Sunday, April 19, 2009

19 Months Old...Whoa! Really???

On April 16th, Brenden officially became closer to 2 years old than 1. It's been a lot more difficult for me to tell people he is 19 months old for some reason. Maybe I'm in denial. That whole, "Wish we could put a brick on your head" thing? Yeah, I get it now. He's so funny and it's amazing to watch his face light up at the smallest things, like a stranger that waves at him or a container of yogurt. So in honor of his 19 month birthday, here is a list of his most recent accomplishments.


His favorite animal noises: cow, dog, panting like a dog, cat, frog, monkey, sheep and owl. Thanks grandma Karen for helping with half of those! :)

Body parts he can point to: ear, eye, teeth, mouth, lips, cheeks, nose, hair, head, foot, toes, hand, fingers, and belly. He can also say ear, eye, teeth, and nose and repeatedly grabs Riley just to show me he can. Thank goodness Riley is a patient soul. I'm not sure many dogs would take kindly to a toddler showing me where the dog's eye is every few minutes.

New words: Chrissy, Bailey, dude, whoa, oww, shoes, ewww, "to you" (as in Happy Birthday), out, paci(fier), bath, hot, baseball, golf, HI, hey and NO. Every time we go out he finds at least one girl to wave at and say "hi" to. It's so funny! He's also getting a few sentences in randomly, like "I blow" when Aunt Chrissy's coffee was hot or "No, no, Riley."

Motor Skills: He is getting really good at puzzles, especially the ones with animals. He is also working hard on getting his shoes on by himself and trying to buckle the seat belt in his carseat. One of his favorite things to do is play our Wii, which takes a lot of hand/eye coordination. His favorite games so far are golf and baseball, which he begs to play every morning when he gets up. Tim just got Super Mario Brothers 3 for the Wii so I have a feeling that we'll be hearing "Mario" soon.

Physical Skills: He has recently learned that climbing on the coffee table is hilarious and once he makes it up there he has decided everyone should join him. He's very aware that pointing to where he wants someone to sit and smiling big works almost every time. He has also turned into quite a quick little runner. He puts his head down and GOES! Both of these new skills have led to a lot of testing of the limits we set for him. He'll still go to time out when we tell him to, but he will lay on the mat instead of sitting on it, or he'll sit there singing, as if to show us that time out is exactly where he wants to be.

Intellectual Skills: I have no idea what else to call this, so that label may be wrong. :) What I'm referring to is his ability to point out shapes, letters, animals and people in books and pictures. He can pick out several animals and cartoon characters (Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Mickey Mouse are his favorites) and can identify the letters "A" and "E" correctly most of the time. He's learning his alphabet and can count from one to three. He's learned how to follow simple directions and loves helping out, especially when it comes to throwing things away. He can also find a diaper and wipes if asked and will even lay down for me occasionally.

Empathy!: Yes, I'm excited that when other kids cry, Brenden feels upset. I think he's finally figuring out that when he hits, it hurts other people. He's not hitting because he's mad....all the time. Most often it's because he's really excited and flails his arms. He's also realized that when people are hurt, or have "boo boos", that kissing it makes it all better. Just the other day when we were in Colorado, grandma Karen hurt her finger on a trip to her office. The next day her finger was bandaged and Brenden walked up, pointed at it, and then looked at her with his head cocked to one side. "It's a boo boo," she said. Brenden slowly leaned forward and kissed her finger lightly, then smiled really big. "All better!" we said at the same time. It was adorable!

So there is my bragging for the month. Obviously I'm very proud of him and could talk about him for hours. This is my way of getting most of that out of my system so you don't have to listen to it later. :)


Our little "man"...not such a baby anymore!

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