Today you are 18 months old!! You are truly a toddler, and no longer our little baby (although you will always be our little baby ). You are in the 75th percentile for weight at 27 lbs, 11oz, and in the 90th percentile for height at 34.25 inches! You have developed so much over the last 6 months, and we can really see your personality shining through.
One of the biggest changes over the last 6 months is your vocabulary Gavin. At 1 year old, you had a few basic words that you could say, but you didn’t always use them appropriately, and they were few and far between. These days, you have a lot of words that you can say and use correctly! And you’re a wonderful mimic too!
You’ve decided to call Daddy “Da” and Mommy is “Mama or Mommy” depending on the day. You love to tell everyone “hi,” and we joke that you’re our little Wal-Mart greeter! You’re a pro at saying bye bye, peas (please), da too (thank you), bubbles, cheese, doggy and mih Jeanne (Miss Jeanne). You can also identify a lot of your favorite foods (fishies, crackers, berries) and toys (blocks, ball and Mickey). You’ve mastered a few phrases too, including “where it go,” “where reboat” (where is the remote?), and “good job” complete with thumbs up (although you do two pointer fingers up!).
One of your funnier pieces of vocab is your word for fire. Since its winter time, we like to build a lot of fires in our wood burning fireplace, and for some reason, you call fires “bubbles.” No matter how hard we try, you refuse to learn how to say fire!
Although you don’t use the words much, you’re also an expert at identifying body parts now too, Gavin! You can point to your hair, head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, arms, belly, legs, and toes! You also love to point to Mommy’s mole under her eye, and really like to pat Mommy’s bare belly (are you remembering your former home?)
Another skill you’re working on Gavin is putting on and taking off your own clothes. You are pretty good at putting on and taking off your winter hat, and you can take off your shoes and socks as well. You’ve also learned how to clean up after yourself in the last month or so, and love to sing the “clean up” song when you do it!
The way you play has changed a lot in the last 6 months too Gav. Santa gave you an easel for Christmas because he knew that you LOVE to color! You have created many masterpieces for Mommy and Daddy using your crayons and markers, and you do a great job of only coloring on the paper or chalkboard. We’re so glad you’re keeping your artwork off our walls and cabinets!
You still love your stackable rings, and if there were a speed ring stacking contest, you would be the champion! You’re also learning your colors by playing with your rings, and you’ve recently discovered that the rings can roll across the floor! This simple toy is one of your favorites, and has been since you were about 3 months old!
You still love to throw balls and play “catch” with Mommy or Daddy. And just today you actually caught a ball that Daddy threw to you (by total accident, but still, way to go Gav!) You love to shoot hoops in any basketball hoop you can find, and you’ve learned to kick balls too!
It’s funny to think that at about 9 months, you weren’t too fond of the outdoors, because now you can’t get enough! It’s a bummer that its winter and often to cold to go outside, because you simply love just being in the great outdoors. Sometimes we will just walk up and down our street watching the snow melt into little rivers in the street, or watching the birds fly above us, or listening to a doggy bark in an unseen backyard. You’re very detail oriented and notice a lot of things that we wouldn’t notice if you weren’t around!
Gavin, one of the cutest things you do at this age is play “office.” When you get bored playing downstairs with your toys, you beg to go upstairs, and when you get there, you make a beeline for Daddy’s office. You love to climb up into Daddy’s chair and type away on his keyboard. You’re very specific about how to play “office:” The computer screen must be on, but on the log in screen. The wireless mouse can not be next to the wired mouse. The pencil cup, pad of paper and calculator must be ready at a moment’s notice in case some numbers need to be crunched You get very sad when Daddy has to get work done and asks you to leave, and can’t understand why anyone would ever want to stop working!
Despite all that work, your social calendar is getting busier as well Gav! Right now you are enrolled in two classes: gymnastics and story time. We go to Story Tots every Wednesday, which is really more singing and dancing with just a bit of reading sprinkled in. You weren’t a big fan of story time at first, but you’re really warming up to it. You love the “Tick Tock” song and putting your penny in the piggy bank. And playing with scarves is always a big hit!
Gymnastics is every Saturday, and we’re so happy you have this time to run and play with equipment that we don’t have at home. You love to sink into the ball pits and jump on the trampoline. You recently discovered that you can swing from the bar and kick over blocks, and this is your new favorite activity. We’re still working on behaving during circle time, but you’re getting better at watching activities and following Coach Kelly’s lead. You love to get your hands, feet and belly stamped at the end of class, and give big hugs to Coach Kelly and Coach Susan!
As you did when you were a year old, you still love to read and be read to. Your current favorite books are “I Love You Through and Through,” “Hello Fredbird,” “Bear Stays Up For Christmas,” “Baby’s First 100 Words,” “Where do Kisses Come From?” and “Llama Llama Red Pajama.” With your favorite stories, you know which parts are coming next and like to act them out for us! You are also starting to identify people, animals and things that are a part of the story by pointing or naming these objects. It’s amazing to see you starting to understand such complex things!
You still love Yo Gabba Gabba, and are starting to like Curious George too. We try to limit your TV to one episode in the morning and one when we come home from Miss Jeanne’s, but you would certainly watch a lot more than that if we let you! Gavin, you also love to watch videos of yourself on our computers, and imitate what “movie Gavin” is doing!
As you can see Gavin, a lot has changed in a short 6 months! Every time we write these letters, Daddy and I can’t imagine you getting any cuter, sweeter, or more fun than you already are, but you prove us wrong every time! We love the little boy that you’ve grown into, and we cherish the fact that God chose us to guide you through life. We’re looking forward to an exciting 6 more months until your 2nd birthday!
Love, Mommy and Daddy
