I can remember Sam being a tiny baby and thinking how far away eighteen months seemed - I sure was wrong about the far away part! So here we are, living with an eighteen month old and BOY are we having a good time. It is almost like he has turned into a little boy overnight - full of new words, personality and still as sweet as ever.
What has Sam been up to lately?*He went for his checkup today and weighed 28 lbs. 2 oz. (78th percentile) and was 35 inches tall (98th percentile). The poor nurse was having a hard time measuring the wiggle worm so I think the 35 inches might be a little off. I did a quick measurement when we got home and came up with something closer to 33-34 inches. Accuracy is hard to come by when you're dealing with a busy little boy!
*He is wearing size 5 diapers, 18-24 month clothes, size 6 shoes and has 16 teeth.
*He is talking up a storm and it seems like we hear at least one or two new words come out of his mouth each day! He will try to say just about anything he hears someone else say and babbles away at his toys and stuffed animals constantly. He knows most of his animal sounds and can also identify some body parts (nose, head, eyes, mouth, teeth, toes). I took a few minutes the other day to list most of the words that Sam knew - not words that he could repeat after hearing someone else say them, but words that he actually used to identify people and things in "conversation." I came up with the following 82 words/phrases and listed some of their pronunciations in parenthesis just because I don't want to forget all of the funny ways he says some of these words:
Sam Milner (Som Milna), Mama, Dada, Lili, Shuffie, Bobi, Pop Pop, Di Di (his name for Aunt Amanda), Easy (his name for Uncle Eric), Banks (Neenks), Mimi/Meme, Mammy, Bobo, Bebe, baby, no (doh), uh-oh, cookie (tookie), cracker (cracKOO), milk (mulk), juice, apple, banana (nana), cheese, yummy, cook, highchair, truck, tractor (tracTOO), car, boat, bus, keys, moon, outside, cold, balloon, bye bye, please (peeeeeez), thank you, house, kitty, horse, duck, pup, fish, moo, meow, tee tee, poopies, potty, nose, eyes, teeth, hand, shoes (foofs), socks, hat, coat, boots, pants (paints), get down, sweep, wipe, book, read, light, door (doooer), open, close, rock, night-night, bath, water, paci (pace), hit it, ball, bat, two, hold, let's see, I love you (I luh u).
*He uses the word "ah-bah" as his default word when he doesn't know what something is and wants us to tell him.
*He is a great sleeper! I usually put him down between 8 and 8:30 every night and don't hear a peep from him until at least 7:30 the next morning. The naps aren't as consistent anymore and some days he will only take one in the afternoon and skip his morning nap. He will still go to his room mid-morning, say "night, night" and reach to get in his bed but he may or may not actually go to sleep. If he doesn't go to sleep then he at least enjoys a little quiet time and will call for us when he is ready to get out.
*He loves, loves, loves books and we always read together at night before I rock him and put him to bed. Two of his favorites right now are "Goodnight Moon" & "Where's Spot?" Some nights he won't fall asleep while we rock and when I lay him down he will pop up, wave at me and say "bye mama" with his paci in his mouth.
*Meal time has gotten more difficult because he doesn't want to eat anything unless he feeds it to himself - this can certainly get messy!
*He loves taking a bath and will go into the bathroom, pull the shower curtain back and ask, "bath peeez?" Some nights I have to turn the little guy down because his skin is so dry and his doctor said it would probably be best to only bathe him every other night.
*He has gotten very interested in the potty and has started telling me every time he goes "poopies" or "tee tees." Because he was so aware of when he needed to go, we decided to get him his own little potty and let him practice. Every time he uses it he has to turn around and wave "bye bye tee tees."
*He has a great love for his "baby" (cabbage patch doll) and takes such good care of him! The baby is usually in the bed with him every night and Sam will sometimes lay him down on the pillow, cover him up with a blanket and kiss him goodnight.
*We have started saying prayers together at night before bed and he is so cute folding his hands together and bowing his head. We usually list everyone that we are thankful for and then he says "Amen" with me at the end.
*He has gotten very good at helping me clean up his toys and is so proud of himself each time he puts something back in its place. We usually have to clap between each toy, but I don't mind - whatever works!
*He is so friendly everywhere we go and usually never meets a stranger. It makes me sad when he tries to get someones attention or wave at them and they don't see him. He usually just gives up and find someone else but I'm pretty sure he's wondering why some people don't respond to him!
*He gives the BEST hugs and will usually say "hold" when he wants to hug you. For some reason, we share the most hugs when I have him on his changing table either changing a diaper or his clothes. He will usually reach up and grab my neck and want to hug over and over. I don't ever turn a Sam hug down!
Often I find myself wishing that time would slow down, but then a few days, weeks or months pass and it seems like we have more fun every day. I am thankful for the time we share, the laughter and happiness he has brought to our lives and most of all the privilege to be his mother. We love you sweet boy!
As you can see, the lack of pants didn't phase Sam at all. He actually thought it was pretty funny and kept tickling his legs and laughing at himself. He laughed all the way to Kohl's, where I ran in and quickly grabbed a pair of pants so we could continue on our journey. 
We finally arrived at the museum, clean pants and all, only a little later than we had planned.
Sam got so excited as soon as we walked through the front doors and we almost couldn't get him past the flashing lights in the floor of the lobby! Some of the stations were a little old for him to really enjoy right now but we quickly found a cow that needed milking with a little help from Daddy.
Then Sam and I crawled through the "farmhouse" and slid down the big slide!
After working on the farm, it was time for Sam to head out to the forest and put on his safety gear to start moving some timber. 
They even had an orange safety vest for him to wear!
With the timber taken care of, it was time to take a break and play on the slide. It was just his size and he slid down it so many times I lost count!
Captain Sammy steering the ship.
There was a replica of the state capitol and Sam climbed up in it to take a peek out of the rotunda and wave at everyone. 
There was also a section of water toys were you could fish for catfish and race boats. Sam couldn't quite figure out this bubble that ran under the water station.
Hello Mr. Catfish!
Our final stop was at the kitchen, and it was hands down his favorite place in the whole museum. He really loves to pretend to cook and just a bowl and a spoon can entertain him at home for quite a while. When we walked up, the kitchen was full of little girls and there was not a boy in sight. It didn't seem to bother Sam one bit though and he got right in the middle of them and cooked away.
