Brayden {21 Months}

 

It has been 3 months since I last did a monthly update on Brayden. I had decided at 18 months that I would go to every other month until he was 2. Well, with going on vacation last month and then being busy here I slacked on the 20 month post so we will just go with a 21 month update instead.



My baby boy turned 21 months old on Sunday. I am seriously amazed at how fast the time is flying. He is going to be 2 in just 3 short months, how did that happen? My baby is growing up so fast I can't hardly stand it. He will forever be my baby in my eyes but he is turning into such a BIG boy. He is such a "boy", wanting to make huge messes, being loud and rough and of course getting dirty.
 Brayden has expanded his vocabulary more than I ever thought possible at just 21 months. He says so much and repeats pretty much anything we ask him to say. We can usually understand what he is saying almost always.
 Believe it or not we are actually thinking of potty training in the very near future. I think he just may be ready for that step. More on that topic to come a bit later.
I knew that the time would soon come when we would be dealing with tantrums and he is definitely testing his boundaries and our patience. If he does not like something we have said to him he will protest by throwing himself down on the floor flat on his belly. I always find myself trying not to laugh because its so cute.
 

Brayden has an ever growing love for Thomas the Train and has acquired several wooden trains thanks to Grandma and Grampy. I see a train table in our near future. I am pretty sure his 2nd Birthday will have a Thomas theme for sure.

Brayden {18 Months}

Yes I am super late with this post as he will be 19 months old on Tuesday but that's life and I am working on getting these posts together sooner.

18 months old, seriously 18 months already!!!!! I can't believe my baby is growing up so fast. I know that I say it every month and sound like a broken record but its just crazy how fast the time goes. Time flies when your having fun. 

It is something new for this kid every day. He is still as ambitious and curious as he always has been. He has become quite the climber these days and is even mastered pushing stools up to places to get higher. Smart kid. He has no problem getting on the couch, coffee table or even onto his rocker. I recently went into his room to check on him only to find him standing on the arm of the rocker with his foot up on his crib rail saying "bed" "bed". Mama nearly had a heart attack at that sight. Needless to say, the rocker will be moving away from the crib soon.
I am impressed at the things he understands when we talk to him. If we ask him to go get something he usually knows what we are asking and often answers with a "yes" or "no" if we ask him if he wants something. The communication barrier is still there but the more words he learns the easier it gets to figure out what he needs.
It seems as though this kid is going to end up with a mouth full of teeth all at once. Up until around 17.5 months old he had just his top and bottom four teeth. He know has two top molars and almost two bottom molars with several other teeth showing visible signs through the gums. 

18 Month Stats (official numbers once he goes to his checkup)

Height 30.5in

Weight  22lbs

# of teeth 12

Favorite Food

Chicken

Spaghetti

Cheese 

Yogurt
Eggs

Favorite Toys

Hot wheels cars

Blocks

Favorite TV Show

Thomas

Sofia the First

Chuggington

Loves...

Being outside getting dirty

Playing in the sandbox

Being a big helper

Making a mess

Dislikes...

Being told that he can't do something 

Coming inside

Sitting still

New words...his vocabulary grows every single day but these are the newest words.

Hiding
Chalk
Thomas
Sofia (sounds more like fisa almost backwards)
Friends
Pillow

We also have heard his very first "phrase" this past weekend (18.5 months old)
"What Happened"
and then later the same day...
"What Doing"
 

Brayden {14 Months}

14 month pic to come as soon as I upload it to my desktop...

Another month and a half has quickly passed and my little man is another month older. 14 months to be exact. He is turning into such a smart, loving little but big boy very quickly. It seems that he has grown up into this big boy all of a sudden. He wants to eat with a spoon and fork all by himself and claps and says "yay" whenever he accomplishes something. Which of course Mommy and Daddy find super cute. His excitement over the smallest of things just make as us love him even more.

Loves...

Playing with pillows on floor
Wrestling with Daddy
The Swiffer and Vacuum cleaner...he loves for me to vacuum so needless to say my floors should be pretty clean since we clean them almost every day.


Dislikes...
Vegetables
Being told "No"
Being contained in a stroller or shopping cart. He would much rather be free to run around. Sometimes he is good and sits through a store other times its not as easy.

What he is saying...
Mama
Dada
Casey (our dog)
rock (whenever we are rocking him he sways back and forth and says "rock, rock"
nice (said alot while he is petting the dog becasue we always have to tell him to pet her "nice")

New words at 14 months...
milk (only a couple times but he definitely knows what it is)
Mess
Yuck
Hello
Bye
Stuck

We have been working on getting different parts of the body as well and I am surprised at how much he knows. He knows eyes, nose, mouth, ears (sometimes), hair, toes, and hands. He is obsessed with his belly and belly button as well as anyone elses if you let him lift your shirt. It thinks its Really funny to poke our belly button. Some of these he knows on himself but most of them he will point out on Mommy or Daddy.

Love is In The Air...Valentines DIY

One of my goals for 2013 is to get back into crafting and try to actually do some of the things I pin. It started with Braydens First Birthday just a month ago, which you can view here. Pinterest as we all know is FULL of inspiration and it is definitely not lacking in super sweet valentines ideas. I have been inspired for sure. I did not get as much done as I had hoped to but there is just not enough time in the day. I will start my spring projects soon. 

I have seen these garlands popping up all over and I just love them. They are so super easy to make and extremely cheap. I will be making more of these in the future.
Supplies needed to make heart garland...(I followed this tutorial from another crafty mama)
Card stock in any colors
Twine
Cricut to cut heart shapes (heart shaped punch will work just fine as well) I have a cricut so that's what I used.

 

I have been dying to make a yarn wreath for months, I seriously mean MONTHS. Pinterest again has inspired me to make this wreath.

