18 Months

I am a little late in getting this written, but I still wanted to get my thoughts down on our precious toddler before it escaped my memory.  Wow, how Beckett has changed these past few months.  We have fallen in love with his personality, his cuddles and loves, and his determination and strong will.  I forgot how much I love this stage, when they are learning new things daily, pushing their boundaries, and trying out all kinds of crazy stunts.  Here are some of the things that have our Beckett boy has been up too.

• Size. . . 
• He has all his teeth but the last four molars.  It has been nice that they came in when he is so young because we have gone a good long stretch without teething pain.  He still seems to love to put things in his mouth though!  We have been working pretty diligently to teach him that toys and other objects don't go in his mouth.  In the past month, I have finally started to see some improvement.
• Beckett is soooo active.  His favorite activity of all time is climbing.  He can climb to the top of our counter height table, onto every piece of furniture we own, and even onto uneven and unsteady objects like his kitchen set and tool bench.  Yes, we have found him standing on them more than once.  Yikes!!!  
• In addition to being an over-zealous climber, this boy is fearless!!!!  Not only do we find him on heights that make me nervous, he will walk right up to the edge, then without even blinking, he will jump or free fall off and hope we catch him.  Oh that child!  He has even jumped a few times when I wasn't expecting him.  As a result, I am nursing a sore shoulder.
• He also thinks he can do anything his brother can do.  Such as running down the small slide in the basement, riding Owen's Strider bike, and drinking out of a big boy cup.  The list could go on and on. I it is hard to communicate with him that he just isn't quite big enough yet.  Instead, we have tried to find ways to help him accomplish his goals.  
• He is talking!!!! When Beckett turned a year, his slower speech development was on our radar.  He had a few words, but not really many.  As a result, we were entertaining the idea of speech therapy.  However, just around 14 - 15 months, Beckett's speech started to take off.  He quickly went from a short list of four words to 40.  He all of a sudden started mimicking and trying out new words almost daily.  He even has a few two-word phrases now, "luv you", "go downstairs", "that's mine".  It makes me smile hearing him talk, and I just love the way he says many of his words.  
• Beckett loves his cousin Addie May.  Oh my goodness, it is adorable.  He is constantly saying her name, and whenever she comes to visit, he goes absolutely crazy from the minute he sees her car.  He screeches so loudly that it makes her cry every single time!  Then he showers her with kisses and hugs and follows the person around that is holding her until he has had a turn.  He will stay playing with her as long as she allows, and fortunately she is pretty tolerant of him.  Oh how I hope these two stay the best of friends.
• When Beckett desires to give you hugs and kisses, it is the most precious wonderful thing ever.  He is not nearly as cuddly as Owen was, but when he wants to snuggle, oh my gosh, melt my heart.  He will just grab hold and give you the biggest bear hug and then pat your back.  So Cute!  He also gives the sweetest kisses.  He puckers up real big and makes an hmm sound.  
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