Happy 2nd Birthday, Brady!

It's hard to believe, but our Brady is already 2.

A few photos from the past 6 months...

I can see our boy being a class clown in the future.

He definitely keeps us entertained.

Kicking back on his choo choo.

He would spend his entire day outside if we let him.

Getting ready to attack me for the camera.

Helping me water the flowers.

And yes, he loves to wear sunglasses, any sunglasses.

In the above picture he is wearing his cousin's pink sunglasses.

Two of his favorite activities- riding his bike and playing with water.

He gets a little crazy on the bike, so we bought him a helmet.

My helmet heads.

One of my favorite pictures from Easter.

Cleaning up at the Easter Egg Hunt.

This is also one of the few pictures of my pregnant belly (33 weeks).

On May 13th, Brady became a big brother.

What a lucky little girl to have such a sweet big brother.

No sign of jealousy.  He has been very sweet with Caroline from the beginning.

He loves to hug her and lets us know what she is up to...

Baby sleeping.  Baby crying.

He also tries to soothe her if she is crying.

If she is in her bouncy seat and crying he'll bounce her.

If she is crying in her car seat he'll rock her.

He has even offered to share some of his toys with her.

I know this will all change as she gets older,

so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Brady started climbing out of his crib at 22 months.

So, we took our traditional birthday picture in his new bed.

He was a little scared of the flame on the candles, but got over it quickly.

He now associates candles of any kind with birthday.

Since our last Birthday post in January, we've seen lots of changes.  Brady's vocabulary has expanded dramatically.  It's so nice to be able to ask him if he wants pancakes or waffles and be able to understand his response.  Some of my favorite Bradyisms...

rup- hurry up

wup- wake up

ease (with a lisp)- please

fanks- thanks

poon- any eating utensil

mote- remote control

a key- guitar

garnay- gardener

poot- passed gas

Wine- Caroline

He climbs EVERYTHING in the house.  Nothing is safe.  I have found him on top of a 3 foot high bookcase, desk, table, and his toy storage bins. He also likes to jump.  Thankfully, so far, he only does this off the couch.  After doing that he laughs and proclaims "I funny."  He really never stops moving, including while he is sleeping.  He routinely falls out of bed.  His toddler bed is too small for a side rail, but at least it's close to the floor.  I've started putting his foam chair next to his bed to keep him from falling out.  He also talks in his sleep.  He is napping right now, and he just called out "What's that?" several times.

Some things haven't changed.  Brady is still a picky eater and usually refuses to try anything unfamiliar.  We can't even sneak new foods.  Daddy tried to hide a green bean in a spoonful of pasta.  Brady found it both times and then suspiciously eyed every bite after that.  He still loves pasta, which he calls noodles.  He likes any kind of pasta with any kind of sauce.  He is better about eating veggies than he used to be.  He likes broccoli, carrots, peas and corn.  We still haven't had any luck with fruit, other than the occasional banana.

We haven't seen much of a change with his personality.  He is still a happy little guy.  He has occasional tantrums, usually when we take away whatever electronic device he has swiped from us.  Thanks to his short attention span these tantrums don't last long.  He was in a pretty crabby mood with us for a week or so after Caroline was born.  He was always sweet with her, but really grouchy with us.  I think it was more about the disruption of his routine and me being gone while I was in the hospital than it was about Caroline.  

One of the things I love most about Brady is how affectionate he is.  Despite the fact that we hug and kiss him often throughout the day, he frequently asks for hugs.  If we pull away too quickly, he pulls us back and squeezes tight.  It makes my heart melt every time.  Sometimes he asks for hugs when he is in time out or is supposed to be going to sleep, but most of the time it's completely random.

Finally, as for physical changes...Brady is 3 feet tall (90th percentile) and weighs 26 pounds (25th percentile).  He has a mouth full of teeth and may be getting his second molars.

We are having so much fun with Brady and can't wait to see how he grows and changes over the next year.