King of the Castle! : 18 Months - Happy Half Birthday J Man!!!

No way. I cannot possibly be writing this blog post already. I must be doing my math wrong or something. 18 months?! Wow! I adore this age. Jameson talks all of the time - repeats everything, tells us what he wants (for the most part!), says please and thank you, gives us hugs and kisses all of the time, makes animal sounds, dances all of the time, and is just plain awesome! As usual, he changed a ton over the past month, learning new things everyday. This post is going to focus a lot on words because he has expanded his vocab by a ton and has perfected some of the words he has been saying for months.

I need to do your height and weight because your Mom is terrible and didn't schedule your 18 month appointment enough ahead of time and it isn't until the 25th. But, I would imagine you are hanging out around 26-26.5 pounds and 33.5 inches.
You love to hide and then pop out and say "boo". Peek-a-boo at its finest!
You have started walking on your knees a lot - it's pretty funny, but I am always nervous you are going to topple forward onto your face! You think it's pretty funny too.
You do what we call "maniac on the floor" with your legs/body. It's hilarious and we sing "He's a maniac, maniac on the floor" to you and you just giggle!
We listen to Toddler Tunes quite a bit and you are a dancing fool. Watching you dance brightens my day and makes me smile ear to ear. You have to have the surround sound on though and have figured out how to turn it on!
During the week, I guess you like to nap on the big bed and when you wake up, you call for Ray or Gmas (depending on where you are). What's funny is you call for them sometimes when you wake up in the morning or from a nap when you are at home with me and Dad!
You are VERY opinionated. You want something and you think you should get it right that second! It's a tough age because patience is not something you have developed yet, but we are trying to teach you as best as possible...but a lot of the time you manage to get your way :).
You seem much older than you are. Gma Debbie and I were talking about this the other day. You can say so many things and you understand so much that sometimes I forget that you are still so little!
You love apples right now. We were at the grocery store and you saw the apples while we were checking out and said apples on repeat - the bagger thought it was simply amazing that a kid could love apples so much!
You sometimes like carrots and cucumbers in raw form. Sometimes.
You also love blueberry pancakes and will ask for pa-cakes.
I forgot to mention a few months ago that you actually like to eat "chip-n-dip" or chips and salsa as commonly referred to. It's pretty funny to watch you eat it!
No matter how hard we try to move the toys away from the couch/ottoman, you have figured out how to pick them up and move them to use them as step stools. You can also pretty much just climb up on the furniture by yourself!
Sometimes if I ask you to smile, you will. But, of course not when we are getting your pictures taken!
You will go grab a diaper and say "biper" and hand it to us if you need a diaper change. Not always, but it's a step in the right direction! And, in the last few weeks, you have gone potty in the potty and actually told me once that you had to go! We are still a long way off and I am not going to push potty training, but I am super proud of you already!
You love to collect walnuts, bugs and pine cones at Ray and Gma Debbie's. You line them up in a nice little pattern...you make your Daddy so proud!
You are really sweet and like to feed your stuffed animals your milk/water/treats. It's very sweet!
Whenever you see a little red spoon, you start saying ice cream and then run to the freezer...I think we eat Dairy Queen too much! However, you really don't eat much ice cream whenever we get it for you.
You went to your 2nd Cubs game! Overall, you did amazingly well! Another blog post will follow on that adventure!
You got to meet your 2nd cousin, Avery and you were so good with her! You kept making sure she had enough blankets and had her hats! You are so good with babies!
You saw your first rainbow and kept pointing up in the sky saying "way-bow!".
You are still obsessed with our toothbrushes and know exactly where to find them! And, you get BEYOND excited when you see them.
You try to count. I swear after I say "one", you say two, free, foh. Probably just Mommy ears, but it's still pretty impressive!

