ABCs and 123s

Brennan has shown a strong interest in letters and numbers from a very early age. He was pretty little when he could identify all his letters and count to 10. Until recently, however, he always wanted me to repeat each letter or number after he said it. Now he's willing to count to 10 completely on his own (plus he can say "two" much more clearly) and he can say his whole alphabet (albeit imperfectly) on his own. So proud of him. Looks like some of his best thinking occurs while on the potty because that's where he was willing to perform both new skills last night. Enjoy!

ABCs - He got a little distracted and started touching the phone the 2nd time through, but I think the beginning of the second time sounds like he's actually singing the song.


123s

Just Some Random Pictures

Here are few of the most recent photos of B.

Brennan was all about the Easter Bunny at the mall!

I'm so glad my big boy still loves to snuggle!

Having fun in Dada's chair in the basement

Seriously, so cute!

Thanks, Lala, for my new undies!

Just chilln' with a giant teddy bear!

McDonalds date with Momma after an aquarium visit!

Brennan tries to say lots of words, but many are hard for anyone other than me to recognize. However, almost everyday, he starts to say something more clearly. Last week he started saying "shoes" and "two" correctly. I love it that he can now answer the question, "How old are you?"

Happy Sunday

As I was reading some new blogs the other day, I came across one that posts a Bible verse on her blog each Sunday. I thought it seemed like a pretty neat idea and I have SO many verses I love pinned on Pinterest, so I think I'm going to try to start doing the same thing.

Happy Palm Sunday

via

Tot School update

I haven't really been doing Tot School with Brennan recently, but the other morning I decided to take some pictures of him playing. So much of playing is a great opportunity for learning!

We bought this toy on Sunday at Savers. Savers is basically like a large Goodwill. On this trip up there I was able to get B two pairs of jeans, khaki pants, navy blue pants, two pairs of shorts, swimming trunks, a sweater, and this toy for $23! This toy was seriously the best purchase ever! Brennan loves shape sorting toys and this one is so well designed. It has four different colored sections on the ball and each section has three shape cutouts. The shapes are color coordinated with their correct section, so it makes it much easier to find that having to search the entire ball. B understood how it worked right away and plays with it multiple times each day right now. It's a great review of his shapes and colors!

I love that he did a real smile for the camera this time!

I printed the alphabet Do-a-Dot pages from Confessions of a Homeschooler a while back. I wasn't sure if B was ready for them then, but decided to try this week. The capital A we did together while both holding his Do-a-Dot. I let him do some of the lowercase a and then helped him fill in the rest. He did both letter Vs on his own. I thought it was pretty impressive for his first attempt! I will definitely be printing some more of these for practice!

Brennan also loves my iPhone. He knows how to operate it pretty much as well as I do. He can turn it on and get to the app he wants to use. The "ABC Song" app is currently his favorite. I had the free version, but recently upgraded to the full version. His favorite part is the connect the dots game. It goes through each capital letter and gives you numbered dots to touch in order to draw that letter. It's really neat and he is so good at it! Please ignore the stain on the couch. Sweet tea incident!

So even though there hasn't been official Tot School (I mean how official was it anyways?!?!) we are still doing plenty of learning through playing each day!

Quarterly Top 5 Photos

I am linking up again with some amazingly talented photographers (sorry I can't get the banner to work correctly) to bring you my Top 5 photos of Brennan so far this year. It's so hard to believe three months of 2012 have already flown by. That's why I love these quarterly link ups. I love going back through the pictures I've taken of B and seeing the memories we created. The five photos I picked this time are special to me because they represent five things Brennan loves doing right now. None of them are technically great, but they are still special to me because as time keeps flying by, I want to remember these moments!

Make sure you check out lots of amazing Top 5 photos by visiting these blogs:

• Ramblings and Photos
• Naptime Momtog
• Click, Pray, Love

Here are my top 5 in chronological order.

We had a unseasonably warm winter this year in CT and I was able to capture this image on the first day of February. He looks so grown up to me in this picture. He loves playing outside, so I can't wait for the weather to get even warmer.

Painting is another love of Brennan's. Somedays he will ask to paint and once I get all the materials out, he decides Momma should do the painting instead. On this particular day, however, he was all about painting. 

That smile gets me every time! I took this picture while B and Dada were having tickle time after dinner. I absolutely HATE being tickled, but Brennan LOVES it! He just cackles and keeps asking for "more". I also like this picture because he still has some of his dinner on his face.

I know this shot is not spectacular at all, but it's definitely something I want to remember. Brennan is now potty trained! I am so proud of him for doing such a great job with this. We did a three day method and it worked so easily. This shot is just so cute to me because he loves reading while sitting on the "pot". 

I chose this shot for my top five because I love bath pictures and I love his genuine smile. So often now he wants to make silly "cheese" faces for the camera, but every once in a while I can get a true smile.

 Go ahead and link up your top five photos too!

A Boy and His Sweet Tea

Do you have any foods or drinks you regret introducing to your kids? I have several; fruit snacks, chocolate milk, suckers, and now I can add sweet tea to that list. I let B have a taste a few weeks ago and now he seems hooked. I know I can tell him no, but it's so cute when he tries to open the fridge while saying, "Tea! Tea!" over and over again. Even though he wasn't born in Kentucky, I guess he's a true Southern boy at heart!

He's been using a lot more big boy cups (still with lids). We will bring home his cups from restaurants and those are the ones he wants to use most of the time. I just thought this series of shots was cute. He was watching Praise Baby right after UK won their game on Sunday and really wanted a drink, but didn't want to stop watching his DVD. Silly boy!

How can I tell that face, "No more sweet tea!"????

Trying to reach it...

Almost there...

Gotcha!

USCGC Eagle

Our neighbor's invited us to their son's christening this past Saturday. We were honored to attend and to top it off it took place on the Coast Guard's Eagle. It was a super windy morning, but Brennan had a great time running all around. Dada took tons of pictures for our friends, so Momma just got to chase the little man the whole time. Potty training sometimes has it's drawbacks; like your son saying "Pot" as soon as you walk onto a boat. Thankfully they helped me out and Brennan got to use the head (bathroom) onboard.

Looking so handsome!

Gretchen and John Jr.

Brennan with McKenna (John Jr.'s sister)

John, Gretchen, and John Jr.

Brennan didn't care for the christening. He just wanted to explore!

Our neighbors

Baby John getting baptized.

Brennan made a new friend onboard.

Playing with his new friend

The Eagle