I Am 17 Months Old!!

Braden just turned 17 months old....so fun! :) I think this stage is my favorite one so far. We have had such a good time with him recently....he keeps us on our toes but he is such a blast to be around at the same time. He is an active, active boy....and he is becoming so independent. At the same time he is so sweet and so innocent. He is just such fun to watch. :)

Here are some things that are going on at 17 months old:

1) Braden puts puzzles together well now. He knows all the different pieces and can bring them to you or say their names. And he knows where almost all of the pieces go. We have also been working with him on his colors and numbers and he is doing so well. :) He often knows what number comes next in order and will shout it out.....and he always says "YAY" when we get to ten! :) It is amazing to watch his little brain work.

2) Like I have mentioned for quite awhile now....he talks A LOT!! He has so many fun words new words since I last posted about all of his talking. It is so cool to watch all of these new words emerge. :) Love that he can say "Bugbee" now too. :)

3) In addition to the new words, he is starting to put words into phrases. A few of his new ones are:
Hallelujah!
I love Jesus (yay!!)
Gig'em! WHOOP!
No no Obama-Chris taught him this one of course. Often it has turned into "No no Mama" though...so I am not quite as stoked about that one. :)

He still says the ones that he learned awhile back too..."I Love You" and "Happy Happy Day!!"

4) He is really starting to know himself. You can ask him "What is your name?" and he will say "Braden". You can ask him how old he is and he will say "One"...and hold up 1 finger. :) And we are working on "Where do you live?" With a little help he will say "Austin".

5) He is doing great identifying animals of all kinds-farm animals, artic animals, zoo animals, etc. He is doing very well with their sounds too....a snake goes "sssss", a lamb goes "baaa", a cow goes "mooo", a horse goes "neigh", a chicken goes "cluck, cluck", a rooster goes "cooka-doodle-do", a puppy goes "woof woof", a cat goes "meow". If you ask him what a fish says he gives you the cutest fish face. :) He can also do a few other fun ones that make us laugh so hard...."what does your bootie say?" and he will answer "toot toot", and "what does an Aggie say?" and he will answer "whoop!!". :)

6) We are to the point where we can almost have a real conversation with him and that is such a huge change. He understands MUCH more than he can speak.....but his words are pretty awesome. :)

7) He is very into testing boundaries right now. He is trying to figure out what all he can get away with. He oftens tries to test the limits just to see what pushes our buttons...and then he will smile of course. :)

8) Braden is starting to understand a little more about where Brant is and what that all means. You can ask him where Brant is and he will point to my stomach. He can say his name as well. And then sometimes I will find him just standing in Brant's room looking around...trying to figure it all out. I guess he must be thinking "why is there another crib in here?", and "why is MY glider in here?" :)

9) Braden's molars are coming in so he is starting to look like he has a lot more teeth. :) We are still keeping up the brushing twice per day. :)

10) He still loves books but you can really read them now. He is over just turning the pages all the time. He wants to curl up in your lap and actually listen to most of the books so that is fun. He is also starting to get more into paper books vs just the cardboard baby ones. :)

Couple of pics at 17 months. :)
Serious face.... Happy face.....I LOVE laughing with Daddy!!! He is so funny! :)