Connor: Eighteen Months!

Height/Weight: Well. Turns out we are well on track to having three small kiddos (despite their larger than normal birth weights). Connor has massively plateaued on his growth and is basically right back to being the same size (if not smaller) than his brothers. He only put on three ounces since fifteen months, and is just over thirty inches tall, which is shorter than both his brothers were, but a little heavier than Garrett was. Our pediatrician was so unconcerned about it that he didn't actually even address it, but the growth--or lack thereof--bothered me enough that I made sure to ask about it. His response was that since the height and weight are proportional, plus the fact that he was breastfed (which can cause significant plateauing when the breastfeeding stops), that he sees no reason to be concerned. As long as he stays on the growth curve that he is establishing without dipping significantly then we are fine. So, we're fine. We have small kids, but we're fine.

He may be little, but I'm pretty sure he's too big for that Bumbo chair 

Wearing: Despite the lack of growth, I did end up changing his closet over to mostly eighteen month clothes. Some of the stuff is still too big, and I did keep a few of the twelve month pieces in there because some of them definitely still fit, but if for no other reason I made the change because I was getting sick of the twelve month options. Granted, I'm already starting to feel that way about the eighteen month clothes, but thankfully it's (finally!) starting to feel like spring so I can focus more on the short sleeve options instead of the long sleeve options. And we're definitely still rocking the size four diapers (despite the massive amounts of size five diapers that I've started buying when they are on sale because I keep assuming he's going to grow out of the size four ones sooner than later).


This kid loves to be outside. Even if the piles of snow are over his head

Eating: Here's the thing. When I write these posts, I pull up the ones from his brothers at the same age for comparison. It's fun to reminisce--but also beneficial. Because Connor is starting to do what Garrett did at eighteen months--refuse food just for the sake of exercising his opinion--which is just a good reminder to me to be patient and know that "this too shall pass". Honestly, he probably eats more than enough food. And rationally, I know that pretty much all the options we give him are basically healthy, at least compared to what else I could serve. But because he's smaller than average, I find myself tempted to give in to his pickiness even when I know I shouldn't. We also moved him from the high chair to a booster seat, which has exacerbated some of the issues, because now he thinks the plates and bowls he gets are toys. So mealtime has been fun lately--but whatever. At the end of the day, we have a kid that (usually) eats plain yogurt and Cheerios for breakfast, leftovers of whatever is in the fridge for lunch, and typically a pretty well balanced dinner, paired with at least two snacks that always include some fruit and/or cheese, so I'm not going to complain.

Loving on the therapy dog at the library

Sleeping: For once, I actually can't think of any major complaints in this department. He basically sleeps through the night every night (with a 745ish bedtime), and even though he gets up (most) mornings before I'm ready for him to (aka before 630), he is usually content to sit in his crib and babble and play until I'm ready to get him. Same is true for his naps; he's usually down by noon or shortly thereafter, and even though I wish he'd consistently take a two hour nap (or more!), he usually doesn't, but he is content to sit in his crib for at least a little while before I go get him. Sometimes he still falls asleep in the car on the way home from our morning outings, but it doesn't seem to impact his nap too much, which I'm grateful for.

My silly silly boy

New Stuff: This child. He soooo wants to do EVERYTHING on his own. He has started folding his hands for prayers--but only when it suits him. If he is not ready for bed or nap, he will not fold his hands for his bedtime prayer, and he SCREAMS if you try to do it for him. He loves absolutely all bathroom activities (any word remotely related to a bath or brushing teeth and he makes a beeline for the bathroom), but don't you dare try to help him brush his teeth. He will brush--aka chew on his toothbrush--on his own, thankyouverymuch (although to his credit, he does actually spit. It's fairly impressive). He still loves to help us cook, but you are not allowed to help him use the utensils. You might think I'm exaggerating, but seriously--he will scream at you if you try to put your hand on the utensil while he is using it. He sautéed some mean mushrooms pretty much all on his own the other night for dinner, which is kind of totally awesome, but I just wish we didn't have to hold him the whole time in order for him to do so (or be totally worried that he is going to massively burn himself).

The teeth brushing brigade

Did you notice I happened to mention the word "scream" multiple times in the last paragraph? No? Well, screaming is a fairly regular occurrence in this house. As I've been saying pretty much since he was born, this kid does things on his own timeline--which includes communicating with us. "Ball" was basically the first word that he used intentionally and with specific (and correct) directionality. Which is fitting, because he is obsessed with all things "ball". He will "down, set, hike" with (or without!) a football, he shoots baskets downstairs for way longer than his cognitive age should allow, and all long stick-like things are either golf clubs or baseball bats. We've also been checking out some Sports Illustrated for Kids books from the library (William has recently become obsessed with non-fiction books), and I think Connor has "read" them more than either of his brothers. Aside from "ball", though, he has only figured out how to say "no" and "uh oh"--and when he can't communicate his wants with those (and his handful of sign language words), he resorts to screaming (or just answering "no" to anything and everything you ask him). He does have moments where he decides to just babble endlessly and incomprehensibly (instead of scream), which has made him a fun combination of his brothers--William basically didn't talk at all until he was two and Garrett was working on multiple word phrases by right around eighteen months. It's funny how genetics (and birth order) work.

Someone loves his Lambie--but someone does NOT want to take his nap

A "Mom Brag" item is that he has really good familiarity with books and even has a few stories memorized. He does a really good job orienting the book correctly when he picks up a story to read, and for the most part he only turns one page at a time. And for the memorizing--a few of the books we read somewhat regularly mention playing the game "peekaboo", and he will cover his eyes (aka play "peekaboo") when I turn to the page that says "peekaboo", not when I read the word. Which this book-loving Momma loves quite a bit.

Reading--no surprise--a book with balls (also: Go Georgia Tech!)

The only other thing of note that I don't think I've mentioned before is that this kid does NOT like haircuts. The first time he kind of seemed like he was on the fence about the whole thing, and the next two (or three?) times he's basically screamed through the whole thing. So that's fun. He could desperately afford to get another one, but it's a bit of an ordeal so I'm definitely stalling on the whole thing.


As you can tell, the excessive amounts of dry air and winter static in this house don't do his "long" hair any favors

As much as I love so many things about the stage of life we're in right now with Connor--and as much as I'm not wishing for my baby boy to grow up too quickly--part of me is super excited for the fun things that are coming next, especially watching his personality continue to develop once he (finally!) decides he ready to start verbally communicating with us!