18 months... Woah

I can hardly believe that my baby is 18 months old! It really has flown by! Judah is the sweetest, funniest, most ornery little guy! He is full of love and shows it! He is also full of spunk and does everything on his own terms, which is extremely frustrating sometimes! He has a passion for dogs, despite the fact that his dad and I really aren't fans, and will befriend every dog at the park. He has several toy dogs and usually has one in tow wherever we go! He kisses them, and all of his other animal friends, multiple times a day and loves to bark at the neighbor dogs! Carlos, his monkey friend is another best pal! Since he is bigger than Jude he is very good to plop down and snuggle on! He is naming (and kissing) family in photographs on the wall, and I think he might say his brother's name, which he calls yigh yigh, about a thousand times a day! Speaking of Riley, he is just such a wonderful and caring big brother and truly is amazing with Judah.
Jude is regularly saying about 15-20 words now and is learning more everyday! It is SO exciting to see him learn and put things together! I am such a proud mama!
He is really into mimicking and loves to fake cough, sneeze, and burp (he kills me!) and even covers his mouth during these fake symptoms!
Jude has a pretty short attention span and does rarely has time to sit. He is on the move constantly and he wears me out just watching him! He is quite the dare devil and pushes himself to try new dangerous things daily. I have finally accepted that I gave birth to the next evil knievel and have learned to let loose a little. I still fear a trip to the ER for a broken limb though!
Judah loves to eat and try new foods., on his terms of course, and usually off of someone else's plate! Why does that make food so much better? At the table we can usually count on about 10 good minutes that he will join us. After that he wants down to run around and take the occasional bite from daddy. When we go out to eat we can count on a little bit longer, but not the whole meal. I am hoping this gets better in time. Jude's new food love is pickles! Every time we open the refrigerator he pulls out the pickle jar and insists on one... Even at 7am! Weirdo! He loves to snack, and while I am trying to cut back on constant snacking it is also a sanity saver sometimes so I just go with it! Fruits are his all time favorite and I usually have to hide veggies, but sometimes he cooperates and eats them!
These days Jude's sleeping is all over the place. He was sleeping very good for the longest time, but recently we have been dealing with wake ups and night terror type things, which I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy! Talk about scary stuff! He hasn't had one in about a week so I am hoping we are done with them! Somedays he wakes up at 5:45 and some days 7:30. He still takes 2 hour and a half naps each day and goes to bed around 8. This sleep thing is ever changing though so I try to just go with it.
Jude has all of his teeth except for 2 bottom molars. I can not wait for teething to be done! He loves to brush his teeth and just got a new Elmo toothbrush!
My dearest son has a passion for being naked an acts like wearing clothes is the worst thing in the world. He can often be found running around naked with shoes on! Again, a weirdo! He gets pretty ticked that i don't allow him to go out on the balcony naked anymore so that usually turns into quite the dramatic scene. The boy loves to be outside!
Speaking of tantrums, yep, we've got 'em! I keep reminding myself that every toddler has them and they too shall pass! I can not wait until he can communicate what he wants!
Jude could care less if the tv is on but the boy loves to watch Elmo clips on YouTube! We like to snuggle up a few times a day and watch our favorites, and I have to admit that I love this because he is so busy most of the time that I enjoy the moments that he just lays still with me!
I could probably go on and on, as any parent could, but I'll stop now! It is just amazing being a parent! And very hard too! I am so in love with this 24 pound spitfire! I am so lucky to be this smart, adorable, crazy boy's mama! We just have so much fun together!!

Precious Moments

All too soon my boy will be too big to want to snuggle with his mama! I'm soaking it up as much as he'll let me! My cup runneth over!

Big walks

Jude and I love to go on walks together! Lately he prefers to go on foot instead of riding in the stroller, wagon, or carrier. We start by leaving the house then stopping by the neighbors to bark back at the dogs! He LOVES dogs! Then he likes to lead the way to our destination, which is either the park, community garden, or library. It's so crazy how he just knows the way to where he wants to go! Smart little cookie! He always has to pick something during the walk to carry around! A stick, rock, or woodchip usually and then it stays securely clutched in his palm until we return home! We are going to miss these walks when it gets too cold to go out!