Pics may or may not come... Its taking me forever to finish this and since valentines day is in a few days it may end up being an spring wreath instead. 

Chalkboards... I LOVE chalkboards. They are extremely popular right now and I just had to try my hand at this art. I am by no means a pro at it but I am very pleased with what I have come up with and plan to do many many more. I have definitely had some serious inspiration from Jessica over at Little baby Garvin, one of my favorite blogs too read. I have nothing on her for sure, she has some seriously AMAZING chalkboards. She has got some skills for sure.

 Here is what I came up with...nothing super fancy but cute nonetheless. The first two pics below I only took with my phone so the quality is not as great.

 



 

Eventhough Brayden is still little and has no idea about "holidays" I still have this urge to decorate and celebrate so much more than I EVER did before he came into our lives. Having kids makes holidays FUN! And here is one last photo of my little "eligiable bachelor" during our Valentines photo shoot. I did not get but a few of him actually smiling but this turned out to be my favorite.

 

 

Happy Valentines Day (a few days early)

Hope you get to spend your day with the ones you love!

Brayden {11 & 12 Months}

Well, as usual I am  a little late posting this 11 month update so I am going to combine 11 & 12 month together.  Time just gets away from me. Being one year old should really have a post of its own but I did put together a post all about his first birthday here.

We officially have a walker in our house now. Brayden started walking the day after thanksgiving (Which would have made him about 10.5 months)  and has not stopped, in fact he practically runs at times. Its so cute to watch him walk all around the house, doing whatever he wants. Within the next week his two top teeth came through giving him a total of 4 teeth now. I just love seeing his little smile with all those teeth.

One year Stats...
19 lbs
29.5 in tall
Size 12 month clothes

Now that Brayden is ONE we have started him on whole milk and he is starting to eat a lot more food that we are eating instead of baby food. I can't tell if he loves the milk yet but I keep offering it to him with meals in hopes he will start drinking it more. He does really enjoy cheese and yogurt so I am not to worried if he does not get much milk right now.

Some of his favorite foods include...
Puffs
Cheese crunchies
Yogurt melts
Multi grain cheerios
Honey Kix
Pancakes
Scrambled eggs
Yogurt

Favorite Toys...
Hot wheels cars
John Deere Semi Trucks
Mega blocks
Thomas the Tank Engine riding toy

Loves...

Being able to walk ALL BY HIMSELF
Giving kisses
Waving
Eating big boy food
Being naked or in minimal clothing
Having books read to him
Chasing the dog, hiding from the dog and getting in dogs bed
Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake and Neverland Pirates & Thomas

Hates...
Being cooped up inside, he wants to play outside so bad but its just been to cold.
When things do not go the way he wants them to, seems to get frustrated quickly.
Does not like being told "no"

A Big Milestone...Turning ONE

It's official, we now have a ONE YEAR old! It is starting to settle in with me that he really is ONE. We had such a great time celebrating this very special occasion. We had a very small party here at our house with close family and it was just perfect. Brayden gets very overwhelmed with large groups so we kept it small and in an environment that  we knew he would be comfortable in. It all worked out great and hen had a blast.

Picture highlights from the party below...

My handsome little birthday man

Mama started prepping form this party  just days before, which was chaotic so my note to self is start planning much sooner next year...like before the holidays. Anyway, everything turned out super cute. I wanted to make the party decorations, its something I have wanted to do for a long time and I really enjoyed making them. 

First Birthday Theme...Monkeys

Colors...Brown, Green, Orange and Blue

Date of party...Saturday January 5, 2013

Location... Our home

We started the party out with food, just some light appetizers, a few dips and of course a cheese and cracker tray. We ate and chatted and watched Brayden and my niece play before opening presents. After presents we moved onto cake which turned out to be not as cute as I had hoped it would be. He was fine until we started singing "Happy Birthday" then he started screaming and wanted absolutely nothing to do with the his smash cake. We even tried it again later without singing and he did not want cake at all, not even just a taste. Poor kid, we scared him I think.

Hand written First Birthday Chalkboard (LOVE how this turned out) I had a blast creating this, many more chalkboards to come for sure.

 I had so much fun creating this Birthday Banner using my Cricut, Way to cute!

 OF course we had cupcakes, its just not a party if you don't have them.

Family Picture with the Birthday Boy

Thank you all so much or stopping by and checking out Brayden's First Birthday Party. I am already thinking about his 2nd birthday, I think I am crazy to be thinking about that already. Parties are so much fun, I can't wait to plan more.

Brayden {10 Months}

(Ok, as usual I am slightly behind in posting, he will be 11 months next week. Better late than never, right?)
I really had no idea that the time could possibly go this fast. In just 2 short and very busy months my little baby boy will be 1 year old, sniff sniff. Ten months, wow! Its just so hard to believe. Brayden is getting closer and closer everyday to walking on his own. He stands alone while playing, and has even taken a step or two towards something he wants but quickly falls down. Its just a matter of time.

 We finally decided that it was time for a  big boy car seat and he really likes it. He sits up straighter and higher so I think he is much happier with that. The only downside to having this seat is when he falls asleep in it. We have yet to master the skill of moving him while asleep to the stroller or in the house. I am sure we will get better at it and find what works for us.

We have started to introduce more and more table food and sometimes it goes ok and sometimes he is just not interested.
 

Loves...

opening and closing drawers and cabinets and of course pulling whatever is in said drawers and cabinets out and throwing them on the floor.

playing peak-a-boo or hiding and you chase him.

wresteling with daddy, he loves to get daddy while hes on the floor.

scrambled eggs and pancakes, cheese, yogurt, gold fish snacks

Hates...
Textured baby food ( I think I mentioned it last month but he still does not like it at all)

Still hates getting dressed but is getting better about letting us change his diaper, sometimes!