I have an 18 month old? How did that happen?

I can't believe James is 18 months already! The past year and a half have been exhausting but so much fun. James is such a social little creature. He constantly talks about his family members and when any of us are in the room he says, "hi _____" every few minutes, just to make sure you're still there and paying attention to him.

Here are some things I want to remember about James at this age:

* His speech continues to amaze me. The past few weeks he has started getting more brave and tries to say just about anything you ask him to say. Some new words he started saying this month are: "train, bean, raisin, come, you're welcome". He also added a "y" to some words he already knows. So, now "stuck" is "stucky" and "rocket" is "rocky". I don't know why he saw the need to change those words but it's funny.

* Although he is still fairly picky, we have been successful in getting James to eat a wider variety of foods over the past few weeks. He even ate some raw broccoli yesterday!

* We have to remember that he is always listening and learning even when it appears that he is focused on something else. The other day I was singing the alphabet song and he joined in with me at certain points of the song. I had no idea he knew that song! I was also counting and after I got to eight he said, "nine ten". I was shocked that he knew his numbers that high!

* His favorite playtime toys continue to be trains and anything having to do with Elmo. He is getting addicted to watching TV in various forms. He likes DVDs like Elmo and "songs" which is a nursery rhyme DVD. He also likes to watch videos of himself on the iPhones. On the laptop, he enjoys watching youtube videos of "Choo Choo Soul", Elmo and trains.

* Because James is so active, we try to get him outside at least once a day. He knows where all the parks are around our house and every time we drive by one he yells, "swing swing!".