brooks hayden : 22 months

it's been awhile since i've done an update on brooksy boy.  

  

weight: 29 pounds

height: 36 inches

diapers: size 5

shoes: size 6

clothes: 18M-3T, depending on brand

at 22 months, brooks loves:

-swinging/sliding

-throwing rocks

-basically anything outdoors

-books

-watching shows on the phone or ipad (especially YouTube Kids)

-clifford

-treats

-taking baths

-swimming

-holding, tackling, kissing, and trying to lift remi

-driving cars

-baby dolls

-holding our hands when he's tired in a very specific way

-granola bars, string cheese, mandarin oranges, veggie pancakes

-playing with his tool set and "fixing" everything

-making messes

-accessories and dressing up

he hates:

-coming inside

-when he realizes we are turning onto our street

-when we try and sneak out of nursery

-not getting his way

-car washes

there was a period there for awhile where every morning brooks would bring me random articles of clothing and accessories from various places in the house and want all of them on him.  this outfit above was one of my favorites.  he has a shoe obsession and is constantly playing in my closet trying all of them on.  he is very particular about which shoes he wears and somehow always wants the ones that don't match his outfit.  he is OBSESSED with his rain boots and has mastered putting them on by himself.

he is a pretty good sport when it comes to shopping.  i drag him all over town with me and as long as he gets to run around free every once in awhile he usually does pretty good.  he always wants to hold toys he sees or try on all of the accessories, especially sunglasses.  he is getting to the age that he remembers certain stores.  whenever we go to JC Penny's with my mom he knows exactly where his favorite pair of women's nude pumps are, and also where the disney toys and helicopters are located.  he recently discovered the escalators and we may or may not have ridden up and down seven times on our last shopping adventure.

almost every monday we meet some friends at SLURP for beverages and cookies.  he has become quite friendly with this little dog decoration.  he pulls it to wherever we are sitting and then gets on for a ride.  he also like to run around from room to room with his little friend anabelle chasing each other and screaming.  i'm sure everyone there loves us.

 his love of the outdoors is both a blessing and a curse.  he recently learned how to open doors and so nine out of ten times if it's quiet while i'm doing something in another room, brooks has made his great escape.  our next door neighbors have eight kids which means they have tons of fun toys and gadgets.  any chance he gets he makes a B line over to their backyard to swing.  if no one is there to get him on the swing and push him, then he makes his way up the grassy hill and finds any bike, motorcycle, object with wheels to ride on.  he has perfected the art of running away as fast as he can if he sees matt or i because he knows that he has to come inside or get in the car.  it's both funny and not funny.  he's a nugget.

he has become very brave in the water lately.  we go swimming indoors a few times a month and he is becoming quite the little fish.  he likes to put his hands on the bottom of the pool and kick his legs out so they float to the top of the water.  he puts his face in the water and blows bubbles, and he will also let matt dunk him.  he LOVES to go down the big slides and jump of the sides.  i'm hoping to put him in swim lessons this summer.

i have made several family photo books that sit on our coffee table.  brooks loves them because they are pictures of our family and friends that he recognizes.  we have read them hundreds of times i'm sure.  two books in particular are about brooks and remi's birth stories.  he usually favors these ones and so one day i decided to show him his birth video.  he got about one minute into the video and it was just too much for him to handle.  he got very stressed and nervous when he saw my push face and he just broke down into the saddest little tears.  i, of course, died of laughter and took the above picture, but then shut it off.  poor thing was traumatized.

a few weeks later, he was playing on my phone looking at pictures and videos.  remi's birth video is saved to my phone and he started playing it.  i sat back to watch his expressions wondering if the same thing would happen.  this time he got to the part where it shows remi for the first time and he just lost it.  started sobbing and wanted to be comforted. hahaha he now skips over that video when he plays with my phone.

brooks is slowly starting to say more and more words each day.  he is quite stubborn when it comes to performing for other people, but if you catch him at the right time you can get him to talk.  the other day i was counting and i got to seven and out of nowhere he said, "eight, nine."  i had no idea he even knew his numbers.  

he associates certain letters with certain people:

A - avery

B - brooks

D - dad

H - honey

M - mom

N - nate

R - remi

T - treg

W - he confuses this for mom

we have some foam tub letters, magnet letters, and a letter puzzle.  he will pick all of these letters out first and give them to the person they belong to.

shapes he knows include : circle, star, heart, rectangle, triangle, oval, diamond, square

s

 he still hates nursery and refuses to let us leave.  i think the longest he has lasted alone before having a meltdown is six minutes.  as long as we are there he is fine.  sometimes he won't leave our side and other times he will venture off and do his own thing but look over constantly to make sure we are still there.  everyone keeps saying that he will flip a switch one day and not need us there, but i have yet to see that happen.

i mentioned earlier that he recognizes stores when we pull into the parking lot.  i think walmart has become his favorite because they have these stupid sesame street rides that he is OBSESSED with.  the walmart near our house has two of them in two different places.  if i'm lucky i can get away with only having to let him ride on one of the two, but usually he ends up at least sitting on both of them.  it's kind of cute though because he gets so excited when i hand him the quarters as we walk into the store.  i tell him to hold his money and when we are done shopping he can ride.  he is so patient and usually holds pretty tight to his "moneys."

brooks is such a sweet, tender hearted little thing.  he is both a mommy and a daddy's boy depending on the day.  he is still so cuddly and loves to be snuggled tight.  i hope that never stops.

we love you blue eyed brooksy boy.