18 Months Old THIS Week

My precious little snotty nosed, accident prone, rascal of a rug-rat is already a year and a half old (my heart breaks). Time passes entirely too fast when you are having fun. Peyton has lit up our lives in a way we never anticipated, filling our bedroom with dump trucks, our living room with baby guitars, and our patio with buckets and shovels. Our lives will never be the same! Finger prints on the most random places bring intermittent floods of joy, back yard rocks found under his bed spark an unstoppable giggle-fest, and dirt covered toes chasing after a muddy wagging tail across the house squealing “Bwel-wa” in his most emphatic voice soothes the soul … yes, life will never be the same again.

It appears that at EXACTLY 18 months old several things started changing with our little munchkin. He has JUST entered this phase of complete difficulty and neediness. As of this week he does not want to go to bed without world war III breaking out. He all of the sudden like to take off like a naked jay bird while I am trying to change his diaper (my colossal belly slows me down a little as well). And he puts on the most dramatic performance, flowing tears, arms stretched wide, and quivering little voice crying out ma-ma-ma-ma if I step away from him for a second, put him down after holding him, or leave him with anyone. It is rather flattering, but a little excessive as well. I find solace in knowing that he will not always want his mommy this much so I need to soak up as much of this now as I can!

This past month he has really started to develop a vocabulary! He obviously says things in his own little way … but I can often times actually understand what he wants which is divine! As of 18 months old here are the words that he is currently using regularly:
· Mama (me)
· Papa (Ryan)
· Bwel-wa (Bella the dog)
· Gampa (my dad)
· Drew (cousin Andrew)
· Nana (cousin Breanna)
· Tur-toe (Granny’s turtles)
· Ball (anything resembling a ball!)
· Hello and Hi (greeting anyone)
· Bye bye (comes with a massive wave)
· Eye, no, mow (for his face parts)
· Uh oh (when he drops something)
· No (when he is bossing around Bella)
· Outsssss (outside)
· Num Num (food)
· Ba Ba (sippy-cup)
· Boon (baloon)
· Jssss (apple juice)
· “Uh” with a pointing finger leads to many of the things he wants, or wants to show me for the time being. More words will follow soon I am sure =)
My dearest munchkin Peyton, we love watching you grow! In 6 more months you will be 2!