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It’s hard to believe that Xander is a year and a half old! Where has the time gone? Today we had his 18 month check up at the Doctor’s office and Xander was a champ. He weighs 24 lbs, 5 oz (30% percentile so yep, he’s still skinny), measures 34 inches (90% percentile, my boy’s definitely tall for his age) and his head measured in the 80% percentile. He passed the developmental questions with flying colors and now the Doc wants us to work on getting Xander to drink from a cup instead of a sippy cup. Xander has nearly mastered the fork/spoon (he still needs help getting the food ONTO the utensil) so we hope the cup transition won’t be too messy. Yea, right. Who am I kidding?! A lot has changed in Xander since my last “Xander update” so here’s kinda a synopsis of his current behavior and development.

SLEEPING: Xander still sleeps awesome during the night. He usually wakes somewhere between 7 - 8 am (usually between 7- 7:30) and gets put down for bed between 8 -8:30 pm. He takes a approximately 2 hour nap after lunch time. He’s VERY active during the day so usually Mommy & Daddy go to bed not long after he does.

ACTIVITIES: Xander is so active. He is a machine and he runs nonstop. He’s a climber, a runner, and a dancer. He loves testing boundaries and trying new things. He loves climbing the stairs, running across the kitchen, walking backwards, and practicing stepping down into our sunken living room without pausing/crawling down. If you tell him “Happy Feet” he’ll stomp his feet in a fast motion. If you ask him to show you his ears, eyes, face, hair, head, mouth, belly, hands, and feet, he will. He likes clapping, sticking his thumbs in his ears, getting tickled, and getting his hair brushed. But he’s very independent. He prefers to brush his own teeth and wants to use the fork by himself. He likes playing with non-toys like the lamp, Tupperware items, pans from oven drawer, cords, electrical outlets, candles, dog food bowls, rocks, sticks, paperclips, pencils, trash cans, drawers, water bottles etc. Obviously some of those items are off-limits but he’s sneaky and often doesn’t listen when I say no. Morning snack is held in the jogging strollers when I jog my daily 2 miles. He plays outside as often as possible. He has a cool wagon, wheel-barrow, lawn mower, sand box, balls, golf set etc. that he enjoys playing with. But often he ends up playing with the bugs, flowers, rocks, or outdoor chairs. We go to the park or mall playground almost daily so he gets interaction with other children. He’s become a ‘regular’ so-to-speak and often sees other regulars that know his name. And yes, he’s had a couple run-ins with older children that run a-muck and seem not to listen to their parents. Or their parents are zoned out listing to their ipods, talking on their cells or are just drooling on the bench not properly supervising their hooligans. Indoor activities Xander loves include playing with puzzles, pushing his cars around, watching himself on my digital camera, throwing balls, and stacking things.

SPEECH: Xander has a short list of words (around 7) in his vocabulary but speaks gibberish nonstop. He enjoys saying “EHH” at me to get my attention (ie: when he wants me to put more food on his fork or when he’s done napping and wants me to come in his room). His fav and most used words are “doggy” AND “uh oh.” He also says “All Done” a lot. One neat thing is that Xander understands a ton of directions and words. He probably understand more than I even realize. For example, the other day when reading a book, I started asking him to point to things on the pages. “Where’s the duck?” “Where’s the flower?” “Where’s the milk?” or “Where’s the rabbit?” And he successfully pointed to everything. I was amazed. Some directions he knows include “Ready for Lunch?” (he runs to the highchair) or “Go get me your shoes” (and he does) or “Pinch Daddy’s nose” (hahaha). Of course, he still refuses to follow this direction: “No!”

EATING: Xander is a good eater. He likes most fruits and some veggies. We’ve discovered he likes fresh veggies over canned. He loves corn on the cob kernels that I cut off and he can’t get enough of my candied carrots rounds. He even likes roasted, cheesy cauliflower! Canned corn or canned carrots? He won’t touch the stuff! Xander dislikes mash potatoes, Walmart-brand sliced cheese, cinnamon sugar toast (I know, he’s crazy), and melons. His favorite things to eat include spaghetti, bananas (he’s my little monkey), and breads (banana bread and jelly toast are good examples).

XANDER & THE DOG: Kali isn’t man’s best friend, she’s Xander’s best friend. They are so good together and Kali’s such a patient chill, dog! Who would’ve guessed?! Xander loves to cuddle with Kali on her doggy bed, feed her dryer sheets, and pat her on the back. He likes watching her eat her food. He sits real close and if a piece of food drops on the carpet, he’ll pick it up and put it back in her bowl. When she’s finished he’ll say “All Done” and pick up her bowl and give it to me.  They play together in the living room daily. One popular game is ‘Catch me if you Can.’ Kali makes laps around the ottoman as Xander chases her. He laughs hysterically even when he fails at ‘catching’ her. It’s just adorable to watch them interact. Kali is definitely protective of him and often sits in his room when we are gone. She joins us for story time each night, too.

So, I hope you have an idea now what life with the X-man is like nowadays. He’s such a delight to have in our lives and we love him dearly!