Bailey's Christmas Tap

18 Month Old Jaemus

Jaemus Lee is 18 months with a new hair cut! Brandon took the clippers to the boy for a solid haircut. We have been keeping it long and stylish but it was too much upkeep. His hair grows ridiculously fast and is always in his eyes, and the thickness of it always make his head sweat. He is all animal.

Before

After

Cha-chi or Chach-man, as he is often called by Bailey, and now us, is full of personality and joy. He is easily entertained and quick to laugh and smile. The whole 'listening to your parents' thing is ignored by him with these sneaky little smiles, quick running, and laughing squeals. Seriously, really difficult to scold or punish such a sweet boy. He understand really well and is able to communicate pretty clearly, so we know this is all an act. I am often saying in a stern tone, "Jaemus Lee, please get down from there, " or "please don't touch that." And then comes the sneaky little ways of his and it melts my heart. I have to keep from laughing to follow through. He is good about cleaning up toys, putting his sippy cups in the sink, and throwing trash away- but sometimes not just trash. =)

He continues to be a squirrelly sleeper. On a normal night he rises early about 6:15a and on a more difficult night he will wake up in the middle of the night and then still rise at 6am! He just gave me a week of this. The best he slept was when we were having our driveway re-done and they began jack-hammering super early and he would sleep until like 7:30am!! I need a jack-hammer noise machine.

He has a nice bedtime routine though. He loves bedtime and is often the one taking me to his room and begins pushing the rocking chair. He snuggles with me while taking a bottle on the rocking chair then points to his crib. I place him down and he goes "mmm..mmm" as I crab his taggie blankie, and dog that plays "rock-a-bye baby" with glowing cheeks. Then he points to his airplane mobile and I push it so it turns for him. He falls asleep making little talking noises and playing his doggie toy over and over next to his face. Sweet boy.

Jaemus' personal preferences are clear. He loves Barney, guitars, balloons, balls, trash trucks, fire trucks, cats and dogs, meat, climbing everything, and wrestling me. He calls a guitar "aduur." He has a toy one that he carries around the house and the second Brandon gets home he is desperately yelling "aduur" and pointing to Brandon's guitar until he plays it. He plays the piano and drums often, but his guitar is nearly always by his side.

This is his new camera smile. A nice big scrunched-up face.

I get at least an hour of Jaemus time a day in the mornings. Bailey being a night owl and a late morning waker, and Jaemus my early to bed, early to rise guy. He is my alarm clock and our mornings consist of pj's, stories, coffee, and a shared banana. We read the same books currently every morning. He enjoys, "Puppy's Count", "10 Little Lady Bugs", "Spot" books, and recently, "Frosty the Snowman" has been added in. Yes, we read about 5-6 books every morning. I have come to love my early mornings with Jaemus. On weekends we often take early walks since Brandon is home. We snuggle up, I put him in the jogger, and we enjoy the early morning smells, crisp air, the birds, and talk about all we see. And sometimes come back with a starbucks.

18 months is one of my favorite kid ages, and I think, begins the real fun. Babies are great, but something about toddlers is pure joy for me. Bailey at 3 1/2 and Jaemus at 18 mos. bring me days full of smiles, cuddles, laughter, and manageable hang-ups. I love all the family affection and watching Bailey and Jaemus play and love each other is the best sight for Brandon and I. We often say that we recognize right now is the time of our lives.

Bailey still prefers the choke-hold