Cute Things Toddlers Do

I love writing about the cute things Brody does. He’s obviously not different from every other two year old, they all have their cute moments. My theory, is that if I keep track of them, they’re great to look back on when he’s driving me crazy and remind me how sweet and innocent he is.

We tried teaching Brody to give “bear-hugs.” We got him to squeeze us tightly, but then he started “roaring.” Because clearly, to give a bear-hug, you have to roar like a bear! Then, the next time I asked him to give me a bear-hug, he said, “no!” Saddened by this, I asked why not, he said “no, cat-hug”, me, clearly confused, sat there while he wrapped his arms around me and meow-ed while giving me a hug.

What you didn’t know there was such thing as a cat-hug? Me neither, but it’s just as sweet as every other hug…and much more hilarious.

I know this works somehow

Today Brody was determined to figure out how to put his shoes on. Apparently he didn’t like that I took them off and wanted them back on. Hmm, maybe these socks should go on first… Ok, I give up. HELP!

Updates

It’s been over a month since I’ve blogged. So obviously my resolution to blog more often is failing. As for my other three resolutions, I’m 1 for 3. Organizing – I’m made good strides here: updated fridge calendar, coupon organizer, place to put bills and even organized my pictures on our computer.

As for the other two, I haven’t lost any weight and a promotion at work in early January hasn’t been helping my ability to be home more often. But it’s early in the year and at least I’m trying to make an effort on working less & living in the moment more – I swear!

As for our adorable little toddler…

Brody continues to change in front of our eyes everyday. I think I say this about every stage, but I’m really loving all the new skills he’s learning.

He’s up to using 4 baby-signs to communciate with us (more, all-done, eat and please/help). The last one just recently and he’s using the sign “please” but seems to use it mostly when he wants help with something. He understands the sign “drink” but doesn’t use it. We, however, use it with or without the word and he understands what we want him to do.

He also understands us really well. We ask for a hug or a kiss and he’s happy to share them with us (by far my favorite skill – even though his kisses are a bit sloppy 🙂 ). We ask him where his doggies are and he’ll point right to them. He knows the word “no” but cleverly ignores it when he wants to (how young they start!)

Brody’s favorite activities these days are: playing catch with his doggies (although he does get upset when they run off with the ball and don’t come back), playing with shape-sorters, dancing and playing with blocks. He giggles constantly and I can’t get enough of it.

Proud Daddy

I’ve heard other women say how much their husband impressed them when they had their first child and how they love him so much more watching him turn from husband to loving parent. Honestly, it wasn’t the same with us…

The thing is, I knew Jason was a wonderful father long before we had children. I knew he’d be a natural and I knew he’d love our son more than anything in the world. There was really no surprise there! He has two nephews who he cares so much about. When one of Jason’s best friends had her little girl, he naturally loved playing with her. He was born to be a father.

However, every once and awhile he still catches me off guard with something he says or does.

You see, Jason is a fairly practical parent, where I tend to be more doting. However, he’s also a bit competitive, wanting his son to be the best. So when he tells me last night that Brody drew the best picture at daycare that day, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

Really?!? Our 10 month old is artistic? I personally think his art looks like scribbles, or blobs of paint. Somehow though, Jason sees through all that and brags about how his chalk art was much better than the rest of the class. How he used “shading” to make it more artsy.

This morning I checked out the masterpiece. I really think it looks like he smeared chalk all over paper — but I guess that’s just me.

A Day in the Life

In order to get to know Brody better, his new teachers asked me what a typical day was like at home. I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer…I mean, I don’t know? We hang out…

Then I thought about it more and here’s really what it’s like at our house. There are naps, meals, snacks and errands. But in between here’s what we do:

Pull Brody away from the dangerous things he likes to play with

Crawl into laundry baskets & then ride around in them like a play-car.

Hangout in toy bins.

Carry tupperware lids around the house.

And probably our most normal activity? Learning to play basketball!

Peek a Boo

People usually ask about the physical milestones that babies hit, like crawling, standing and walking. And then some ask if he’s talking yet. But no one really thinks about the cognitive milestones. These are actually some of my favorite!

For instance, young babies don’t understand that when they can’t see someone or something that it still exists. That is why it was so hard to leave Brody at daycare when he was so little, he really didn’t understand that I still exist and I will come back. Over time though, his brain starts to grasp this concept.

A few weeks ago I noticed that Brody dropped his pacifier while standing in his jumperoo. It fell near his feet and out of his eyesight. Normally, he would just go on playing. This time, he leaned over the edges of the toy trying to see it where it went! He finally figured out that it’s down there, but he just can’t see it. Of course this makes hiding things from him a lot harder, when he realizes what you did with them!

He also started enjoying peek-a-boo a lot more over the last few weeks. Just last weekend, he grabbed his burp cloth and covered his own face. Then he dramatically pulled in down, to which Jason & I said, “Where’s Brody?” and “There he is!” He kept doing it over and over and laughing as soon as he pulled it down. It was so cute!

Another thing I’ve noticed recently is how he reacts to mirrors. He used to laugh at himself and me when I held him in front of the mirror. He really thought it was a different baby in the mirror. Now, I don’t know if he realizes that he’s in the mirror yet, but he realized that it is a reflection.

One day we were standing in front of the mirror and once he saw me in the mirror, he turned around to look at me. Instead of watching me in the mirror, he figured out that I was behind him. It so fun to watch.