Druffels: 18 months old

Edison had his 18-month check up last week. He is technically 19 months old now, but we were so busy in December that we just couldn't find time for his appointment. He weighs 30 pounds 10 ounces (93rd percentile) and is 36 inches tall (100++ percentile). I've heard to double a child's height at age 2 to predict how tall they will be as an adult. It looks like Edison is on track to be as tall as his dad, who is 6'4".

When the pediatrician walked into the exam room, Edison greeted her with a big "Hi Doctor!" She was pretty impressed. Apparently his development would be considered normal if he was saying 6 words. Edison has an impressive vocabulary for his age - I'm guessing more than 100 words. When he gets really excited, he will even come up with whole sentences. The best one so far was when his grandma gave him a toy cow and he excitedly told me "Mommy, I have a new moo!" We are working on shapes and colors now, in addition to counting (he can get to three).

We still aren't sleeping through the night. My big trip threw him off for a few weeks, then Christmas threw him off for a couple more, and then he got a bad cold. I have given up hope of ever getting a full night of sleep again.

Edison's eye has also been a bit of a struggle lately. When we went to his ophthalmologist and surgeon appointments last September, they were discouraged that his eyelid was already starting to sag. He was apparently giving up using that eye because it was so much more work than the other one. Since we can't keep a patch on our wiggly toddler, they prescribed us some special eye drops. Once a week we have to put a drop in the good eye to dilate it and blur his vision, forcing him to use the weak eye. The first couple weeks were rough as he adjusted. We went back for another round of appointments in early January and his eyelid is back to the height they want it to be. We are still doing the drops until they're sure the results will be permanent.

The only other thing to note is that Edison is absolutely obsessed with vacuums. "Datduum" the first word he says every morning. At least once a week he wakes up in the middle of the night saying it. He is constantly trying to get into the closet where we store it. We have become very creative with excuses for why he can't play with it. Mostly, it's tired and has to go to bed. Sometimes we hide it and tell him it went to the shop to get fixed. The toy vacuum he got for Christmas has been a life saver. Now when he wants to play with the vacuum we tell him he can play with his, which actually works about half the time. He is very proud of having his own vacuum and shows it to everyone who comes to the house. It's strange, but funny at the same time.

Here are some of my favorite pictures that I haven't already blogged.

So handsome