My Online Journal - by Mommy about Brady

I'M 21 MONTHS OLD!
(all about my 20th month - July 2004)

Not much is really different this month.  I am loving the summer and being outdoors alot. Riding in my car, on my firetruck and playing in the sandbox are still my favorite!! I still talk ALOT in full sentences and have started singing LOTS of songs all the way through - oh, and you can understand every word too! One of the biggest things I'm learning right now is my asking manners.  Instead of saying "outside now, Mommy come"....I'm learning to say "Mommy, may I , may we.....please?."  I'm learning fast and doing great!!!

Some of the fun songs and things I sing are

"Twinkle Twinkle"
ABC's - entire song!
Row, Row, Row, your boat
London Bridges
Jesus Loves Me
This little Light of Mine
He's got the whole world
Ring around the Rosie
The Ernie Song & Elmo Song
Wheels on the Bus
If your happy and your know it
Old McDonald
Humpty Dumpty
Hickory Dickory Dock
Mary Had a Little Lamb

I sing LOTS more too...these are just a few...  8-)

LAST MONTH - all still applies to this month too!

I am getting SO BIG these days - especially in personality!!  I would run non-stop if they let me but thankfully Mommy knows when I need a nap!! This month I am putting more and more things together verbally.  I can tell you tons of nursery rhymes, songs and can even tell you what pirate movies are rated "AAHHHRRR" - my very 1st joke!!!  I have such a sweet demeanor and love to give hugs and kisses and crawl all over Mommy, Daddy and Nathan.  My big thing is to have mommy kiss my booboo's when I hurt myself - sooo sweet!!!  I've had so much fun outside too with fingerpainting, my sprinkler and pools, watercoloring, swinging and playing with my friends.  I can run REALLLY "faster" too and can now throw a ball in a specific direction instead of randomly.  I'm just so talented!!!! I am very smart and pick up on everything I see or hear.  I can almost recite all my books and videos now and understand just about anything I"m told to do.  I'm a very big helper too, especially with chores and helping Mommy take care of Nathan.  Oh, and my bear and I - still bestest buds!!! Although, bear has to stay "night night" during the day in my crib - but sometimes he gets to come out and play and then I show him EVERYTHING!!!!!!

Brady 2yrs old

Some exciting things:  I've moved into a big boy bed as of January and I love it!!!  I am also working on potty training, learning how to read and make all my letters make words (through phonics and site words), and I'm learning what it means to share (that's a tough one!).  I love to color, play with playdough, LOVE my cars and trucks, playing outside, playing games and I still love my books!  I'm even starting to love my brother playing with my toys too!! I am having so much fun being "2"!!
 
(Brady is still our cuddle bug and is also our little clown!!  He loves to make us laugh with the funny things he comes up with and his imagination is still amazing!!)

t's hard to believe our little Brady is already 2 1/2!!  He is getting so big and accomplishing so many "big boy" milestones too!!  Brady moved into a big boy bed when he was two and has only ever gotten out of his bed twice during the entire transition - WOW, we are truly amazed and blessed by his compliant little heart!!  We started the potty training process in January but decided he just wasn't ready.  So, when he turned 2 1/2 and at the beginning of May we decided to try again!  It's been a HUGE success and we pretty much have a fully potty trained little boy in just a manner of about 2 weeks.  - God is so gracious!!  Brady picked up on it really quickly and is loving being a BIG BOY!  (Personally, I'm not loving him being SOO big!)

Brady still has such a sweet heart and loves to give hugs and kisses, cuddle up with us and he's loving most his new found playmate - his brother, Nathan! They have so much fun together and Brady loves telling him what to do and how to do it.  Nathan doesn't seem to mind too much, at least not right now!  Some of Brady's favorite things to do are playing with all his cars, rescue vehicles, being outside, playing with playdough, his sand box, wrestling, and he loves building pretend cities with his blocks.  He's also starting to have lots of fun playing games like hide and seek, red rover, red light/green light, and board games like shoots and ladders and memory. 

We've also continued to discover over the last year that Brady is exceptionally smart!  He can pretty much tell you what any word starts and ends with and can give you many words for any letter you ask him.  He's really picked up on reading recently too and is starting to enjoy greatly trying to pronounce words he see's - on signs, cars, books, etc... it's so much fun playing the alphabet game in the car now!!  Since he's doing so well with reading, we're going to focus this summer on drawing shapes and pictures and writing letters. Brady is also very much into knowing all the types/kinds of trucks, the planets, and is LOVING learning all the bible stories and even memorizing verses! 

So far so good on the terrible two's!  He definitely has gained a new independence but overall is a pleasant happy little guy who has perfected the art of "time-out".   HA HA   It's a blast!!

Stay tuned for his fun Summer Adventures!!

Brady 2yrs 9mo

This summer has been so filled with adventures that when Brady wakes up in the mornings he say's "what's today, Mommy"!!  From swimming lessons, having friends over to play in the backyard or swim, going to the park, playgroups, holidays, birthdays, etc...there is never a dull moment in our household!  When things are a little slower, Brady creates things to do or still loves to build play cities for his rescue vehicles/firetrucks.  He LOVES anything having to do with 911 and emergency vehicles and he loves to pretend!! 

Over the past couple of months Brady has become really interested in Planets and types of Cars.  He can currently tell you the names of the 9 main planets, which ones have rings and how many rings,  which one is hottest/coldest, farthest/nearest the sun, and all kinds of cool facts about them. Bedtime is so much fun as we watch his glow-in-the-dark planets and stars light up the room.  He's also very interested in recognizing cars by their symbols and it's really cool to listen to him as we drive around - Mommy/Daddy -"LOOK" a Honda, Toyota, Pontiac, Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, etc...he's got quite a talent going!!  And he's become quite fascinated in trying to read signs - it's great in practicing his reading skills!! 

Brady LOVES to play!!!!  He's not really picky either and could easily entertain himself for hrs at a time (of course, we don't let him!)  He also LOVES to lead his little brother around and try to get him to do things too.  "Here Nathan, here is your firetruck, come 'on, let's drive"  SO CUTE!!!  There are plenty of other moments too though where I hear him yell "Nathan, NO"  usually followed by a wrestling match over a toy!!!   Quite a funny site!   They still love playing with blankets and pillows - pretty funny entertainment to watch them as they tackle each other.  One thing we've recently noticed about Brady is his arm strength!!We really think we might have a gymnast on our hands!  He can flip around bars and hand rings with no effort and loves to climb and jump off things.

I'm sure there is tons more I'm forgetting to share, but mainly Brady is such a JOY and so FUN to be around.   He loves to make up  knock-knock jokes that don't make sense (they do to him, of course!), make Nathan laugh, and he is still a little SMILER!!!  

Stay tuned for the next update after my Birthday!!! - 1st week in Nov.
I can't believe Brady is already going to be 3!!