OK, onto the vocab:

Words/Sentences that you can say perfectly now:

Mommy
Daddy (you exaggerate the Y on both Mommy and Daddy!)
Puppy
Doggy
Hoyt - you kind of make his name two syllables. It's super cute.
Thank you - still sounds a little like tank you, but you say it all of the time! Every time we hand you something or do something for you, you say it. LOVE!
People - this is tough and you say it clear as day!
Arrow - we learned this at the Jump Spot during one of the circuits!
Here you go/There you go!
Let's go!
Heart - you can correctly identify this shape and say it perfectly!
Pig - and you have started snorting like a pig and it's way too adorable.
Turkey - more like toorkey, but very close.
Gobble Gobble
Bug - and when you say "bug", you stick your tongue out and open your hands real big like you are grossed out even though you really like bugs.
Airplane - it's not quite perfect, but very easy to understand what you are saying because it's so close. Sounds a little like ice cream too though!
Milk - you have been saying this perfectly for awhile, but you have suddenly started using two syllables when you say it...it's so funny! Here is a video - doesn't quite do it justice, but you can get an idea! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUtkwCRlnK0
Popcorn
Car - and you usually say "beep beep!".
Truck - sometimes it's more like Twuck, but you point to the trucks when we pass them in the car!
Bus: you also point to school buses in the morning in the car.
Caillou: yep, you can say this perfectly. We hardly ever watch this because it drives your dad and me nuts, but for some reason, you love him! I hummed like three notes of the theme song and you yelled "Caillou" and pointed to the TV. Crazy!
Oh No/Oh Man/Oh Dear - I think we have traumatized you because you say these phrases all of the time! And, you sound so distraught when you say Oh No! Oh Man is pretty funny and Oh dear is usually only when someone (Ray) prompts you to say it.
Oh Boy! - This is recent and is the CUTEST thing ever! When we say yes to something or ask if you want to go somewhere/do something, you will say "oh boy!" and then run around. A-dor-able.
You say "up" all of the time. If you want out of your crib, out of your highchair, want someone to stand up, etc. It's so cute because you exaggerate the "p" sound!
Pull - you have started saying this and pulling us when you want us to move or when you want something to open/move. It's pretty smart because we have always told you "pull" when you play with certain toys that require it. You have clearly picked that up and now apply it to different things now! Just didn't think you would apply it to a human, but it's still cute!

More words/sentences:

Dad started this thing with you during bath time where he says "Oh ____" and then fills in the blank with a family member. It is sooo entertaining and you are so good at saying everyone...except for a few tough ones. The best ones are Oh Drakey, which is "Oh Cakey". And, Oh Jeremy, which is "Oh Mayme"! We also love that you change Oh Grandpa to "Oh Pawpaw", Oh Grandma to "Oh Maamaw", Oh Nicole to "Oh Cole" and Oh Rowan to "Oh Ro Ro". You have a hard time with Lindsay and Madison, so we will continue to work on them! Derek is also pretty funny, but I won't write out what that one sounds like!
Gapagapagapagapagapa: we have NO idea what this noise is, but you will say it a lot and smile. It's hilarious, so we say it with you because it's fun. Thought maybe gobble gobble, but that's not it!
Ro-rah: I thought you were saying Laura forever until I figured out you were saying Dora! And, you can say Backpack and Boots perfectly.
Pacca - pasta
Folk - Fork.
Ice - you say it more like "eyes", but whenever you hear the ice machine, you get really excited and point to the fridge and say "ice".
We have taught you to say "so smart" and it comes out a bit like "so smah".
I taught you to say "Go Illini!". Sounds more like No Nigh Nigh! But, cute nonetheless.
You can kind of say pine cone. Not sure how to write it out though!
Ice cream - it's more like "eye cweam", but we know exactly what you mean!
Pug = plug. We have created a monster - you now say "pug peeze" and how the heck are we supposed to say no to that cuteness?! You have gotten more attached to that plug recently, but we are still trying to keep it just for naps/night/car rides and when you are sick. Definitely not weaning at 18 months like I thought I would. However, here is my thinking. You are one amazing little dude. You are super smart and the brightest ray of sunshine. So, if having a plug is the worst of our worries, I am totally OK with that. Maybe we will try at 2!

Your Dad and I were just talking before bed last night about how great you are. You make us smile/laugh a million times a day! You are a tough cookie to deal with sometimes, but that is nothing in comparison to how sweet, smart and down right funny you are!! We love you - Happy 18 Month Birthday, Bean!

18 month informal photo session!