18 months

Our little man turned 18 months yesterday. This age is my favorite so far and I have to admit, he has mellowed out a lot. I am to the point where I don't feel like I was 'blessed' with a crazy, out of control child. He is just a typical toddler, who loves to explore, get into things, make a mess, wake up reeeeaaaally early, avoids sleep when possible, talks my ear off, tantrums, etc. I'm not kidding though, we love this little boy so much. I want him to stay this age forever! For the record, here are some things T has been up to;

• New words: jejews=shoes. aball=ball. abaa=bus. baabaa=bottle.
• We finally have our sleep routine worked out with Tristan, and C and I actually feel like we are back to getting sleep these days. Our sleep routine isn't the best, but it's working. Car seat naps are still the only way to go in the day time. He's an amazing transferrer. Seriously, he is out cold when I carry him up from the car. Bed time is still a little frustrating for us, but at least he's sleeping in his bed. We have to lay with him in his bed until he falls asleep, sometimes for an hour. He wiggles, tosses and turns fooooorrrreeevvvver, until he is finally comfortable and falls asleep. Whatever, it works.
• He says his prayers with us before bed. All we say is, "it's time to say our prayers", and he sits in the middle of his rug and folds his arms. It's really cute. Then he repeats after us (jibbering).
• He's really into cars and pushing them along items in our house. He says "beep beep" as he pushes them. His dad taught him that.
• He does lobster claws with his hands and he honks his nose when I say "honk honk".

Tristan visits with his friend Willa. She's a dog that lives down the street from us. So sweet and loving.

Enjoying some swim time with his dad. He didn't want to get out of the water on this day. It was perfect.

Crazy Tristan, hopping up and down on mama's back. (mistaking her for a beached whale?)

Tristan still loves being swaddled, just like when he was a baby.

Tristan waits patiently for his next job. He loves being hands-on in the kitchen, which is kind of annoying now. Everything just gets messy and crazy. In fact, this batch of cookies didn't turn out so great. He likes to stick the measuring cup in and scoop ingredients out, and put others in. It's hard to control, but he thinks that he's helping so it's cute.

Watching the fireworks in his dad's lap. (notice the premature stache growing).

Tristan takes some time to pick out his halloween costume this year.