18 Things I Love About 18 Months

Finn turned 18 months old on Monday and true story, I had tears in my eyes during his preschool drop-off. They were happy tears but my guy is growing up so quickly! I simultanesously want to hold on to him being little and embrace each new age and stage. I know you guys get this and it’s a roller coaster of emotions. The number one piece of advice that I’ve received throughout pregnancy and into motherhood is, “soak it up because it goes so fast.” I quickly learned just how true those words are and they encourage me daily to stay in the present moment with Finn and to really take it all in.

It’s really wild to think that just a year and a half ago, Finn was a newborn baby who did nothing but eat, sleep and poop and now he’s a walking, talking toddler. Babies really do grow and change so crazy fast!

I don’t write regular age updates but I want to for 18 months for a couple of reasons. First, I know half birthday aren’t really a thing but a year and a half just feels like a significant milestone. Second, I find this to be such a delightful and interesting age for many reasons that I want to share with you, and also remember for myself! 🙂

So here we go. 18 things I love about my sweet, snuggly, smiling Finn at 18 months old. I have been working on this post all week and it’s a long but heartfelt one. Thanks for being on this journey with us! <3

18 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT 18 MONTHS

1. ALL THE TALKING! At Finn’s 15 month well-child appointment, I asked his pediatrician if I should be worried that he was only saying a few words. He assured me that Finn was on the right track and not to worry. He sure was right! In the span of three months Finn went from saying not much of anything to ALL the things! He has about 15-20 words that he uses and tries to repeat pretty much any word that I ask him to. I made a list of his words on my phone the other day just for fun and some of my favorites are cheese, shoes, baby, cracker, outside, eggs, chick chick (for chicken), car, achoo, keys, poop (a new one as of last week, haha!), ouchie and hey baby (I’m not even kidding on this one…it’s the cutest thing EVER!).

2. “Up, please.” Ahhh, Finn’s favorite thing to say right now is “up, please.” He is all about being held and I am all about holding him while he still wants me to. I just cannot say no to his little “please.” Note, “up” is also his word for wanting to get down from or out of something like the highchair, car seat, wagon, etc.

3. Finn’s BFF status with Zoey. Finn is obsessed with his big sister and it warms my heart every day. Zoey is the first thing he looks for in the morning and he spends half his day playing with her, running after her and saying oh Zoe, hey Zoe and really loud “ZOE” when he wants her attention or for her to come. It’s the sweetest ever, and of course makes me think of Sullie girl so much too.

4. Wild hair, don’t care. I’ve been thinking about cutting Finn’s hair since he turned one but I just love it wild, crazy and curly so much. TBD! 🙂

5. Mealtime. Let’s be honest, mealtime is hit or miss in regards to what Finn eats but I sure do love this time with him. I really enjoy preparing food for him and introducing him to all kinds of foods, even when he politely declines and says no (which is a lot). He is such a ham in the high chair and it’s fun to sit with him while he eats and to chat with him. The photo above is how happy he gets when I make him grilled cheese. He comes by it honestly. 😉

6. Reading books. Finn loves his books more than any of his other toys. It’s awesome to watch him “reading” books on his own. He has certain pages in his books that he likes going to. I walked in to find this Hungry Caterpillar book open to the bee page and Finn going “BZZZZZZ” earlier this week. We spend a lot of time reading together. I wrote a whole post on reading and our favorite books for 12-18 months. Be sure to check it out.

7. Morning snuggles. Lately Finn has been all about morning snuggles. Our morning routine is that I get him out of his crib and we come downstairs. I feed Zoey and make coffee, and usually give Finn a snack cup of Puffins. He sits in my lap while I drink coffee and he eats cereal and we watch GMA or cartoons. It’s a sweet way to start the day. We do breakfast and get ready for the day afterwards.

In addition to morning snuggles, we are just loving all things togetherness and closeness at this stage. This is evident in how much he wants to be held but Finn also does things like hold onto my shirt the whole time we are shopping at the grocery store. He also loves “giving mama a pat” and will put his head on my shoulder and arms around me when I ask for a snuggle. Kinda obsessed with this kid.

8. PJ love. In the last few weeks, Finn has become very excited about his PJ selections (we love these PJs, BTW). His top favorites are his “sharks” and his “trucks.” He will point to them after his bath and request to wear them and then points at the sharks and the trucks, smiles and says the word over and over. Finding joy in simple things. The best.

