18 months

today oliver is 18 months old (or is it tomorrow? since he was born on the 31st, i never know... i figure we've lost or gained a bunch of days in the last year and a half, so whatever). i can't believe he's 18 months already, and that in another 6, he'll be 2 - an official kid.

what's oliver like at 18 months?

he's a total goof; always joking around, being silly, and wanting to play games that make everyone laugh. he can be so sweet, giving hugs, kisses, and cuddling. he LOVES being outside, playing in the dirt. he loves climbing and running, and bugs. he is an absolute boy. he's an absolute sass, too - that child is always testing his limits and doing (or just almost doing) things he knows he's not supposed to in order to get a rise out of me. that, i think, is probably his favorite game. but he's also such a good listener, and helper. he always amazes me when he so clearly understands what we say and follows directions to the letter.

in terms of communication, the last two weeks or so have shown a huge explosion in communication from him. he's started saying more words more consistently, attempting to use a word for everything. he's also started repeating everything we say, so he's picking up new words every day. he can identify letters; not which letters are which, but that letters are indeed letters, so that's a little ahead of the curve, right? when he sees letters, he'll start repeating whatever letters he knows: "eeeeeee, eeeeeee, x!" he likes repeating the alphabet after me, too, which is pretty darn cute.

here's a list of the words he uses (and by uses, i mean daily - not the words he's said once or twice and then never again; since mommyhood can in fact make you crazy and hear things, those don't count):
airplane ("pane")
all done
apple ("bapple")
baby
ball
bath
bike
bird
blankey ("key")
blue
boat
book
bounce
box ("bots")
brush
bubble ("bubboh")
bug
bush
butterfly ("buy")
bye
cat / kitty cat (and he has on occasion identified "meow meow" as the sound they make)
cereal (i actually can't tell if he says cereal or cheerios, since it comes out "seeroh", and we always have cheerios for him, so it could be either)
chair
cheese
choo choo (which is the sound every train, bus, and truck makes, according to him)
cookie
cow (and he knows a cow moos)
cracker ("cackuh")
cup
daddy
dinosaur ("dinesooh")
doggy / dog / puppy
(he'll also occasionally call ally and moose by name, as well as the neighbor's dog, max - "mats")
down
duck (and he knows a duck quacks - "cack! cack!")
eat
ew
eye
fish
grandpa ("gappa")
hair
hat
head
help ("hep")
hi / hello
i see you (a variation on the peekaboo game)
juice
keys
kiss
light
mama
maria & ruthie ("meea" and "rooty", the girls at day care)
mine
more
mouth
nana (both for nana and banana)
night
no
(he doesn't say yes yet, really, but he will shake his head yes)
oh no!
ouch
outside ("side")
peas (his favorite vegetable)
please (which pretty much sounds like "peas" too - it's all about context)
sleep (and then he'll pretend to sleep by laying down and pretending to snore)
slide
snack ("nack")
soup
star
stair
straw
trash ("tash")
tree
truck
uh-oh
up
water

...and when he sees a bear, lion, tiger, or dinosaur, he will growl. he knows an owl says "hoooo hoooo" (though he hasn't used the word "owl" in a few months), and that a rooster says "cock-a-doodle-doo" ("ca-doooooo!").

not a bad list, once i sit down and think about it. genius child, obviously.

he hasn't started combining too may words yet, but we've been working on "help please" and "more please". i have a feeling that the next 6 months will be amazing in this department. by the time he's 2, i'm sure he'll have all sorts of phrases.

he definitely understands far more than he can say. he will answer questions with a shake of the head no or yes, so it's been fun asking him if he wants such and such for a snack, or if he wants to play whatever game, and have him make a decision and communicate it. he seems absolutely thrilled to be making decisions for himself, though when i turn him down, he can turn on a tantrum like nobody's business (he has perfected his "spaghetti legs" move). i try not to laugh, but the kid can be such a faker sometimes it's all i can do. once he finds all the words he needs, i imagine all sorts of amazing, funny, and frustrating/sassy things will come flying out of that tiny little mouth of his.

being a mom to an 18 month old is joyous, tiring, and frustrating. he is so amazing to watch grow, i can just sit and watch him. he never stops moving, and his morning wake up time is generally far earlier than we would like, so it is exhausting trying to keep up with him. he has, at least, FINALLY taken to sleeping pretty well more often than not (though you know i just jinxed us majorly by saying that out loud). he gets frustrated at not being able to communicate well all the time, and also at not always getting his way, and it's frustrating on our end for some of the same reasons - and for those award winning tantrums that accompany his frustration and unhappiness. lucky for him, he's cute, so we've decided to keep him.