Charlie at 18 Months

18 months worth of Charlie looks like this:

I tried to get a better picture, but 18 months worth of Charlie also moves pretty quickly, and is usually talking. :) But here's another.

He is 24lbs 9oz, and to be honest, I can't remember how tall he measured in at. But suffice it to say he is in about the 75% for height, and 25% for weight, a little string bean like many Walton boys before him.

He goes by Charlie, Charles, Barles, Charlito, Barlito, Charlie Barley, and sometimes just "you sneaky one" or "NO SIR!". Gracie also calls him Sugar Buster on occasion--we've never figured out why, but we love it.

Charlie is starting to seem more little boy than baby. He walks, runs, and falls off of things (one day last week he took a header off of a kitchen chair twice). He goes down the slide on his own (on his tummy, as you see) without any fear. Like his sister he is very verbal and says over 80 words (that I can think of; it is probably closer to 100), when he is only required to know 3-4 for his age milestones. And if he is quiet, we know that he is most definitely up to something (as I wrote that I went to check on a suspicious quietness--and he was halfway out the front door, making his escape).

He thought it was pretty funny to just flop back into the sand and laze around.

He does not like to take naps (he lets us know by shrieking when we lay him down) but is a good sleeper, with one nap from 1-3:30 in the afternoon, and a 7-7 sleep at night time. He does like being cuddled before naps, though, and will lay his head on your shoulder, especially if you have a tay-tet (blanket). He doesn't like being buckled in to anything, being told no, or having to sit down in chairs. He doesn't like going to sleep in the car, but the musical stylings of Mr. Michael Buble still knock him out like they did when he was a teeny thing--Buble is our secret weapon on long road trips and in shared hotel rooms.

If he had his way, he would live on graham crackers, milk, watermelon, and bananas, with the occasional round of chicken nuggets thrown in. He also loves strawberries, and, as I discovered the other day when he insisted on sharing mine, chocolate cupcakes. Also any salty meat, like bacon and beef. Such a man.

Helping himself to my cupcake...

He will also eat mac and cheese, but only at Ikea as far as we know.

Swedish-looking baby eating mac at Sweden's best export, Ikea.

His favorite things in the world right now are buttons. He is infatuated with them. He is constantly showing me buttons. If he sees an elevator, he will reach longingly for it. When he gets our car keys he can spend ages setting and unsetting the alarm (I'm sure our neighbors love all the honking). The same morning that he fell off the chair twice, he locked himself in the bathroom, because he closed the door and then found a "button!" on the doorknob. That's what he told me when I broke in through the back door and rescued him. Just pointed to the knob and exclaimed, "Button!!!!" In other words, How could I resist locking myself in?!

Just cute.

He loves the ABCs, and will sing "ABCD" at us until we sing the rest. He has just reached the age where he will follow you around with a book until you sit down, and then back up right into your lap for reading time. His favorites are "Hubbo!" ("Hippo" meaning any book by Sandra Boynton, but especially those with hippos in them) and "Op Ah Op???" (Hop on Pop, always said as a question), for which he provide the last word of many of the pages, and in which he likes to admire the bananas that Brown and Black eat for a snack. He loves to talk to Daddy on the phone or the computer, and, since the computer has buttons, he loves to touch that even though he isn't allowed to (recently during another suspicious silence, he managed to rename my hard drive. I don't remember what it was before, but he thought "p" was sufficient. He's a minimalist at heart.)


He loves anything his sister loves, like markers to draw with or figurines to act things out. He likes to push around the doll stroller and ride on his Tonka truck. He will respond to your open arms by running right into them--or, more often, by running past you laughing hysterically. He is a great little engineer, and has recently been seen stacking ketchup bottles at restaurants and putting together play train tracks without any help. He also learned to unscrew bottle lids at a shockingly young age.


He is a little shy of new things, like wading in cool water or playing in sand, but if you let him cry for a few minutes he will get over it and have a ball. I respond to change pretty similarly, so he came by that honestly. ;) Once he has overcome his fear of things, like sand, he can do amazing things, like this excellent Downward Facing Dog yoga pose.

Yogi in training.

This boy-o goes a mile a minute, and we love him to pieces. He was extraordinary when he was born (10lbs 1oz, remember!?) and he has continued to impress and amaze us the more he has grown. We are so lucky to have this little Sugar Buster! Love you baby boy!