It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

We put our Christmas tree up today. Brennan took a really long nap and it gave us the perfect opportunity to put it up. I was excited to see his reaction when he woke up and he didn't let me down. Check out that look of wonder. I love it!

I've been using the Instagram app more recently and love it. The above pic was edited in Instagram and so were the two below.

Our Christmas tree. Complete with a train underneath!

I took this one the other day, but it's just too cute not to share.

And finally, here's a video of B watching the train under the tree. He's not wearing a shirt because he had just finished eating pasta for dinner and he always eats pasta without a shirt.


We still have some more decorating to do, but we are definitely in the Christmas spirit now. I just ordered our Christmas cards tonight and can't wait to mail those out! I think Brennan is really going to enjoy Christmas this year and I am so excited to celebrate!

Hello Again!

The blog has been feeling a little neglected again. Here's a little recap of what's been going on during the month of November.

Brennan has been learning his numbers! I know you can't really understand him in the video, but he is doing a really good job. He tries to say all of numbers 1-10. Three, six, and nine are pretty clear most of the time. He can identify all ten of them easily.


We got a visit from Kyle's brother and sister-in-law. This was Amanda's first visit up here and her first time meeting the little guy. We enjoyed a long weekend with them and Brennan loved the extra attention. While they were here, Kyle and I got to go watch a UK game. Kentucky was up here playing Penn State in a tournament and we were able to get tickets. Cousin Taylor was able to join us too!

Mommy and B saying "cheese".

Even though B didn't go to the game, he was dressed in blue too!

We spent Thanksgiving with some of my family. Beth and Luke hosted at their house in Middletown. We were also able to see Taylor and Aaron, Bill and Sherri, and some of Luke's family too. Brennan had a great time playing with their dog, Miley.

We even had some excitement today! Brennan woke up and decided he wanted to talk more today. He's said several new words already this morning: mouth, magnet, sand, and tried to say Craisins. I love hearing him say new words everyday. He now also says his first phrase, "one more." He doesn't say it when asking for one more of something, he says it when there is one more of something left. It started because he loves traffic lights, so when we are coming home from somewhere I give him a warning when there is only "one more" traffic light before we are at our house. Now all of a sudden he has started saying it. He uses it in the right context all the time and says it sooo many times each day. It's pretty cute.

Today we met our friends Amanda and Parker at the Children's Museum in Niantic. B had a great time sorting colors.


He also walked up stairs on his own for the first time! He was able to do it because of the handrails, but it's a huge improvement in his gross motor skills.


I love that little guy so much!

Dear Brennan,

My oh my, you are 21 months old today! You are such a little busy bee now and I'm loving it. I remember when we went to visit Auntie Amanda in Georgia and I was constantly having to help you walk around everywhere. It was exhausting! You were busy then too, but couldn't do it on your own. Now that you are walking, my job has actually gotten a lot easier. And for that I am thankful! You currently wear 18-24 month or 2T clothes. You are still in size 4 diapers. You don't have any new teeth. Just waiting for your two year molars now.

You have been an official walker for over a month now. You were very good at walking from the first day you finally took off, but you've definitely gotten even steadier and faster in the past month. You still can't get yourself back to standing if you fall down in the middle of a room. But you have figured out how to crawl over to the couch and use that to pull yourself back up. Most of the rooms in the house stay closed off because of the dog, so you just walk around the living room and kitchen and are so great at entertaining yourself. You have become great at picking stuff up of the floor while standing, so that's a great improvement. We are still working on climbing. You certainly have an interest in climbing, but haven't quite figured out how to do it yet.

Even though you're mobile, we still have it pretty easy with you. In the mornings when I'm ready to take my shower, I'll just sit you on the living room floor surrounded by some toys, turn on the TV (you like Yo Gabba Gabba now), and you'll just play. You don't get up. It's pretty awesome. I'm sure that won't last much longer. I also think you might be in your crib until you're a teenager! Although you did finally pull yourself to standing in there for the first time. The other day I attempted to lay you down for nap without your binkies just to see what you would do. Well, you freaked out. You were screaming like I have never heard you scream before. When I went it to let you have them (because I'm weak) you were standing in your crib for the first time. I guess you just needed to be really mad in order to do it.

