Nash's 18-Month Milestones

Height: 33.5" (84% percentile)
Weight: 28.5 pounds (90% percentile)
Head: 50.5 cm (100+% percentile)
Teeth: 8 bottom teeth, 8 top teeth

What He Eats:

• Breakfast (7:00 am): Eats using a spoon. 6 oz yogurt, with 1/2 cup of O's cereal & baby oatmeal mixed in.  Lately, he also wants some of Daddy's shredded wheat cereal when he finishes his yogurt.
• Lunch (11:30 am): slice whole wheat toast, 1/2 cup fresh sliced fruit, one stick of string cheese, and whole milk.  Seems to like the fruit and toast the best.
• Afternoon Snack (3-4 pm): 1/4 cup fresh sliced fruit, or some graham crackers.  "Cracker!"
• Dinner (5 pm): Eats what parents are eating, but cut into smaller pieces. He is definitely a carb lover and is more finicky when it comes to his food choices. He will usually pick out all of the breads from any meal and let you know if he's not interested in the remaining food on his plate.  If Mom makes two nights worth of a meal he might eat everything on his plate the first night (plus seconds) and then not want to eat any of it the second night.  
• Nash's favorite food is probably graham crackers.  Loves them!
• Not exactly worried about keeping himself or any part of his table and chair clean :)  Likes to see what some foods look like as a hat.  Smashing food?  Sure.  See if macaroni and cheese can be used to glue your cup to the table?  Why not.  Can blueberries be turned into a liquid if you squeeze them through your fingers?  You bet.
• Started eating using a spoon for some foods around 15 months.  Around 17 months he decided that he only wanted to eat foods if he had a spoon or fork to use.
• If you give him a whole banana, he will shove huge pieces into his mouth.  Mom and Dad need to keep an eye on him.

Sleep: 1 nap per day at 12:30pm. Normal nap is 1.5-2 hours, but sometimes will sleep for 2.5 hours.   Bath at 6:30 pm and bed at 7:00 pm. Sleeps straight through the night and will wake up between 6:30 and 7:00, but it can be anywhere between 5:15 and 7:45. Nash keeps everyone guessing. Mom and Dad are not fans of the early wake ups.

Walking & Climbing:  Great at walking and will even catch his balance if knocked around by a crazy Sister flying by, or Lilly cat attacking his feet.  Nash likes climbing onto the couch, but instead of putting a leg up like Reese used to do, Nash tends to pivot on his tummy and since he's too short he hasn't yet mastered how to get onto the couch without some assistance. As a workaround, he quickly learned that if he removes a couch cushion, or places a pillow beneath the couch it gives him a few extra inches of height to make it. The other day Mom caught Nash using the scale as a step-stool in the bathroom to get things off the counter.

 

Personality: Nash is always looking for ways to keep up with Sister.  He will try his best to do what she is doing, but then he will be off playing independently with some other toy.  Very good at independent play, he could teach his sister a few skillz in this department.  He likes playing with any trucks or trains and making "vrroooommm" noises while pushing them along the floor.  He loves animals and is almost always excited to see dogs at the park.  Loves his Lilly cat and will snuggle her close (sometimes too close), and he will throw her toy ball to her over, and over again. In the morning when he wakes up, often the first thing he says is "cat!" as he eagerly wants to go downstairs and see the cat. He also likes to discipline Lilly. If she stands on anything he yells "down!" and pushes her off, sometimes even when it is someplace that she is allowed to be. Lilly is a good sport about this (so far).

Nash was not really into books until around 17 months.  He did not have the attention span to make it through a complete board book.  Around 17 months he started to show more interest and patience. Favorite books are "Good Night Moon," Metropolitan Museum of Art "Shapes," and "Curious George - Costume Party".

Nash has a mischievous sense of humor. For example, when Mom and Dad have their heads turned the other direction, he likes to climb up onto the top of his high chair or tables and stand up on the top and giggle in delight with a proud smile. Everything is a game to Nash (pulling cords out of the wall, climbing on tables, etc.) and one of the best parts is laughing when Mom and Dad run to stop him. He will do this over and over again.

Nash is also fairly rough, much rougher than Reese ever was. He likes to pound things on tables, swing things at the cat, and has been known to bite (although not for the last couple months, thank God). Since he can't yet speak, if he gets frustrated he will quickly hit or throw objects - often at his sister. Like Lilly, Reese is very patient and doesn't hit back although it's mass chaos when he gets a good whack at her and she starts screaming which scares him and he starts screaming too. Mom and Dad have thought about capturing one of these tender moments on film one of these days....

Vocabulary: Nash understands many words and can take direction fairly well. He babbles alot and has several words that he's very clear with. 

• Ma-Ma, Da-Da, Sis, cat, down (down cat), book, wah (water), uh-oh, more, cracker, Bompa, cow guy, bye bye, ball, good.

Miscellaneous things he does:

• Loves music and loves to dance. 
• Loves balls, especially tennis balls.
• When he's eating, if he eats something that he likes he'll smile and start bobbing his head up and down.

The little things we hope we'll never forget:

• His proud, happy smile.
• The way he loves to wrestle and nuzzle up with Mama on the floor and give her wet and sometimes open mouthed kisses. 
• When Daddy is done with work and comes out of his office, Nash runs to him and says, "Da-Da!!!"
• His sweet cheeks.