18 Months

I think this will be the last formal "monthly update" post (but definitely not the last update!). He's growing and changing so much so fast, and true updates would really be every other day if I wanted to keep up. So from here on out, Jace updates will occur a little less often, but definitely expect regular appearances on the blog from this little man! 

JJ had his 18 month old well-child checkup yesterday, and he's right on track. And he definitely does not have fond memories of the doctor's office or the nurse; this is the place he gets weighed, measured, and vaccinated, and if we thought he might forget about it, we were wrong. Poor babe got nervous and clingy as soon as we entered the office, and cried whenever the nurse got near him, ha! He is not unlike me in this way (I sat on my mom's lap once when I had to get blood drawn...in high school). But, thankfully, Jace is healthy and strong, and he doesn't have to get any more vaccines until he is four years old! I can't believe that one day, he'll be four...I'm pretty sure he's just going to stay my little toddler-pants forever. At 18 months, this monkey...

-Runs away whenever I say "It's time to change your diaper!" PUNK. He does throw his dirty diapers away all by himself, though, so there's that.

-Loves to do repeat hugs. Also, we are teaching him not to hit us when he's angry, and he likes to test the waters. So sometimes he'll come up and "hit" my face (not angrily, but not a soft pat, either), and when I tell him no hitting, he gives me a love. Then he'll "hit" again, and immediately give me a love afterwards. I'm not sure whether I should scold the pretend hit or praise the loves. The mood swings have my head spinning!

-Can put all the shapes through his shape sorter independently, and can say "circle," "star," and sometimes "square."
-Thinks it's hilarious when we smell his feet, wave our hand in front of our noses, and say "P-U! Stinky feet!" So now, he smells his own feet or our feet and waves his hand in front of his own nose. 
-New words: trash, bus, wash, bike, brush (he asks for his toothbrush when he sees Colt or I brushing our teeth and sucks all the toothpaste off the bristles. But he HATES when we brush his teeth for him). He loves words with the "sh" sound in them. 
-Started going to nursery all by himself last week. Up until last Sunday, we stayed with him the first hour. This week, however, we dropped him off, said bye-bye, and left. I peeked in quickly right after, and he was just playing away with a truck. They did have to bring him out about 20 minutes later, though, because he was inconsolable after he had his toys stolen by some of the older kids. It's like survival of the fittest in there with all those big, greedy three year olds. 

I haven't been feeling so hot lately, and Jace has been so patient with me-letting me rest while he plays independently, and waiting for Dad to get home on the days when I don't want to go outside or take him to the park. Sure, he has his moments when he is demanding, and conveniently accidentally locks himself in the laundry room, and I maybe wait a few minutes longer than I should before I let him out, but overall I've been lucky with this kiddo. In fact, his good-naturedness makes me very afraid of what our future children will be like. I'm sure will show me just how hard babies and toddlers can be. At least Jace will have a little friend to join him in the laundry room. ;)