Teddy is 18 Months Old!!!!!

I am not sure how this is even possible but Teddy is 18 months old!!! I can't believe our baby is gone and has been replaced by our little man! I feel like I say this every month, but he is SO MUCH FUN at this age. He is talking even more than he was a few weeks ago, and now he is spontaneously naming and asking for things. Just today, for lunch, he asked for a sandwich and then ate the entire thing. It is so cool to be able to communicate more with him every single day.

We had our 18 month check up yesterday and I am so thankful to have a healthy thriving child.

His stats this time were:

height: 31.5 inches (25-30th percentile)

weight: 24.1 lbs (25-30th percentile)

head: 19.2 inches (75th percentile)

Our doctor commented, "He doesn't look abnormal to me... his measurements are just consistent with a smart boy." I thought that was pretty funny because I didn't think he looked abnormal either..... but it's nice to get a professional's opinion! (And I guess that is her way of saying he has a big head).

So, our big-headed 18 month old is changing every single day. He of course is obsessed with Elmo, but recently he has broadened his horizons and asks to watch Big Bird, Cookie, and Ernie. He sometimes sings his ABC's all the way to E and if you count to three, he will say "Four." He also loves to "honk" people's noses. Balloons and balls still remain favorites for him and he really likes playing on the stairs at the pool. When ever we take him off the stairs to "swim" with us, he consistently yells "STEP STEP STEP!" He is still very sweet and cuddly and he loves to give kisses and hugs. His favorite foods right now are probably grapes, blueberries, strawberries...well, any kind of fruit. He loves to look at his books and he has been trying really hard lately to jump up and down. Although he has not gotten his feet off the ground, I am sure one of these days he will do it! He really likes to help empty the dishwasher and go get the mail. He also still loves to dance and whenever the music comes on he starts bending his legs and clapping his hands. As I said, he is so much fun and he brightens every one's day!

He also loves to cuddle and read to his big "baby":

Now that he is 18 months though he is interested in some serious topics:

Enjoying blackberries fresh from the farmer's market:

Napping with his best buddy:

(We bought him this small Elmo doll on our way home from Iowa when we stopped at an outlet mall. When we handed it to him in the store, he must have said, "Elmo" at least 25 times in a row!)

Our Trip to Iowa

We had a wonderful time last week visiting family and friends in Iowa. And we even got to stop in Nashville to visit with Sam and Oliver as well. We left on Tuesday after Shae worked in the morning. We timed it really well, and within 10 minutes of the car ride this is what Teddy was doing:

Good thing he slept a little.... because we were in the car for lots of hours! Of course we brought "a few" things to keep him entertained.

And "a few" of the toys were Elmo-related (surprise surprise)...

Teddy loved his new Elmo pizza toys.

Teddy was very excited to see his Aunt Sam and his cousin OLIVER! By the way, since we have been home, Teddy continues to say "Oliver" over and over through out the day and whenever he sees a dog. He also loves to point to the picture of Oliver on our refrigerator.

Another thing Teddy LOVED on his trip was Grandpa's boat. He especially loved to drive it:

The second time we went out on the boat the first thing he said was, "I drive boat." That was followed by him saying, "water.... water... boat... boat..." at least 456 times!

Three generations of Hoschek men:

Teddy also had an absolute blast playing with his cousin Amy. The other thing he has said ALL WEEK since returning home is "Amy... Amy...Amy..." There are some great videos of Teddy and Amy having fun together one night when Aunt Stephanie babysat while we went to Steamboat Days. However, I can't figure out how to download them to our computer. So if you are interested please check them out on the Stuecker's blog page (click here to see). Thank you Aunt Stephanie for babysitting!!!

Teddy and Amy got balloons at Steamboat Days. Apparently the nice man making the balloons thought Teddy would prefer his Teddy bear balloon in purple and pink....

Teddy also got to meet the Burlington Bee:

and he got his very own fireman hat:

Grandma Suzie brought Teddy a very cool baseball and bat and he loves it! He had so much fun playing with Grandma Suzie every day. They played ball outside the YMCA:

The night Aunt Stephanie babysat, Teddy was worn out from partying with his cousin:

Motel living:

Teddy played with Grandma at a local baseball game:

We went for a walk around Shae's old stomping ground. Here are Teddy and Shae in front of one of the houses Shae grew up in:

We were so excited that during this visit we also got to meet the newest family member. Here is sweet Lily Marie with her mom Kristin:

Teddy snuck in to the shower for a few minutes to visit with everyone:

Hmmm I wonder what Teddy wants to do here:

"I drive boat!"

Hanging out with Grandma Suzie and Grandpa Jim:

We celebrated Father's Day while we were on our trip. Teddy and I really wanted to show Shae how much we appreciate him for all that he does for us every single day. He is such an amazing father and we both know how blessed we are to have him!

Teddy gives Shae his presents:

One of the presents Teddy forgot to give was to be in a good mood when we went out to eat for brunch. (Don't worry, he was a grump on Mother's Day too).

Here is another 3 generations photo (without any cigarettes or beers)

Teddy loved seeing so many family members... including the 4 legged ones. Here he is with Benny:

And here he is getting a little more personal with Oliver:

Here's a video of Teddy learning how to drive from Grandpa:

Lastly, a little trick we used to keep Teddy entertained on the car ride. It's the simple things really!

So to recap, Teddy's highlights from the trip were (in no particular order):

1. Playing with Grandma Suzie and the baseball and bat

2. Driving Grandpa's boat

3. Oliver

4. Amy

We were very sad for our trip to be over, but we are so glad we were able to spend some time with family and friends. All three of us had a great time!

Costumes in June?

Yes, we have added to the Elmo-mania in our house. I bought Teddy this Halloween costume at a yard sale and he LOVED it when we put it on him. Why not? It is already June!

And since we were dressing up already....

This costume was in a bag of hand-me-downs we got from my sister. The honey pot costume is adorable... but I think Teddy may prefer Elmo:

In between dressing Teddy up in funny costumes, we have stayed pretty busy this month. We visited the Botanical Gardens again:

This time Teddy was more interested in everything at the gardens. Especially the frogs:

After a full day there, he was worn out:

We have our own gardens right here in our yard. Check out all of the garlic Shae grew:

Yummy! No vampires here!

Garlic is just one of the many crops Shae is growing this year. We also have a little slice of Iowa in our front yard. Corn (surrounded by beans and squash):

We went to Catch Air and Teddy had an awesome time playing with everything. His two favorite things there though:

The balls... and Skee-ball!

We are also keeping Teddy busy with his chores. He actually loves to help unload the dishwasher:
We do allow him some breaks though. Here is Teddy just chillin' on the diaper table. Ladies.... Look out!

And of course, there is always time for a nap: