Kitchen Helper 3

Luke licking the bowl after my yearly batch of peppermint bark. 

He now knows a new word: chocolate!

I Heart Amazon

What other wonderful faceless mega-corporation would send such an enormous box? 

*And thank you Wheelers for what was inside this enormous box. Luke loves it!*

O Toddler Tannenbaum

Luke really enjoyed decorating our tree this year. He had very strong opinions about where the ornaments should go and hoarded most of them, keeping them away from his dad. 

Unfortunately, we had to pull the plug when he started throwing them. The result:

A toddler-proof tree--must be four feet tall to decorate. 

18 Months

This month Baba (my mom) came to visit, thank goodness, because Luke has decided to officially start seriously and deliberately testing boundaries. Complete with little smirks of defiance and sideways glances to make sure he has an audience.

For example: after being told not to bang a metal spoon on the wall and having it taken away when he continued, he rummaged around in the silverware drawer, pulled out an enormous metal cooking spoon, and with a grin and a pointed look resumed his banging. 

And thank goodness for nursery. One of our last weeks in Relief Society he managed to escape three times, hot on the heels of mothers going out to change diapers.

Had to throw this one in there cause it was just so cute--uncle Dallin came to visit for a few days, too!

He has also made some decisions about the way things should be done around here, and must now have his water bottle, all of his blankets (there are three), and all of the stuffed animals he sleeps with (five of those) while he is sung to during bedtime routine. He has begun pitching fits while having his diaper changed and throwing tantrums in public places--I was surprised at how quickly I got over being embarassed about those.

Don't get me wrong, though, it's not all bad. He is still a very loving boy, who will give hugs and kisses randomly and is always happy to throw balls or run around outside. I have finally gotten him to like slides (swings are still iffy) and he still yells "dada!" when Ken walks in the door. He has also seriously chunked up over the past few weeks, assumedly in preparation for a growth spurt. 

But if anyone has any sage advice, I'm all ears. Hopefully this is as bad as it gets. Right?

Right?

A Boy and His Socks

Remember how Luke never likes to play with his own toys? Here is what he does like to play with: