The Toddler

This is the latest on what our little Brycen man is doing these days!

Brycen still loves walking around the apartment with his shorts off. I think the only time he ever has pants on is if we have company over or if we're going out. He also really likes putting Tyson's shoes and flip flops on and attempting to walk around. It makes things extra difficult when he gets them on the wrong feet!

I like to give him milk with his breakfast. Every now and then I put a little Quik in his milk for a little flavor. Oftentimes he wants more, so I get the milk back out and pour more milk in his cup. He freaks out every time and starts pointing at the Quik. I have to explain to him that he's drinking milk and that the Quik is what makes the milk taste yummy. As I'm pouring the milk he screams and screams till he sees the brown or pink powder of the Quik (depending on the flavor) and laughs when he sees me put it in the milk.

He loves his little brother, but he gets really jealous when Tyson is holding him. At first it was jealousy whenever either of us held Carter, but now it's just Tyson. Brycen has gotten a lot louder since Carter came home. He doesn't necessarily yell, he just talks a lot more loudly and says "hi" a lot. We can tell he's just trying to get attention. But we're trying our best to give him that attention that he's seeking. He knows things are different and doesn't like it.

He'll go in our bedroom where Carter sleeps and watch him. He'll whisper and say, "Shhh" to me, then he'll just start yelling. I'll ask him why he's yelling if he's the one who said to be quiet. Then he just yells some more. That's the point where we leave the room and let Carter sleep. Thankfully Carter is used to sleeping in loud surroundings because of his NICU stay. All those crying babies, loud beeps, and chatty parents and nurses sure helped us all out! It's amazing what he can sleep through.

Lately we've been letting Brycen out of the cart to walk around the store with us. Last night we were at Hobby Lobby and he and I were walking together. He realized Tyson had gone a different direction. He looked at me, put his hands up and asked, "A Daddy?" Then he scratched his head, put his hand on his hip, and started looking around the corners. We walked around for a minute or two looking for Tyson and I just laughed and laughed watching Brycen scratch his head and put his hands on his hips.

Yesterday I was feeding Carter and Brycen was sitting next to me. I started quizzing him on parts of the body and he was getting them all right. Right now he can point out hair, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, belly button, hands, feet, and toes. I knew we were done when I asked, "Where's your elbow?" He put his hands up in the air and looked around like he was searching for something. He got off the couch and went to his room, then came back with his little stuffed Elmo. With a big grin on his face he said, "Melmo!"

Brycen really likes to watch when Carter is getting dressed or getting his diaper changed. I'll put Carter up on the changing table and Brycen will want me to pick him up. I'll tell him if he wants to watch to go grab a blanket and put it on the floor so we can put Carter on it. He usually grabs his Stacy Pasley blanket and places it on the floor. Then he grabs the travel changing mat and we put Carter on top of it. He also has to make sure we have everything out on the floor with us: a diaper, the wipes, and an extra outfit. While I'm changing Carter, Brycen will lie on the floor with his head next to his and kiss him. He'll also pet his head and talk to him. It's pretty cute.

Newest words:

• "mote" (remote)
• "cuck" (duck)
• "cuck" (yuck) This gets a little confusing sometimes!
• "cack" (quack)
• "Gooey" (Goofy)
• "bana" (baby)
• "bana" (blanket) Another confusing one.
• "Octnot" (Octonauts) 
• "Melmo" (Elmo) 
• "boakt" (broke)
• juice
• cheese