18 Months Old

Josh had his 18 month check-up this week and confirmed that he is growing like crazy. He is 34.5 inches tall - jumped up from the 24% to the 97%! His weight and height were right on track. The doctor asked a lot of behavioral questions like:

1. Can he say more than 5 words? Yes - Dadda, Mamma, Nanna, Puppy, Nuk, Soccer, Hockey, Ball, Elmo, Spongebob, Choo Choo, blueberry, Hi,
2. Does he run? Oh yes! He doesn't bend his knees though so it is pretty funny to watch.
3. Does he walk backwards? I said I didn't think so. When I told Jim later than night he proceeded to show me that when Josh is cornered, he will take a few steps back. So the answer I found out was yes.
4. Does he eat with a fork or spoon? Yes. He is actually pretty good at it too! Thanks to daycare for getting him started.
5. Can he stack two blocks on top of one another? Easily. He is really into the jumbo legos right now and putting them together to make garages for his trucks.
6. Does he eat a healthy diet? Yes. He loves fruit, vegetables, dairy, and spaghetti. He knows how to make toast and understands that when the light goes off it is time to pull it out of the toaster. He loves vanilla yogurt with frozen fruit. And eats just about every vegetable. So it is pretty easy to feed him.

We only had a flu shot this time. But I had a lot of questions again regarding vaccines and the link to autism. I have a friend who is very against vaccines and we had a very interesting discussion about it. I didn't have much to offer to the conversation and was frustrated. Our doctor was very understanding and spent a good 5 minutes just answering my questions. It was nice to just talk - rather than be preached to. The doctor gave me a pretty good article to read. It was interesting and gave me some new perspectives on vaccinations. At the end of the day - every parent needs to determine what is best for their child. It is just frustrating at times, because there is no end to the worrying. And people always have something to say about what the right thing is. We just keep trying to do the right thing!

Pictures: My parents came out to visit this month and we went to an apple orchard. They made the carmel apples right in front of you - they were DELICIOUS! For Halloween, Josh was a Lion. We went Trick-Or-Treating with the neighbors, Mike, Jodi, and their daughter Brayden. She was dressed up as Thomas the Train. Josh thought that was pretty cool! They did really well and made it around most of the neighborhood. We dressed up too. Jim and I went as Betty and Barney Rubble. We definitely got some good looks from people!