18 Months!

I can hardly believe it! A few weeks ago, my baby turned 18 months!!! He has grown so much! There is so much to show you and tell you, this may be a huge post, but I want to show you what he's been up to.

To start with, I want to share all my statues/tweets about his shenanigans from this month. 

January 1:

• Aaron and I are both sick... The difference is while I am down and out in bed feeling terrible, he is still running around having fun. I am so glad he is such a trooper... And his little giggle always makes me feel better :)
• Today, we heard Aaron crying in his room. If he is hurt, he comes to us, if he is stuck, he calls for me and then cries. Eric went in to find him atop the changing table... Little stinker climbed on his cars table - to the rocking chair - onto his dresser - and then to the changing table ... soon realizing descent is sometimes harder than the climb. Lol. That's my monkey for you.

January 2:

• Aaron got a baby doll for Christmas. Today, he wanted to change it's diaper. Seeing as the baby has clothes on, and he doesn't know how to take them off, Aaron opened the diaper and laid it across the baby's face then stood up and cheered for himself. :)

January 3:

• Aaron just tried to feed his baby a cough drop... I think we need to set some boundaries. :D

January 7:

• Aaron pulled me into his room 3 consecutive times asking for a diaper change. The instant we got in his room however, he abandoned his diaper quest and very sweetly ran for his cars and asked that we play cars. I checked his diaper, and it is completely clean. Given his determination, I think I should stop what I'm doing and go play cars with my son.

• CRAZY! My baby is 18 months today! Who said he was allowed to grow up?!? Make it stop!

January 8:

• Aaron came in our room asking for cookies. I told him I didn't have cookies, so he raced out of the room. he must have known where they were because he almost instantly came back with a bag of toffee calling for cookies. Lol

January 9:

• Aaron just heard my tummy grumble. He looked at my tummy, then at me with a mixed look of terror and complete confusion. :)

• Aaron just snuck into my room with his speargun toy and shot me while I was resting in bed... Achievement unlocked ...?

• It started with his baby doll, but Aaron has branched out. He has decided that all of his toys need to go nuh-nye... So he is launching his cars, stuffed animals, etc. into his crib.

January 10:

• Aaron just walked up to me carrying the sippy cup he had this morning. when I went to put him down for his nap, I could not find it anywhere. I looked at him and said, "where do you hide these things?" He looked at me, threw his hands in the air and replied, "I don't know." Haha, legit!

January 11:

• Aaron lost a ball under the oven today. He came to me very sad asking for me to get it. I grabbed the broom and knocked the ball out along with 6 others, a flour baby, and a small tambourine. Oh boy...

January 15:

• Yesterday, at the end of the day, I was too tired to cook so Ericsaid we could get a pizza (go Eric!). When he climbed back in the car with the box, Aaron knew instantly what it was, got excited and chanted pizza all the way home...Today, I am sitting at the computer and he comes to me asking for broccoli... Huh?

• I feel like I got hit by a truck - probably because Aaron drove one on my head #toddlerissues

January 16:

• Aaron was eating his mac and cheese with a spoon, but it took too long so he switched to fist fulls. #moreefficient #toddlersmarts #sillyboy

• Worst tantrum ever #kidisgonnablowagasket #mypoorears #nowwhat?

• first time all day he's not screaming or whacking me with a toy. wondering if he is sick #abnormal #poorkid #watchcars

January 21:

• Aaron just crawled on my bed with his toy hammer, there is no way that this can end poorly, right? #everymanforhimself
• Aaron came to me asking me to pick him up, I asked him to be patient. He then asked for a hug which warrants an instant pick up #smartkid

• After coming to me asking for cars, I told Aaron to go get one. He brought me my rainboot. Sure enough, stuck in my boot was a car #whatthe

Wow, I know that was a lot, but that sure does tell a bunch of stories!

Now for some pictures and some of the best videos mostly in order of the month (trust me, we have tons of both, but I'll try to limit my uploading)

Aaron loves balls - absolutely loves them and he has good aim if you give him a target (i.e. hold our your hands or a bucket)

Here is Aaron getting some help changing the baby's diaper ... and then trying to feed it a cough drop

Aaron loves to help Mama clean!

We had a LAN party to play Dota 2 with a few friends - we traded off who played so I could play too! And, as if that isn't nerdy enough, the boys wanted to turn on The Fellowship of the Ring in the background. :)

 Aaron wanted to play too :)

Like any boy would, Aaron has discovered a fascination with cars. Not just ones on the road (though, don't get me wrong, if he could sit and stare out the window at cars all day, he would - he also loves planes and helicopters [or, as he would call them 'copters]), but the movie by Disney... It is his favorite. Suddenly everything is "lightning" this and "lightning" that. He even has a small Lightning McQueen car that he takes to bed with him. Heaven help us if we can't find that little car.

 

He doesn't just watch the pictures move on the screen though. You can tell he knows what is going on... If I am not there to calm him, he will get full on tears when the movie gets intense (in fact, we were watching a tv show today and a commercial came on where people were crying and there were guns and loud noises and he freaked out). One time ... poor kid ... I was in the bathroom with the door shut and he started screaming and I had no idea why. I rushed out as fast as I could and realized that "Frank" in the movie was chasing Lightning and Mater... I have been careful to not make that same mistake.

Aaron also loves to play cars with Daddy! Ane found this blanket that was Eric's when he was little and gave it to him - Aaron was so excited to play with it!

Sometimes, Aaron prefers my bed to his... He didn't want to take a nap so we watched Castle on my phone. I knew he had fallen asleep when he stopped saying "Oh No!" every time a commercial came on.

Aaron is getting pretty good at eating on his own with a spoon... This was the 2nd time I let him try.

Aaron loves this game, though he plays it backwards.

Normally, you use the golf tee's to jump other tee's and remove the one you jumped. He LOVES to have me pull them all out and he puts them all back in. He is super good at it too!

 

Aaron loves his friend Eli - he always talks about him. When we go in the car he first asks if we are going to see Grampa/Gramma and when I say no, he asks if we are going to go see Eli.

My little sister had a baby! Aaron and I could hardly contain our excitement :)

I was sick on Sunday - in bed on some pretty heavy medication, so Aaron and Daddy got to spend the day together. Aaron and Daddy love to make funny faces and make music!

These first 18 months have been incredible. Aaron is such a happy kid. He brings so much joy to our lives. He makes life easier and harder at the same time - every once in a while we get a severe melt down (when someone wants to play with his favorite toy in his room or when he wants to watch "lightning" and Mama says no) and of course he has to go in time-outs, but we have been told by multiple sitters that he is the easiest kid they have ever watched. (I guess this means I need to watch out for the next one, eh?) We love him and are excited to see what the next 18 months have in store for us!