Happy Half Birthday, Aaron!

Hard to believe 18 months has gone by since we happily (and quickly!) welcomed this handsome little guy. 

In true Okelberry style we celebrated with half a cake (well, it was half of a giant cookie because I was not in the mood to make frosting...) and a candle. Emmy even bought him a present at the Dollar Store the day before. 

At 18 months, Aaron is:

-still plenty big. We'll know just how big in a week when we have his checkup but I can attest that he's about the same weight as Abby!

-loves milk enough that he goes through a gallon of whole milk before it goes bad. (My girls never did.) 

-still loves to eat but is a bit pickier. His favorite foods are oranges, cheese, and noodles.  

-he loves candy and snacks and often asks for a "blue sucker" while I'm making dinner. 

-he adores Emmy and is sad when we drop her off at school everyday. They have lots of fun together after school, especially while I teach piano lessons. Emmy loves to dress him up. 

-he and Abby are figuring out how to play together. 

-Aaron LOVES books. He often grabs a book and brings it to us if we are sitting in the couch. We read 2 books before nap and he always asks for more. 

- he has more words than I can count. He pretty much mimics everything we say and can communicate his own ideas pretty well. A few days ago he said "silly Emmy" while we were eating lunch. I didn't know what he was talking about (Emmy was at school) but then I noticed he was looking at the kids' pictures in the wall. Then he said, "Silly Emmy, Emmy sleeping!" In her picture, Emmy is resting her head on her arms and does, in fact look like she's laying down. 

-he loves his sleep even though he protests every step of his nap and bedtime routine. He goes to bed at 7:30 and wakes up around 7:15. Then he naps for 2-3 hours around 12:30. 

-Brett started the tradition of getting Aaron "cozy" in his bed (as a way of getting him to lay down at night). Aaron lays down then Brett hands him one of his blankets (nuh-nuh) to "hold". Then he covers him with his other blanket (big nuh-nuh). Then he hands him his stuffed seal Uncle Garratt brought back from Alaska. Then he sets Dusty Bear (Brett's childhood teddy bear) by Aaron's side. It's super cute to hear Aaron finish each sentence and look so very "cozy"!

- Aaron loves to watch "Kittens on a Slide" on YouTube and now asks for "kitty slide" everytime Brett opens his laptop or looks at his phone. 

-he loves to be read to and is super cute reading "Goodnight, Gorilla". "Monkey in a bed!" And "what was that?!?!" Are my favorite lines he says as well as how he pronounces elephant and armadillo. There are a lot of Ls!

Mostly he's just a darling little boy who is adorable between tantrums and we love him!