Miles: 18 months

Wow! 18 months! And what am I most excited about? Nursery at church! Finally.

I think this is the most difficult age with Miles (so far) because he wants so many things but doesn’t have the language (more on that later) to tell us what it is, so we all end up frustrated. And some of us end up crying. I won’t name names.

He is still super curious which means our house is still stripped bare of anything at his level, and I imagine our Christmas tree will only have decorations on the bottom half this year. The only time he stands still is when he is taking care of business, if you know what I mean. The one benefit of the constant running though is that when he refuses to be carried, we actually get to where we need to be a little faster.

He is becoming more and more independent (except of course when I need to do something like shower, cook dinner, or talk on the phone). He prefers to go up and down stairs by himself, and for the most part, doesn’t fall. He LOVES to “put” on his own shoes by going to get them from the basket by the door and then sit on his “bench” (a box of wipes). He will also help Chris and I put on our shoes as well. Not successfully, but he tries.

But as difficult as this age is, it is also so fun to watch him develop and figure things out. He really loves things with lids. Especially when he can put other things inside. He sat with these wooden containers at my in-laws’ house for about 30 minutes just moving legos from one to the other. He figures things out so quickly now that it sometime surprises me when he does something after I showed it to him only once.

But the temper tantrums. Oh, the temper tantrums. The smallest thing will set him off and then it’s a game of trying to find the one thing that will make the crying stop. And I’m never right, so most days I end up putting him in the car to go somewhere with lots of distractions. A place of magic and wonder. A place where Mommies and little boys get what they need. Target.

And then there’s his eating pickiness. He has been really fighting us on anything veggie, but loves most fruits. And he has also become very eager to feed himself with his own utensils. Yogurt makes quite a mess, but it leaves him happy. My doctor assured me that toddlers won’t starve, so I have permission to not give him different foods when he refuses what I’ve put in front of him.

He loves to be outside and will take the opportunity to take walks whenever the weather is semi-pleasant. This picture was in Texas just after he woke up from his afternoon nap. The only problem with going outside (at least here at home), is that his love of rocks has now extended to eating them. I looked up today to see him putting small pebbles in his mouth, and when I tried to get them out, he bit me. Hard. I just hope he didn’t break any teeth.

 

He loves to sit on anything that is his size, so we’ve put in word to Santa that some toddler furniture might be a good idea.

And now about that language issue. He’s been saying “Daddy” for quite some time now, but that’s it. He imitates sounds we make for words like “Hi,” or “Uh-oh,” but he doesn’t spontaneously say them on his own. He knows a few signs, but won’t do them consistently because he thinks that grunting, whining, and pointing should be enough. When you ask him to show you what he wants, his eyes light up and he keeps looking back to make sure you are still following him (usually to the pantry).

But when I mentioned this to our pediatrician at his check-up, she recommended that he have an evaluation done. Not because she thinks there is a serious problem (in fact, her son was the same way), but because Colorado has an amazing program called The Resource Exchange that will allow him to be evaluated (and worked with if he needs it) for free until the age of 3. At that point, he would go through the school district pre-schools, which I would like to avoid only because I don’t want him entering Kindergarten with an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) because those things will follow him until he graduates. So he has a hearing and vision test in two weeks to make sure that isn’t the issue (which it isn’t) and then and in-home evaluation with a speech therapist in December. My pediatrician said that what they found with her son was that the adults in his life were just too attentive and didn’t allow him the opportunity to ask for something because they just gave it to him.

I just hope we can find ways to communicate with him soon.

No matter what happens, we love Miles so much. And we love his enthusiasm about life, even if it is sometimes focused in the wrong area.