18 months

Frankie had his 18-month doctor's appointment this morning.  He started crying as soon as the nurse walked into the room, and he cried while he was weighed, measured, and checked by both the nurse and the doctor.  I think he was traumatized during all of his hospital x-rays.  He weighs 25 lbs 2 oz (35th percentile) and is 34.25 inches long (95th percentile).  He remains tall and lean, and at this rate he will most likely be over six feet tall.  The doctor was really impressed with his language development.  She said that she expects kids his age to know 10 words, and she was surprised when I guessed that he knows 100 or more words.

At 18 months, Frankie is:

• Getting much better holding my hand when walking in public.  And I finally broke him of his key dependency when walking to day care.
• Not doing so good with sharing.  He thinks everything is "mine!"
• Really trying to talk in sentences.  He can say two words together like "mama car" or "more milk" or "truck home," but he cannot quite piece everything together yet.  I am sure it won't be long.
• Eating really well.  He still loves fruit, likes salad and broccoli for veggies, and loves chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, sausage and hot dogs, and anything with ketchup.
• Loves to read books, and will now sit still and let me read to him for entire books.
• Still loves watching Gigglebellies and singing the bumble bee song and watching "Ben."
• Can name all of the workers at day care, his teacher, and all of his classmates.  Can also say the names of all of my family members and Frank's family members.
• Loves giving big hugs and kisses, but also sometimes hits and bites still.  We have started doing time outs when he hits or bites one of us at home.  He bit a kid at day care last week for the first time.  Hopefully this will not be the start of a trend!
• He is finally over his fear of slides, and he is in love with the hose! 

I love this little boy so much, and I cannot believe he is 18 months already!  Here are a few pictures of him playing with his new favorite toy...the hose: