18 Months Old!

weights:

We have the boys' 18 month appointment next Monday.  I will have official weights at that time.  Until then, these are my estimates (according to our bathroom scale):

Oliver - 25 lbs 13 oz

Nolan - 21 lbs 10 oz

Lucas - 20 lbs 13 oz

sizes (no changes): 

Oliver - 12-18 or 18-24 month clothes, size 4.5W shoes

Nolan - some 6-12 month, more 12-18 month clothes (usually need a dapper snapper for jeans), size 4 or 4.5 shoes

Lucas - some 6-12 month, more 12-18 month clothes (usually need a dapper snapper for jeans), size 4 shoes

teeth: 

Oliver - 16 (possibly working on 2 year molars...very whiny and cranky)

Nolan - 16 (no change)

Lucas - 16 (no change)

eating habits: 

We were struck down with a horrid stomach bug that seemed to last forever.  So for a while there, we were on the BRAT diet and didn't eat much else other than chicken noodle soup and crackers.  Poor boys!  Now that they're feeling better, the boys are eating really well!  I feel like we've turned a new corner with meat.  They all like meatballs now (especially Lucas).  We buy this glazed bourbon chicken from Costco that we usually put in wraps. They seem to like that too with a little bit of rice.  

Current favorites (for everyone): Greek yogurt, cereal with milk, French toast sticks, bean dip (uh oh), grilled cheese, and mushroom pizza.  

Ollie continues to love pretty much all fruit.  Nolan seems to like anything full of carbs that is crunchy (crackers, Cheerios, toast, etc).  Of the three, Lucas has really stepped up his game when eating.  He'll plow through everything on his plate in no time!  He seems to like most anything we give him.  I'm loving it!  All three boys still love their milk and drink around 24 oz a day.

We think Lucas might possibly have a mango allergy.  His cheeks have gotten really red twice now after eating mangos.  Benadryl has helped it go away.

sleeping habits: 

This is still very much an area of concern with Nolan.  We are going to see if our doctor will refer him for a sleep study at Children's Mercy.  I will say his middle of the night meltdowns have been less in frequency and intensity, but he still wakes up numerous times every night.  Lucas has also been having a lot of problems sleeping.  He now has to be rocked to sleep nightly.  Honestly I don't really mind this, assuming he actually falls asleep within 20-30 minutes and stays asleep. Unfortunately, that rarely happens.  He and Nolan both wake up several times a night nearly every night.  At first when Lucas would wake up, he was pretty easy to console as long as you were there with him.  Now, he seems to be really restless and oftentimes has to be brought back to bed with us where he'll toss and turn all night.  Even Ollie has had a couple nights where he hasn't slept well.  We think he might be teething.

Needless to say, we're all (still) exhausted.  I'm really hoping we can get this sleep thing figured out!

Naps are still once a day.  Nolan and Lucas will usually sleep an hour and half.  Ollie will sleep closer to 3 hours.

gross motor: 

These kids are getting FAST!  They run all over the house and quite frankly I just love it!  I can't wait for the weather to get better so they can spend more time outside.  We had a few days last month where we were able to get out and run around the culdesac with their push toys.  We need more of those days because they love playing outside. When playing inside, they all still really love pushing around their push toys.

fine motor: 

Lucas has really gotten into the shape sorter.  They all like putting Mega Bloks together and sorting pom pom balls into muffin tins.  We are continuing to work on using a spoon and fork.

language/communication (new words underlined)

Oliver - waves, claps, gives kisses, points to his head when asked, signs all done, milk, more & says mama, dada, hi, uh-oh, auntie, ball, banana, wow

Nolan - waves, claps, gives/blows kisses, signs all done, milk, ball, eat, thank you & says mama, dada, ball, done, book, baa, uh oh, apple, hot dog

Lucas - waves, claps, gives/blows kisses, signs all done, milk, more, ball, please, thank you & says mama, dada, done, ball, uh oh, apple, banana

favorite things: 

Oliver - V-tech race car ramp, ball pit balls, pom pom balls, push toys, Mega Bloks, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Frozen

Nolan - the kitchen set (and pretend food and dishes), plastic cups, trampoline, Cozy Coupe, wooden blocks, Mega Bloks, ball pit balls, pom pom balls, push toys, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Frozen

Lucas - stacking cups, the kitchen set, PUSH TOYS (definitely a favorite), grocery cart, Dyson vacuum, Mega Bloks, shape sorter, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & Frozen

special outings/events:

We didn't get out much this past month since we were sick for two weeks of it.  We did, however, have family come for Christmas (after we were all well) and that went really well.  Other than that, we've just made a few trips to the play area at the mall to run off some energy.  I've been hesitant to take them to places like this due to the high volume of germs but sometimes you just have to get out of the house.  Thank God for hand sanitizing wipes!

other: 

We got sick with the stomach flu...again.  It was horrible.  Read more at Return of 2014 Stomach Flu.

pictures: