This is 18 months old

Would you indulge me in an Asa update today? It’s been a while since I wrote about his developmental milestones, and I’d like to get them up on the blog for posterity’s sake. (More on the reasons behind my lack of sharing in another post!)

Asa is now 18 months old, but he’s roughly the size of a two year old. I’m not exaggerating. He’s about 30.5 lbs and can fit into 2T clothing. Earlier this summer he was fitted for size 6W shoes, but now there’s significantly less room to spare in the toe box. I have a feeling we’ll be investing in another new pair of shoes this month.

I know you shouldn’t compare your kids to one another, but . . . When Levi was 18 months old, he weighed a slim 23.5 lbs and wore size 12-18 month clothing and a size 4 shoe! Is it any wonder why Asa looks extra enormous to us?

But he’s also a bit of a brute. Asa may be two-and-a-half years younger than Levi, but he’s not afraid to be aggressive with his big bro. I’m talking body slamming, head butting, and — omg — biting. He’s literally left teeth marks on Levi’s back and upper arms.

And his teeth! Levi only had a couple of teeth on top and just two on the bottom at 18 months old, but Asa has a mouthful!

With his linebacker physique and all those teeth, you’d think he’d be a good eater — and for a while he was. He’d eat anything and everything. Sadly, he’s becoming just as picky as his older brother, and feeding him is starting to become quite the daily challenge. Lately, he won’t eat cheese, eggs, bread or peanut butter, making lunchtime my least favorite meal of the day.

However, he’s more than happy to eat Greek yogurt. In fact, when we come downstairs in the morning for breakfast, he makes a beeline for the refrigerator, opens the door (yes! he can do that!), and removes a yogurt container from the shelf. Then he toddles over to the silverware drawer, pulls it open, and tries to grab a spoon! Obviously, he can’t reach, so when I hand one to him, he brings his breakfast over the rug in front of the sink and pops a squat.

The whole routine is hilarious.

Besides yogurt, Asa loves chicken fingers, fish sticks, hot dogs, and mac and cheese. He’ll eat almost any kind of fruit, including bananas, clementines, grapes, and apples, and does a better job consuming vegetables (cauliflower excepted) than Levi did at his age.

When he wants something at the table, he’ll either point at the object and grunt or use sign language. He knows the signs for milk, bib, more, please, and all done and will sometimes even combine two or three together.

But what he doesn’t do is talk.

Not even mama or dada.

When Levi was 18 months old, he could say almost twenty words. Asa can sometimes sort of say car, moo, and quack . . . sometimes. I’m not terribly worried (yet) because Asa can understand us and follows directions beautifully. I’ll wait to see what his pediatrician says later this month, but I’m well aware that kids — even brothers — develop at different rates.

For example, Asa is much more physical than Levi was at this age. Both boys started walking when they were 16 months old, but Levi was never interested in climbing furniture like Asa. One of Asa’s favorite things to do is use the step stool at the foot of Levi’s twin bed to climb up and over the footboard. He’ll also try to copy Levi’s crazy antics like standing up on the knitted pouf we use as a footrest next to the glider in their bedroom.

The kid is fearless. And strong. He can literally hang onto the doorframe of the car (not that we let him).

Because Asa is so active, we had to switch him from the Pampers Swaddlers that Levi always wore to Pampers Cruisers, which now feature extra absorb channels to help distribute wetness evenly. He’s still in size 4, but I’ll probably need to pick up a package of size 5 diapers at Target soon. Through Saturday, Target is offering a $10 gift card when you buy two Pampers Giant Packs, including Swaddlers and Cruisers.

In addition to climbing furniture, Asa loves reading books. He’s happy to sit quietly in his crib with a stack of board books but prefers to plop his tush in my lap for story time with a library book. He loves playing with cars, trains, blocks, Legos, and pretend food — basically anything Levi touches first.

Asa also loves to cuddle, which really wasn’t Levi’s thing when he was 18 months old. He loves to be wrapped up in a blanket and is much more fond of stuffed animals than Levi ever was. He’s also more affectionate and generous with his hugs and kisses than I remember Levi being when he was a toddler.

And boy, does Asa know how to flirt! His huge blue eyes and curly blond hair attract a lot of attention when we’re out running errands, and he’ll smile at anyone who looks his way. Sometimes I even catch him waving to strangers as I push him in his stroller!

Right now, he and I spend our week days together, although that might be changing soon. After we bring Levi to preschool, we come home for a little breakfast (his second, my first) and I’ll let him watch Sesame Street while I check my email and take care of any urgent work tasks. Then we’ll play and read (and sometimes eat again) before he goes down for a nap between 11:30-noon. On a good day, he can sleep until 3pm.

Bedtime is between 7-7:30pm — at least, that’s the goal. Asa could probably sleep well into the 7am hour, but Levi tends to wake him up earlier. That’s the downside to sharing a room with your big brother, I suppose.

The upside? One day, hopefully, they’ll be the best of friends. Though it’ll be interesting to see which one turns out to be the bigger, more physically active brother. Right now, my money’s on our little linebacker, Asa.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.