May 30, 2022 by Stephanie

Walter-18 Months

Weight: He weighs 24 pounds. He looks like a lanky little kiddo, especially now that we see him in shorts every day. I love his little features.

Health: He has had an on-going runny nose these last few months. Unfortunately, I think he got my allergies just like the other two kids. He is also still cutting about 4 teeth, so I am sure that is playing into the runny nose and diaper rashes as well.

Diet: He is starting to get picky about vegetables, but he still eats really well other than that. He has not met a fruit or a carb that he doesn’t like. His favorite is blueberries, bananas, oranges, and any type of bread. He also makes it very clear when he is ready to eat, and will run to the table when we say it is meal time. He also pushes his high chair over

Clothes: He is in size 18 month clothes, size 5 in diapers, and size 5 shoes. He is starting to wear some 2T stuff. It seriously makes me so emotional changing over clothes because I see shirts that both Daphne and George have worn, and it is bittersweet to have this as a last time.

Sleeping: For the most part he does really well sleeping. He goes to bed around 7:30-8, and then wakes up usually around 8am. He has one nap mid-day. He still is in a zipadee-zip, and I am still skiddish to leave anything else in the crib with him. The zipadee-zip is hypnotic for him. He can be crying, and then I zip him up, and he is ready to roll over and go to sleep. However, if he does wake up, he is a bear to get back down in the middle of the night…like it takes us hours and lots of DisneyPlus to get him to calm down. He is a different person in the middle of the night!

Likes: His new favorite activity is climbing everything including on top of the kitchen table. He loves music and dancing. He is obsessed with Daphne and Daisy. He loves the outside, and I think the water table is going to be his favorite thing this summer. He likes telling you “no.”

Dislikes: He still hates getting his diaper changed. He hates when blueberries are not on his plate. He loathes getting his hair washed.

Nicknames: Walt, Wally, Wally Bear, Wallington Bear, Wally Olly, Waller, Wallace, Wallaby, Butters, Sweet Bean, Stinkerdoodle, Waltie baby, Cutie baby, Sweetie baby, Baby guy, and Baby Walter.

Milestones: His language has exploded over the last couple weeks. He has so many new words: hello, blue, bye, don’t know, happy, wow, and apple to just name a few. My favorite though is “read,” and he will bring a book over to you and tell you to read. He is starting to really pick up on instructions and communicating back which is always really fun to watch. He has started a few tantrums…super fun. When I get home at night he runs to give me a hug. He finally started waving and running, generally not at the same time.

Quirks: He loves feeling fabric. Whenever he is near to someone, he will pinch their shirt and rub it between is fingers. He has one dimple on his left cheek, and it just melts me. He will fake laugh if you ask him to.

We parents are: glad to have made it through the school year. I am really proud of this year for all of us. We saw some big transitions, but we still managed to make it through with more memories. Tom just got back from a training to become a Law Enforcement jujitsu instructor. He is really living out his dreams with his job, and he has some big plans with this credential. I was able to transition some work off my plate this last month. And not to toot my own horn, but I had to facilitate a discussion with the president of my institution last week, and I am feeling really proud of the result. Also we love this time of year, and the season just lifts everyone’s moods around here. We love our property, and being able to be outside more is so fulfilling for us. And we have so much going on in our garden!

Big kids are: doing pretty good. They just ended school last week, so we are officially on summer mode here. I can’t believe that we have a 2nd grader and a kindergartner! George loves making Wally laugh, and is really good about trying to soothe him if Wally is out of sorts. Daphne is obsessed with Wally. She loves to tell me all the new things he did, and catalogs it all for me like a good caregiver would. She is constantly making up songs for him. And she loves playing kitchen with him. And the way they will cuddle up is the most endearing thing ever. He has started to grow interest in HER toys though, and we have had a few conversations about sharing with her now as the big sister.

Daisy is: doing great. Wally is her favorite, and they are so cute together. Wally has started sitting on her, and she just lays there and takes it. She is such a docile dog and so sweet with him. She also will run to the door with Wally when I ask for hugs. She is like, “Me too, me too!”

In case you are curious, here is George at eighteen months and Daphne at eighteen months.

His personality is really starting to come out as his words are forming. I love watching him interact with the world, but especially with his siblings. He is the perfect little guy for our family.

November 18, 2018 by Stephanie

Daphne-18 Months

Weight: I forgot to weigh her today…Whoops. She has her check up tomorrow, and I am really excited to see how much she has grown. I would be surprised if she isn’t above the average in height and weight now.

