We had Graham's 18 month check up last week and he is right on track with his development. He weighed 25 lb 8 oz (56%) and was 33.5" tall (84%). His head circumference is 18.5", which is 28%. They always ask about speech and Graham is right on target there. He does say one full sentence already "I want that", which is pretty advanced. I started a list of words he says now, I am sure there are some missing: Mama Dada Sissy (this is what he calls Parker!) Otie ball hot cold milk more book car bowl uh oh go dog bubble eye color coat Graham is proving to be a pretty determined kid. He gets very upset if he can't get what he wants, although I think this is pretty usual at this age. He is much better about getting into things, partly because he plays with Parker more often. Graham is really good at following directions and loves to help with little things, like throwing items in the trash can. He still a snuggle bug and loves to be held. Graham especially loves to sit on your lap and read books. He loves animal books and just animals in general and is learning all of their appropriate sounds. He still takes one nap in the afternoon. At school, it's 2-2.5 hours, but at home he will sleep for usually 3.5-4 hours. He sleeps great at night, going down easy and never waking up. His bedtime is 7:30pm and he usually sleeps until 6:30-7:00am. He does still use a pacifier, mostly for sleeping, but at home he finds them around the house pops it in. His four canine teeth are coming in right now, all but one has poked through. I hope to ween him off the pacifier after those teeth are finished. Graham loves to run and be chased and loves to make noise. Whether joyfully screaming or banging on something, he likes it loud. We got his first haircut a couple weeks ago and in typically Graham fashion he screamed and cried the entire time. He loves his big "sissy" and will do everything she does...total shadow mode.
jumping off the rocks, which usually ended up with a roll on the ground
Parker's birthday fell on a Saturday this year, so we started off the morning with some blueberry pancakes...The Birthday Girl (with a blueberry face)!
She had soccer that morning and took an uncommon nap that afternoon. We had to wake her up before people started arriving for her party at 4:00 and she decided to keep on her soccer clothes. Fittingly, she was wearing her brand new Mizzou shirt that Grandma and Grandpa had given her as a birthday present! We got her a new bicycle with training wheels and presented it to her before everyone got there.
(she also wouldn't let me do her hair)
We basically invited our friends and their kids, a group we often have parties with. Papa G was also there and got to spend a lot of quality with Graham!
Parker had asked for a mermaid cake so we did a slight mermaid theme. Really just the cake, plates, and a Pin the Tail on the Mermaid game. We also had a table set up in the basement where each kid got to paint their own wooden Halloween mask.
Ryan & Aaron Hooper
Ben Nudds & Birthday Girl
Jacob & Noah Banks, Colin Nudds
Ryan Hooper
Pin the Tail on the Mermaid:
Singing Happy Birthday:
Little Miss Mary
We had Parker's check up and her stats are interesting...40 lb 4 oz (84%) and 40.5" (68%)! They did a vision and hearing test and she passed both. Dr. Kate (our P.A.) asked her to draw a square, circle, and triangle. Parker drew them all perfectly and apparently drawing a triangle is very hard for kids to do at this age. Six year-olds are more likely to get the lines to meet up properly. More evidence of Parker's brilliant mind (heehee). But all kidding aside, Parker continues to be such a bright girl. She loves puzzles and is now into the little lego sets. She can do the sets for 6-12 year olds with almost no help. I am always impressed with her attention span, to sit and finish whatever project she is working on.
Using her kids cookbook to make tuna noddle casserole for Papa G
showing off her apron (both birthday gifts from Sandy)
so poised for her haircut, the stylist kept commenting on how much hair she has!
Parker is still a great eater and lately has gotten into combining foods on her plate into one bite. "Daddy, try the green bean WITH the chicken!" Every once in awhile, she will take a nap at school, but she still falls asleep OK at her normal bedtime, so that is good. She is generally in bed by 8 or 8:30 pm. On the weekends, she has been waking up early (6:00 am) and coming downstairs. We have been teaching her to go back up to her room if it is still dark and no one else is up. She can turn on the light and look at books if she wants. It is really frustrating because then during the week, we have to drag her out of bed at 6:45 or 7:00 to get ready to go to school.
Parker loves her little brother and has so much fun now that he is a little buddy to play with at home. She makes up games or builds a house for them and basically bosses him around. Parker loves to help with Graham too, like take his shoes and coat off when we get home or get him a snack.
This little girl is (usually) so great to be around and makes us laugh every day!
holding hands, so sweet!
Graham letting his sister put his hat back on
And finally, the annual Birthday Questions session. I did this a little late this year because I forgot initially!
