18 Months-ish

So, I am a little late on this one! Luke and Madison turned 18 months on October 30! They did not go to the doctor for their 18 month appointment until November 17th so I wanted to wait until I got their stats to post....and a week later here it is :) That should explain where we are now! Busy! These kids have found their legs and know how to use them!! I want to write a lot for my own records so if you just want to see pictures (which is fine!) then scroll down :)

Luke

Weight: 24.88 pounds to be exact (36th percentile)

Height: 32.75 inches (65th percentile)

Head Circumference: 20 inches (99th percentile)

*Luke is talking SO much now! He says a lot of 2 word combinations and a couple 3 word combinations. I can ask him to say words and most words he will try! He loves to say "Bess ew Mama" (bless you Mama), "Bye Bye ____", and "ice wawa" (ice water). He also says Madison, mommy, daddy, papa, Austin, Josh, Mrs. Sarah, Nana, Ryan, Angie, Sadie, passy, cheese, door, ride, walk, yoyo (yogurt), side (slide), ball, "ba" (back), knock knock knock, more, amen, "bess it" (bless it...before we eat), Elmo (who he now loves and he has only watched the show one time), dog, hat, sock, shoes, elbow, moon, "side" (outside), baby, please, and a lot more but I just can't think of them right now. The other morning I told him that he and Madison were being good helpers getting daddy his shoes and he said "helper". It was really sweet. So, all of that to say he is talking A LOT!!!!! The one thing I really want him to say is his own name but I have not heard it yet.

*Luke is so loving! He still loves to hug and give and blow kisses.

*He has a mouth full of teeth! I think they are all almost in...well except his 2 year molars.

*He loves to look through books and point to all the things he knows.

*He is not our great eater. I would say he is a our meat and potatoes boy. He does loves raisins, applesauce, yogurt and sweet potatoes! He is doing really well eating with a fork and spoon.

*He has a puppy pillow he loves to sleep on now!! A teacher I taught with at Concrete, Amy Love, and her daughter Emma Jamison (who I taught) brought Luke and Madison these adorable puppies to the hospital when they were born. They have been in their cribs since their first day home and they are still there! Now they have become pillows. Luke also loves to sleep with a little puppy he holds.

*He loves for you to hold his finger and walk around. He says "walk" about 100 times a day right now. He is a great walker on his own but I guess he just likes the company :)

*He loves to wrestle with Madison in her crib. He will sit on her back and say "Ride Madison" and bounce on her back. Let me just say that she LOVES it! She laughs and laughs. Guess who taught him that? His favorite place to be is on Daddy's back! Jonathan will do push-ups with them on his back and they love it!

*He loves to build with blocks and cups and he tries to figure things out (like his engineer dad)!

*He often reminds us to "bess it" when we are about to eat. He will fold his hands and try to close his eyes! Often in the middle of the meal he will say "bess it" again so we will stop and pray for someone or something else (most of the time his cousin, Austin).

Madison

Weight: 24.5 pounds (54th percentile and only .3 pounds away from Luke)

Height: 31.75 inches (81st percentile and the EXACT same height as Luke. The girl measured twice because she couldn't believe it)

Head Circumference: 18.7 inches (77th percentile and 2 inches smaller than Luke)

*Madison is Miss Personality! She is so funny and keeps us laughing. Luke is so laid back and Madison is right there with you! She wants to be around people and be close.

*She is talking a good bit now too. Not as much as Luke but she still says a lot. She likes to say mommy, daddy, papa, Ryan, Austin, Nana, Madison, cheese, "ba" (back), ball, door, "peas" (please), passy, more, shoes, baby, knock knock knock, dog, and her favorite word right now....no. I was comforted when I saw "May respond with NO constantly" on the list of Emotional and Behavioral Development! We are working on turning that no into "No ma'am".

*She is FAST! She loves to run and be chased by us! She laughs and laughs. She likes to be scared too which is funny. We will hide behind doors and jump out at her and she thinks that is great!!

*She love to eat any kind of fruit and vegetable! I have never seen a little girl eat so much! I think she would be content with fruit for breakfast! She loves to eat strawberries, blueberries, bananas and grapes! She also loves peas, corn, and green beans.

*She loves to pretend now. She will cover her dolls up for a nap or give them a bottle. She loves to move things. I will come in the playroom and she will have emptied everything out of a basket one by one onto the chair...just one big pile.

*She love to climb and stand on things!

*She loves to put fake lipstick on herself, me, and sometimes Luke (don't tell daddy!)

*She LOVES her passy! We have limited it to only nap time and bedtime. I am wondering if Santa may come get it for Christmas this year?!?!

*She is a busy body! I really don't think she stops! The funny thing is that she is 90 miles per hour until she goes to sleep and then she sleeps like a rock! They are down to one nap now! Luke usually takes 1 1/2 hour nap and Madison has slept for 3 hours a couple of days! The girl can sleep!

*A sweet thing that happend this past week...We were going to play outside one afternoon. We keep most of our play toys in the garage so we went out the garage door, got our toys, and started to walk around to the back yard. Madison was right there with me and we looked back and Luke was just taking his time. I said, "Come on Luke." Madison just stood back and looked at him then she took this cute deep breath and walked back to Luke and held her hand out for him to grab. He took her hand and she helped pull him along. It was SO cute and funny. It melted my heart!

So, I know I will post this and then think of 100 other things I wanted to share or other words they are saying but that is the great thing about kids! They amaze you every day with everything they do. I can't express in words how much we love these two! At night after we have had dinner, chased them around the house, read books, sang songs, said our prayers, and laid them down Jonathan and I walk out of their room and just smile and stand in awe of God's goodness.

Here are some other pictures...

This is how I found Luke after a nap the other day...shirtless! How did he do that?? It was the first time he has taken his shirt off but I am sure it won't be the last!

Yes, this is one of those moments when I should be saying "No, Luke! Get down" but instead I grab the camera....go figure :)

Lot of kisses!

We went over to my sister's one night and ordered pizza. Luke and Madison had a blast playing outside with some of Austin's old toys!

John Deer baby!

Madison in a big girl swing for the first time! She did great! She held on tight and loved it!

Playing the piano!! I love this picture! They were playing some hymns :)

I see you Madison!

Happy 18 months Luke and Madison!! I can't believe you are a year and a half! You are both so much fun! You keep us on our toes!

As Thanksgiving comes tomorrow we know we have so much to be thankful for!

Happy Turkey :)