Time Flies When You Are Having Fun!

And Elijah is fun!

Ahhhh…at 18 months, Elijah is in my favorite stage.  About 15 to ~20 months is such a delightful time, in my opinion.  While it poses challenges because they begin to form an opinion but are unable to fully express it, it also brings such cuteness and humor to life.  I love the toddling, attempted talk, and curiosity that this stage brings.  Elijah, in particular, is very funny, independent, yet cuddly, and SO smart.

 

I love how this picture focuses on his eye as he shows me something he found.

Sweet face.

Physically, Elijah has gone from taking slow, careful steps, to learning to run.  The stage in between was priceless.  He’d move his feet quickly, but go nowhere.  Or, once he did get going, it was often sideways.  So cute!  He has also learned to walk backwards and walk on his tippy toes.  Also very cute!

All this activity has yielded a few bumps and bruises.  In fact he got his first smashed thumb nail several weeks ago when he closed it in Grandma’s tupperware cabinet door.  Poor guy!  He didn’t fuss too badly, though, so I didn’t think too much of it, then later realized it was black!  Yikes!

 

They way time is flying by, it won’t be long before I get a picture of this pose next to his first real car!  He’s already so grown up!

Verbally, he tries on words for size all the time.  Sometimes all he does is grunt.  Other times he’ll repeat anything you want him to.  I don’t think I could even begin to list all of the words he can say, though he’s not too consistent about many of them.  His newest cute word is “gog” (bug) that he repeats insistently as he points.  If it is within reach, he’ll smash it!  He’s also getting very good at animal sounds.  When rocking him and reading to him before naps, if you ask what an animal says, he pulls his paci out, makes the noise, and replaces the paci. 

Smarty pants!  He already counts on his fingers…or at least that is what it looks like when he has stuff stuck on them that he wants to get off.

I’ve been intending to wean him from the paci, but the poor guy had been sick with the coming of his one year molars, so I didn’t have the heart.  Besides, it’s so darn cute in the mornings and after naps when we pick him up from his crib and he throws his bear back in, then grabs his paci, gives it two or three more sucks, then tosses it in, too.

So. Darn. Cute.

Speaking of teeth…he now has all of his molars and we are waiting on those pesky canines.

    Cool dude.

Elijah is really loving playing with Josiah and cuddling with him. First thing in the morning and right before bed is when he seems to want to be held by Josiah. I love it! He’s also started tickling Josiah and walking up to him and hugging him. Josiah likes it, but gets a bit annoyed because Elijah doesn’t ever really let go on his own.

I love this cutie pie to pieces!

Elijah is still a picky eater.  When you find something he likes he will eat massive amounts of it, but like his mama, he’s not very experimental in his tastes.  In fact, if I’d let him live off of chicken and fruit then he’d be a happy camper.  Because of this, I find myself still pureeing his veggies and adding them to various foods.  At least he’s great at feeding himself!

Daddy is the giggle monster!  He can get both boys to make the cutest giggles that make us laugh so hard that we cry.  It is the highlight of each day.

We’ve had so much fun with this wildly passionate red head.  He’s independent, yet clingy on his own terms.  He hates restraint, but loves to cuddle.  He just has a wonderful personality that is all his own.

Here are two examples:

  Here’s his sweet, needy side…The other day I was desperately trying to pack everything we’d need for an overnight stay out of town for a wedding and Elijah was fussing and insisting I hold him. He rarely gets his paci if he is not sleeping, but I was desperate and hoped “Bear” and “Paci” would do the trick.  They helped, but he still wanted to cuddle.  Knowing he also loves trucks and soft things, I gave him a dump truck and a new blanket and he thought he was in heaven!

Here’s his fiery side…we were out walking the other day and I took something from him he shouldn’t have.  He doesn’t throw kicking and screaming tantrums, but he will throw himself on the floor/ground and just lay there refusing to move when you want him to and he screams if you pick him up.  Here, he decided to do just that, but the ground was dirty!  Ewww!  He never could make himself follow through and lay his head down on the dirt, too, then as he finally got up he was appalled that his hands were dirty :)  I love natural consequences.

We so look forward to seeing who he becomes with all this passion he has to work with.  We enjoy him daily and love the dynamic he brings to our life.  It’s been a fun (and interesting!) 1.5 years!