9. Outside. Another of Finn’s favorite words and favorite things is outside. He walks to the back door and emphatically says, “OUTSIDE.” He loves being outside on walks and also running around in our backyard. I’m hoping to get him some fun outside toys for Christmas. It’s been awesome for Finn to finally get steady enough on his feet to really set him free in the backyard, and for the mosquitos to finally be gone. Our backyard is big and fenced in so he has a lot of room to run and roam safely. It’s a gift and we spend a lot of time outside on nice days.

10. Exploring everything + his expanding mind. Finn is into everything and actively exploring and watching the world around him. I swear, he doesn’t miss a thing! It’s equal parts exciting and exhausting. It’s awe-inspiring to see how his mind works as he inspects and studies everything. It amazes me daily how fast he’s able to grasp new concepts, figure things out and learn. Honestly, it also pushes me to keep a more expansive and growth-focused mindset as I realize that at one point in life my brain was that open too!

11. Continued baby wearing. My very last note on being close is continued baby wearing. I still use my Ergo 360 regularly and Finn loves it too! I still baby wear for shorter walks (especially if it’s kind of cold) and for errands where I don’t want to navigate bringing a stroller in but I also can’t carry Finn the whole time. Ergo says the 360 is good to go up to 45 lbs so we still have some mileage. My next goal is to try wearing Finn on my back, a lot of you have shared that this carrying position worked well for you.

12. His outgoing personality. Finn is a tiny little extrovert and it’s adorable. When Finn was just a few months old my grandmother gave him the nickname of “the entertainer” and he sure is. He is such a social little dude in situations ranging from school to airplanes to grocery stores. Just last week we were in Trader Joe’s and you would have thought he was the store greeter. He was waving and saying hi to literally every person within a five foot radius. I was cracking up. Last week his babysitter told me he was going to be the “president of everything” in high school because he’s so outgoing. (I don’t say any of this to brag, I just admire this aspect of his personality…especially since it is so different from my own!)

13. His preschool. Finn is in preschool three days a week and while I questioned if he was too young to start when I enrolled him in the toddlers class, I am confident every day that I drop him off and pick him up that I made the right decision. He has truly thrived at preschool and I adore everything about the staff and the environment that he is in. I feel that he is playing, socializing, learning and being nurtured all at the same time. I am so grateful that Finn is having this experience.

14. Finn’s love for music. Finn has really seemed to enjoy music since he was a tiny baby and every day it just becomes more and more apparent. At home we have piano toys, a set of bongo drums and a guitar that Finn plays with. He also likes for me to play music and I have it on in the background a lot while I’m cooking, cleaning, etc. And of course he loves things like Little Baby Bum and nursery rhymes on Spotify. I feel like I’m constantly breaking out in song for him. No one has ever liked my singing so much, haha. His favorites these days are Itsy Bitsy Spider, Old McDonald and Wheels on the Bus.

15. All the animals. Many of Finn’s favorite toys and books are animal-themed. We spend a lot of time learning names of different animals and the sounds they make. When my mom visits for Thanksgiving next week we are going to take Finn to the NC Zoo and I can’t wait! I think he’s really going to love it!

16. Stacking, lining up and organizing. Finn is super into stacking, lining up and organizing things right now and it’s cool to watch. One of his favorite activities is to take items out of my bathroom drawer one by one and go line them up on the nightstand. It makes him so happy and gives me time to get ready! He also loves to line his bath toys up along the edge of the tub and then he gives the cutest little yell and knocks them all back into the water.

17. When he cracks himself up. While I think that Finn is hysterical and tell him that regularly, Finn really thinks he’s funny and cracks himself up all the time. He loves goofing off and making me laugh but I also catch him just randomly laughing at himself or something that I cannot even figure out. Hearing Finn laugh is one of my favorite sounds in the entire world.

18. BEING HIS MOM! Oh I’ve only written about how much I love being a mom about a million times since Finn was born but I am reminded every single day that it’s the best (and hardest) job that I’ve ever had. I never, ever in a million years dreamed that I would love it THIS much or that I could love another person SO much but I do. I thank God every single day for blessing me with Finn. I am so honored to be his mama.

I cannot wait to see what the next 18 months hold for Finn, and to watch him continue to grow and learn!

QUESTIONS

Were you able to tell things about your child’s personality at a super young age? If so, did they stay pretty much the same or change as they got older?

Would love your suggestions for outdoor toys/play structures for this age and that he can grow into.