2 Yr/6 Mo Stats

HEIGHT/WEIGHT/TOOTH COUNT:
37 1/2 inches, 30 lbs, 18 teeth (waiting on A and J). Still doing daily breathing treatment in the morning of Pulmicort to prevent his "reactive airway disease" from flaring up during viral season. So far, so good! Just this week he got his first cold since we started this regimen. In the past, it wouldn't take long for the congestion to travel from his nose to his chest and cause him to wheeze and retract, but this time it's still just a yucky head cold! Annoying to him, but much less dangerous than pneumonia!!!

NEW TRICKS:

• Drinks out of a straw!!!! Finally!
• Pretty consistent on picking up one bunch of toys before dragging out another without being told.
• Pedals trikes like a mad man at play-gym.
• Uses his Sonicare electric toothbrush.
• Starting to understand the concept of counting things.
• Pretty consistent on manners--saying please, no thank you, thank you, you're welcome, I'm sorry.
• Gives himself hugs.
• Can navigate through my iPhone to find his games!
  

FAVORITE FOODS:
Still cheese, cheese, cheese. Will most always eat whatever we're eating, but if you give him a choice, it's CHEESE.

FAVORITE BOOKS:
His Thomas books, The Giving Tree, Is Your Mama a Llama, Old Hat/New Hat

FAVORITE TOYS/ACTIVITIES:

• Play-Doh
• Race cars-especially the ones from the movie "Cars" (they seem to be taking priority over Thomas even!!!) I love the way he says "Lighting Da'Queen" (Lightning McQueen).
  
• Reading "by himself" (we often find him "reading" books in the dark after he wakes up from his nap)
• Mr. Potato Head
• Playing in the dark-always wants the lights off!
• Pretending--he will run around pretending to be an airplane, holding his arms out and making noise, or he'll swing his sword around saying, "Aargghh, I'm a pirate!"
• "Writing a message" with his new colored pencils.
• Sucking and squirting with old medicine droppers or the turkey baster in the bathtub.
  

DAILY ROUTINE:
Up at 7 or 7:30, nap at 1 (about an hour, seems to get shorter and shorter), to bath/books/to bed by 8pm.

FAVORITE SONGS:
He has been singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to me in full at night, and is also proficient at the ABC's now!

DISLIKES:
Time out, which is great because that means it works. When I give him the choice between time out and whatever it is I want him to do, he ALWAYS makes the right choice and acts on it!

MOMENTS I DON'T WANT TO FORGET:

• When I put him to bed one nite, he said, "I will wub yo face and sing you a song. How 'bout Tinkle Tinkle Lil Sar?" And he did just that. It was precious.
• When he's crying for whatever reason, he will say to me, "Say 'It's allright,' Momma. Say 'It's allright!'" And amazingly, when I say "It's allright," he believes me and stops crying shortly thereafter. I wonder how long that will work...
• When we went to my friend Abbey's to see her little boy and new baby girl, Brax was so gentle with her and really seemed to understand that she used to be in Abbey's belly like Harper is in mine. I think that helped him get the concept of having a baby sister.
• In the car, he picked up on a song on Christian radio. B-"They're talking about JESUS!" Me-"Yes, they are. How about I play another song about Jesus... This one talks about God... They are the same. God is our Heavenly Father." (I put on some music that was on my iPod) B-"God is nice like Daddy!" Me-"Yes, he is." B-"I love God." Me-(smiling!) "He loves you, too, baby." B-"Is God at his house?" Me-"God lives in Heaven, with Jesus. It's wayyy up in the sky." B-"Can I see Him?" Me-"No, not yet. We can see Him when we die." (Now I'm wishing I hadn't opened that can of worms...) B-"Are we dying?" Me-"No, not till God says it's time." After a few moments of silence... when we got home... B-"Is God here?" Me-"Yes, but we can't see Him. He watches over us." And with that, Brax went on about his business.

BRAXISMS:

• Woke up from a bad dream one nite, when I went in he said, "There's a monster in here! I need a hug and kiss." (Jace told him about monsters. Thank you very little, Jace.)
• Yelled into my belly, "I LOVE YOU, BABY HARPER!"
• Randomly to me-"I wish your back feels better."
• "Does he have ear muffins on?"
• "What is a cylinder?"
• "Start your engines!"
• "I'm back on the track!"
• When I leave his room after tucking him in at nite, he always asks, "Are you going to stretch your back and take a shower?"
• We were reading a book called "Baby Cakes" one nite. He noticed that in one of the illustrations, the little boy's face looked bumpy. He said, "He has bumps on his face. His mommy didn't put lotion on him very good." (Brax has very dry skin, so I slather him with Aquaphor and Cetaphil every day to prevent dry-skin bumps!)
• One day he kept asking me, "What time is it?"
• He was doing a little jig, I asked him if he was dancing. He said, "With my poop!" (Yes, he had pooped.)
• "I want animal crackers for snack! That'll be YUMMY! Get them out, Mommy!"
• B-"Can I say 'Oh my goodness?'" Me-"Yes, you can say that." B-"OH MY GOODNESS!....... That'll make Jesus smile." (This was a few days after he said "Oh my God" and I explained that we don't say God's name like that, it makes Jesus very sad.)
• In the car, he said to me, "Slow down, sweetie!"