What’s he like at 18 months? He’s hard at work. He gets involved in tasks, which he pursues with zeal, such as taking dog biscuits out of the box and walking across the room to hand them to me one by one. Or feeding kibble to Tenzin one by one (he INSISTS she eat them.) Or taking all the spoons out of the dishwashers with the intonation which would convey, ” and look at THIS one! WOW!” The fruits of two of his recent projects were wet sneakers –after he proudly showed me how he’d nestled his sneakers in Tenzin’s water dish– and all the boots in the snow room carefully filled with their portion of clothespins.

He’s conspicuously left-handed and he is utterly smitten with Da-da.

He really started giving talking a punt right around 18 months. To his 6 word vocabulary, he added “tongue” which he can pronounce really well, and then multitudes of other ambitious words.

pasta= pa-tah!!,
sandle= da-du,
up= appa,
down= downg,
more= mo,
Octopus= Ah-bun,
Anemone= Ammm-neh,
balloon= b,
blue= b,
ice cream= Ah-dang,
spoon= p,

And despite Kaley trying to cultivate her name as “Kay-Kay”, it looks like she will henceforth be known as “Noo-Noo.”

He pretty fastidious about things being “as they should be,” even including childproofing latches and bungies. After he ransacks the grain cupboard, he’ll often put everything back and then sign for help to reattach the bungy. He’s really psyched to be able to communicate with signs. Last night i taught him yes (nod your fist like your nodding yes) and he picked it up immediately. He was beside himself with joy. I guess he’d been waiting for that one to come up

I’ll have to find out how to sign “I’m sorry” soon. He’s got one hell of a little Irish temper, as do all toddlers, but he still will bash his head against something to demonstrate his displeasure. This has now been added to a roster of pinching, biting and head butting mom! Fun!

But tonight he grabbed my head (like he usually does when he’s lining up to bite me) and planted a kiss right on my lips for the first time, with the smooch sound and everything. Luckily, he a huggy little lovebug most of the time. And anyway, he is so smitten with stories that if I start telling one, even his foulest mood will evaporate and he’ll settle down with a little face full of magical awe. I tell the same ones over and over and he knows when they will end. Not one beat goes by between the last word and Griffin signing “MORE.”

It’s too cold to go outside today. 17˚F with a clipping north wind. Nobody is more bummed out than Tenzin, who can’t understand why we’re all too lame to go out and enjoy a beautiful sunny day. She’s lounging in the snow out there. Griff would be disappointed too, if it occurred to him. If I say “do you want to go outside?” he marches right to the front door, opens it and goes out into the snow room to go see outside. Then the irritating requisites start of putting on boots and coats and hats… (more…)

He’s now 14.5 months old. That means he’s been walking for 4 months and now he’s really good at it. He’s also now opening the front door, opening (and closing) the dishwasher (while I’m trying to load it,)and he’s not far from opening the fridge, whereupon he would pull out all the most interesting containers. He does his “rounds” and they go like this; … (more…)

A few days before Christmas, he wandered over to a present and tried to pick it up by the bow. The bow popped off and left a hole in the wrapping paper, so he peered through. Hmm…something interesting…he started to tear, and lo and behold, there was a TOY inside! Cool! He couldn’t quite get it out so he slammed the whole thing on the floor til a pull-along rolling frog tumbled out. photos here… (more…)

At Griffin’s most recent check-up, he weighed in at 23.5 lbs. That puts him at 90th percentile in weight for his age and just a pound and a half shy of the weight limit for his beloved bouncing chair, which broke under the considerable strain of his exuberant jumping last weekend. Although he is still quite a chunky little monkey, he is starting to thin up a bit. I think he was at his chubbiest around 8 months, when the creases around his wrists went all the way around. (more…)

Well, Griffin turned 4 months on Monday. He had is check-up yesterday and he weighed in at 16lbs 11oz. Still the 90th percentile for weight. When Sean came home last night, he asked “How’s the peanut?” and I said “He’s not a peanut! He’s 16lbs 11oz!” Sean said, “OK then, how’s the butter ball? How’s the peanut butter ball? (more…)

Hey GPs–Some more pictures and stats for you. Griffin turned two whole months old on Friday, January 7th. I got him weighed on that day and he tipped the scales in his birthday suit at 12lbs 15.5oz (so basically 13 pounds.) His birthday suit’s getting bigger! This is still the 90th percentile for his age, which is good. He’s been going through a growth spurt and seemed constantly hungry for more than I could provide, so I wanted to get him weighed just to make sure he wasn’t wasting away. He’s not! (more…)

Hi everyone–Griffin had his second checkup with the pediatrician yesterday so I thought I’d give you the stats

• He’s 5 weeks and 2 days old today (on his daddy’s 40th birthday.)
• He’s 11 lbs 5.5oz (born 8lbs 9oz)
• He’s 23.5 in long (born 21.5 in)

That puts him in the 90th percentile for weight and length for his age. (more…)