Tucker's 18 months Stats

We are already warning Harrison that his little brother may grown up to be bigger than him. And we throw in a reminder that he should be really nice to him now while he's little.

Length: 35" (98th percentile)
Weight: 26lbs 3 oz (55th percentile)
Head: 19.25" (79th percentile)

I know I am biased but this kids is seriously handsome! Watch out ladies!

About 2 weeks ago Tucker started saying his first real word. He said "Shoes." About five days later he said "go" meaning to go and leave the house. About five days later he said "mo" which translates to "remote" for the television. He had learned to mimic "hi" at some point but recently began to say it within context himself; he also formed hello by saying "hi-yo!" It's crazy cute, but he's hard to catch on camera

 By far his favorite word, which he has been using for months, is "uh-oh" which is a catch all for anything out of place. He will use it if something breaks or falls, but he will also use it when after he poops (very helpful) and when he needs help pulling two Legos apart.

He is still more aggressive than Harrison every was at this age, but he has learned to respond to our reminders to be gentle and calm his actions. However when he is mad and we aren't responding to him in a way he finds acceptable, he will push, hit and head butt you for attention (especially in your head or face if it is unfortunate enough to be nearby).

When he is not in an aggressive mood, Tucker is super sweet and an easy kid to take care of. When he's tired he will basically tell us he's ready for bed and he is happy to snuggle in with us, read a book or two, listen to couple songs and go straight to bed. This easy going bed time nature is such a relief; Harrison would require three books and truck load of songs along with rocking in our arms until he was on the ledge of sleep... and even then he might get upset when you put him in his crib and you would have to start the singing and rocking again - it was so tiring!

Tucker recently learned to put large Legos together so every day I sit and build with him or he will build by himself. He also enjoys the train set and our animal toys. He doesn't make any animal noises yet, except for "Hoo hoo" which only refers to his owl lovey and "woof woof" which almost only refers to his doggy lovey. But if we look at books and we ask him to point out a specific animal or object he can do it. I've probably mentioned this before but I'll say it again, Tucker (like his brother) loves books, really loves looking at them and having us read to him. This makes me so happy to have two avid readers.

Tucker also takes classes at The Little Gym with me and he has gotten great at climbing on all sorts of things and safely getting down. I was so proud of him recently he learned to walk up an inclined balance beam by holding on to rails on either side of him. Previously this had been a challenge, he would always lose footing, refuse to hold the rails and we would quickly give up. After two runs with a teacher he and I did it over and over until he mastered it and smiled every time.

Which leads me to "focus." Tucker has always been a focused kids. With younger kids, it is common to take away an object they can't have (like a marble) and quickly replace it with another toy. Small children will take the distraction toy because once out of sight the marble is out of mind, they literally think it has disappeared and don't understand that it is just covered by your hand. This rarely ever worked with Tucker, he always seemed to remember the taken object and either continue to cry for it or try to look for it.

This has now morphed into a laser like focus, such as with the beam. He was interested in it and he decided to do it over and over again until he got better at it. This also happened with a small rock-like climbing wall at the gym this week, he was a little awkward on it at first and slipped a few times but on his own he did it over and over until he was going up and down that thing like you wouldn't believe! Although it can occasionally be hard to deal with, we think this is going to be an essential personality trait in him as he grows. Hopefully this will help him in school and almost certainly to help him attain whatever goals he sets for himself.