Braden... lately.

Braden is fun. Braden is challenging. Braden is smart. Braden is precious. Braden is a handful. Braden is stubborn. Braden is a cutie-pie, snuggle bug. Braden will always be my baby.

Oh this boy, he can elicit the full range of emotions in a short time frame. And I love the fact that he is who he is. Some of his latest:

• "I don't want to eat onions. I don't like to cry."
• "I found a dirty M&M" upon finding one on the floor in the pantry.
• He loves watching You Tube. I went to see what he was doing in his play room and he was sitting at his computer watching How We Build This - Garbage Truck! Yes, he's figured out how to use the mouse and How We Build This videos are some of his favorite! He also likes Caillou - who I think is whiny and annoying! We've had to put a password on his computer... I don't think this should be the case with a 2 year old!
• Anthony put one of his magnetic letters out of reach after Braden threw it. A little while later Braden said "Don't throw away letter F, Daddy." Yes, it was letter F!
• I asked him if his favorite word is "no." He said "yes."
• He thinks that "I don't like this" and "I don't want to" are magic phrases.
• He still loves to snuggle, momentarily at least, and loves his bear and bubbas.
• He enjoys his long hair and has no interest in getting it cut.
• He'd wear his Hawaiian turtle shirt everyday if he could.
• His favorite books are Richard Scarry's Busy Town ones - the same my brother and I read as kids.
• He loves Grape Nuts and will eat them every morning. He loves breakfast actually and wakes up so excited for it.
• Don't we love when we find the things that make him say "do it again" over and over again!
• He is very process oriented. He always talks through situations. Whenever he mentions an action of any kind, he has to add "like this" after and either explain or show me what it means. So this includes "throw it like this," "fall down like this," "hit like this," with the associated actions. When he's not sure the action, he just says the word - "don't be rude like this - rude."
• He likes to go through lists. I'll ask him something and he'll say "maybe this, maybe this, maybe this..." It usually starts out with actual things, but eventually it includes anything he sees around him.
• He loves his cars and trucks.
• And most importantly, he loves his mommy, daddy and baby Hunter and we love him!

I often have to remind myself that he is only 2.