Leander Roxas // 18 Month Update

Well, somehow, I blinked & my little man is now 18-months old! I honestly don’t know where the last 6 months went since his 1st birthday – and can hardly believe that it’s less than 6 months to go until his 2nd birthday!

Just like with Braelynn, I decided that since my little man has a winter birthday (and it will likely be too cold/icky outside to do any fun yearly birthday photos) that we would make a habit of taking “half-birthday portraits” – that way, they can be outside, in the sunshine, and we can do fun things with them!

I took Leander over to my parent’s house last week for some photo-time. I remembered from taking Braelynn’s 18-month photos that this is a challenging age to photograph. They aren’t quite old enough to understand looking at the camera & smiling – and they also aren’t old enough to understand bribery (I’ll let you in on a secret: bribery is my number one tool for getting good portraits of little kids!) So, I knew these photos would mostly be me – following Leander around the yard with my camera & catching little moments here & there. I am obsessed with this little boy & love these little portraits of him!

Here is a little update on what Leander’s up to these days:

• One word: Cars.
  Leander absolutely LOVES Pixar’s Cars movies & Lightning McQueen. We watch Cars 1 or Cars 3 at least once a day (Cars 2 is just weird – we’ve watched it, but the plot is so far beyond even Braelynn that we just pretend it doesn’t exist.) He LOVES Cars. He will sit & watch the entire movie – start to finish. Braelynn will watch other TV shows, and he’ll watch little pieces of them, but Cars holds 100% of his attention. I have a pretty good feeling for what his 2nd birthday will be themed around.
• When Leander turned 1 year old, we gave him a blanket in his bed & he instantly “imprinted” on it. He is obsessed with his blankie & it’s just the sweetest thing. He drags it all over the place & we call him “Linus” (you know, from the Peanuts Gang). He still sucks his ring finger & middle finger on his left hand and together (the blankie & his fingers) – Leander is perfectly content.
• Speaking of content – Leander loves his bed. He has been a fantastic sleeper since we sleep trained him at 4-months old & he is just so happy to be in his bed. He sleeps about 12-hours a night (usually waking up once in the middle of the night still to nurse) and takes a solid 2-hour afternoon nap.
• Once upon a time, I feared that Leander was going to be a picky eater. But, after a while, we learned that he simply loves his condiments! Add ketchup, ranch dressing, or sour cream to anything & he’ll eat pretty much everything now! It’s pretty hilarious watching him dip his food into some condiments – I’ve never seen a little kid do it like he does!
• Leander would live outside if we let him. He begs to go outside from the moment he wakes up & he cries whenever we take him in. He loves to play in our little kiddie-pool, he has mastered climbing up into the treehouse, climbs up & slides down the slide, and he loves swinging. He constantly has a stick in his hand & you can just tell – he is ready for an adventure.
• Speaking of not wanting to come inside though, he threw his first little temper tantrum the other day when we said it was time to go in (yikes). Braelynn rarely thru fits to this caliber, so this is whole new territory! Leander knows what he wants & he does not like bending his will when what we want goes against what he wants.
• Before you think that all he does is throw temper tantrums though – he really is a quite happy kid. He is almost always smiling or laughing at something! His temperament is very sweet & mellow (for the most part).
• He recently perfected climbing both up & down the stairs. He thinks he is quite the big man going up & down like everyone else. And speaking of climbing, he climbs up onto everything – the couches, chairs, the ottoman – he has no fear & scrambles up onto anything he can.
• Leander wears size 2T clothes & weighs just shy of 26 pounds He’s a solid little dude! He hates wearing shoes & would prefer to run around everywhere barefoot.
• His favorite little friend is his cousin “Ee-yah” (Alethea). They are about 9 months apart & they play together so sweetly! She adores him & he asks for her constantly.
• Along those same lines – he adores his big sister. He follows her literally everywhere & attempts to do everything she does (the good & the bad). He tries to repeat everything she says (his vocabulary literally grows on a daily basis), and he constantly wants to play with her – it’s really sweet. Overall, they play together really well & they have a really sweet relationship. I hope it always stays that way.
• Leander got his first big boy haircut before Auntie Amy & Uncle Nathan’s wedding a few weeks ago & suddenly he turned from a baby boy into a little man. I am obsessed with his fine, almost-white hair – it’s so sweet!
• He hates having his diaper changed – so that’s fun. He’d much rather be up & running around (the number of times I’ve laid him down to be changed & gotten half-way thru the process, only to have him spring up & run off is too many to count). Of course, he finds this absolutely hilarious & just laughs & laughs as I chase him around the house.

Like I said: we are obsessed with this little boy. We couldn’t imagine life without him! (If you’d like to see Braelynn’s 18-month photos, just to compare – you can find them here!)