The Houk Family: Owen and Emmaline at 18 Months

Owen and Emmaline turned 18 months a few weeks ago, and we celebrated with...a trip to the pediatrician! With shots! Yippee! :)

I am happy to report that, despite Owen's run of ear infections lately, our doctor has decided to wait until 21 months to determine if he needs tubes for his ears. His speech is right on track (typically a concern for kids with chronic ear infections) and we are keeping both kids' recent "snot situation" under control with a nasal inhaler, and it has worked wonders! I haven't seen them this happy in a couple of months. We were told they both suffer from mild allergies. So, between the inhaler and the humidifier running during night and nap time, we will see!

Owen still has a passion for letters and numbers, and it started months ago with their puzzles. He doesn't recognize and say most of them, but the puzzles are usually the first thing he goes for in the morning. He has also started singing his ABCs, so cute! We can't make out most letters, but he sings the tune out loud a LOT during the day with no prompting and we always chime in. His favorite word is the ever-popular-with-toddlers "NO" and his fave foods of the moment are cheese and citrus fruits (pineapple and oranges).

Emmaline is our daredevil, she has a loud high-pitched laugh (scream?) that she shares with us when Vince jumps out and "scares" her or when a ball is bounced to her. She isn't saying much, but babbles a lot and lately her favorite words are baby and puppy. Going outside is her absolute favorite, so our snow this week was a big frustration for her. Emmaline still drops her veggies politely on the floor, but will stuff her face with grapes and any carb.

Both kids can make animal sounds for cow, sheep and dog and they have a mutual love for spinning until they are dizzy and crack themselves up. Snacks are becoming more and more popular, and Emmaline will sign the word please as quickly as she can while Owen yells "pease!" wildly until I hand over the goldfish crackers. They also love to go to their bedroom and throw themselves down on their Boppy pillows tummy first and laugh at each other. I had packed the Boppys up, but they were dragging pillows out of our room to pounce on, so out came the Boppys!

Below are their statistics from our appointment with the pediatrician last week.

Owen
Weight: 26 lbs 7 oz (55th percentile), Length: 32 1/2 inches (55th percentile), Head circumfrence: 19 inches (60th percentile)

Emmaline
Weight: 23 lbs 2 oz (35th percentile), Length: 31 3/4 inches (50th percentile), Head circumfrence: 18 1/2 inches (60th percentile)

We also had an impressive snowfall last night (started to feel like living in Oklahoma again!), and took the kids outside. They weren't the least bit interested in the snow, instead they made a beeline for their cars!