80%
He only has 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom) but he has until he is 3 to get them all. As Joey says "We are growing the brains now, teeth later!"

You can still see some light veins on his neck, they look like spider veins. I'm confident his subglottic hemangioma is shrinking and will go away, if it hasn't already. We see Dr. Roy on Monday.

Joseph will start going to the sitter M-F 6:45am-12:30pm. He is currently going 3 times a week to get used to it. And I will go back to work part time. The only thing I am dreading is the morning routine, it is going to be HARD at first. I am ready to begin this new chapter in our lives of Joseph being away from me for a few hours each day, me going back to work, and also picking up another job as an independent scrapbooking consultant. My life went from stay-at-home mommy to having work responsibilities!! I already have a sore throat and have lost sleep over everything! I know things will get smoother as time goes on. Well, 6 months and we will have a birthday party ! I can't believe it!