Eli is 18 Months

At 18 months, Eli definitely keeps me on my toes, but he is also hilarious. The child gets into things that never would have crossed my mind when Colin was his age and so child-proofing has taken on a whole new meaning in our house. It's now Eli-proofing. One of his skills that works against our Eli-proofing is his ability and desire to climb *everything*. The child has no fear and even when he falls off things, he just picks himself back up to try again. His favorite item to get into right now is the vaseline. I have to use it for some of his diaper changes and used to keep a container at each changing station in our house. Now I have to keep it on high shelves or in medicine cabinets because as soon as he sees it he squeals with glee and tries to figure out how to get to it. I kind of blame his obsession with the gunk on the incident when I found Colin changing his diaper. He had given Eli the vaseline to hold while Colin changed him (I guess mimicking how I give him a toy) and Eli was going to town with the stuff. If fecal matter hadn't been included in the equation, I probably would have snapped a picture....

On to more pleasant thoughts, Eli says a ton of words. I don't even know how many, but his two favorites are "no" (of course) and "why". He is very independent and wants to do everything himself. He's very social despite going through the stranger anxiety stage. I've found that the anxiety only lasts a few moments before his curiosity and fun-loving spirit take over. He loves music and whenever he hears some he starts to dance. The kid has got some seriously cute moves and my favorite dancing memory is when the two of us were shopping at Target one day and came across the dancing Mickey. We listened to that thing for a good 15 minutes and he just kept dancing and dancing. It was one moment when I really wished my phone could record videos.

In general he's a happy camper, but he does throw fits when he doesn't get his way. His best buddy, hands down, is Colin. Although they both exhibit sibling rivalry, those two really have a blast together. Unfortunately blast usually means trouble. But now that I'm wise to the obsession with creams, usually the worst they do is dump out every single toy and book we own. Although sometimes they do end up rearranging the furniture....

At his well-child appointment, the doctor said Eli's doing great. Despite being an incredibly picky eater, he's weighing in at 25 lbs, 3 oz. and is 33 1/2 inches tall. Must be all the cheese and milk he consumes.

 

Eli also has a very sweet side as you may have noticed in some of the pictures. He loves to snuggle his stuffed animals and when he's really tired, he'll actually snuggle with people too.

 We sure love our spirited toddler.