Scarlett Pannebaker

Porter at Eighteen Months

Well, in the 5.5 years that I've been writing monthly updates for the first two years of my kids' lives, I finally did it. I completely skipped a monthly post for my precious third born. What can I say? Seventeen months just snuck up on me and I didn't even realize I missed an update until it was a week overdue. And then I didn't feel like writing anything over the holidays and with all that happened with Kellan. But here I am, writing for the big one-and-a-half years update.



Seriously. Porter is a year and a half old, guys. It's both impossible to think he's approaching two and also his newborn days seem like a different lifetime. Ah, the paradox of time, especially with our last baby. (Insert comment here about how I've always been pregnant by the eighteen month mark with the other kids, and I'm most definitely NOT pregnant now. Feeling more and more at peace with breaking the continuous pregnant-nursing-pregnant cycle. For real. Our little family of five is more than I could have dreamed about pre-marriage and I am enjoying a sense of contentment, and excitement looking forward to the next chapter with bigger/more independent kids and a bit more freedom. Could certainly do another post about this at some point and also, my feelings do change occasionally with a surge of, 'BUT HOW CAN MY CHILD BEARING YEARS BE OVER? NO MORE NEWBORN SQUEAKING? WAHHHHH. But not that often anymore, seriously.}

Can't top this little caboose to the family anyway!


So what is sweet Porter P up to these days? If I had to summarize this child in one visual, just picture this: a fat toddler belly, a big grin, shrieking 'Gooooooo!', padding around our house with bare feet since he never keeps socks on those buggers, and running after numerous balls that constantly roll under our furniture. That's our Porter: happy, active, goofy, and obsessed with balls. And his siblings. And splashing in the bath.  And food. And me. ;)



He sleeps great, and usually wakes up fairly happy. Bedtime is usually around 7:30 and he would have me read 100 books to him each night before bed if allowed. He is not a huge fan of getting his teeth brush, but will request 'paste' and then proceeds to suck most of it off before I can get a proper brushing accomplished. After I stop him at two books, he says 'baby' and likes to pretend like he is a baby in his crib. This means he will snuggle up onto his new fleece Snoopy blanket, face down and butt up in the air. Then he needs his Duckie lovey, and another monkey blanket before he says, 'Nigh-Nigh'. When I walk out of his room sometimes he will cry for 'mama mama mama' and certainly when he wakes up in the morning around 7:00 he calls for me immediately and constantly. But mostly bedtime is great and I am really thankful for this when thinking back about our challenging days with sleep.



Nap time is usually around 12:30 and Porter will usually sleep for 2-3 hours. I sometimes have to wake him to get Truman from school and he is not usually happy about this fact. And many times he will fight nap time more than bedtime, jumping up and down in his crib, throwing things out and then saying, 'Uh-Oh' over and over, etc. It's hard to imagine that both Cecelia and Truman were in their big beds around 20-22 months, but I can see Porter being ready for one by then, too. Except he gets to keep his crib indefinitely since there isn't a pesky little sibling ready to take it over;) Also, one thing he accomplished this month was learning how to climb all the way up and back down from Cecelia's bed. Hilarious little boy, so proud of himself.



Eating is another topic that is pretty uneventful. His absolute favorite food right now is Greek yogurt and he has to feed himself with his own spoon and bowl OR ELSE. He is also a big fan of crackers, strawberries, chicken, and he can hear someone open our candy cabinet from across the house. Staying on par with the other two kids, Porter also adores whole milk. I mentioned this on Instagram the other day, but we go through three gallons of whole milk per week. Nate and I really don't ever drink the milk unless we are frothing it with our new fancy milk frother for a special coffee drink. Otherwise the kids down enough milk to make buying our own cow a consideration. Also, it's been exactly one year since Porter decided to stop nursing, which is just craziness to think it's already been a year. He seems to enjoy food a little bit.



Other things to mention about Porter: he has some wicked dance moves and I dare you not to smile when watching him break it down. And now he likes to watch videos of himself dancing, so the entertainment is endless.

He has a teeny bit of a naughty streak, or maybe it's just his curiosity at work. But I've caught him smacking Cecelia right in the head with a hard toy. She'll cry and he'll stare at her and say 'warry' (sorry). And then he'll say 'no no' and makes a pretend hitting motion with his hand as if to say, 'this is what I don't do, right?' I guess this is pretty normal for an 18 month old but Porter sure does seem tough. We like to joke that both Cecelia and Truman are in for it with this dude.



