Elliott's 1st Birthday

I completely to post these pictures of Elliott's 1st birthday {which was LAST Saturday!). Elliott is our neighbor and I cannot believe he is getting so big! We love hanging out with Elliott, his big brother Wyatt and of course his mommy {and daddy who is currently stationed in Iraq}. The whole neighborhood showed up to celebrate and Aunt Molly even joined us for the party because she was so nice to come visit us. Here are some of the pictures from the party

Singing to Elliott {of course EVERY picture he had his finger in or on his nose... I kept laughing and saying these pictures will be perfect to use against him when he is older!}

Elliott loved tasting his cake

Frank climbed into Elliott's old walker... he thought it was the perfect spot for him

Could he be any happier?? What a cute birthday boy!

All the kiddos helping Elliott open presents

What a fun party!

18 Month Check-Up

Today Frank had his 18 Month Well Baby Check-Up. He did such a good job showing off all his skills {talking, signing, identifying body parts}... often times, especially at the doctors office, he will make a liar out of me... but today he did a great Job! He weighed in at a big 25lbs 3oz {50th percentile} and grew an inch standing at 34 inches tall {90th percentile}. His head also grew measuring in at 19 1/2 inches {95th percentile}. He is growing perfectly consistent and we definitely think he is perfect! He spoke with the doctor today... even demonstrating "dirty" for her quickly followed by him filling his diaper... she told me potty training should start ASAP with him... which is making me really nervous... but I guess it is when -HE- is ready not mommy... 

He only received two vaccines today his first Hep A. vaccine and is flu shot {how lucky were we that the flu shots arrived on Friday... so he will not have to go back this fall for his shot!} However, as soon as he received the shots he starting crying and saying/signing "ALL DONE!!" I know he was very Happy to be "all done" with his shots... next check-up will be at 2 years!!

Getting weighed in

He was so distracted by this Christmas ornament they have hanging over the scale... he kept pointing to it and shouting "Ball!"

Showing off his 18 month physique... all 25 pounds of him

18 Months Old with the Gund Bear

I am so happy that Frank is 18 Months... now I can say he is a year and a half and stop talking in months for a while!! He is such a big boy now {his well-baby check-up is Monday so we will know HOW big then} He looks like a real little man. 

Here are some of his Favorite things at 18 Months:

Foods: Still loves blueberries {says and signs "blues"}, grapes, rice-cakes, peanut butter crackers, apples.

Toys: Playing on the slide, his new sand/water table, Little tikes car, and any/every car truck we have...

Movies: Aladdin...

Activities: Playing at the park, going for walks, the pool, climbing on everything{he loves to climb into his stroller and buckle himself in}, going up and sown the stairs.

Words/Signs: Frank loves to talk! His favorite words are "Moo Peese" (More Please), Juuce (Juice), Sliiide (slide), and No. He says a lot of new words now and is starting to ask for things {juice, crackers, blues, etc} by name and not just pointing and screaming. He also likes to mimic everything we say or he hears {better watch what we say now!!}

Frank at 18 Months!

What a happy little boy!

Pushing his bear around the house

Pulling up a chair for his bear to sit in

What a nice place to sit in Gund Bear

So nice... I may just rest here with you...

Frank and his Gund Bear 18 Months

One a side note: Frank has been telling us when he has "pooped" by saying and signing "dirty" for a few weeks now. Recently he will even say/sign "dirty" prior to "pooping" as well... he also has taken a serious interest in the toilet, flushing it and using it... I was not planning on even thinking about potty training till next spring/summer... but it has been suggested to me to start with him because he is showing the signs he is interested... I am open to ANY suggestions people have about starting potty training... maybe he is ready??

Look How Much He's Grown!

I edited this to not have 18 pictures... if you want to see ALL the pictures here is the link from last month. It is amazing to see how much he has grown in the past year and a half!

18 Months Old (25lbs 3oz and 34 inches)

15 Months Old (24lbs and 33 inches)

1 Year Old -or- 12 Months (21lbs 12oz and 31.5 inches)

9 Months Old (20lbs 12oz and 30.75 inches)

6 Months Old (18lbs 10oz and 29.5 inches)

4 Months Old (16 lbs and 26.5 inches)

2 Months Old (13lbs 15oz and 24.1 inches)

2 Weeks Old (9lbs 8oz and 21.5 inches)

1 day old (8lbs 30z and 20.4 inches)

Eye Exam

Thursday Frank had a check-up eye exam at OSU. One year ago he had his Infantsee Exam and they recommended that he have a prescription check because they were concerned that he had a very severe astigmatism prescription.  He was a very good boy and sat still as best he could for an 18 month old having lights shined in his eyes! The doctor said that his eyes were much better now and they were no longer concerned enough that he would need glasses {if his eyes had not corrected he would have most likely have gotten glasses according to Dr. Katie Greiner}. The next time he will be checked out is 3 years old!

Being comforted by his blankie before his big eye exam

"Well you see doc... It's called Astigmatism... it's where rays that propagate in two perpendicular planes have different foci... yeah, they think I've got it..." {but he doesn't!}

New Babysitters!

Today Grandpa Frank and Uncle Mike came to "babysit" Frank while I went to work to finish setting up my classroom {pictures will be posted soon...}. I think it is safe to say everyone had a nice time ... and we even got to go out to dinner afterwards! Maybe uncle Mike will be getting the babysitting call more often then he would like now... haha

Frank3, Frank5 and Michael

Everyone is smiles... must have been a good day!

Frank and Michael watching... can you guess... Aladdin!

Water and Sand Table

WE FOUND IT {OK... you be exact Grandma Hartge found it}. We have been wanting to get Frank a Water/Sand table for our house... but apparently this seasonal item is no longer stocked after June... But last week Grandma Hartge found one! So she brought it with her when she came to babysit the little man on Monday {our babysitter is on vacation this week}. After a little bit of assembly required... Frank was so excited to play with his new table! The only sand that was available was BRIGHT BLUE sand... so it is funny to watch him play covered in blue sand... what a great fun toy! 

It was so humid.. the second I stepped outside the lens fogged up immediately

He DID have a shirt on... but he soaked it immediately... so he was left to look like a cool dude

Look at this cool table

Soo much fun!!

Of course re-hydration is necessary when playing is such hard work!