loving my toddler

So mommyhood and working and housework and wifehood (not in that order) make blogging more difficult... but since I want to keep stories and memories alive, I thought I'd take a quick moment to post some favorites.

I love Brayden's noises. His babbling, his high voice, his jabber, his figuring out words... I even inwardly smile (at times) when he's "yelling" at me to get him more food! Erik has commented more than once that he loves the jabber when B's in the back seat of the car. Just random jabbering... although perhaps he's telling himself a story and the jabbering is not so random?

Pardon the potential TMI, but I love when Brayden goes poo in his diaper. His whole world stops for those few minutes, and his face turns red. I think it's adorable, plus I know I have a minute or two where I don't need to worry about him getting into trouble. Every minute counts!

I love diaper butt... both the big cloth diaper butt and the smaller disposable diaper butt.

What parent doesn't love their kid's smiles! Love when B laughs and smiles and plays shy and all his emotions. He's gone through so many face-making stages. Most recently, he has a squinty face he gives that is adorable... for both mad and glad. Love it.

I love watching Brayden throw the ball for Tucker and play with him. Tucker is one of the few things that Brayden laughs at... laughs and laughs and laughs. So many stories could be told and I love them all!

Although I don't love when he's picky about his food, I think it's hilarious to watch Brayden stick his fingers in his mouth to pull out something he doesn't like the taste of. It's also pretty funny when he looks over the edge of his high chair and deliberately drops food to Tucker. I feel like I shouldn't be laughing at that, because it's not the best practice for him to develop, but it is so funny to watch.

I love watching Brayden figure out things. He looooves buttons and is very deliberate in finding out how things work. Remotes and cell phones continue to be a favorite. His grandma gave him a jack-in-the-box and he doesn't wait for the crank to be turned. He figured out how to undo the latch and make the "jack" pop out on his own. He goes right up to it and does that.

He loves the dishwasher. As I type, he's hanging out there, figuring out how to pull open the top rack, touch all the dishes on the bottom rack, etc.

I could go on, but I'll end with this. We recently went on vacation with family and we found out that Brayden loooooves the sand. He would crawl and crawl and crawl (he can walk a few steps, but he doesn't want to give up crawling yet) through the sand and pick it up and let it drop through his fingers. I loved watching him.

Here's a pic... him crawling in the middle of God's biggest sandbox. We had a wonderful time!

P.S. He's fourteen and half months. I'll write again the future!