Raffi’s 18 month update
This is Raffi’s last update without his sister. Cue the waterworks.
Here are 18 things about 18 months:
1. Raffi loves pointing out babies, whether they are real or on diaper boxes. When we leave daycare (he goes two days a week) he stops by the infant room to stand at the door and point out all the babies. He knows there is a baby in my belly and loves to lift up my shirt to give my belly a pat and a kiss.
2. Trig started a game with Raffi months ago that Raffi is now obsessed with. We live on the 3rd floor, and on our way downstairs they “wipe, wipe, wipe” every painting, window shade, and wall. It was a clever trick to get Raffi to let us carry him down the stairs.
3. Speaking of stairs, Raffi can now go up and down without crawling. He holds on to the wall and climbs up. At church on Easter Sunday we insisted he go outside and do the stairs a million times while holding my hand. I think he loved them because they were shallow.
4. Raffi sleeps 11-12 hours every night and naps for about 1.25. On a few occasions recently we really tuckered him out and he took long 2+ hour naps. His naptime varies from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM depending on what we have going on that day.
5. One morning during bad weather and without any fun plans I had him run around naked for a few hours. I put the potty in front of the TV and turned on cartoons. He was so excited since he rarely gets to watch TV (although I know that might change during difficult days with a newborn). He didn’t have an accident for 2 hours, and after that time he kept announcing he had to use the bathroom and sat on the potty. Finally, he ran toward the potty and had an accident on the way. He was pointing to the floor and saying “UH OHHH”. He was upset, but I was so proud because he intended to make it to the potty! He knows his body! Our goal is to have him trained by the end of the summer.
6. Raffi has started to have an imagination, and I love it. I watch him on the monitor sometimes when he first wakes up in the morning. I like to give him a good long while to wake up without bright sunshine and my loud voice disrupting him. The other day I caught him trying to give his stuffed monkey a sip of his water. It was so cute and I wish Trig had seen it.
7. The bubble obsession lives on. Raffi asks for bubbles at all hours of the day. It’s one of the first things he wants in the morning besides food, and the last thing he talks about before bed.
8. Our dinosaur also lives on. Raffi is still working on sharing and makes this incredible dinosaur sound when he doesn’t want to share. He has also learned to hide toys behind his back and bring them to corners of the room where no one can reach them. We practice turn taking all the time, but this is definitely his biggest challenge.
9. Raffi’s second biggest challenge is balance. He definitely got my balance genes. He trips over nothing multiple times a day and then runs over for a kiss. I thought it was a game at first, but after paying close attention I realize he is really just tripping! Poor guy.
10. I haven’t been very good this month about introducing new foods, probably because I am tired and lazy at this point in my pregnancy. Raffi also hasn’t eaten as many vegetables as usual, but that is also my fault. He is doing really well with a spoon for his yogurt and a fork for anything else, but hasn’t yet mastered using a spoon with non-sticky foods.
11. Raffi is more like a little boy every day. He loves snuggling with us and telling us about his day in 1-2 words at a time. He is into reading books and pointing out different items he recognizes. He suddenly loves loves LOVES cars.
12. Favorite words this month include: ball, car, cars, bubbles, blue, mama, baba, hot, dangerous, baby, back (pronounced bass) and hello. He says bye bye to every thing we put away (bye bye balls, bye bye mama, bye bye cars, bye bye brush, etc). He talks nonstop all day and uses the word “caro” to mean something we can’t understand yet. When you ask him his name he still says “RA-RA” or “RA-REE” which is so cute.
13. We haven’t had a single tantrum this month except when involving sharing.
14. Raffi LOVES the doctor. We had his 18 month appointment and he sat perfectly still while his doc checked him out. And he only whined for a few seconds when he got his shot.
15. I didn’t realize how interesting skin is until we started getting nicer weather. I’ve been wearing short sleeved shirts at home and Raffi loves running up to me and putting his face on the exposed skin. He also really loves being naked and running around that way.
16. This is the best story ever. My father in law let Raffi play with some fancy wooden eggs on Easter. Raffi had a ball putting them in different containers and moving them from place to place. At the end of the night we put them away and left. In the morning Raffi kept running over to his bag, pointing to it and asking for eggs. I thought he meant he wanted to eat eggs so I brought him to the fridge to ask if he wanted eggs. He kept saying “no, no, no” and running back over to my bag. Finally I opened the bag to show him that there were no eggs in there, and I found 2 of the wooden eggs! The little sneak must have put them in his bag before we left.
17. Raffi notices anything new or different. He definitely likes things to be in their place. He puts his own shoes away in the shoe cabinet, and had a tough time adjusting to his new blue Adidas shoes. He was really upset the first few days he wore them until I made a big deal out of how cool they are. It is also really important to him that things are fair. He doesn’t like it when I have Trig’s phone or coffee cup, and tells me with this stern look on his face that I need to give it back. He says “nooo, mama!” and then points to the item and says “Baba!” to explain to me that the item isn’t mine.
18. I am apparently a very bad singer. When I start certain songs Raffi says “noooo” and asks for a different one. It might take 3 or 4 tries before I find a song that I can sing well enough for him. His latest favorite is the itzy bitsy spider.
Random Facts:
Weight: 25 lbs (25%)
Height: 33 inches (75%)
Teeth: He has 13, including his two eye teeth which are making their way completely out.
Wears: Size 5 shoes, 18-24 month pants that fall down, 12-18 month pants that squish his belly, 18-24 month shirts, size 4 diapers
Loves: climbing anything, making friends, listening to music, hiding behind doors, bathtime, brushing his teeth, washing his hands, picking up baba from work, rides in the stroller, playing outside, playing at the mailbox, climbing stairs, putting things away, spilling things on purpose
Hates: getting his diaper changed, putting clothes on, putting his jacket on, sitting in his high chair for more than a minute after he’s told us he’s all done, not listening to his music in the car, having foods he doesn’t like on his plate, getting his face wiped, spilling things accidentally
Favorite toys: matchbox cars, balls, bubbles, his Sesame Street figurines (these have been great for several months and his older friends love them too – might be our best toy investment), his musical instruments, anything with letters on it, books (especially the First 100 Words book), puzzles, coloring books with crayons and stickers
Favorite household items: Our beverage center, glass water cups, the trash can, my junk jewelry bracelets, the vacuum, the Swiffer WetJet
Click on the images for a larger view:
This kid just keeps getting cuter + cuter. #6 made me MELT! Definitely sounds like he has quite the personality. Wishing you all the best with the arrival of #2!!! xo
You are one lucky mama, S! Raffi is such a sweetie. Your family is growing and life is only going to get more wonderful. xx
#18 is exactly us today – in fact hours ago. We also got the same sippy cup from Target – love it!!
I can’t believe how fast time is going. We are two months behind you guys and I love to read these updates.
Great update!! on potty training, while I am not an expert, both of my kids trained VERY easily. I never had any goals or timelines or plans for it and both of them were pretty perfect and everyone tells me how lucky I am. I let them show interest and go at their own pace. I NEVER, not once, pushed the potty or got stressed out about it at all. They both were trained very early on. I don’t know if that was the key to my success, but it was sooo easy for us that way. Just a hint, which I am sure you already knew anyway. : )