holy moly the last two months have FLOWN by! you have grown leaps and bounds and into the sweetest, but also the most bull-headed little boy ever. your smile is the most contagious of all four of you and you can bring the house down with your insane laughter and happy squeals. your dad has hung your baby moon. you KNOW that he’s “dada” yet you call/cry for him by “mama” and confuse all of us. there have been days you want nothing to do with any one but your dad, and I’m okay with that. and I think your daddy loves it even more than you do! you follow him around all day and your sweet baby face lights up when he walks in the door from being gone at work. you find the most comfort when you are in his arms and not a care in the world when he’s carrying you while going about his day.

you adore your daddy. but I dont blame you, because we all do!Baker is your BFF whether you like it or not. she’s attached to your hip, buddy.  but, you all really are as close as any mom could ever wish their kids to be. and I cannot even begin to put into words how thankful I am for that! you do everything together- the girls are so great in including you in everything they do. as much as I see Baker in you, your face has changed so much in the last couple months and when you flash your contagious smile I’m whipped back to when Parker Jane was this age.  your mannerisms and expressions lately are 100% Parker and I LOVE it.

like this cheesy face.  right here.. snot nose and all 🙂but this face. this FACE is all Brady. and this one, too.the low eyes and pouty face. ..pushed out lip. that is a classic Baker attitude, but oh Brady, you have perfected it. if something doesn’t go as you think it is supposed to you walk away arms straight at your side and eyes raised just enough to see in front of you. making a statement before you plop down face first onto to floor..all of it to grab attention of whoever might be watching.

your hard interest in the television is new this month. you’ll sit with your sisters in the morning after you wake up while I’m making breakfast and watch most of a cartoon. you still love Mickey Mouse, but any time I go to turn on the television you start screaming BUBBLES! like that yellow fish on Finding Nemo.

at 17 months your vocabulary is gradually growing.. it seems like you pick up a word or two here and there but you have a handful that you say consistently: bubbles (of course), “dats cold!”, shoes, bye, Jo, Parker, dog, more, no, mama, dad, and you’ll say papa here and there. while you only have a few words, you understand everything we say 100%..that includes things I’ve never shown you or said to you, you get it.your eating habits have continued to improve! after your well check appointment at 15 months the doctor put you on medication to help to increase your appetite. I saw major improvement but I was still nervous you weren’t eating enough.. but when we went back at 16 months for a weight check you had gained two whole pounds in just four weeks! we filled another prescription for the medication (Brady took cyproheptadine twice a day. it is an allergy medication commonly used to increase appetite in young children.) but I ended up weaning you pretty quickly after that and you no longer take it and still continue to have a pretty great appetite.Favorite Foods: you LOVE mac and cheese, cheese pizza, crackers, sausage, mexican rice, tortilla, oatmeal, toast with peanut butter, english muffin with butter, guacamole, chicken nuggets, daddy’s smoothies, fish, granola bars.. yogurt, chocolate milk.  yogurt yogurt yogurt..and more chocolate milk.  all day long. water is another ‘fav’ and you prefer that to drink if you aren’t drinking milk.. actually, you will drink anything I give you faster than I can keep up. you totally take after Jolie and Baker on that one.sleeping has not been the best for you this month. you are cutting a single incisor, which is the last of your front teeth and its really kicking your butt. it started probably about a month ago with the gnawing on your fingers and drooling coupled with the occasional refusal of food.. as well as the lack of sleep! you’re doing okay when I put you down around 7pm and mostly through the night but come 4:30-5am you are awake and screaming your head off. I always shoot out of bed worried your leg is caught in the crib bars or something because of that blood curdling scream, but no. your just mad. and thirsty. usually I can get you to go back to sleep until a more resonable hour for waking (like 7:30-8am) but since we’ve all been getting up by 6am anyway I have been taking advantage of  the cuddles with you until my alarm starts going off for me to get up and make lunches for the big girls. BONUS is that nap time is earlier around 11am, which is great now that pick up from school is right in the middle of your usual nap time. so we are making the transition at home pretty well as far as schedule goes.talking about screaming, you SCREAM about everything. more than any other child I have ever met. you scream when you are mad, you scream when you are sad, you scream when you are hungry or thirsty or want to get someone’s attention.. and you scream especially loud and obnoxiously when you are a happy boy. you make it known to everyone ‘I am here!!” when we are in public.

you keep us so very busy and on our toes all day everyday, Brady, but we wouldnt know what to do with ourselves without your happy screams!

sixteen/seventeen month photo dump