18 Months

This is what a sister missionary finishing her mission looks like.  

Eighteen months. Done. Boom. Bam. Sha-wham.

This kid.  We're your typical parents--we just can't get enough.  He's so happy and fun (minus the couple days recently that he was teething and a total crank...).  His little brain seems to have exploded over the past few weeks as he is clearly understanding more and his vocabulary, well, exists.

It consists of: Oh no! Ca (Car...which basically means anything with wheels). Knog knog (knock knock). Bah (bye) Hi. Niy niy (Night night). Gooo (pronounced like go, not goo, but you hold the "o" you see). Chugachugachuga (although recently this has turned into "Ca!" whenever he sees a train).  Fla-la (his buddies name, Flavia). Occasional mommy or daddy or mama or dada or something of that nature. Roar. Moo.  No (Nose). Dank oo (Thank you).  Gookie (Cookie, but easily refers to bread and crackers as well). Wow wow wow. Geek-ie (Blankie). Ba (Ball). Keys. One, two, one, two, one, two.  Ah gun (All gone).

He's also excelling at the alphabet if I do say so myself, it goes something like this: A-O-A-O-A-O-A-O.

These pictures were taken by the wonderful Sarah Luke, and are more of 15 month pics than 18 month pics (the hair still thrives) but I realized I never posted them...and I don't really have any good recent pics for this post...

Currently we are loving how Shae...

...folds his little arms before we pray.

...wants to do everything we do (sweep the floor, cook, drink out of big cups, etc.)

...sleeps a solid two hours in the middle of the day (sometimes more if he feels like treating me), and 12 hours at night (most nights).

...reads his books. Once he starts, he just can't stop. As soon as the book is over he jumps up, goes straight to the bookshelf, grabs another one and plops right back down into our lap.

...puts his head on our shoulder when it is night time and pats us as we pat him and sing him a song.

...has figured out how to play more independently (for longer than like, 20 seconds that is).  Sometimes it lasts for a whole 15 minutes!

...has picked up on some animal noises.  He roars every time we go to Food Lion or turn on a Lion King sing-a-long. 

...knows some body parts.  At church on Sunday he was showing off his belly button and then went right up to one of the YW and started pulling up her skirt to find hers...oops.

...immediately says "Hi!" when we open the door to get him in the morning. Then puts his blanket on the back of the crib and drops his pacifier on the dresser. He knows the drill.

...no stranger danger AT all (yet). Total flirt and attention seeker. He loves people.

...how he runs with his arms straight out and his hips twisting back and forth.  Big bottom. Short legs. Makes running difficult, trust me, I know.

Currently we are not loving how Shae...

...immediately picks out anything green from his food and puts it to the side (thank you tomato and carrot for not being green).

...throws tantrums.  They aren't too bad yet, so I really don't have much to complain about, but he has his moments.  He's starting to learn what he wants, when he wants it and is not too happy when he doesn't get it.

...fusses because he thinks he can't do something.  He stands at the couch or the top of the stairs and just fusses.  He wants us to carry him down, or lift him onto the couch or take him off the bed, when we know he can do it by himself. 

...poops an average of four times a day. Seriously kid!? Can we just take care of this all at once?!

Overall, there's not much to dislike about this boy. 

Happy sister missionary landmark son.

We're happy so we clap our hands. A lot.