18 months

Yesterday we celebrated 18 months of DJ. And since that is a fairly big milestone, I figured I'd take some time to document where he is compared to the last time I did this at 12 months. However, I have calmed the crap down and didn't do a personalized onesie photo shoot, so you'll have to just enjoy these recent pics of the kid. So, here's DJ!

Yesterday, just before nursery. How is he this big?

From our Christmas card photo shoot.

Just being a ham.

This kid is a pro at selfies.

Just helping Mom in the kitchen.

He loves the sharks at the aquarium.

• DJ kind of hates to eat and drink (not his mama's traits, that's for sure)! He likes water and he hates milk and juice. Oh and he loves Diet Dr. Pepper, which he only gets one sip of every once in a while, so of course he loves it. He likes tomatoes, strawberries, pickles, cucumbers, beans, corn, deli turkey (the fancy stuff you get at the counter), pasta, and pretty much everything else is just every once in awhile. He's so skinny and his doctor has me giving him a multivitamin (which I'd probably do anyway). He must be getting the calories though, as you'll see from the next few points.
• DJ loves to dance. He will yell, "Dance!" at the TV while doing the sign for dance until I put Just Dance up on the Wii. He will watch this for hours. This morning, it was on for like 2 hours, and he watched and danced right along. He loves to dance for anyone, and in fact sometimes dances to say hi to people. 
• He has taught himself how to somersault without anyone showing him how. Seriously, between that and the previous bullet, I'm gonna have to do dance classes and gymnastics with this kiddo!
• He can beat box. I'm not kidding. And he, like his dad, does it both to show off and subconsciously. What 18 month old can beat box? Mine. Obviously.
• He hates to be confined. He is happiest when he is moving. Dancing, running, tumbling, and all independently. I can get him to hold my hand in parking lots sometimes, but most of the time, I'm just holding an awfully squirmy boy who wants me to put him down so he can run like the wind.
• He loves to watch Signing Time and knows fifty or so signs. Because of Signing Time, he can also count to ten. The show is kind of horrid if you're an adult, but he loves it, and it's super educational. He can tell me things in sign he couldn't with words, and it helps him to learn the verbal equivalent as well, so that's really cool.
• When he's not attached to his binky, he's talking up a storm. He probably knows 100 or so words, though some are definitely more consistent than others. Plus, like most kids, he has a full range of made up sounds, so he has lots to say. Like his dad, he has invented a few words for things that have words. For example, DJ says "Guk" for food. Not even close, but in his head, it's what it's called.
• DJ is a total ham. If there is someone watching, he's all about the performance. He leads the music at church, but only if people are watching. He dances more excitedly when people are around, he says "hi" to everyone and will high five or fist bump just about anyone who offers. The only caveat is that Deg or I have to be there - he hates it when we leave.
• We did nursery for the first time yesterday. Well, sort of. Deg and I would take him during 3rd hour for a few months, but yesterday, he went by himself. He was okay for about 10 minutes, realized we were gone, and cried until we came back. Poor kid - they were doing all the things he liked: singing, coloring, eating goldfish, playing with toys. And, his friends were there. I guess I'm just that cool.
• He has 10 teeth with another 2 ready to burst through and relieve us all at any moment.
• He loves to copy and do whatever I'm doing. We have to give him stuff to work on in the kitchen while we're in there cooking. In fact, over Christmas, he used the kid's kitchen at my mom's house so much that I'm already thinking of getting him one for his birthday in July. Because that needs to be planned out now.
• Dinnertime is his favorite and his mom's least favorite. Why? Because apparently throwing all of your food is hilarious. It's even funnier when you throw it at Mom and hit her with it on purpose. Sigh. At least he's got a good throwing arm!
• Speaking of that arm, we're pretty sure he's left handed. He's always kind of favored the left hand, but now that he's a little bit older and has more stuff he can do with one hand or the other, he seems to really be going for it. No one in my family is left handed, and I think it's only an uncle on Deg's side that is, so wish us luck on that one!
• DJ loves sharks. He likes to say shark, likes to roar like a shark (because, you know, sharks are known for their roars), likes to wear his shark pajamas, likes to wrestle his stuffed shark, and likes to go see the sharks at the aquarium. He really likes yelling "Shaaak!" at the sharks in the aquarium, and luckily, he's little and cute enough that everyone there so far has thought it's funny.
• He's a big fan of the camera. He loves watching himself on it, so we have a good time making movies and taking toddler selfies. He especially likes to see himself dance. I mean, who wouldn't?
• He loves his neighborhood friends and if they are outside when we go outside, he will literally run all the way down the street to see them. And that's a long way on those little legs! He's still the neighborhood superstar (mostly because he's so awesome, but probably also partially because his mom is SO COOL!) and can say the names of all his neighborhood girlfriends.

I could keep going, but we'll call that good for how. It's amazing how fast he learns and how much he's interested in. I just love him to pieces and am so glad that I get to be his mom. Well, most of the time, anyway! :)