Idris at 18 months

My lovely boy is 18 months old today and he brings us so much joy and laughter. With the knowledge and experience that I have gained over the last 7 1/2 years I feel that I am a much better parent now and am more relaxed and confident with him than I was with my girls. Here is a quick round up of where he is at now:

• He has suddenly found a handful of new words that he uses lots - coa(t), (h)at, boo(ts), ban(ana), booj (orange), Duh (daddy), E(v)e, aich (Faith), (s)poo(n), s(w)eetees, cho(colate) - the joys of a third child exploding in words just after a Christmas time peppered with sweet treats! - note no word for Mummy yet but as he's with me pretty much all the time ha has no need for a word for me!
• He recognises loved ones in photograph and will point to them in the room and to the picture.
• He points out when people and pictures have the same as him such as a hat/coat/boots on.
• He is beginning to explore body parts and will touch hands, feet, nose, eyes and sometimes mouth on himself, others and pictures in books.
• He is beginning to enjoy books now just this last week or so, we sit with a book or two first thing in the morning when he has a piece of fruit and talk about the pictures. I appreciate the abundance of picture books with real photographs in which are much nicer than drawings and weren't easily available when Eve was his age.
• He loves to sit up at the table in his high wooden chair, he doesn't need the straps now and gets up and down (and on and off the table!) as he pleases but is very good at sitting with us during meals.
• He's very possessive of his own things such as his chair and gets very cross if the girls sit on it!
• He likes order - everyone has to put their soup spoon in the bowl rather than down next to it for example or he nags that person until they comply - or walks across the table to do it for them!! He loves his routines of what we do in the morning, how we get ready to go out, what happens at bed time and so on.
• He has begun to play with toys a little - this week he has twice got down when he was full and fetched a truck back to the table and sat playing whilst we finished.
• He loves to help do jobs and tidy up - the dish washer, laundry, sweeping. He likes to sit on the counter next to me when I cook and has a pallet knife to pretend chop vegetables. He will put them in the pan for me once chopped! He will shut and open the door when we ask and sends the dog on her mat!
• He likes to play teasing games of 'where has it gone?' where he hides something and grins at us as we make a big pantomime of looking for the object up our sleeves, under the table, in a book etc. It absolutely delights him and he even plays along looking in the place and then shaking his head before producing the object with a huge grin on his face!!
• Oh, and he can be a real scamp too!