Health: She has been great these past couple months. Her last two teeth are working their way in, but other than those couple moody moments with those, she has been great.

Diet: She is still a really great eater. She is not eating as much veggies on their own. However, she will eat them frozen or if they are mixed in small bites with rice. There really isn’t much else that she won’t eat. She loves the fruit and veggie packets, and she gets angry if George has one and she does not. You also know that she is ready to eat because she pushes her booster seat up to the table, and she attempts to climb in.

Clothes: She had a HUGE growth spurt since her last update. She shot up to 18 month clothes, and just skimmed over the 12-18 month size. She also completely skipped over size 4 shoes. She is in size 5 now, but I am not sure how much longer we will be in these. Seriously she grew so much so fast! She is in size 6 diapers.

Sleeping: We have been putting her to bed around 7:30/8 still, and she generally stays asleep through the night until 7/8 in the morning. I think our days of two naps is coming to an end. Some days she does just fine without her morning nap, and other days it is still very apparent she needs it. She is no longer in her Zipadee Zip suit though. I am still scared to leave her with a blanket over night, but she has been doing pretty good having her hands free for the first time in her life. She has been swaddled since birth!

Likes: She loves my phone. She will throw a fit if you try to take it away from her. She loves Elmo. She loves to read, her favorites being an Elmo search and find, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Jesus Loves Me. She adores George, and she is always following him around and getting in his business. She loves Duplo Legos, and she is so good at putting them together. She has gotten into coloring and drawing this month. She love shoes, and she puts on anyone’s that she can get her hands on. Much to my chagrin, she loves her stuffed animals. I feel like every night there are new ones in her crib.

Dislikes: Not getting food fast, George having things she doesn’t, being told she can’t sit on the table, basically being told no.

Milestones: She has started asking to sit on the potty! She has peed in it once, but there have been numerous times that she just went in her diaper than dragged us to the bathroom for the potty. I am not really wanting to do full potty training just yet because she doesn’t really talk yet. We’ll ask her pediatrician tomorrow for more guidance. She just seems so little! She does a lot of animal noises. She is actually a really great listener. She knows all the rooms in the house by name. She also has started helping put dishes away as we are cleaning up for dinner. She was Jane Goodall for Halloween, and she actually went up to doors to get candy. She can open doors now…

Nicknames: Daphie, Sisterbear, Sis, and Daphie Girl. The two most common are still Daph and Sister.

Quirks: Her waves are all like she is shooing you away. She has started walking on her tip toes everywhere. We are constantly telling her to put her heels down.

We parents are: doing pretty good. October was crazy for us, we watched some of our closest friends get married which was a blast. We are heading into a busy and stressful time, so we have been trying to be chill these past few weeks.

George is: something. He has been hard this past month. He really does not like Daphne getting into his stuff. He has figured out he can pick her up, so he will do that and basically will drag her around and drop her out of his range. He is not above kicking and shoving her, so he has spent a good portion of his days in time out recently. We are working on using appropriate words when he is feeling frustrated and how to ask for help instead of hurting his sister. We have been using the “breathing” method and doing a lot of praying. He also basically never eats, so that makes dinner times really enjoyable trying to teach him what is rude behavior.

The dogs are: the best. We really lucked out adopting these two. We have had Grace now for 7 years as of Halloween, and Crosby for 5 years this fall. Daphne LOVES Crosby. She is always trying to pet him, and she makes sure to tell him goodnight every night. They are the most patient dogs, and I love them for it.

Daphie, I cannot believe you have been here for 18 months. Every time you run down the hallway, I see my heart beating outside of my chest. I am so in love with you and the little person you are becoming.

Here is George at 18 months.

February 26, 2016 by Stephanie

George-18 Months

How is this littler booger a year and a half old?!?

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Weight: He is 27 lbs.

Health: This kid and teething. He now has 16 teeth. He had a rough time health wise the last month. He had an ear infection and a bout with RSV. We are doing much better now. He also endured quite possibly the worst diaper rash. It broke the skin in several places. It was so sad to have to change him because he was so uncomfortable. He still acts like he is teething right now with chewing on everything in sight (including his own hands), so I don’t know if those last four molars are coming in. I thought they come in much later!

