Personality:
Camp continues to be really outgoing and fun. He is usually in a very happy mood. He loves to play alone, with his parents, or with his friends. Camp is super helpful around the house. His favorite job is to help throw away trash, and he will do this without any requests. He just finds a piece of trash or leftover food on the floor and takes it directly to the trash can. The little guy is very affectionate when he's tired, and he loves to hug his daddy. He'll give mommy kisses when she asks. :-) If we tell Camp, "No!" or have to put him in time out, he gets upset and throws a short and fairly mild tantrum. That has become pretty rare though because he is learning the rules around here. He is super friendly with others, and he has starting learning how to share with playmates. He loves playing with older kids, and he always has to do what they are doing. Usually that involves knocking down their structures or "sharing" the same toy they have at the moment. He is super tough, and jumps right up when he falls or gets knocked down. If he whines or cries about a spill, he is actually pretty hurt (busted nose and lip, bit a chunk out of tongue, black eye, etc). I am glad he's not a crybaby because he plays pretty rough and has quite a bit of minor accidents. Jonathan and I usually wince when we witness a knock to the head or a scraped knee, but Camp seems to not even notice most of his stunt double failures.
Size:
At the 18 month well-check, Camp was 35 inches tall (off the percentile charts), 28 pounds 4 ounces (85%), and has a 49 cm head circumference (90%). He is wearing size 5 diapers. Camp needs at least a 2T shirt and is wearing 24 months or 2T shorts and shortalls. He has been wearing size 6 shoes, but we really need to get his feet measured again. He continues to be quite a big boy, but the pediatrician assures us he is very proportionate. A friend's family member recently said he looked like he is meant to be a linebacker.
Development:
The biggest development with Camp in the last few months has been with his language and vocabulary! He went from occasionally saying Mama and Dada to an explosion of language between 17 and 18 months. Camp is using words to tell us what he sees (and what is happening) in the world around him. He says a lot of words on his own, but he has started copying us when we ask him to say a word (and sometimes when we don't, so be careful around this little parrot)! Some of his favorites right now are: Dada, Uh-oh, ball (about 100 times a day), ba-ball (basketball goal and baseball), truck (also about 100 times a day), car, go (or go-go), please, and bye. We are very close to "Gamecocks." He is starting to learn his family members' and friends' names. He is pretty good with "Nonna," "Grandad," and "Jackson." I made a little photo album for him to practice with the other names in his life!
Camp is still using a lot of sign language, and often he combines the sign with the spoken word. He knows pretty much every animal sound (those were really his first words) and other sounds associated with transportation (firetruck, boat, airplane, car/truck).
In other development areas, The Campster has picked up a few new tricks. He is walking up and down stairs while holding on to rails or someone's hand, climbing up to the very top of everything, helping get himself dressed and undressed, and getting in his stroller on his own. He is quite the problem solver, as he recently figured out how to climb on the bench and through the opening in the footboard to get onto our bed. He can scribble a little with crayons. but that is very low on the totem pole of his interests. Mostly, he likes to throw balls. He is definitely left-handed, and he has quite an arm. Basically, our house is one big ball pit.
The week that Camp turned 18 months, we went to the pediatrician's office to check on a cut on his tongue, and we found out that he had an ear infection. His first ear infection :-( Since he really doesn't complain and didn't have a fever or any other symptoms, we had no idea that he was sick. We gave him a round of meds (which he loves to take) and it was cleared up by the time we had to go for his well check. I was very glad that my mom gut told me to go check on the tongue (which turned out to be no worries) because it turned up something else. I guess I have developed a pretty good mother's intuition.
The little man has not gotten any new teeth. We are waiting on his cuspids aka canines or eye (not "i" like I thought) teeth.
Now that Camp is just soaking up knowledge, we have really been starting to intentionally teach him some basic things like numbers, letters, and colors. He can't (or won't) sit still for longer than a few minutes so we have to really sneak in the learning. Luckily, it's easy to sneak in a lot of that information throughout the day, mostly by talking about balls or trucks. It's always about balls or trucks. We have also started using some of our new busy bags that we got from my mom's group Busy Bag Swap and Playdate (will be posted in the blog soon). They are perfect for teaching shapes, colors, size, and numbers.
Sleep:
Camp is a really good sleeper. Knock on wood. He usually wakes up between 7 and 8 am, naps for about two hours at 2 pm, and goes to bed at 8 pm. If we are out and about, he will usually fall asleep for a car nap if we're in the car prior to naptime. Lately, he has been great at transferring his nap from the car to the crib. All that sleep makes one happy mama...and apparently, one fast-growing boy.
Eating:
We definitely have somewhat of a picky eater on our hands. He is less happy in his highchair now, so I sometimes let him sit in an adult chair or on the bench to eat. We have come full circle with peas. He loved them, he hated them, now he at least tolerates them :-) I discovered the best way to get some veggies in his diet is through the pouches of pureed fruits and veggies. Milk is definitely his favorite now, and he is still drinking whole milk (or Vitamin D as most call it) until age 2. He'd drink milk all day if we let him, so we limit it to just mealtime. He has water only to drink the rest of the day. Sometimes he will eat what we have for dinner, but he is finicky with meat items and vegetables.
My child is definitely like me in that he likes to snack. He has cut back on how much he eats at breakfast, but he likes to have a mid-morning snack. Some of his favorites snacks and meal foods are: Cheerios, Veggie Straws, Nutrigrain bars, yogurt, fruit/veggie pouch, raisins, red grapes,
french fries, any kind of cracker or chip, hotdogs (with or without the bun), pizza, and noodles.
Fun and Games:
Once the weather got just a little warm, we headed to Wannamaker County Park to check out the "Sprinkler Park." Camp and I both fell in love with the splash pad with lots of water shooting up and out! We like to take his beach toys so he can fill buckets and sandcastle shapers up with water and spill them out. There is a great playground right near the sprinklers too, so he has plenty of opportunity to get really worn out before naptime!
Camp has been to the pool four times already. The water has been pretty cold, and he was hesitant about getting in/staying in each time. Once I got him in and spun him around a few times in the water, he really enjoyed it. He preferred walking around the pool deck and throwing balls into the water or playing with other water toys on the steps. I really hope when the water warms up that he'll be the same water baby we had last year.
We recently discovered another really cool park in Summerville called Gahagan Park. It's mostly wooden structures that are spread out in a shaded, fenced area. There are lots of opportunities for climbing, sliding, swinging, and exploring. We went with our mom's group to play last week, and I will definitely take Camp back again.
Along with anything that involves water play or just being outside, Camp has fun inside, too. His newest favorite thing is throwing balls. He loves to throw them against the wall and let them bounce back to him. He tries to throw balls into laundry baskets and his shopping cart when we're not outside to use his mini basketball goal. Trucks and cars are also a big form of entertainment in our house. He loves to push them and make car noises while he drives across furniture or walls. I bought him his very first "Hot Wheels" that looks like his daddy's truck. We have so much fun learning and playing together!
Dear Camp,
Everyone said that it would only get better as you grew up, and they were right. Now, you are so fun and energetic. You are an excellent problem solver, listener, and playmate. You are more handsome every day, and I am always amazed at your intelligence. I am grateful that you like to help mommy with laundry, putting away dishes, cleaning up spills, and taking out trash. You know where everything belongs and will help us find missing things. Saying please and thank you is becoming natural to you, and you usually share well with friends. I love every little thing about you, Silly Guy, and I am always so happy to say I am your mommy.
Love,
Mommy
 |
| Mother's Day 2013 |
