Mommy Mondays: 18 months

Weight: 26lbs 9oz (+ 19 lbs, 2 oz)

Height: 32" (+ 12")
Head: 19" (+ 5.65")

Sleep: Still fabulous sleeping going on - with the exception of Easter weekend.  His schedule was totally thrown at the inlaws making for too short naps, and great difficulty getting him to sleep.

Eating: That baby got some Easter goodies this year.  I stuck some fruit snacks in a couple of his Easter eggs and he went nuts.  I put them in 2 of the six, and he quickly opened all to see which contained the special treats.  He also has started pointing to his mouth and saying "ow" when he's hungry.

Best Moment: Sleep is such an important part of raising a small child, that the best moment of this month was when Thatbaby slept through both movies at the drive in. It's nice having him on a reliable schedule, although it feels a little heartless to say the best moment with my child was when he was sleeping!

Monthly Wisdom: Maybe I should just entitle the post "Sleep" because my monthly wisdom reflects this.  Thatbaby has been sleeping pretty consistently through the night since 14 months, so I feel a little safe saying this now. I have been told on more than one occasion "just you wait" when I mentioned we weren't sleep training.  I was told that "Cry it out" is inevitable, we'd get there eventually.  I'd even been told I was doing a disservice to my child who would never learn to sleep if I didn't "train him."  Even Thatboy, spurred by well meaning coworkers, told me that Thatbaby would never sleep through the night unless we let him cry when he awoke.  But I stuck to my guns, and was rewarded with a child that typically sleeps fantastically.  No fighting naps, and bedtimes are pretty easy 99% of the time. My thoughts on sleep training is that it is never necessary for the child, they will get there eventually.  Sleep training is more for the parents' benefits, and can certainly be necessary in that respect - because every parent has their breaking point with how much "lack of sleep" they can take.  But if you're concerned your child will never learn to fall and stay asleep on their own  - fear not.  They will.  Just maybe not as quickly as you would like!

Goals for the Upcoming Month:
- Still the babysitter. One day... one day.

- First amusement park trip!

- Transition to the toddler room at daycare

Things Thatbaby is doing:
-  More new words!  His vocabulary continues to grow.  And now he requests songs and sings along with certain parts of them.  He entertained us for a while one morning when he kept asking to hear "New York State of Mind" and singing the very last "miiiiiiiiiiind."

-  Spinning.  He loves to be dizzy and spin around and around until he falls down.
- 2 new teeth, we've got 13!
- No!  He now says "no" fairly often, but in a soft, drawn out way which is adorable.

- He knows so many of his body parts, including "hair" and "belly button."  

- He climbs into his carseat all by himself.

- He is obsessed with shoes.  We've had to buy him several new pair because he's wearing them out, and everytime he gets a new pair of shoes he insists on taking off the ones he's wearing and putting the new pair on, and wearing them as much as he can.

- He now insists on going up and down stairs himself (or at least holding my hand.)

- He is desperate to drink from a regular cup, but usually ends up pouring the whole thing on himself.
- Thatbaby loves racing!  He crouches down and makes an "eeeeeeeee" sound, waiting for you to say "ready, set, go" and then he takes off!