Vincent's 18 Month Update

The reason I never posted this even close to on time, was because I was waiting until I finally got around to taking his 18 month photo. Which never happened! >.< So I will just let that slide and go ahead and post this regardless, 4 months late lol! I definitely plan on making an update at 2 years and if I can manage, another at 2.5 years, even if it's without the chalkboard! :)

Height/Weight: At his 18 month appointment, he was 24lbs 5oz (9%), 31.5in (17%) tall and his head circumference was 50cm (95%). 

Daily: Vincent's daily routine has stayed the same for the most part! He takes one nap around mid-day for about two hours. Since I got pregnant (particularly in the first trimester), we've spent quite a bit of time at home and unfortunately, I've totally failed at weaning him off the TV. xD Lately we've been watching old Winnie the Pooh episodes. But he doesn't sit and watch, it runs in the background when we have it on. About a month ago, we got Vincent a really awesome play kitchen and play food! He LOVES it. He will pretend to cook all day. He makes sounds for pouring drinks and drinking and when he pretends to eat, he says "MMMMM!!" He likes to "pour me coffee" and bring me food. :D I believe we might have a little chef on our hands! When we aren't at home, we are running errands or occasionally going to play dates. Vincent went to COM Aquatics for the first time last month and he had a great time! This week, we started Musikgarten, which will be every Wednesday morning for the rest of the year. Vincent was super shy and a little freaked out in the beginning, but after we sang the first couple of songs, he really enjoyed himself!

Sleep: Vincent wakes up anywhere between 7:30 and 9 AM (with 9 being the norm). His nap has been from about noon until 2, however we are in the process of changing it to be an hour or two later, so that he can eat lunch before his nap. Bedtime is around 8 AM now, since Mike's schedule shifted, bringing him home a little earlier. Unless he is sick or teething badly, he sleeps through the night every night! Our bedtime routine is the same, if we are doing a bath that day, bath, new diaper, lotion, pajamas (no more zippy!), reading, while allowing him to take sips of his milk when he reaches for the cup, rocking while singing a few songs, then bed. He likes to be tucked in with more lovies now: his kitty and mouse from Granny, Pooh Bear, Piglet, his froggy and his scentsy elephant. He does really well going to sleep on his own once I tell him goodnight and leave the room! But it HAS to be that exact routine, or he struggles. One evening my mom offered to put him down, so Mike and I could get a chance to visit a little bit before he went to bed and Vincent was not having it! She did the exact same routine, but I guess he needed me to sing to him! <3

Throwing all of our friends and blankie out of the crib!

Eating: Eating has been great! For breakfast, we do a banana and oatmeal or a couple of waffles. He LOVES his "nana"s. As a matter of fact, you can tell when he wants to eat, because he will reach for the kitchen or his high chair and say "Nana!! Nana!!" very loudly! For lunch he usually has a cheese and ham or turkey sandwich and a yogurt or fruit. He loves strawberries, grapes and apples! We do them for snacks as well. For dinner, he was having Gerber Graduate meals, but he got bored with them, so we stopped. So he eats what we eat or I make him some noodles (ravioli, mac & cheese etc.) or hot dogs if we plan to eat later. He also does great with leftovers! I always include a veggie - corn and green beans are his favorite! Carots and peas not so much.
He still dislikes regular milk, although I do sneak it into his oatmeal ;D. So we do soy milk and other than that pretty much just water! I very rarely give him juice anymore. He LOVES drinking from things with straws. Any time he sees any beverage with a straw, he immediately thinks he needs to have it!

For a snack, we do pretzels, goldfish or fruit.
He has become VERY good at feeding himself with a spoon and fork. He has become fascinated with the concept of stabbing your food with a fork. He thinks it's hilarious! 

When in doubt, pinky out!!

The straw face xDDD

Sizes: Vincent wears 18 and 24 month clothing, depending on the brand. Some 2T shirts fit, but only a couple. His growing slowed down quite a bit around the beginning of the year, so clothing has been lasting a lot longer! He now fits in size 4 shoes pretty well. He will likely still be in size 4 diapers for a while!

Milestones and Changes:

• As you all know, Vince has begun big brother classes! :D His sibling is due the day after his 2nd birthday, on March 8th! I can already tell he is going to be a fantastic big brother. 

• Vincent finally graduated to big boy pajamas with NO zippy! This was a HUGE deal for us. Since the day he was born, he really only ever slept swaddled or in his zippy, once he started rolling over. Now, he sleeps with a blanket! :)

• We bought a potty. He is not near ready to start potty training, since he still hasn't fully grasped the concept of what it means to pee or poop, but we figured it wouldn't hurt to at least get him introduced to it. He actually really likes sitting on it, but nothing has happened yet! Most of all, he likes sitting on the big toilet, while I help him brush his teeth.

• Vincent has become quite the climber! I had to start taking all of the cushions off of the couch. I am still SO paranoid about him getting on top of the cushions on the couch and either flipping over off the back or the arms of the couch and busting his head open on the floor. So we only use the cushions if we're sitting on the couch! And I put the coffee table on top of the fireplace, to keep him off of it as well. Because honestly. What's the point of even having a coffee table when you've got a toddler.

• We went to COM Aquatics for the first time! Vince had a TOTAL blast. We will be going again this weekend!

• As I mentioned above, we got Vincent a play kitchen and play food and it is a hit!! He has learned how to make cooking and eating sounds and learned the meaning of many food at kitchen related items, which he will fetch for me if I ask him where they are.

Eating some pretend pizza

Drinking some pretend milk

• Vincent adores his rocking horse. He has learned how to rock back and forth by himself! He can't get up by himself, but he only needs a little help to get back down.