Notes from the crib

George had his eighteen month doctor's appointment on Friday. He weighs 21 pounds, 4 ounces and is 30.5 inches tall. He's down on the charts a bit, but the doctor told George he was growing fine just like he always does. The doctor's visit included a vaccination - Hepatitis this time. This is the last vaccine he will get until he's school-aged. Amazing how many they receive at such a young age.

At eighteen months, George is very independent. He wants his food whole, not in pieces, and he wants to feed it to himself. He still loves pancakes and waffles most of all, and turns up his nose at most of the new foods we offer. He has developed a love for pita chips and hummus, and we've introduced a peanut butter substitute which he adores. While we haven't followed most of the child rearing "mandates", I am hesitant to give him peanut butter just yet. The recommended age is now 2 or 3 before peanut butter is introduced to avoid the child developing allergies. I don't know that I'm convinced early introduction causes allergies, but I would hate for George to be allergic to peanuts. Peanut butter was, and is, so near and dear to me as a food, I just can't imagine not being able to share that love with my son. I'd rather deprive him of the ooey-gooey goodness known as peanut butter for a few more months, if doing so is going to help him be able to enjoy it for the rest of his long lifetime. So for now, we are using Sun Butter (a butter made from sunflower seeds) on crackers and toast. Sun Butter tastes amazingly like peanut butter, although it has a much less viscous consistency. George goes nuts (no pun intended) for it!

George has discovered the back yard and we spent a good 2-4 hours every afternoon playing outside. So far he's got a sandbox, a picnic table, a kiddie car, and a box full of playdoh, bubbles, and chalk to entertain him outdoors, along with all the dirt, rocks, and weeds he can find. George will often grab our fingers, say "bye-bye" and pull us to the back door where he proceeds to knock and look up at us to see if we'll open the door for him. Often, he does this first thing in the morning. If we still have the curtains shut, he pushes them aside to peer out longingly at his toys.

George is helpful around the house. He loves to be my laundry assistant. I'll empty the basket of clothes that need washing into the hallway and he brings the items to me in the laundry room piece by piece. I lift him up and he throws them into the washing machine, then toddles off to get another item. When it's time to dry, I'll hand him a wet piece and he'll throw it into the dryer. He does have to take breaks in this step to press the dryer light button on and off - it can't be all work! He'll even shut the dryer door for me when he's done loading it.

He's a climber and a daredevil. I'm constantly having to chase him to the top of playground playscapes. At parks where there's both a toddler playscape and a big kid playscape, George eschews the toddler one for the bigger, more dangerous playground. He loves going for wagon rides with DH, and as long as he's got stuffed animal friends with him he enjoys riding in the bike trailer.

He's napping once a day (usually), for anywhere from one to four hours. Some days he doesn't nap at all, and those are long days! He's started being able to make it through church with only one trip outside for a "cooling off".

He's also decided not to look at the camera any more, so it's much harder to get pictures of him.