Jack at 18 Months

Jack is a spunky 18 months old now (then again, he was pretty spunky even at 8 months). I thought I'd dedicate this post to some Jack updates. Yesterday was such a good Jack day. We found a little pop-up playhouse tent at the thrift store for $5 over the weekend. We set it up in his room and it has been so satisfying to watch him fall in love with it and take ownership over it. Jared put some of his bigger toys in it, and then a light went off in Jack's eyes and he put every single other toy from his room in it. His room is spotless now! I haven't had to pick up a thing in days! And this seems to have had a snowball effect. Ever since the playhouse, Jack has discovered a fascination with rearranging the books on his shelves and arranging the magnets on the fridge. He has never cared about this type of thing and it is so funny/satisfying to watch. I wonder what's going on it that little brain.

He also loves to wander around the house finding the most comfortable blankets and pillows, and then he goes and stuffs them in his playhouse to make it ultra comf. Funniest (and most annoying) of all, he now wants to have every member of the family in the playhouse as often as possible. First of all, our robot vacuum that Jared's sister gave us for Christmas. Yes, it is a member of the family, and for some reason we have named it "Beeboop." Whenever Beeboop wanders into Jack's rooms, he gets a mischievous glint in his eye, picks it up off the floor (it's pretty big and heavy so this is impressive), and shoves it into his tent. If Savvy wanders into his room, it's game over for her. He gets the same mischievous look, and then he'll grab her by either the tail or an ear and try to drag her in. This rarely works out for him. When he wants me in the playhouse, he grabs me by the clothes and pulls so hard until I follow him in and have to spend the next 20 minutes watching him jam out on his little music table. Good thing it's super comfy in there.

Another nice moment from yesterday afternoon happened when a little thunderstorm came over our house. We haven't had rain in what feels like over a month. We sat on our patio and watched the storm for half an hour. Every time thunder would sound, Jack would hug one of us tightly around the neck and snuggle in. Jack is not a snuggler AT ALL, so we really relish the moments when he'll voluntarily hug us, even though usually it's only out of fear. Within ten seconds he'd be back on the ground playing with rocks or something, but it was just a really nice afternoon.

^^Jack sleeping snuggled up next to his stuffed bunny/dog. I think it's probably a dog, but it does look a bit like a bunny and that's what we've always called it. If someone says "bunny" he'll go and grab it. He can say "Bun," but usually it comes out sounding more like, "Nuh." He's got a nice little collection of words he can say these days, but I'm probably the only one who understands them. Water is "wa wa," Bug is "duh," Savvy is "ah-ee," Tractor is "Cha-cha," and there're maybe a dozen others.

Weight: 28 pounds. Yesterday I pulled the scale out to weight him, thinking I'd just hold him and subtract my weight, but when I put it in the floor he climbed on by himself and stood perfectly still until the number "28" appeared, then jumped off.

Height: I just tried to measure him. I think he's 33". He's definitely on the tall side. Doing this post is reminding me that I probably need to schedule him for an 18-month checkup.

Teeth: His teeth have come in slower than the other kids his age, but I've heard that means he'll have stronger teeth in the end. He only has one molar so far, but I wouldn't be surprised if another one's coming in. He's been teething and grumpy about it lately. But he loves to brush his teeth, and this week we taught him how to rinse/spit it out when he's done. He think it's so funny and is now very into spitting.

Hair: Blonde and adorable. It's definitely lightened up over the summer. I'm sure it'll be a little darker during the winter, but overall I think he'll stay blonde at the very least through his toddler years.

Toys: His favorite toys are also the toys that drive him (and us) the most crazy, so they get hidden pretty often. He has an obsession with any toy that is large and has wheels: his walker, his little bike, the vacuum... He gets so excited when he comes across them and he'll wheel them around the house for a while, but then he'll inexplicably start screaming because he can't get the toy to do exactly what he wants, or he'll scream because he wants to take the toy outside, and once the toy's outside he'll run it straight into the road and scream some more when we try to get him out of the road or take the toy away. It's not fun. His other favorite toys are balls, but we often run into the same problem with those so he mostly only gets to play with big balls when he finds them in the church gym.