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Diet: He has the same appetite. He loves meats and carbs. We still struggle with getting him to eat vegetables. It is a little frustrating because he used to do so well, and he would eat more veggies than anything else. Thank goodness for squeeze packets. He loves veggies that way! He smacks his lips and starts salivating when we get them out. He will always eat oatmeal, rolls, chicken nuggets, and bananas. We have been really working on his utensil training. Some days he does a really good job; others a bath is a necessity. Many times, he will pick up his food with his hand and then try to stick it on his fork.

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Clothes: He is mostly in 18 month clothes. On tops we can also use 18-24, we just have to roll the sleeves up. 18-24 month pants are way too big. He is in still size 5 diaper and 5 shoe.

Sleeping: We are officially down to one nap, and he takes it right at lunch time. He sleeps at night from 8-about 5:45am. (We have tried keeping him up later at night, but he still won’t sleep past 6.) He sleeps through the night pretty regularly still. Thank the Lord for that. Those nights while he was sick were absolutely brutal.

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Likes: He loves the dog bed in the kitchen. Jumping on anything is a big hit. He LOVES blocks and stacking things. He loves pointing at things. Also proud parent moment, he started making fart noises with his hand/arm, so that is a fun past time for him. He likes to take my phone and turn it on and off and pretend he is talking on it. He loves to crawl in our laps. (I have loved how snuggly he has gotten over these past two months!) He absolutely loves to be outside. We have had a few nice days where we can go roam our yard and play on our slide. He loves to chase the dogs and throw them their balls. He thinks it is so fun to climb our hills and just be outside in general. I can’t wait for more consistently warm weather! He also loves this blue chair.

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Dislikes: He does not like it when I am too slow with getting his milk cups ready. He did not like the Nebulizer and doing the breathing treatments. He does not like veggies. He also is not a fan of prayer time at dinner. He can see the food on the table and doesn’t understand why we have to hold hands and not be eating so we usually have to pray very loudly over his screams and clap for Jesus.

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Milestones: He hugs us intentionally. It is the most delightful thing. He can follow most instructions like put “this” away, go to “this” room, hand me “this.” He is actually a really good listener. We have had some temper tantrums, but for the most part if you tell him a couple times and help redirect his attention he will listen to you. His new words are ball, Bill, bana (banana), key key (kitty), mmm (milk), yep, and cah (car). He does his own babbling a lot so we have started trying to make up what he is saying which has turned into some pretty hilarious sayings. He blows kisses and gives you open mouth kisses. We have had a solid week without a pacy anywhere! No car, no bedtime…NO PACY! He still cries for a few minutes in the car, but we sing the ABCs (which he will mouth it trying to mimick me) and talk about what is outside to distract him. I have been super amazed!

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Quirks: He does this hunched over squat walk around the house. He just hunkers down and scuttles along. He does this scrunchy face smile where he crinkles his nose and shows you all his teeth. If you start laughing he will make himself laugh. He has had some issues with hitting. He has been hitting a lot of people. I tell him every morning that today is not the day to be a bully. Some days that message is received and other days it is not. But what is funny is when you try to correct him, he knows that he wasn’t supposed to do that so he will pull you in for a hug as you reprimand him for hitting and give you the best hug and a kiss. He is basically a sour patch kid commercial when it comes to hitting.

Nicknames: Stink, Booger, Gdubs, Gman, Sweet cheeks, Little man, Georgie, Georgieman, and my most used right now is Boogs (short for another nickname booger).

We parents are: tired. This has been rough couple of weeks. Tom’s quote, “We’re like college sophomores. We are still trying to figure things out, but we kind of know what we are doing. He is getting fed, and he has a roof over his head.” Our parenting in a nutshell some days. We have had a lot of family time this month too which has been nice. Also I am trying to comprehend how in the world he is 18 months old…That elephant used to be twice his size!

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The dogs are: driving us a little bonkers. I think they can feel spring coming, and so they want to basically live outside right now, which means that they bark at us A LOT to let them out. Crosby will come in from outside and within five minutes bark at us to let him back out. They are still sweet dogs though. George just loves them. However, the hitting is not just happening with people. We are really trying to curb that in general, but with him hitting the dogs specifically. He does give them hugs and kisses their backs every night before bed.

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Every day I love this kid more and more. I still can’t believe that he is ours most days. I still wonder how in the heck we became parents. But God graced us with this wonderful delight of a human being. He has such a bright personality that I am really enjoying watching come out more and more. He is going to be a ham for sure!

We love you so much George!