We LOVE Brecken!

I am so happy to say that I have officially seen the spark return to Brecken's beautiful blue eyes!! After a straight month of being sick, I am OVERJOYED by this!!! We have an appointment with the ENT next Tuesday to discuss the possibility of getting tubes put in, and if that is the route we go I certainly hope that we have less sickness. Brecken's blood work on Friday came back good and now that his white blood count is back up he can return to daycare! YAY!! Fortunately, Brecken's Grandma Walker was already planning on coming up last week to stay with him so it actually worked out just find that he couldn't go to daycare all last week. From the sound of things, they had the absolute best time! Eric was in Utah for work all last week and I had parent-teacher conferences and my grad class in the evenings, so Brecken saw a lot of Grandma and little to none of Eric and me. By Thursday night when I did get home to put him to bed, he pushed away from me and reached for Grandma!!!! Eric also said that when Brecken got up from nap on Friday afternoon, he immediately ran down the hall looking for Grandma and checked in every room, sad that he couldn't find her :) They had fun together and we were so thankful that she was able to come up and help us out!

Brecken is developing quite the personality... Sometimes great, sometimes not so pleasant, but always 100% loved by his parents :) We had his 18 month photos taken today and EXHAUSTING and FRUSTRATING were definitely a part of our feelings :) All in all, he really did good. We found ourselves reflecting on the difference between his 3 month photo shoot (where our biggest obstacle was keeping him awake) and today's shoot, where we were constantly pulling him back to the camera's view and dancing and jiggling things to get him to look in the general vicinity of the camera :) He definitely knows what he wants and is better able to communicate those wants to us with each passing day. He says all kinds of words, and often mimics the sounds we make to repeat what we have said even though he has no idea what the meaning is. We love listening to him say his own name ("Bebin") but of course my personal favorite is "mama"!!!! He seems to say a new word every day and while I was trying to write down all of his new words to keep track of, I think it is almost to the point where I will have to stop. Today, he was saying "saa" (saw) and "wen" (wrench) as Daddy was helping him learn some of his tools as they were playing.... I heard them talking about the tools from the other room and later in the day, Brecken brought them both over to me and correctly told me which one was which. I can only imagine all the things I will be able to learn from him in the upcoming years! He also loves his "goll cus" (golf cubs) which we have been playing with outside a lot in the past week and often asks for them when we are inside while pointing to the door.

Here is the thing with his words..... HE WILL NOT EVER SAY WHAT WE WANT HIM TO WHEN WE HAVE THE VIDEO CAMERA ON HIM!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr :( Just tonight, he was playing basketball and I said, "Brecken, do you want to shoot another basket or ride your tractor?" He pointed to his tractor and said, plain as day, "Tractor." I thought to myself how very cute and how very clear and ran to get the video camera..... Do you think he would say it while I was recording??????? NO. Mind you, within seconds after giving up and putting it away, he pointed to the tractor and again said it clearly. He is a little stinker.

We think his desire to sleep is just amazing! He announces when it is time for bedtime or nap time and often puts himself INTO bed on his own :) It is as though we are officially not needed as parents some days! Around 7pm every night, he starts saying "ni ni" (night night) and laying his head down on the floor or our laps. We typically try to hold him off a little longer and coerce him into another game of basketball or a few more books. When it is time for bedtime, he knows his routine well.... He goes out to the kitchen and sits in front of the refrigerator waiting for his drink of water.... Then kisses for mommy and daddy.... Then a quick shuffle down the hallway to his bedroom where he crawls into his race car bed, finds his "lovey" (one of his many old spit rags that he holds while falling asleep), then says (usually while waving) "bye bye." We are extremely aware that his willingness to go to bed could change at any time, but are grateful while it lasts :) He is such a good little boy!!

He is very aware of everything going on around him, adores his doggies, throws things when he is angry/ frustrated, and gets so goofy when he is tired that it is just HILARIOUS! We think he is the best little human on this planet and cannot get enough of him. We will think he is super duper great if he remembers to sleep in tomorrow and let us take advantage of the extra hour of sleep we get from the time change :) We tried bribing him with a Perkins breakfast in our jammies if he sleeps in..... Let's hope it works!