Elliot at 18 months

Elliot has had an exciting advancement that's prompted me to write a short update on his little life. Re-reading my last "Elliot update" from August, I decided to do another enumerated list of all things E. He's such a great little boy, and I have no modesty about him.

1. He has gotten over his hatred of grass and will now willingly walk on it.

2. We still get lectured in unintelligible baby garble, BUT, he now has some words! His vocabulary includes: no, up, hot, row, boat, uh-oh, momma, dadda, hi, bye, baby. "Row" and "boat" of course go together, complete with arm gestures that go with the song. Other words have appeared a time or two, but not consistently. The ones that come to mind first are Thomas and twinkle, oh, and Hannah, the name of one of his caretakers at daycare.

3. He has changed from playing with the food storage lids to playing with the colander. He puts it on his head and walks/runs around. Sometimes he puts his blocks or other toys in it. If he's awake, it's probably on our kitchen floor. Some days I just give up on putting it away.

4. He still cannot bear the thought of someone being in the half-bath without him. However, his anxiety has evolved into game playing. We keep two odd items on hand: the lid to a baby food jar, and a business card-sized info card from Verizon Wireless. He slides these under the door and waits for the person on the other side to slide it back his way. So those random items on the floor in our half-bath? Yeah, not trash.

5. He has gotten good at stacking his blocks. He can stack them five high now!

6. He LOVES his daycare. He almost always resists going home at the end of the day, and he often wants to go on weekends. We feel so blessed to have found a daycare that is so nurturing of him, and that he likes so much.

7. I have a brush that I don't use any more. He loves brushing his hair with it.

8. He also LOVES brushing his own teeth (often with some assistance) and feeding himself with a fork. We often spear the food for him then let him pick up the fork and feed himself. It's so fun to watch him gaining independence and confidence.