Tuesday, May 15, 2012

18-month check-up

for the life of me i can not find what i did with the paper where they wrote down maddux' stats at his appointment. i am going to keep looking but i have a feeling that i set it down while trying to schedule the kids' birthday appointments (which they had me wait on because i would be bringing the baby in and could do all three at the same time) and never picked it up again. short story - he is very tall (over 97th percentile and way off the curve), average weight (just over 50th percentile) and a large head (proportional to his height). he was just a little early for his next vaccination, so we will wait on that - probably when we bring baby in at some point. he won't have to come back until he is two. the doctor said that "he looks practically perfect".

since there isn't much to tell about the appointment, i thought that i would give some general info about his personality.

- he is my little helper - or at least he tries to be. his favorite is helping with laundry. and he really is super helpful! i usually sort laundry in my bedroom and then move everything to the laundry room. maddux helps carry each of the piles with me. and whenever he sees me switching a load over from washer to dryer, he goes to get the next load into the washer. all of the kids have enjoyed helping switch the loads, but maddux doesn't mix sorted piles and gets an entire load in the machine before closing the door. he doesn't even let a stray sock get left behind. he really is good. now folding is where he is not helpful at all. in fact, he destroys any sock pairings or folded piles.

- he is very good with his "please" and "thank you" signs and frequently uses them without prompting. he even signs "thank you" at times when it is appropriate but i didn't think of it before he did.

- he. never. stops. and has pretty much stopped napping. he only naps if he falls asleep in the car because he is just easier at bedtime if he doesn't get a 'real' nap in. we don't wake him up or anything but don't encourage him to nap during the day.

- i would say maddux knows all of his basic colors. he can point at the correct color 9 times out of 10 when asked.

- he sings "twinkle, twinkle little star" to himself a lot. he doesn't use the words but the tune is very clear.

- most of what maddux communicates is very clear. he doesn't use a lot of words but it is usually easy to guess what he wants and with some yes/no questions you can have a pretty lengthy 'conversation' with him about most topics.

- he gets into 'trouble' frequently, but it is good natured curiousity not that intentionally-doing-the-wrong-thing where toddlers will get that look in their eye and are challenging you. he is a pretty great listener in general though. people often comment on his good behavior when we are out and about.

- sleep has been a little difficult. it is mainly the going to sleep part. he almost panics about being left alone (aka without mom and dad) and will fight sleep. generally, he sleeps through the night and is starting to sleep closer to 7 than 6 which has been nice. the boys still come into our room from time to time in the night and have started to just take a spot and go to sleep without disturbing us very much, if at all. not ideal, but at least no one has to be all that tired the next day. last night he laid down at the dinner table (on the bench he sits on) and went to sleep. it was 6:30 so we quickly gave him a bath and put him to bed. he was asleep by 7. when he is ready to sleep, he falls asleep quicker than either of the other two! just like his daddy.

- he can turn lights on and off and close the van door by himself which pleases him very much (his sister and brother aren't as thrilled with his new abilities).

- he is very independant and will wave me off from the bottom of a slide before coming down and prefers to walk with us without holding hands. he stays right with us so it hasn't been that big a deal and he will hold madelyn's hand as an option. parking lots are non-negotiable for handholding and he seems to understand the difference without much argument.

- he sits on the 'little potty' whenever someone mentions going to the bathroom. hopefully, he keeps his enthusiasm until we are ready to train him! (he makes no effort to remove his pants or i would get him started now.)

and that is all i can think of for now. he is generally a delight and very full of life. he keeps me on my toes but he is also very generous with hugs and kisses. we love him. love.

1 comment:

Witenkling Mommy said...

What a big kid. He does a lot for an 18-month old - stuff that you'd think only older kids can/would do. I can't believe he's stopped napping. I thought it was bad that Kinley stopped at 2.5 yrs. We have some rough afternoon/evenings around here.