Eighteen Months

Eighteen Months! It is so crazy that we are now closer to two years than one with our sweet baby. I'm looking at Kieran and seeing more and more of a little boy lately, but he still seems so small. K's tantrums are on the rise (as evidenced by the lack of happy pictures in this post). But at other points during a day he can be so much fun. He constantly makes Jon and me laugh out loud by making a silly face, sound, or saying something funny. Kieran loves the small things in life and could care less about most toys, being happy to play anywhere with anything.

We are still battling Kieran's car sickness issues - this month he got sick after 20 minutes on the freeway and another time on the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's house. Most kids don't get motion illness at this young of an age and it can be really rough because he can't communicate well enough to let us know something is about to happen or hold a bag or bucket to get sick into. This means that I have to be really on top of sounds he's making and his mood in the car otherwise we have a big mess and a very scared/unhappy kiddo. So far we've tried flipping his car seat around to forward facing, experimented with eating vs. not eating before car rides, and no longer let him play with toys in the car. Obviously we haven't found the cure because he's still getting sick so if you have any ideas send them my way please!!!

On a happier note Kieran is picking up more people's names including his own and will point people out in pictures and in person and can come up with their name or at least mimic us if we say it to him. He loves his Nonna and Grandma and gets so excited to see them on the days the babysit. He also knows a lot of his body parts and loves pointing them out on other people and announcing what he's touching.

Monthly Statistics

Weight: 23 lbs

Height: 33 in

Clothing Size:  Shorts are 12-18 months but his pants that size are too short, tops and pajamas are 18-24 months.

Shoe size: Size 6.

Teeth: 12 - 4 top front teeth, 2 top molars, 4 bottom front teeth, and 2 bottom molars. He seems to be working on a few more right now too.

Kieran likes: Doing anything with Dodger, including walking him, feeding him, petting him, and giving him lots of treats. K also likes snacking, playing with bubbles, bath time, balls, trying to play with Reed, Legos, taking naps, playing in the tent, dance parties, reading books, playing outside, tickles, his play kitchen, opening cupboards, sorting and stacking toys, playing guitar with Dad, the salad spinner, digging and playing in the dirt, Signing Time DVDs, his quilt from Auntie Amanda that he sleeps with, his special stuffed animal Gino the Gorilla, and his pacifiers.

Kieran dislikes: Diaper changes, long car rides, having his face wiped, being held when he wants to be doing something else, being told no, watching Mom leave, and getting things taken away from him.

Food: Favorites right now are avocado, most fruits, string cheese, yogurt, bagels, granola bars, snap pea crisps, dried fruit, mashed potatoes, pretzels, fruit/veggie purees, graham crackers, hemp milk, muffins, sausage, rice, fruit bars, and smoothies. Kieran loves meat some days and won't touch it the next and the same goes for vegetables in general.

 Nicknames: Kier, K, K-Man, K-Bug, Bug, Kier-Bug, Bugger, Kierito, and Goldilocks.

How Kieran is sleeping: Kieran typically goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00 pm. He gets up for good between 6:00 and 6:30am. He has been doing great sleeping through the night and soothing himself back to sleep if he does wake. He takes one nap, going down around noon and usually sleeping 2 - 3 hours. He sleeps in a sleepsack, with two pacifiers (one attached to a blanket and one attached to  Perrito), a stuffed Gorilla, and with a quilt.

Communication: Kieran still loves watching Signing Time and has picked up a few more signs. He also is continuing to pick up more and more words. There is definitely a lisp with his "s" sound examples are "thmootie" (smoothie), sthop (stop), but I still feel his words are continuing to be easier to figure out as time is going on. K is also starting to string words together like "not that" "bye bye dada" and "graham cracker please."

Favorite Moment: If I leave the room and he wants to come along he usually gets pretty upset, but he'll start saying "hand, hand, hand" running after me with his arm reaching out. As soon as our hands connect he calms down and happily walks alongside me.

Milestones:
04/05/15 First time Easter Egg hunting
04/09/15 We switch Kieran's car seat to forward facing
04/11/15 Plays a board game ("First Orchard")
04/17/15 K gets to try out a popsicle for the first time (coconut water and strawberries)
04/21/15 The Bug figures out how to open the low dutch door knob in his room

Favorite Photo Shoot Outtake: