It’s so hard to believe my baby is an 18 month old! I honestly have no idea where the time went. The amount of changes they go through in the first year and a half of life is insane, it’s like having a whole different child! A lot of you were interested in an 18 month update, so I rounded up a variety of a little bit of everything we have going on over here right now. It has been so nice being able to connect with other moms with kids around the same age and being able to share different tips with one another. I’m so thankful for every single one of you! Below is an outline of what our current schedule has been looking like. Obviously with a child, not everyday always looks the same, but this is what we try to stick to right now.
6:30-7:00 am- Wake
7:00 am- Milk in a sippy cup
7:30 am- Breakfast
8:00- 10:45 am- Play time
During the stretch above he will snack in between sometimes
11:00 am- Lunch
12:00- 2:00 pm- Nap
His naps are usually around 2 hours, but can sometimes be a little longer. I never let him sleep longer than 3 hours
2:00 pm- Milk in sippy cup
2:30 pm- Snack time
3:00-5:00 Play time
5:00 pm- Dinner
6:15 pm- Start bedtime
Take a bath, get in pjs, read book, drink milk, brush teeth
7:00 pm- In bed
I’ve recently started putting him down a little bit later then 7:00
What he’s eating
He is no longer getting a bottle, we only use sippy cups. He was on formula until about 15 months and then as soon as the formula went, so did the bottles. We had been giving him water from sippy cups, so he transitioned very easily from the bottle to the cup because he was familiar with it. Here are some examples of what we give him at each meal.
Breakfast
Pancakes, Zucchini Bread, Avocado Toast
Oatmeal
Spinach & Egg Muffins
Fruit (He loves blueberries!)
Eggs (Hardboiled or Scrambled)
Yogurt Bites
Lunch/Dinner
Lunch and dinner are pretty interchangeable for us. I always try to give him some sort of a protein, a veggie and a grain. These are just some of the examples of things we give him for lunch and dinner.
Some sort of chicken recipe
Grilled Cheese
Hamburger
Sweet Potato Fries
Boiled Carrotts, Cucumber, Green Beans
Turkey Hot Dogs
Quinoa Mix
Pasta (with sauce or olive oil and parmesan)
Here are a couple of recipes for meals we give him and he loves. I’m planning on starting up a newsletter that would be sent out once a week and sharing some of the recipes we’ve been trying on those if you’re interested in more recipe ideas!
Southwest Quinoa Mix
2 cups of quinoa (uncooked)
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans
Grape tomatoes
Avocado
Feta Cheese
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Wash and cut up all ingredients. I just eyeball how much of the tomatoes, avocado and feta cheese I would like in there. I think pour everything into a big bowl and add the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
Zucchini Bread
4 eggs
1 cup of sugar (going to try subbing apple sauce for sugar next time)
1 cup of olive oil
2 bananas mashed
3 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 cups of shredded zucchini
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix everything together in a big bowl. Pour batter into a loaf pan and bake for 60 minutes.
What He’s Been Playing With
Recently I have been trying to do a lot of sensory play with him . I love that it’s the simplest things and he’s learning at the same time. These are a bunch of the items I picked up for him to start playing with.
I have a tab over on my highlights of my Instagram (@diaries.of.danielle) that explains how we have been using these items. I will be sure to add to it as we continue to do the sensory activities. Some other items he has been loving playing with are all linked below!
We also love to get outside and play in a grassy area with some of his sports balls and bubbles or we’ll take him up to the park so he can play on the jungle gym or swings. It’s a great way for him to be able to get some energy out and get some fresh air! Some of you asked about shows he watches. To be honest, we don’t spend a lot of time watching tv. When he does it’s usually the Disney channel, he really likes Puppy Dog Pals.
Sleep
Thankfully he has been sleeping through the night for the past year. I did use a sleep consultant (@jess_sleepshop) who helped me immensely! You can find the post I did on our experience with sleep training and all the details here. With her help we’ve been on a great schedule and he is able to soothe himself back to sleep whenever he wakes in the middle of the night. I noticed when he’s teething he does wake up multiple times per night, sometimes crying, and is always able to put himself back to sleep. We are still using a sleep sack, we’re currently using this one here. I like it because it’s looser and acts more of a blanket for him now.
Teeth
We’re on our last two teeth before the 24 month second set of molars! Just waiting for those last two bottom canine teeth to pop through. I know they’re on their way because he has been knawing on everything! Some things that have helped with teething are of course tylenol, we have this teething ring and love it, frozen fruit and also yogurt bites (I shared the recipe for those here).
Clothing
I honestly wasn’t sure how much fun it would be dressing a boy, but I was totally wrong! There is some really cute boy clothing. These are some of my current favorite places to shop for him.
Be sure to follow me over on my Liketoknow.it page here, I always share exact links for the outfits that he is wearing!
That sums up our 18 month update! I think that covers pretty much everything we’ve been doing up to this point. If there’s anything you think I may have forgotten, please feel free to reach out to me. I love being able to help any other mamas out! Stay tuned for details on my newsletter, I’ll be sharing much more every week. If you have anything specific you would like to see, leave it below in the comments!
Xoxo,
Danielle
