18 months!

One week ago Otto turned 18 months!

Fun fact: that day was a snow day and while he napped I wrote a nice blog post commemorating his 18 month…but it didn’t save to my phone. Soooo, fast forward one week to ANOTHER SNOWDAY (5th this school year) and another naptime and here I am with another attempt. 

So what does Otto at 18 months look like? 

He is busy busy busy! He is still very into the vacuum only now he also loves the broom. I bought him a toddler-sized broom and dustpan and although he enjoys it, at least once a day he wants us to get the big-people broom out. He will hand it to me and say “momma?” expectantly.

He likes to put things into and take things out of containers. I try and get creative with different items and vessels. Straws, puffballs, blocks, qtips… jars, bowls, boxes, plastic bins…

He likes to spin and dances at the sound of any music-especially the MASH theme song- he is running more and will just run around excitedly. It always cracks me up because it looks like the gravity of his head is pulling him forward and the rest of his body is just trying to keep up.

He LOVES the dogs. He calls Lady “Liddleliddle-eee” and Rosie is “Loooohhh.” He will lay his head gently on them. Lady mostly tolerates it. Rosie smothers him in kisses to the point where we have to pry her off him. He calls them “bub-eeyyyyyyee” for “puppy.” He drags out the last syllable in a gravelly little voice that shows he feels tenderly towards them.

He still loves ducks and calls them “dada” for “duckduck.”

He is starting to watch the show Daniel Tiger. If you ask him if he wants to watch it, he will reply with an enthusiastic “yeah!”

“Yeah!” is his response to so many things. Often if you ask him just about anything, that will be his response. Or if you ask him “can you say…” instead of  trying to say the word, he will just say “yeah!”

He still loves when Ayla plays the ukulele but also enjoys when Jake or Ayla play the guitar. He will run over to where they hang on the wall and point at them with a little grungy sound until someone comes and takes them down and plays to him. He also carries the ukulele sometimes and finger picks like a pro.

Things he says:

-Mama, Dada, Ayla, Bubba

-Ba!- ball

-Nana- snack, eat

-Dada-duck duck, did it (like “I did it!”)

-nummy

-owwww- what a cat says

-little howl- what a dogs says

-ahh-h-h (like a little laugh)- what a sheep says

-mmm- what a cow says

-no

-ooooo- often his reply when you tell him something

-eye- he points out the eyes of character in a book or says “eye” when it’s bright and hurts his eyes

-by- bike

-da-guy or just “guy”- any little person figurine.

Things he signs:

-please-little tummy tap, so cute!

-all done

-light

-more

He has been throwing full-on tantrums more than the other two ever did. If you take something he wants or don’t allow him something he will go limp and melt right in the spot. Sometimes he slams into things (like the microwave) with a running start. Strong-willed little bugger.

He does give such good hugs though and is always so happy to see each family member as we come home from school or work. This morning he ran right up to Ayla and gave her legs a big bear hug. 

He has been enjoying getting outside in the snow and “shoveling.” He throws the most enormous fits when we come inside. I think he’s stay out the mere forever even though he’s cold. He likes his little snow boots (which were handed down from Caden to Zeke to Otto) and will bring them over to you so you can put them on him and he will just wear them around the house.

He always wants to get in the fridge. If you open it, you have to time it well and be quick about it or you will have an 18 month old forcing his way in and forcing it open. He likes to steal berries and eat them or just generally unload the darn thing. One day he unloaded it so completely that I took the opportunity to wipe it out. All of our apples are pretty bruised.

At his 18 month checkup he was just over 24 pounds, definitely the biggest of our kiddos. He is becoming a very picky eater sadly. Hopefully it’s just a phase. He has a whole mouth full of teeth now. 

Well, that’s all I can think of for now!