18 months plus more to remember

I recently did a post of things I want to remember about this time in our lives with Jake, and I thought of a few more I'd like to add. Before I get into that, though, Jake turned 18 months today so here are a few more pictures. The other day, Jake and Daddy made a fort under the dining room table... As we're trying to teach him about being respectful and responsible, hospitality is also an important trait, so Jake is learning that it's important to invite all your friends over...

Last night, Jake and I hung out and played in his room for over an hour. He pulled out a bin filled with shoes, then pulled out a couple and "asked" me to put them on. Here's the requested look...

He was perfectly happy with these shoes and kept them on the rest of the night. Something about this picture makes him seem like such a big boy...

OK, here are some additional things I don't want to forget:

1. Hugs and kisses--Another of the things that I love about him now is that he will hug and "kiss" us when asked and even sometimes on his own. His kiss is really just leaning in for me to kiss him, but it's cute nonetheless. He also blows kisses with the pucker mouth and the smacking sound. I love it!!!

2. Climbing---Jake loves to climb on things. It's just been in the last couple months that he's been able to climb on chairs and couches all by himself, and now he takes every opportunity to do so. I am very thankful he hasn't seemed the least bit interested in climbing out of his bed. He does however, try to climb IN, but that's a pretty hard task so he doesn't get very far.

3. Loves sweeping--I keep a small broom with matching dustpan (the kind with the tall handle) in our pantry. Jake loves playing with them. Sometimes the pantry door is accidentally left cracked open, and he will go inside, get out the broom and start sweeping. Lucky for me, I have a son who's already letting me know what chores he wants to do in the future, or so we'll see ;-)

4 Loves TV--I hesitantly admit that Jake loves to watch TV (or certain shows). I know this definitely has a lot to do with Mommy and Daddy and our love of TV, but it can get pretty crazy. His TV limit is supposed to be a max of 3 shows (1 1/2 hours) each day, and then it's off limits. He's gotten to where he will bring us the remote and say, "Mama, mama, mama" asking for more. We actually have to hide the remote sometimes until he's distracted enough by some other toy or activity that he forgets. One reason I think he likes TV is that he gets bored at our house if we're there too much; just another reason why it's so important for us to be out and about as much as possible. His favorite shows (a.k.a. the ones we DVR and let him watch) are Mickey Mouse, Super Why, and Chuggington. He also watches Handy Manny and Imagination Movers on occassion. He's also recently been introduced to his first movies, Toy Story 1 & 2, and Cars. We DVRd all these and watch them bits at a time.