These days Jeremiah likes to play with his toys, read books, eat, watch movies, play outside, and sleep. He usually sleeps around 4 hours a day (broken up into 2 naps) and about 11ish hours at night. Occasionally he wakes up crying, but he settles back down and goes back to sleep. I hardly ever have to get up with him anymore. I have to admit, when I'm feeling all "mommy" sometimes I will go get him and rock him in the rocker like I did when he was a little baby. I miss those days but I love each new stage he enters. His favorite toys right now are his trains, his music table, and daddy's tools. He absolutely LOVES Thomas the Tank Engine. He has a couple of Thomas books that he loves to have read to him and one Thomas movie in particular that he loves, "Tale of the Brave". We have several Thomas movies/shows, but "Tale of the Brave" trumps all of them. In the end, one of the engines leaves and Jeremiah waves bye-bye to him every time. Then the credits come on and he waves his arms around in the air and dances to the music. Sometimes I let him watch the movie just so I can see him dance. Other books he loves are some Sandra Boynton books: "Moo, Baa, La, La, La!" and "The Going to Bed Book". He is into the Little Pookie series and giggles every time we read about the little pig.
He is in an exploratory stage right now. Some days I feel like all I do is say "No, Jeremiah, get out of that!" and "Jeremiah, put that down!". He is one curious little boy. I let him explore as much as I can but he seems to always find things that he doesn't need to play with and tries to play with them. It's a long process teaching him what he can and can't do and he's still trying to figure it out.
Jeremiah is Brad's little shadow. He sticks to Brad like white on rice. If Brad is there, Jeremiah is also there. If Brad is eating, Jeremiah wants to eat. If Brad is brushing his teeth, Jeremiah wants to brush his teeth. If Brad is working out, Jeremiah wants to work out. You get the picture, right? He loves his dad. And I love how much he loves his dad (and how much his dad loves him). Brad has started doing some hard-core working out and Jeremiah loves to follow him around with his little 2.5 lb weight, lifting it over his head and blowing air out of his mouth. It is the cutest thing. I've tried time and time again to get a video but I never manage to get it just right. He is daddy's little guy and I wouldn't have it any other way.
J also loves to brush his teeth. Every time we go into their bathroom, he says "brush teeth?" I ask him, "what do you say?" and he says "PUH PUH" (his way of saying please). He brushes his teeth at least 4 times a day. We brush them for him every night but I guess he just likes feeling clean all day. A mama can't complain about that, especially since his favorite thing to eat is M&M's. We don't give him many, but man, does he love them. He runs over to the cabinet and reaches up to where they are and says "PUH PUH PUH". They make an awful mess and I find little colored fingerprints all over my walls if I let him go before realizing it's all over his hands. Luckily, it comes off with a wet paper towel.
He is talking more frequently these days, although not much of it is English. He still mostly baby jabbers. He can say a few things that we understand like "candy", "boobie" (means movie), "brush teeth", "outside", "Daddy", "Mama", "Kee" (Keegan), "milk", and animal sounds (moo, baa, etc). We're working on teaching him words but he isn't too interested so we're not pushing it. I am good with letting him be a baby for as long as he likes.
He still loves his paci and his blue doggie. My Aunt Anzie gave him a blue doggie blanket with his initials monogrammed on it and it is officially his comfort thing. If he is hurt or upset, we can plug his mouth with the paci and give him his blue doggie and he quiets down immediately. I love how he loves them. They are so comforting to him. The poor doggie is getting pretty thread-bare but he loves it all the same. Those two things are never far from him while he plays. Case in point:
He also enjoys bath time (still). He makes a wet mess in my bathroom but has such a blast. It's worth getting soaked just to listen to him cackle and watch him splash around. I love how he smells fresh out of the tub with his wet hair and in a fresh clean set of jammies. There's nothing like that sweet smell.
He is still sleeping in his crib in his room by himself. Little Keegan hasn't figured out how to sleep through the night yet, so we keep him in a crib in our closet at night so he doesn't wake Jeremiah up. I'm sure it will be a hard transition putting both boys in the same room and I'm not quite ready to tackle that yet.
Jeremiah loves to eat...always has, seems like he always will. He eats anything and everything that we eat. Some of his favorites are steak, cucumber, grapes, strawberries, pasta salad, teddy grahams, baby goldfish, eggs, green beans, and cheese. He prefers fruits and vegetables over meats and pastas. He can put away a plate of food like you wouldn't believe. I'm thankful he is such a good eater. I know many parents struggle with getting their kids to eat. We have always told him that he needs to eat what we eat, when we eat, and he has thus far complied. It helps that he has such a naturally good disposition. We love that little boy!
So much change in just one year:
J @ 6 months, 18 months
This boy is such a blessing to my life. He is everything I dreamed my little boy would be and more. I am so thankful to be his Mama!!! Happy 18-month birthday, Jeremiah!
With love,
Hannah Elise
Happy Half Birthday! Love, Lollee and Pops
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