This will probably be a lengthy post and is mostly for my benefit, since typing is faster than writing. I want to document all of the things that Max can already do at 18 months. Sometimes I worry that he is "behind" and then I read all of the things he can do and say and understand, and I think that he's doing just fine. :)
Animals he can identify/noises he can make: Horse (Nay), Cow (Mmmmmm) (his two favorites), Sheep (Ba), Goat (Na), Elephant (trumpeting sound), Chicken (Buck), Duck (Quack), Bird (Tweet), Cat (Meow), Dog (Woof), Lion (Roar), Tiger (Grr), Monkey (Ooh ooh), Turkey (tongue wiggling on his lip kind of sound), Frog (Bit) and Camel (spitting noise). He can also identify: Parrot, Mouse, Giraffe, Fish, Guinea Pig, Lizard, Snake, Zebra, Bear, Penguin, Pig, Bunny, Bug, and Butterfly.
Other words he understands and points to but doesn't say: Flower, plane, tractor, truck, train, boat, pear, broom, spoon, fork, bib, bathtub, slide, swing, Ernie, Bert, Zoe, Rosita, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Grover, Oscar, outside, bye bye (for leaving the house, he stands by the door), night night (heads for the stairs to his room), time to change your stinky/poopy butt (knows to lay down so I can change it or go up to his room), say hi/bye (he waves), basement/downstairs, and get in your chair.
His "favorites": Tomatoes, bananas and hot dogs are his favorite foods. His favorite animals are horses and cows. It used to be dogs. He also likes giraffes a lot lately. His favorite muppet is Elmo, closely followed by Ernie. His favorite Disney character is Handy Manny. His favorite thing to say right now is "ooh hot!" He says it about his food and the weather outside whenever we step into the sun. He likes to pick his nose and stick his hands down his poopy diapers and smear them on his legs and sheets. (Sorry, gross.) When you yell at him for picking his nose, he squeezes both nostrils and says, "Honk!" He likes Morrie better than Maggie, but mostly because Morrie stands still and lets him pet him. He's really into books, but mostly books that he can point to objects in. Most of his favorites are used books from the library sale.
Things he can do: Put his arms in the sleeves, legs in the pants (with support), climb steps and slide down them on his belly, go down slides on his stomach (even the really big swirly ones at the park), tries to put on his socks and shoes, eat with a spoon and fork (still won't decide if he's lefty or righty, good with both hands), color with crayons, clap and dance with music without prompting, ask to watch TV ("TB") and applaud you when you let him, throw a ball with two hands, build block towers without prompting, make his stuffed animals and plastic farm animals walk and talk to each other, climb in and out of his wagon by himself and ride a Power Wheels with steering assistance. I'm sure there are many other things he can do, these are the ones at the front of my mind.
He also is starting to understand colors. They claim at school he says some of the colors and will point to them. He definitely understands the color red because we are only allowed to pick and eat the RED cherry tomatoes. Sometimes he's too excited to wait for me to wash them and will eat them straight off the plant.
I could go on forever, but this gives a pretty good picture of things he can do. Sorry it was so lengthy. Will try to keep it more brief in the future with only new words and activities. :)
