Because my memory sucks!

Brody is 18 months old and I feel like I haven't been doing a good job of recording his milestones. This is mainly for my benefit and is straight up "Mommy Blog" material so consider yourself warned.

He weighs 25 lbs. 1 oz. and is 34 inches tall. He is not a morning person, meaning he wakes up kind of fussy but is usually much better after eating breakfast. I would definitely have to say afternoon/evening time is his best time of day. He currently takes one nap, right after lunch and it is usually 2 hours long, give or take. He goes to bed at 8pm and wakes up anywhere from 6-7 in the morning. He doesn't seem to wake up during that span of time or at least that's what I've convinced myself since I no longer use a baby monitor. Yup, that's right. I gave it up a few weeks ago but I sleep with my door open so that if he really starts wailing I can hear him. Gone are the nights of me waking up to every little moan and groan he makes.

I might as well throw in here our nighttime routine because I probably won't remember that down the road either. Typically by 7:30-7:45, the 3 of us retreat to Zane's bedroom with a book to read. Brody usually plays with toys in there while I read the story to Zane, but sometimes he climbs in the bed to sit with us, if only for a couple of minutes. At story's end it's time for hugs and kisses, I tuck Zane into bed and Brody usually tells him "night night" as we exit the room. Then it's straight to Brody's room where I turn on a fan under his crib for white noise, I steal kisses from him and lay him down with two blankets (one for chewing on and one for covering up with). I turn out the light and close the door. I can usually hear him rolling about, talking a bit or kicking the wall but he is always content and goes to sleep on his own within 10 minutes.

He seems to be a bit picky when it comes to food but he's getting better. I don't think I've found a meat (real meat) yet that he likes. He doesn't even care for chicken nuggets. He is an excellent self-feeder. He has been using utensils for several months now and is really good at it and keeps the mess to a minimum which is nice. He is a snacker, in a bad way. He is constantly dragging me by the hand to the pantry door, even if he just got done with a meal. He likes to drink milk, apple juice, water and gatorade. He likes to eat grilled cheese, macaroni and cheese, cheese quesadillas, hot dogs, smoked sausage, pb&j, pizza, yogurt, applesauce, various kinds of fruit, french toast, waffles, toast, cereal, eggs (sometimes), pancakes and crackers.

He has been talking for a couple months now (maybe longer) and can "say" the following: cheese, please, thank you, hi, bye, night night, knock knock, juice, teeth, sponge bob (his first word, how pathetic are we?), boobah, bubble, cow, kitty cat, doggie, frog, mouth, eyes, ears, nose, mama, belly button, all done, snack, milk, more, hot, shakes his head yes and no. Now when I say he can say these words, a lot of them sound alike but I can tell from the context clues what he is talking about.

For the time being, Brody goes to hourly care on post 2 days a week from 8-2:30. This is partly because the first 16 hours/month are free and after that it's $2/hour. That's not because it is a shady center with high turnaround. Apparently Child and Youth Services got the funding from somewhere to offer that up to families of deployed soldiers. It's too good a deal to pass up. Secondly, it's good for him to be around other kids. It's too much pressure on Zane to be the only one teaching him bad habits. And the other reason I take him is for my own sanity. It really helps break up my week and gives me the time I need to manage everything in our lives. He cried the first half a dozen times I dropped him off but only until I was gone. Now he doesn't cry at all. He usually just jumps right in and starts playing. He always takes a nap there and they feed him a hot lunch, so I really don't have any complaints with the place.

And lastly, he likes to "ham it up" for the camera, which I am truly enjoying. I know it won't last long.