A little bit of B-O-Y!

Since I'm kind of missing the monthly 'Growing with Grover' updates, I figured I'd throw one out there just for the heck of it. And I'm kind of scared that if I don't make these notes and include pictures, I might forget all the fun things my little boy loves right now (the longer I'm a mom, the more I understand that the memory just isn't what it used to be...)

Some favorite things right now: swords and apple juice. And if you mix the two together, you have one happy little guy (a.k.a. a straw in a cup of juice/water) He can say 'apple juice' plain as day and I love that he is starting to communicate to me the things he needs (or wants). Makes being a mommy a little bit easier :)

TOUCHDOWN! The kid can spot a football a mile away. He'll throw his arms up and say "tchdn". I love it. I think we might have to view some old games during off season to keep him in the spirit!
BOOKS! He is really enjoying reading these days and initiates the process himself (going to get 5, 10, 15 books off the shelf and bringing them to us to read to him). I love this, probably a little more than I should :) His favorite books are anything with stars in them.

KISSES! Not for his momma, but for all his stuffed animals, blankets, pillow...basically anything but me. Not sure what that's all about? We love watching him pick up his toys and give them a sweet kiss and hug around the neck. He does this so often with most anything that is soft and it warms my heart instantly. Such a sweet boy. Let's hope it sticks.
And of course to balance out the sweetness comes the swords. Most anything that has some length to it is a sword these days: golf clubs, brushes, remote controls, eating utensils...he'll grab these "swords" and begin humming the Indiana Jones theme song (compliments of our baby-sitters son, Brian). We still haven't uncovered the purpose of swords and for that, I am grateful.

Buttons, of course. He loves them all. Remote controls, space heaters, telephones, and any other illegal baby object you can think of. If he can push it, he will. For hours.

A newfound passion; stirring. This began in the kitchen, like most stirring does. However, after a few weeks of using his own spoon and bowl to stir while mommy cooks, he took his show on the road, and into the bathroom. Nowadays his favorite 'bowl' to stir is in the bathroom. With the toilet brush as the spoon. FYI - I do not promote this, however, in attempt to capture my entire child, rules had to be broken.

Playing in the shower. Not sure what the big deal is with this, but when he gets in it; he dances around and squeals with delight. It's fairly entertaining.

Like most children, I presume, we've entered the "I want to be outside. All day. Every day. No matter how cold it is. Or how much snow is falling. I want to be outside" phase. This has actually caused mommy to be very creative with the car/house transitions and re-directing has become my new favorite game. Of course, he is pretty cute...so he does get his way a few times.

Swinging, obviously, is still one of our favorites!

Playing with outdoor "swords" and kicking the ball (or as he says, 'cock ball', which I am aware we need to work on).

He's finally able to pick up the ball and throw it a few inches to Brodey. Thankfuly, Brodey has been fairly patient with this 1 year old's new arm.

Spotting airplanes and 'ka ka's' (birds). He gets REALLY excited about both, even though we live about 10 miles from a small airport and we see about 10 airplanes a day.

And of course, calling his Gigi on the telephone. He does this every day. If he sees me on the phone, he'll go get his pretend phone and say 'Gigi, Gigi' over and over. They have great talks.

Things not photographed:

He likes to sing now. At night after we read and say prayers, and he KNOWS he's about to go night night, he'll start humming to me. I love this, and he knows it...he also knows it buys him a few more minutes of rocking :)

Goldfish.

Climbing up the stairs.

The Turners. He loves his baby-sitter and her husband and children. He gets so excited to go over there every morning.

Cats. And this isn't good, considering both his parents have a fairly aggressive hatred for cats. When he sees a cat, he meows instantly (this sounds more like a shrill cry...maybe he hates cats too??)

His stars and lovie. He gets so happy to see both when we put him in his crib. It warms my heart knowing he goes to sleep every night content.

I'm sure I'll come back and add a few things that he's doing right now. I just love watching him learn and grow every second of every day. I still wonder how I got so lucky to be his mom. Don't get me wrong, we definitely have our challenging moments. The communication barrier can be frustrating for both of us. However, when he does learn a new word, or way to ask for things, its amazing to see how proud he gets and how excited me and his daddy get. These moments are very special, and something I look forward to watching for the rest of my life!