Shows: I try not to let Jack just sit and watch tv endlessly for no reason, but there are key times when he'll absolutely end up getting some quality screen time in: (1) Long car rides. Or sometimes even short car rides if I'm losing my mind and I know he's going to scream the whole way. (2) If I'm making dinner or working on something that has an immediate deadline that couldn't be finished during his nap. (3) If I'm losing my mind on a bad toddler day and just need him to chill or cuddle up to me for a minute. (4) Diaper Changes. Jack has NEVER cooperated for diaper changes. In fact, I know he's young, but I'm going to try potty training him when winter sets in and we're cooped up in the house anyway because I think everyone (especially Jack) would be a lot happier not to have to deal with diapers anymore. I know it might now work out with him being so young, but he's a really smart kid so we're gonna give it a try. The only way we can get Jack to hold still for a diaper change is if we hand him the phone with something to watch while we're changing him. His favorites are "Kazoops," "Little Baby Bum," and sometimes "Peppa Pig." He also loves watching music videos--especially Beck songs. Jared is very proud of this and they often sing and dance to music videos together.

Activities: Jack loves being outside. I'm sure if we had lots of land and he could spend his entire day outside, we'd have a VERY happy Jack on our hands. Unfortunately he's a runner and 90% of the time when I take him out in the yard he ends up running out into the street or booking it toward our neighborhood park that's 5 blocks away. This wouldn't be a problem, except he never runs straight there. He always wants to weave back and forth across the street a hundred million times on the way, and eventually he gets tired and want me to carry him. And he is HEAVY. We do still spend quite a bit of time outside though. Jack loves stroller rides, testing out ALL the swings at the park (there are 6 of them--all different kinds), running up and down hills, throwing rocks, digging in sand or dirt, helping dad with yard work, watering the plants, and watching all the construction vehicles that have been in the lots next to our home all summer long. I think we would maybe be annoyed with all the construction happening around here if it weren't for the fact that it keeps Jack entertained.

Nursery: Jack "officially" had his first week in nursery and loved it. I put quotes around "officially" because he has been to nursery probably a good dozen times in the past. Jared and I get asked to substitute in nursery frequently. That has ended up being a good thing though because Jack has been acquainted with and loved nursery for months already. His favorite parts of nursery are playing with the toys (he's not sensitive at all and plays great with the other kids), the bubble machine, snack time (always finishes his snacks waaaay before everyone else, then starts eating the other kids'), and it's funny to watch him be such a good boy during the prayer as he watches all the other kiddies folding their arms. We've also discovered that he's a crayon eater during coloring time. He did great being dropped off by Jared yesterday. No tears at all, and he was happy to see me when I came and picked him up. He did hold my hand quite intently all the way to the car though, which he never does.

Food: Homeboy is a GREAT eater. He can be a pretty difficult kid in regard to most other things, so I am forever grateful that he's not a picky eater. During meals we'll just dump some of whatever we're eating onto his highchair tray and he'll gobble it down. He loves when he can use a fork or spoon. He eats honestly probably as much as or more than I do at any given meal. He spends his entire day running around without stopping though, so I can see why he has a big appetite. Jack's favorite snacks (when there aren't leftovers to eat) are graham crackers, greek yogurt, hummus, avocados, veggie straws, mandarin oranges, applesauce pouches, scrambled eggs, and let's be real--pretty much anything I put in front of him. (Not EVERYTHING, but most things.) Hallelujah.

Sleep: Even more than being grateful he's a good eater, I am BEYOND grateful that my colicky, sleepless newborn turned into the king of toddler sleeps. I largely credit myself for the countless hours I spent researching and implementing sleep training techniques when he was younger and had the hardest time falling asleep. Jack still takes 2 naps a day. If I didn't read up so much on baby and toddler sleep I would probably be second-guessing this and have him down to one nap since all his peers seem to be down to one nap by now. But I know that it is absolutely normal and even encouraged for him to be taking 2 naps until he is 20 months old if he continues to do well on 2 naps and not fight them.

Jack goes down for his first nap between 9:00 and 10:00. Usually he goes right to sleep, but sometimes he'll talk to himself for 20 minutes first. I love that he has that time by himself, since when he's awake he never plays on his own. He usually naps for 2 hours and then is awake for 2 more hours before I put him down for his afternoon nap between 1:00 and 2:00. He usually talks to himself for 10-20 minutes, and then he'll sleep for an hour or so. He goes down for the night between 6:00 and 7:00, and then he sleeps until about 7:30 in the morning. Besides the sleep training, I think another reason he's such a great sleeper is because, again, he doesn't stop moving all day long. He's running around from thing to thing basically 100% of the time when he's awake. I'd sleep amazing if that was my life, too. (Actually I do, and it is, because I'm constantly having to chase Jack around to keep him alive.)


I'm sure I could keep going, but I'm going to cap this update off there. In sum, I'd describe Jack as a busy, smart, dare-devil (his current favorite thing is jumping off furniture), exhausting, fun little boy. We're so grateful to have him in our life!