He also likes helping Cecelia care for her many baby dolls, although he is the more aggressive child care provider of the two. Also: in a big Daniel Tiger phase with this crew, especially when sitting in these little chairs ready for their show to begin.



Brothers and their bond already, swoon.


Ports is utterly obsessed with balls. Throwing balls, collecting balls in any containers, shooting basketballs in our tiny hoop that now takes over our kitchen, kicking balls, making loud 'woahhhhh' sounds after playing with said balls. He does it all. We went through a few weeks when he had to sleep with a mini basketball, too. My sweet boy. He also loves animals as much as balls, and we have been experimenting with different apps on the Kindle that showcase 'animal sounds for toddlers'. Yes, we are totally letting our 1.5 year old have screen time because it lasts for about 3 seconds and also: third child syndrome. What better way to frantically cook dinner when all three children are on their tablets! (I kid, sort of. Porter really won't stay entertained for more than a minute on there or with any other toy, definitely not the most independent of ages).



The words that this child can say still blow me away, and I'm positive he is our most verbal babe. There are too many to list anymore but he basically repeats the last word we say in our sentences, or he tries to say those words, at least. His favorite words are probably 'mine' and 'candy' (which sounds like nan-dee), 'Dee Dee' and 'Tru Tru' also rank up there as frequently voiced phrases. He did seem to pair his first two words together this month, saying 'Tru Tru go?' when asking where Truman went. He also blamed Cecelia once for hitting him in the head, when she totally did NOT, by saying 'Dee Dee hit' and he smacked himself in the noggin to drive home his point. I'm telling you, this kid is going to be our chatter box and he might be the most spunky of them all.



Oh, look what I can do now, mom! Pulling off the window clings that Cecelia placed with great care.


He also gives the best hugs and kisses and really enjoys snuggles. Porter loves his mama something fierce and still has a touch of the separation anxiety we saw starting a few months ago. But it's definitely a lot more short-lived now. Even if I try to walk into the basement to change laundry, he will cry and bang on the back door until I return. Trying to hand him off to Nate or really ANYONE (except for maybe his Papa, who he is crazy-obsessed with, too) is pretty awful.



Might be time for his first hair cut soon.


Porter has been back at Lori's for four days since the long break over Christmas, and so far he is doing pretty well. It's been surreal and ridiculously sad without Kellan there, but day by day we are starting to find our normal routine at Lori's again. She's hanging in there as much as can be expected, but I think we are all bracing ourselves for the first fever/sickness that rolls through the house. In fact, I think Porter is getting a little cold with a snotty nose, congestion, and seeming extra fussy. Of course we are on heightened alert and I'm not really sure when anxieties will fade away. But for now I'm feeling a little panicky at the thought of the kids getting hit with any winter bugs. Ugh, winter is so hard anyway and now there is an extra layer of dread and sadness. When the unimaginable happens it messes with everyone's mind, to say the least.

Moving on to happier ramblings...

Teeth! He got a few more teeth in the past two months. I'm pretty sure both bottom canines are through the gums and at least three molars. Totally slacking on recording the tooth eruption milestones in the baby book but ah, well.

I love watching Porter figure out the world around him and 18 months seems to be a spectacular time to just sit back and watch his mind at work. (Well, I can sit back until he is requesting me to pick him up, or he is attempting to lick our toilet bowl cleaning stick. That actually did happen, by the way, which is great for my anxiety about germs!).



Story for you: sometimes we have Truman and Cecelia run around our circle layout of the main floor, doing 'laps' to get energy out. We consider it a great Winter activity--having them sprint in circles, racing, yelling out their laps as they go by, then resting for a minute and doing another 5-10 laps. Porter was watching them one day and then later in the evening, he started trotting around the circle yelling 'go! go! go!' and shaking his finger at us. I realized he was mimicking me when I say, 'On your mark, get set, GO!' for the big kids. Once T and C got wind of this little baby participating in their laps, they jumped right in with him and all three were running around yelling and giggling.

There are a million other parts to Porter's personality, but I'll end here. He's such a fun kid, such a joy in our lives, and he makes us laugh every single day with his antics. Words can't accurately capture my love for this boy. It hurts my heart sometimes, being so keenly aware of how wonderful life is with with Porter in it.





Truman at 18 months, Cecelia at 18 months.