fitz {month eighteen}

{This is the face that Fitz gave me when I said “smile!”}

{month eighteen} Between his new haircut and his baseball hat, Fitz looks SO much like a little boy. Where did my baby go? I can’t believe he’s eighteen months old.

Last month Fitz had his second haircut. It was SO long and getting into his eyes, and was long enough that I didn’t feel like I could do a good job by myself. He really needed someone who could use clippers (and actually knew what they were doing). So before Seattle lifted it’s public mask mandate, I took him in one morning, first appointment. Guys, he cried hysterically nearly the entire time. He HATED it. And when you cry during a haircut, the hair that is getting cut then sticks to your face and then that makes you cry even more. It was the saddest, saddest thing. But, we made it and it looks so good! He has two really obvious cowlicks (now that his hair isn’t longer and weighing it down) on the sides of his head, which makes for a great bedhead! Hopefully I can keep it trimmed for a bit so that we can delay having another haircut for a while.

Fitz is chatting up a storm these days and really trying to communicate all the time. He tries to repeat words and points if he doesn’t know how to say something. These are a few of his words at the moment: happy, cheese, doo doo (Baby Shark), No no (We Don’t Talk About Bruno), Teddy (the mailman), plane (boo), moo moo (music), walk, up, bike, hat, bay bay (band-aid), book, wa wa (water), ba ba (bottle), all done, BA! (bye – which he enthusiastically yells), baby, fff (dog), Papa, Mama, Daph, Eh Eh (Eloise). He doesn’t say Fitz (or Fitzgerald or self) yet, even though he responds to it when called and can show you a picture of himself. Fitz also signs: eat, all done, more, milk, bye-bye. Since he’s doing so well with learning words, we aren’t working on signs as much.

Fitz’s filler word is “boo” which can mean anything he doesn’t know how to say. So if he says “boo” you sometimes have to look at where he is, what he’s doing, or what he’s pointing at/seeing in order to know what he’s talking about.

The love of books in the Lower family runs deep (and is highly encouraged by me – a lifetime lover of books)! Fitz has joined the book club and LOVES books! He will bring one over and sit in your lap to read it, but will often spend time over with his book basket flipping through the pages on his own. There are a few favorites of his which mostly include pictures of real babies/kids along with Sandra Boynton (who writes super silly books). He points to pictures of animals and makes their sounds: cow, dog, cat, sometimes goat and pig.

Fitz is obsessed with faces and face parts. He will come up to you and point to your eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, and cheeks (while also saying them). And he also does this with pictures of animals or people, as well as stuffies or toys.

Since he was tiny, Fitz has slept with Gee the giraffe. This stuffie is SO well loved that if you saw it, you would think it was YEARS old! We’ve always put two other lovies in Fitz’s crib too, just so that he could find something else to snuggle with (since he moves around in his sleep SO much). One is a lovie with a little monkey attached and the other is a frog (which the girls picked out and gave to Fitz when he was born). In the past week or so, Fitz has been super into the monkey lovie who he now refers to as Boo Boo. And the frog is just called Frog – not quite as loved as Gee or Boo Boo. But Fitz asks for Boo Boo and Gee for each nap time and bed time. So that makes up his bedtime crew: Fitz, Boo Boo + Gee.

I have mentioned it before, but Fitz climbs on EVERYTHING! I cannot believe how good he is at climbing. He is constantly up on the dining room table, but now also spends time trying to (and successfully) climbing the bookshelf in the living room (which has glass shelves), the play kitchen, and the toy cabinet in the living room. He basically has to be watched at all times. He also was helping himself to anything and everything in the kitchen, so we put locks on most of the lower drawers (the ones with sharp things) which has helped. But, he learned how to open the pantry cabinet door (which we cannot easily put a lock on) and started helping himself to snacks throughout the day, so we decided to put a gate on the kitchen doorway. It stinks, if I am being honest, and everyone is counting the days until all of the gates can come down, but he seriously cannot keep himself out of trouble!

Fitz is also obsessed with taking walks. He wants to put his shoes on and be outside basically anytime. Aaron often takes him out in the morning around the block when I am taking Daphne to school. And now that it’s drier and warmer weather, I have been trying to get him out in the later morning, sometimes in the afternoon with the girls, and then we do an evening walk as a family after dinner (thanks to the time change). BUT we’ve discovered that even though he asks for a “walk” he really wants to be carried around the block. So we refer to it as an “Up.”

He got his first 2 year molar (finally) and still seems like he is teething (which for him is trying to shove as many fingers in his mouth at one time as he can). I took the kids to the dentist last week (all three all by myself!) and the dentist told me to expect the other three molars within 3 to 6 months. Oy!

{weight} 28 pounds; 33 inches long (90% for weight + 75% for height)
{hair} brown, but reddish in the light
{teeth} 12 teeth and 5 molars (+ working on his other 2 year molars)
{eyes} dark grey-green with light brown around his pupils (hazel)
{clothes} 18 month (jammies + pants), and 2T shirts + jammies
{diapers} size 5 in Abby & Finn + Honest Overnight diapers in size 5 for nighttime
{feeding} 4-5 oz sippy cup in the morning, 4 oz sippy cups with lunch, and 4-5 oz sippy cup with dinner. sometimes another small cup of milk right before bedtime (if he didn’t eat a lot). solids for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and 1 or 2 snacks.
{likes} balls, music + dancing, food, the dining room chairs, the slide, his water cup, chewing on everything, crawling + chasing toys, faces, head & face rubs, stretching, his sisters, his reflection, Gee his giraffe stuffie, bath time (but likes to stand).
{dislikes} being in his car seat, diaper changes, being stuck, getting his face wiped off after meals.