Braden is 21 Months!

So I guess that's only 3 months away from TWO!! Did you hear me? Two! But, as I've said before...the thing that calms my anxiety about his birthday is the fact that we get to celebrate Christmas and go to Maui before he turns 2! (I might have had to bribe him with a cookie to make him sit still and partially smile for me!)


New Braden things:

• The worst new thing is that he can open the deadbolt at the front door, which means he has access outside all the time and has resulted in a few boo boos too. Luckily Jay installed a slider lock that he won't be able to reach for a long time to solve this problem!
• Actually, maybe the worst new thing is his obsession with throwing random objects into his bathroom toilet such as: shoes, diapers, and most recently his freshly cleaned blankie! grrrrrr!!!
• We go on walks with Kihei everyday and he is always very concerned where his "Kiki" is, it's adorable
• He knows that he needs his socks, jacket, and shoes to go outside and knows where all of them are and will happily retrieve you multiple pairs of all said items until he is dressed and ready to go!
• Getting very good at dressing/undressing himself (with help of course) he can almost take his jacket off and pull his pants up. He's very curious about how to take his shirts off but can't quite get it yet...probably a good thing because he loves to be naked!
• Cleans up his toys with Mommy & Daddy after supper and before bath every night. He even knows where the different toys go.
• We play a new game called "Mommy's baby" where I ask him "do you want to be Mommy's baby?" and sometimes he says yes with this adorable smile and throws himself back into my arms in the cradle position then we get all silly and sing lullabies to my "baby"! 
• He had a haircut, first one in like 6-7 weeks...and I regret it. He HATED it and fussed every minute of it so it's not the best cut, so unlike him to be so fussy! So we're growing it out. He can have surfer dude hair for Maui!
• New words:
• skid steer ("did seer")
• milk ("doh")
• Dizzy
• Lofty [his favorite!]
• Muck
• Scoop
• Rolley
• Wendy ("ehhh-dee")
• Pumpkin
• Whoa dude! [thanks, Uncle Ben!]
• Ben ("den")
• Auntie
• Jess ("dess")
• hold on [we always tell him to "hold on" when his shows are loading, changing his bum, etc]
• careful [hehehe]
• llama ("yaya") for his "Llama Llama" books that he loves
• pie ("die")
• cookie [he doesn't say "toota" for cookie anymore...kinda makes me sad!]
• juice ("joo") which is really weird...he's had juice like twice!
• also putting two words together consistently - "Mommy's shoe", "Daddy's skid steer", etc.
• Sleeping: lately he has been sleeping from 7:00 PM - 8:00+ AM on a consistent basis! It's been so awesome, but surely after I write this he'll be back to 7-7 which is also nothing to complain about! He even had a monster 16 hour sleep in the middle of the month!
• Naps: it really varies. 12PM-1, 2, or 3 if he's really tired and I'm lucky...I fear that he might be weaning himself from his naps :(
• Eating: it's touch and go. He loves loves loves breakfast and eats like a horse, so we take advantage of it. Eats (healthy) snacks very well, loves his milk, supper is so off-and-on. He does not do well eating when company, even 1 extra person is around even when it's food he loves
• Teeth: no new ones. He needs all 4 incisors still and I think he's teething his 2 year molars, he chews on his soothers more than sucks on them lately!
• Clothes: 18-24 month Gap/Old Navy pants fit perfect with some room to grow and Carter's 24 month pants are still too long, but he wears them anyway! Same with tops, he has almost all 2T shirts, we roll up the sleeves and they're a bit long in the body, but he doesn't swim in them and they'll last a lot longer! In all 2T pajamas which blows my mind, I bought 3T Carter's one pieces already at Costco for Christmas because they looked not much bigger than 2T!
• Potty learning: still so not ready. He loves his "dotty" and loves to sit on it, but has no clue what it's for. I'm eager for him to learn...but obviously won't push it until he's ready.
• He still loves Thomas, Bob, & George in that order, sleeps with all three and still loves to read books by himself and with anyone who will oblige!
• I am totally planning his 2nd birthday already...be prepared for THOMAS-FEST 2012!!! Peep peep! :)

Here's some other pictures from today!

And some Picnik fun!

Also, it's Flashback Friday! 9 month old Braden! Awwww!!!

Have a great Halloween weekend!