The Gosmas: Camden: 18 Months

I find myself always feeling a little behind on the blog and then as I start working on these monthly posts thinking how in the world is my baby already 18 months?! He's not even a baby anymore, but I am still allowed to call him that sometimes, right? I never wanted to rush him to grow up but I will admit some things become easier as they get older (and some things get more difficult too!) and to see both of my boys interact with each other and give hugs and kisses (followed by hair pulling and pushing down or wrestling, if I'm being honest!) definitely has gotten better with age. Now when Camden was a baby Jackson was sweet and would lay on the floor next to him but he's been wanting and needing a playmate. Camden doesn't quite fit the bill yet but I can see it happening soon.

Camden is such an adventurous, silly, loving, smart, opinionated, funny, quirky, handsome little guy! He is quick to try most anything. No fear when it comes to playgrounds and climbing ladders, sliding down slides, or swinging. He even wants to sit on the big swing sometimes and I help hold him on still and gently push him! Anything he sees Jackson do Camden immediately starts trying!

Camden is a great eater! He has gotten a little more picky and one day loves _____ and then the next day hates______. He generally wants to eat first thing in the morning. He loves eggs. Fried, scrambled or boiled. Toast is hit or miss. He always has some fruit in the morning, maybe banana, grapes, blueberries or strawberries. He also likes yogurt and waffles and cereal. Lunch is pb&j or leftovers. Or maybe just some turkey and cheese and fruit. He loves cheese sticks, veggie straws, fruit, yogurt for snacks. If he's lucky sometimes we have gummies or popcorn. He also figured out that the best part of the trail mix bags are the m&ms. Dinner is whatever we eat. Sometimes he likes it and sometimes not! Noodles, chicken, steak, hamburgers, chicken casserole, crock pot beef burritos, baked ziti, veggies. He drinks about 3 cups of whole milk a day. He loves to eat with a spoon or a fork and will walk over to the drawer to get one if we forget. He's actually pretty good at it! He climbs up in our barstools by himself and wants to eat up there. Only problem is he holds his food in his hands sometimes and then Cooper snatches it. At dinner out one night I gave him mac n cheese on a plate and when he finished it he handed me the plate for more.

He does a good job entertaining himself. He will wander over and play cars or play with the puzzles. At the lake he started stacking Nana's spices and he likes to stack cans from my pantry. He is really interested in figuring out how things work. He tries to buckle his straps on his highchair, buckles on shopping carts, fit shapes in the shape sorter. He copies whatever he sees Jackson do. One day Jackson and Jimmy were playing airplanes and then later on that day Camden came up to me with two airplanes for us to play. He began waving in through the air and even made the woosh woosh sound like its flying.

I feel like his feet started turning in a little bit but as the months have gone on I think its improving. My pediatrician said it wasn't very bad and they generally correct themselves and if not by age 2 or 2.5 then we should talk about it. He doesn't just walk now - he is off and running! He waves his hands and they go flying about when he's running. It is so darn cute! Camden wants so badly to be able to ride Jackson's scooter. He puts the helmet on and then stands on it. I think we will be taking the seat off his soon for him (His is the same as Jackson's but has a seat and lower handle bars for his age). He is walking up and down stairs holding on to the rail or our hands. If he knows we are going for a walk he will climb up in the stroller.

At his 18 month well visit Camden weighed 24 lb 10 oz (54%) is 33.5 inches (81%) and his head is 18.25 (20%). He is wearing mostly 18 month clothes and size 5 diapers. He wears size 5 shoes. Camden generally sleeps from about 7:30 or 8 pm until 7:30 or 8 am. Some mornings its close to 8:30 or 8:45 and he's still sleeping! We finally got on a great napping schedule and he was even telling me he was ready for his nap. He would get his pillow and monkey and start walking to the stairs. He would nap around 1:15 or 1:30 as soon as we got home after picking up Jackson. On days where Jackson didn't have school I would put him down around 12:45 or 1. Sometimes when I snuggle and hold him before putting him in his crib he rubs his nose back and forth on our shoulder. He normally wakes up between 3:30 and 4. After we got back from our trip our schedules were all out of whack and I feel like we are still getting it back on track!

Camden says a lot of different sounds and is always saying dada, nana and mama and even says some words for dog, nah nah (night night), Jah (for Jackson), cracker, gah (for grapes). He says other sounds too but none that I can truly make out a word! He listens and understands most everything we say. He will nod his head no or yes to answer us. If he sees someone putting their shoes on or even just getting them out he runs to the basket and gets his shoes out for us to put on him. He also reaches up where their jackets are to get a hoodie or coat. I keep telling him now that he doesn't always need one - its warm out! He is very helpful and will throw things away for me and loves to vacuum the floor. He likes to give high fives and also enjoys cheers-ing us with his sippy cup of milk.

Camden loves to read his books! he will flip through them himself and also bring books to me all day to read to him. He loves his blue donkey bouncy toy. He also enjoys playing with the Melissa and Doug wooden barn set and wooden picture puzzles. He likes to ride the firetruck riding toy around the house, enjoys seesawing, playing trains, shapes, cars. He gets a kick out of bringing me "food" from their kitchen and me pretending to eat it.

I went back and looked up Jackson's 18 month post. I love seeing them at the same ages. I think they have some similar features but overall do not resemble each other too much. I also love seeing all of the clothes Jackson used to wear on Camden now. I am so weird and sentimental. I can look back and old outfits and remember a time Jackson wore it and where we were. So many wonderful memories and we keep making more. http://jimmymegan.blogspot.com/2012/10/18-months.html