Brayden is 14 Months!

It's been a while since I've done a monthly post about my littlest guy, but I've been pretty busy and...well...exhausted.  We've had a lot of growing up going on in our house these days - on both boys' parts, and we're all pretty worn out.

I don't even know where to begin Brayden's update.  So much has changed!  This little man is full-out running around the house now, chasing his older brother and the cat.  He has a temper that is unmatched, I believe, and for this reason, I'm slightly terrified of what future tantrums will amount to.  Most of the time, however, this little booger is SO happy.  He is constantly smiling, chattering, and playing.  He ADORES Logan, and wants to do absolutely everything his older brother does.  Watching Logan's little shadow is quite amusing, especially when Logan gets to the point where he has had enough.  Brayden already knows how to push his brother's buttons...boy are we going to have our hands full in the years to come! 

He's still a pretty great eater.  He eats a much bigger variety than Logan ever did.  He's using a fork pretty independently, too, and gets mad when I try to do it for him.  He loves juice (though he doesn't get it all that often), Cheerios, green beans, bananas, and cheese.  He knows where each individual snack is kept, and will go to that particular cabinet or the fridge and point (and cry or whine) when he wants something to eat or drink.  His belly shows that he is well-fed, and I've started calling him "Buddha Belly."

Sleep is still a struggle, and I have a feeling it will be until we get him into a big boy bed sometime next summer.  We're at the point where sometimes two long naps during the day is too much, and on those nights he'll sleep for a while and then wake up for a couple of hours during the night.  He wants nothing but Mommy when he wakes up at night, so it's been pretty rough on me.  I've tried letting him cry it out, but he's made it to an hour and a half of tears (!) before I gave in.  He'll settle down if I go in his room and sit in the rocker, but starts screaming as soon as I try to leave.  The alternative has been (shame on me) to put him in bed with me.  It is the option that I like the least, but the only option that allows both of us to actually get some sleep.  It doesn't happen every day, and I don't think he's quite ready to drop one of his naps yet, but it's coming.

Probably my favorite new development is talking.  What a chatterbox this little guy is!  He babbles all day long, and has learned so many new words in the past few weeks.  Of course, like most babies, I'm pretty much the only one who can understand what he's saying, but I'm just so excited that he is finally able to communicate his thoughts and wants.  I'm going to attempt a list of the words he can manage, but I know I'll forget some.  Here we go: Mama, Dada, Bubba, Papa, Nana, nice (what he says when he pets Sophie), ball, cup, milk, more, nana (banana), fry, cookie, book, read, uh-oh, nose, toes, pee pee, poop, no, sock, shoe, car, boat, night-night, bye-bye, baby, fish, cold, stop, backpack, map, SpongeBob, and some blabber that sounds a lot like Look at that!, I did it!, and What's that?  He also knows a few body parts - nose, belly, toes, pee pee, and hair, and some animal noises - dog, pig, lion, monkey, and cat.

He goes up and down the stairs like a pro, loves to dig in the litter box (yuck) and splash in the toilet.  He loves to put on our shoes and steal Logan's love-love.  He takes every book off the bookcase shelves in the family room every. single. day.  He hits, he kicks, he pushes, and he bites - he's definitely a boy and he's a feisty one (wonder where he gets that from?)!  He is just plain TROUBLE, but we have a hard time getting upset with him because he's just so smiley and cute all the time.  He is most definitely our little goofball.  He loves to laugh, and most of the time we find ourselves laughing right along with him.  He's my cuddly baby, so he's always stealing hugs and kisses and snuggles.

It's hard to believe there are no more babies in my house!  I not-so-secretly love it, and I'm having so much fun watching both boys grow up right before my eyes.  Bring on the toddler!