18 Months

Erik is 18 months now. It's amazing how many things he can do that I know my other kids didn't do at this age, just because he's the 4th and I don't hover over him like I did with the others. One example: we were at our friend's house on Sunday for dinner and all the kids were in the yard playing while we were talking inside at the table. Every once in a while I looked out and he was climbing up the rock wall and sliding down the slide. He did it many times and is now the rock climbing pro!

He doesn't talk as well as the others yet, but I think he's doing just fine. His favorite words are:

Dada: meaning Daddy, Mommy, and anyone else who's a caregiver to him (Grandma, babysitter)
Baba: bottle, usually full of milk
Muh!: more, usually more milk (exclamation points means he yells it out)
Wuh!: woof, whenever he sees a dog
Buhbuh!: slug bug (whenever anyone in the car says "slug bug")

After those words, he makes other sounds for words here and there, but nothing repeated enough as these for me to figure out the meanings. He does say Mama, but only when he's really sad. I try to get him to say "please" when he asks for more, but he just looks at me with the sweetest smile instead. Good enough for me! He can do sounds for cats, cows, sometimes sheep, and horses. He's learning his body parts and will play the "point them out" game with girls. As soon as he's done, he puts his hand out for a high-five and then always has to clap right after.

He loves to dance to music, play in the tub, play outside, flirt with the twin girls (7-year-olds who adore him) behind our house, and play with cars and trains.

He doesn't like tantrums from other kids or fighting between siblings, or Logan. When someone is having a tantrum and or the one initiating the fight, he will promptly go over and hit that person, or fling his hands at them as if he's hitting them. Not the best habit to be into and we're working on it, but sometimes I can't blame him!

He's not very fond of strange women who come over at the store to smile and coo at him. He gets really shy and bashful, then he'll get mad if they stay around too long, another thing my other kids didn't do.

He's very tenderhearted and loves to hug his sisters and Austin and Logan and any other little friend who we come in contact with.

We're still working on getting him to eat more. Instead of just wanting to nurse all the time, he just wants his bottle of milk. Now that he's getting some molars in, maybe he'll have a great desire to chew on more food!

Ready for Nursery!

He loves the see-saw better than the swing.

When we had our heat wave last week he was super grumpy, until he got soaked with his clothes on!

He loves to line up the vehicles.

We love Erik and enjoy seeing his personality come out as he grows!