TLG is 18.5 Months Old

At every one of the 3x month-milestones I have in my head that I’ll do a blog post update about what TLG is accomplishing these days. But I never get around to it. Or rather, I start drafting one, and by the time I get back to it he’s another month older and it’s all out of date and things just keep moving on. I’ll try to keep this one short in hopes that I’ll actually finish it before he turns 2. There’s just so much that could be said! (By the way, I fully recognize that it’s only his parents and maybe his grandparents who are so fascinated by all of TLG’s activities and that he is a fairly typical (if low-key) toddler and so on… I’m not so far gone in parenting obsession that I don’t keep in mind the non-uniqueness of it all. Except that he’s a super-genius. That aside, though.. we know… he’s just a kid.. but he’s ours and this is my blog… so disclaimers over.)

TLG is now 18.5 months old. At his 18-month checkup he was just about 30 lbs on the dot and 33 inches tall. He wears 3T shirts – they’re sort of big on him, but many 2Ts are small through the shoulders. And he wears 2T pants, which are good through the thighs, but still need to be rolled up a lot (he’s still got short legs, like his grandfather and great-grandfather, who apparently used to claim that his legs were just as long as everyone else’s: “They reach the ground!”) He has a lot of hair that grows quickly and always looks like he needs a haircut. If fine baby fuzz on the body is any indication, he’s going to be a hairy guy post-puberty. He has big hands, big feet, and his head circumference is still off the charts. His eyes have stayed blue (or gray-blue) and about 75% of the time it seems like he’s left-handed, although he sometimes eats and writes with his right hand. (Since I am also confusingly ambidextrous, this doesn’t concern me.)

He does not eat nearly as much as his size would suggest and we are still dealing with dairy, egg, and (possibly) nut allergies so all of those foods are eliminated from his diet. Which makes meals quite a bit of a challenge. And it makes me sad for all the things he’s not getting a chance to try yet. I’m still hopeful that he’ll outgrow these issues. While he had but one ear infection last winter, this fall and winter he’s already had 3, or two–during the last one where a second-line antibio failed and so we resorted to zithromax, which may *crosses fingers* have done the trick. I am really hoping that this knocks it down once and for all. We’re pretty sure he’s had fluid (if not an infection) in his middle ear for quite some time, which is probably muffling his hearing a bit.

Possibly related to the muffled hearing, or possibly because of nothing in particular, TLG is not a very talkative sort yet. He’s said a great many words that we recognize, but has repeated or used consistently only a few of them. Nevertheless, he is able to communicate his preferences very effectively, including dictating to people on Christmas where they should sit. He is completely fascinated with letters and knows all of his (capital) letters and numbers and has “read” some of them by saying them on sight. He would rather play with his various letter toys and books than trucks or cars, although he has great fun with his riding firetruck that he just got for Christmas. He has become scarily proficient with the iPhone–browsing photo albums, playing a few of the toddler apps we’ve downloaded for him, and using the Apple Remote app to get a new song playing through the house speakers. He loves to look at pictures of himself and people he knows. He’s recently started to become interested in stickers. He also colors with crayons, works on puzzles, and enjoys scattering his blocks far and wide.

Personality-wise, he is still a super-sweet person to have around (I caveat that, as I know the 2s are coming…). He’s very affectionate and attuned to both of his parents. He gives hugs and blows kisses to his teachers at school. And, once Uncle Genehack showed him the technique, he’ll fist-bump just about anybody he’s decided is friendly (although he usually waits for it to be initiated). His general mode is watchful and observant. This switches to wary if there’s a new adult in his space. But if we’re out at a restaurant or something like that, he just likes to watch people and see if he can get them to smile at him. One of the sweet things he does is to come and give us hugs if he sees a picture of himself with one of us (either as a screensaver or in a photo album or something.) It is adorable. He still exhibits no particular preferences about his clothes–he’s really easygoing in that sense. And, while he likes to cuddle a stuffed animal at night sometimes, he doesn’t seem to have a particular favorite.

Some of his favorite things right now:
* The letter “G” — still a huge favorite
* The moon
* Books of all sorts – right now he’s really enjoying his Big Book of Dinosaurs and Bear’s New Friend, but he rotates among books quite frequently
* Seeing flocks of birds in the sky
* Dancing to certain songs, especially “Old MacDonald” and “Go for G” and “Never Go to Work” and even the “ABCs”
* Saying “moooooo” when he sees a cow, or wants us to sing “Old MacDonald”

As the length of this post suggests, I could go on and on and we’re inching ever closer to 19 months and I still haven’t posted this yet, so I’ll pause for now, but that’s a small update for TLG’s fans.

TLG at 18.5 Months