Nathaniel is 18 Months!

And I just can't believe it! They really do grow up so fast!

Nathaniel had his well check while he was sick, so no shots that day. I have to take him back in next week for those, first thing in the morning. Hopefully he doesn't turn into a grump for the whole day after that!

He's growing steadily, but still on the small side for his weight. and his head just gets bigger! haha
I can't remember his exact measurements, but I do remember the percentiles.
Weight: 22 pounds something ounces (10th %)
Height: 32.5 inches (50th %)
Head size: 70th %

Nathaniel is hilarious. He cracks us up all the time. I swear he says about a billion words. He will repeat just about anything we ask him to. Of course, he is super quiet at school and when we're around people he doesn't know super well, but I promise, the boy talks non-stop! I won't sit here and list everything he can say, because I know nobody really cares to hear me brag all day. But I will mention some of my favorite things that he says.

He loves names. He knows the names of all the kids in his class at daycare. When we're at the dinner table, he loves to point around and name everyone. He calls my mom "May May," my stepdad "Pop Pop," Krissie is "Kiki," Uncle Andy is "Nay Nay," Nicholas is "Nick," and Michael is "Mike." Of course, Jesse and I are "Mama" and "Dada." Then he points to himself and says "Nate." Over Easter he got more names under his belt. Jesse's parents are some form of "grandma" and "grandpa," Lindy is "Lih-ee" or something like that, Amelia is "Ya Ya," Wyn is "Wee," and Sky is "Tie." When my dad visited, Nathaniel knew who "Grandpa" was, but for some reason he just called my dad "Mama" the whole time. He also says "Jesse" sometimes after I say it. He can name his favorite Sesame Street characters, too: Cookie, Elmo, Grover, Oscar ("Osser"), and Ernie. He says lots of animal names and sounds, and my current favorite is alligator, which he says "aaahhh-ger." I also love how he says "mamalay" (watermelon). He is starting to say the ends of words and annunciating much better too. The other day he said "nice" and this morning he said "shoes." He loves shoes. He says and signs "peas" and "tu-tu," but my favorite thing he says is "I uv oooo." Especially the day Jesse asked him to say "I love you" and he said "I uv ooo Dada n Mommy." Melted my heart! And I couldn't believe he strung all that together!

He loves the alphabet. He has a Star Wars ABC book, and he loves to identify all the letters in it. He also loves his alphabet flash cards. He'll grab them and I'll quiz him on them, out of order, and he usually only misses about 10. He amazes me every day with how much he is learning!

He is working on colors. He mostly just says everything is blue, but occasionally he'll identify a purple or pink Easter egg, or a yellow or green object. He is counting pretty well too. He counted to six all on his own the other day. Then he counted to ten. But he left out eight... It was cute. He loves the number 2 and can tell when there are two things.

He loves Elmo and Cookie Monster so much. He wants to watch videos of them on the computer every day. He has a stuffed Elmo and Cookie who go everywhere with him. He makes them give each other kisses and he is really good about giving all of his stuffed animals hugs and kisses. He also really loves cars and balls.

When we say a prayer, he folds his arms for a few seconds and a lot of times during the prayer he'll just keep saying "amen" until it's done. And of course, we just laugh.

He still nurses before bed, but I don't nurse him to sleep anymore. He is getting better about putting himself to sleep. Usually, he talks to his animals for a bit, but he's not crying, so I'm okay with that.

His teachers at daycare all tell me how well-behaved and smart he is. He doesn't cry much, he gets along with the other kids, he plays well by himself, and he follows directions. He saves his whining and disobeying for when he gets home...

He started Nursery at church and did great. I walked in, dropped him off, and left. He didn't even look up. Afterward, the leaders told me he did so well, especially for a new kid. So, to all the church people who judge me for putting my kid in daycare, take that! Whose kid went into Nursery without a fight, without crying, and without me having to sneak away?  I hate having to take him to daycare right now, but he is definitely reaping the benefits (minus all the viruses...) and learning a lot. And right now, we have no other choice.

And now for picture overload!

Using his celery as a spoon to eat all the ranch.

Waiting for me to cut the top off his frozen Gogurt.

Cookie!

Cookie!

Cookie!

Poison Ivy :(

Playing with pizza dough!

Daddy gave him a different apple sauce than the one he wanted.

Shopping in style.

Pushing his friends. My favorite is the Fisher Price Airplane.

He's a musician.

I take lots of pics of him sleeping.

He's just a funny sleeper to me!

Wearing Mommy's sweater.

Bracelets!

And a Batman cape.

So sweet.

Easter egg hunt!

A ball!

Sweaty selfie.

Eating his cereal.