18 months!!!!!!

Pax turned 18 months on February 26th. I can not believe my little one is now a year and a half! He's growing up. *sigh* And as he gets a little older and a little bigger, he becomes a alot funnier and alot smarter. We are communicating so much these days, which is fun and also helpful! It makes me smile when he really understands what I'm telling him or asking him and he can respond correctly. He answers yes (yesh) and no to lots of questions. He also likes to shake his head to answer me at times. And I'm not sure why, but every single thing this boy does, I tend to think it's the cutest thing in the world. If I ask him if he needs to go to time-out for misbeahving and he shakes his head no, I have to turn my head so he doesn't see my grin. I just think everything he does is funny and cute. That's probably not a great thing for me, but I can't help myself. Look at this face.
I find him pretty irresistable. Pax loves to give kisses and say "mmmmwah" during the kiss. He loves to give hugs. And if you are patting his back during the hug then he will surely pat your back too. That's one of my favorite things. He loves to cuddle when he wakes in the morning or after a nap. I pick him up from his crib and he normally lays his head on my shoulder. He loves to play outside. He loves to watch TV, which is still a rarity around here. He loves books more than anything. I'm convinced that he would let me read to him 3 hours straight and never leave my lap. I'm serious. Sometimes after 8ish books I say "No more. Go play." And you know what he does. He cries. Because that's just how our little Pax responds to the word "no". It's normally tears with a big dramatic wail as if we've completely and utterly broken his little heart. For those that tell me he's laid back . . .well, they haven't seen this side. And another response we are starting to get is chunking a toy. That's the response if he's feeling a bit on the sassy side. And yes, he learned that from his sweet older brother. If we tell Pax "no" and he's feeling sassy, he picks up the nearest item and chunks it towards the ground. Oh he tries to be sassy, but I'm pretty positive he's just a softy deep inside.Pax is getting to be a busy boy. Probably not as busy as Holden was at this age, but he does a great job to keep me on my toes. And the 2 of them together . . . well, they normally out-do me. But Pax is constantly into the dishwasher and the fridge water dispenser. He can stand on his little tip toes and reach lots of things that I'm not ready for him to reach. :)
Yesterday I took Pax to the doctor for his 18 month check-up. Dr. D said he was the "epitome of health"! He is now 26lbs 3oz (54%). Which is only 1 ounce less than Holden was at this age! And he is 33 inches long (70%). Pax is a full 2 inches shorter than Holden was at this age, but still a good sized boy. And that big-o-head is in the 81%. Pax has a mouth full of teeth. He is in the process of cutting his 2 bottom eye teeth. After those, we should be done with teething for a while.
We are starting to move out of this baby stage for a bit. And I am really enjoying this time for our family. For the first time in 2.5 years, we don't have a high chair in our kitchen. We just moved Pax to a booster and he loves it. And I really like having the 4 of us around the table together. Don't worry. I'm positive that high chair will reappear in our future. But for now, I'm loving this family of 4!Here are some recent pictures of our super star. I love this boy so much! And daily I am thankful that God gave us such a gift! It's incredible.