B!!

Background to Barrett's latest feat:
For the past few months, he's been recognizing more and more numbers and letters. Right now, he recognizes numbers 1-10 and a little over half of the alphabet. He can name them when they're written by someone, on his foam letters/numbers in the tub, in books, on signs, etc. You get the picture...he's always pointing them out! I've been quite proud of him, if I do say so myself! I keep thinking that he's going to be an early reader like both his Momma and Daddy are reported to have been.

So last night, Barrett and Daddy were in the playroom while I cleaned up the kitchen after dinner. They were reading books together and one of his books has a magnetic drawing board attached to the top. The night before this, I was in there with them and I wrote some numbers and letters on the board and asked him to name them, which he did. Well, last night he decided to take it a step further and wrote a letter himself!


I heard him saying, "B!" a few times and then Daddy asked, "Have you ever seen him do that before?" I sure hadn't! I was so proud, I even called my mom to tell her! Sometimes I can't believe how fast his little mind works.

Barrett's 2nd Birthday!!

Since Barrett had a little party with his playgroup a couple of weeks ago, we decided that we wouldn't make too big of a deal of his actual birthday. Just us, a little bit of cake and a little bit of present opening! It all made Barrett very happy, though.

This is the cake he wanted to get Daddy back in December, but I didn't think Daddy would appreciate it too much, so we went back and got it for Barrett. He loved it!


He wanted more candles, even after we cut the cake! Why not, right?


Mmmmm...blue cake!


Present time!


Playing with his new laptop with Daddy:


Happy 2nd Birthday, Big Boy! Momma and Daddy love you very much!

Barrett's 2nd Birthday Playgroup

Barrett's birthday is actually not until the 22nd, but we celebrated a little early with our playgroup.

Kaitlyn and Barrett snacked before the party.


Lighting Barrett's "2" candle.


He really wanted to blow it out.


He tried really hard!


But he just couldn't quite do it.


In retrospect, I probably should have turned his cupcake around for pictures.


Still trying to blow out the candle!


Might need some help...


He started to worry about the fire being "HOT"!


It took Momma, Emily, Kaitlyn and Barrett to finally blow out that darn candle!


Happy Boy!


I think he likes his cupcake.


Frosting face:


Mmmmm...


Kaitlyn's ready to eat her cupcake, too!


Our playgroup:


Barrett made a big mess with the frosting!


Silly Kaitlyn!


Frosting was even in his nostrils!


Being silly with Mr. Potato Head's (one of his gifts) glasses:

Christmas Eve/Morning

Barrett's had a great Christmas!

Here he is getting ready for bed on Christmas Eve:


Another shot:


Opening his Christmas Eve gift:


Watching a dvd and enjoying his book about planes:


First thing he did Christmas morning:


Loves his Elmo book:


Unwrapping gifts!


New dishes:

Snow in Mississippi!!

It started snowing last night right before we went to bed and look what we saw when we woke up!

Barrett wandered around, checking everything out.


Pointing the moon out to Momma.


MOON!!


Hmmm...who put this stuff all over my bike?


And what's up with my swing?


This was taken right before he slipped on the ice that collected on his roller coaster track.


This was taken post-slip and he wanted that darn hat off!


Here he is throwing a fit on the living room floor, because Momma told him that he had to wear a hat outside.

My baby? Or my puppy?

We are having a real problem (well, I don't know that it's an actual problem...it's just weird) with Barrett lately: he keeps pretending he's a dog. I have no problem with him running around on all fours with our dogs, but he's taken it even further. Because our dogs tend to beg (and Barrett tends to give in) while we're eating, we put them outside during meals. When the meal is over, we let the dogs back in and they charge for the table, hoping that Barrett dropped something and he usually has. Well, Barrett has started getting down on all fours and pretending to scavenge with them. Sometimes he even eats the stuff he's thrown on the floor. Yuck! I've also caught him attempting to eat dog food out of the dog bowls several times this week. Twice he's come up to me with a sort of disgusted look on his face and I've held my hand in front of his mouth to catch the dog kibble that he wants to spit out. Ewww! He's sneaky about the dog water, too. He'll lie on the floor and take big swigs of it before I can even think about catching him. Ugh! I usually hear water splashing and then tell him that boys drink out of cups and not out of bowls on the floor. The other funny thing he does to pretend he's a dog is that he barks whenever Max comes home. Our dogs run to the door and bark whenever he gets home from work and Barrett just joins in. He gets on all fours and yipes at the door just like a dog. Max has learned to open the door very slowly. I'm sure this is all normal toddler behavior and I'm totally fine with it, but I could do without the gross parts! I'll have to try to get some pictures of him being a dog.

HAT, HAT!

After throwing what seemed like a never-ending screaming fit, Barrett calmed down and decided to read some books that we keep in the bathroom (to combat potty-training boredom). A few minutes later, he came out of the bathroom like this, exclaiming, "HAT, HAT!" and I just cracked up! I think all toddlers have probably been accused of being bipolar at times--making you crazy because they are so irrational and then making you laugh so hard you lose your breath a few minutes later. This has definitely been one of those days and makes me remember that Barrett is awesome, even if he attempts to drive me nuts sometimes!