Gus' 18 Month Well Baby

Gus turned 18 months the day after Christmas. Since my pediatrician's office won't schedule appointments 3 months out (i.e. when I was standing there at his 15 month appointment), the holiday vacations, my annoyance at calling daily only to be told maybe the calendar would be open tomorrow....Gus finally went to his appointment February 4th. SO, he was 19 months and a few days.
Gus has soared to the 19th percentile in weight! He is a chubby 24 pounds 15 ounces. He's 58th percentile for height, 33 inches. He hit all his milestones and fell well within "normal" range for communication, fine and gross motor skills and problem solving.

He now has 2 upper molars poking through as well as another tooth poking through on the bottom, for a total of 9 teeth. He absolutely loves to brush his teeth. Gus will all but shove Reese off of the stool in front of the bathroom sink in order to secure just the right spitting angle and to ensure he can fully reach the water with his tooth brush. He really wants to be able to rinse frequently. It's pretty funny. However, he is totally uncooperative when I brush his teeth. I usually have to lay him on the floor and brace his arms and legs down with my legs so I can try to crank open his mouth long enough to get a few reasonable sweeps with the tooth brush.

Gus is a climber. He can almost get himself onto our bed without help. He can get up on the couch without assistance most of the time. He wants to sit in Reese's high chair at the table whenever he can.

He loves play-doh and his wheelie bug cow. He likes to play with his Little People and workbench and trucks and anything that is in Reese's hand.
Since the windows are lower in the van he seems to really look out the window and notice things when we are driving. He loves the automatic door. If I open Reese's side, but not his (as I've been doing on the crazy windy days we've been having) he just has a fit, pointing and shrieking at the button over the rear view mirror I should be pushing to open his side too.

He's very interested in sweeping, shutting doors, wiping up spills and wiping his own hands and face...and fake coughing into tissues. he also really loves to flush the toilet. He wants to throw toilet paper in as well. He loves the bath, but hates the shower. Reese really liked the shower and that was so much easier to just let him shower with one of us. Gus cries the whole time, so it is easier to just do the bath routine.
Every day we are so surprised by some new "big boy" thing he does. He seems like a baby genius! I guess this just makes it clear how behind Reese was. Gus is very sweet and cuddly. He buries his head in my neck to snuggle before every single nap and bedtime. He copies butterfly kisses by fluttering his eyes at me...so darn cute!! He is quick to offer hugs to his brother whenever they are scolded for not playing nicely with each other. He happily responds to "Come on, Robin," hopefully he'll enjoy being the sidekick for awhile longer.
Gus loves to dance. I just never really remember Reese dancing much, but Gus dances to everything! Mostly the theme songs to Reese's shows. It is so funny when he busts out his dance moves to the Batman theme.
It is so shocking that Gus is now closer to 2 years old than to 1. The time has raced by. He is really getting big SO fast. Reese wasn't 33 inches until his 2nd birthday. He was only 29 inches at 19 months. In fact at this point Reese only weighed 18 pounds 3 ounces. Gus is 6 pounds 12 ounces more.
Gus is just the cutest little giggly guy. We love him so much!!