Hank: 18 months!

Our sweet Hank is officially a year and a half old! He's closer to 2 than 1! He's a little man! His baby features are disappearing! He's a KID now! I say this with every single phase, but here it comes again: I love this age! Toddlerhood is whole different ball game from the other phases----the level of exhaustion is on par with those newborn days in my opinion but it's just so much fun. Language is developing (hearing your baby say Mama?! Highlight of my life!), preferences are made known, outings and activities are fun and interactive, and so much more. It's so crazy to think about how different Hank is this summer compared to last summer! Here's some deets for memories sake on 18 month old Hank.

Hank Eats: Hank has a cup of whole milk morning and night. Although he's not too interested in his night milk lately. He typically has breakfast around 8:00 and it's usually one of the following: Eggo waffle, Life Cereal, Cinnamon Raisin Bread, Peanut Butter Toast with banana slices. Lunch has been either before nap or right after. Hank enjoys: Dino nuggets, bananas, clementines, scrambled eggs, yogurt, green beans, Uncrustables, quesadillas, kidney beans, mac and cheese, blueberries, applesauce, avocado, and fruit cups. Sometimes when he's being picky (some days eggs are God's gift to the world and other days they go right over the side of his tray #toddlers), a gogurt, cheese slice, crackers and/or a baby food pouch are almost always hits. For dinner he usually has some form of what we're eating or some version of the lunch choices. For snacks he enjoys vanilla wafers, Goldfish crackers, fruit snacks, and Veggie Straws (but he leaves behind the green ones, lol).

Hanks Sleeps: Hank typically takes one nap a day now (two naps if he's super tired). He usually naps from about 10:00-12:00 or 12:00-2:00, it just sort of depends on what we're doing or if we're out and about. He can usually hang on until we are home. This past week we went to the zoo and he hung on until about 3:30 when he passed out in the car. Most days if we're home, he's ready for a nap by at least 11:00. He's been known to take a 4:00-5:00 nap if we've had a busy day walking or swimming. Hank goes to bed most nights between 7:30 and 8:00 and wakes up around 7:00. He has to have his pacis to sleep and most days there are about 5 in his crib! He's pretty good about leaving his pacis in his crib to use for sleeping only (Although I always have an emergency paci with me if need be). In the evenings, we watch about 30 minutes of a movie on the couch with his milk (we usually get through about 2 movies a week) and he goes to his crib drowsy but not asleep. When Hank's awake, he stands at his crib and makes noise to let his people know he's ready to roll! Haha.

Hank Plays: Three words come to mind when I think of Hank: On. The. Move. This boy is on the go and into everything. AJ and I joke that parenting a toddler really comes down to diving at things the baby shouldn't have. He has tons of toys but nothing seems to be quite as fun as: remotes, pots and pans, measuring cups, the trashcan....which we had to move to the guest bathroom with the door shut, cords, the broom, and rugs. Haha. I know parents of toddlers totally get this....especially BOYS. Hank does love books, bubbles, his water table, his bubble mower, Duplo blocks, his popper, and puzzles. And we all love a good park and splash pad too!

Hank Wears: Hank is wearing primarily 2T and 3T clothes now. I switched him recently to size 5 diapers and at night he wears TWO overnight diapers! He is wearing size 5 and 6 shoes. Most of his clothes are from Target, The Children's Place, Carters, Walmart, and Gap Kids. I think over half his wardrobe is Cat and Jack from Target.

Hank Loves:
-The "Ladybug Park"---This park has a little ride on ladybug and it's close enough to walk to it. When we approach it, Hank cheers and claps!
-Laying on his tummy to reads books. My mom does this so I think that's where he picked it up, but nothing makes my teacher/mama heart happy like seeing Hank on his belly looking at books on the floor.
-Cups with straws---I always get an extra ice water when I'm at Starbucks because Hank loves to drink from a straw! We recently got him a "crazy straw" cup and he loves it.
-Paw Patrol---We are very into "PaPa" around here and I never thought I'd know all the characters and the theme song by heart, yet here we are.
-Music--Hank loves to move and groove, he enjoys Kindermusic classes, and loves when daddy plays the guitar.
-Planes---Hank STILL loves to search the sky for planes and point out every one he sees. Living on the flight path has its advantages!
-Family--Hank adores his Grandparents, Uncle, and Aunt. He is super comfortable around family and we love that about him.

We adore this little man so much and can hardly believe he's been in our house and hearts for a year and half! We love you, Munchie! For more Hank highlights, click HERE

Savor Your Sparkle,
Leslie