You add new words to your vocabulary every single day. I won't even try to list all the things you say, but just the other day at the playground, you picked up a rock and said, "rock". I had never heard you say that before. Your favorite words (judging by the frequency) are "Momma" and "ball". You don't use any sentences yet, but have started speaking some of the words you know signs for. You will now say, "milk" and "more". I am trying so hard to get you to say "please" and "thank you", but you'll only sign "please" and wave for "thank you".

You continue to be fascinated by letters, numbers, and colors. You can pick out almost every letter when asked. You know what sound each one makes and often use that skill to impress adults. You recognize the numbers 1, 3, 6, and 10 and will say "six". You are doing awesome at identifying colors. You know blue, red, and green the best and will say those words when you see something that color. You have also just started saying "pur" for purple and recognize yellow and black, but those words aren't as clear when you say them. When I get dressed in the morning and come back into the living room where you're playing you always tell me what color shirt I am wearing. It really is the cutest thing ever!

You really seem to like routine. You will often let us know when it's bath time. You usually get in the bath between 6-6:30 and some nights I swear you know it's time. You'll be playing with toys and all of a sudden put them down and walk to the bathroom while signing "bath". You have always loved bath time and that's still the case. When it's time to brush your teeth, you'll walk to the bathroom while saying "ch ch ch". It's part of a Raffi song. Usually you'll get to play a little bit before bedtime, but when it is time for bed we'll ask if you're ready to go to sleep and you'll sign "please" and walk to your room. We are very lucky that you are so cooperative!

You continue to have such a sweet temperament most of the time. I've seen a HUGE change in your disposition in the church nursery. I think learning to walk has helped. Now you just walk right in there and start playing and don't cry! It makes Mommy feel much better about leaving you there. You are almost always well-behaved when we go out to eat or run errands. When you run errands with Mommy at Target, Mommy does her shopping first, then you get to get out of the shopping cart and play in the toy aisle. You love it. You walk around and press all the buttons to make toys sing and light up. You also like playing at the mall. You have a new favorite toy at home: your basketball goal. We just got it for you this week and it's a huge hit! However, you are also very entertained by things that aren't toys. You love to play with Solo cups and for the past few days, you've been obsessed with putting straws into an old Puffs container. One of your other new favorite activities is wrestling with Daddy!

I know I've written a lot, but I'm also sure I've left out a tons of things. You are just growing and changing so much right now! Next week, your Uncle Larry and Aunt Amanda are coming to see you, so you'll get some extra loving! I hope you always know how loved you!

Love,
Mommy

Brennan back at 20 months

Brennan today at 21 months

Silly boy!

Tot School (Finally!) - 20 Months

It has been so incredibly long since I linked up with Tot School! I apologize for my absence. I hope now that it is getting colder, that I'll be more motivated to capture our at home activities. Here's some of what we've been up to lately!

I got this first idea from Click, Pray Love. It's Musical Hide and Seek! I thought B would love it, but he didn't. I really like the idea though and I think we'll try it again. We actually had the exact same musical giraffe toy Amber had, but you can use any musical toy. Wind it up, hide it somewhere that's easy to find, and send them off to search.

Brennan also made his very first finger painting! It was a big hit. We will definitely be doing this again soon. The best part? The canvases and Crayola finger paints were both purchased at Michael's for 50% off! I've included a lot of pictures because I just thought he was so cute painting!

We have a new favorite activity around here! It just happens to be a Pinterest find! I gave Brennan a stack of Solo cups and they immediately became his go-to toy. He is awesome at unstacking them and stacking them (not in a pyramid, just nesting them). He puts objects into them. Drops objects into them. Just carries them around. He has literally played with them everyday since I brought them out!


You can tell from the video, that he's doing great with his colors. He really knows blue, green, and red. He also just started saying "purr" for purple. He tries to say yellow, but it doesn't sound quite right and I think he's said black a few times. He's so funny because when I go back into the bedroom to get dressed in the morning and then come back out, as soon as he sees me, he tells me what color shirt I am wearing. Too cute!



We also visited one of our favorite spots; the aquarium. The animals seemed to be feeling especially friendly this day. Check out these videos!

This first one is of one of the Beluga whales. Unfortunately it scared Brennan by opening it's mouth so wide. But me being Mother of the Year made him stay and watch it so I could get a video. Yes, you can hear him crying some in the background!


This second one was the very next exhibit; the sea lions. I had never seen them be so active and thought it must be our lucky day. First the beluga and now the sea lions! As you'll see, they were being very active because they were about to get fed!


Head over to Carisa's blog to see tons of Tot School ideas!