Brodie

I was going to do another post when I realized I never posted Brodie's two year old post.  Poor neglected second child ;).  I think I was waiting to download some pictures to add and then just forgot to publish it to the blog.

So - a couple months late...here is Brodie at age TWO!!

Brodie's Two Year Stats:
Weight - 30 lbs (75th %)
Height- 38 inches (off the charts)
*There is always a little human error with how they measure the boys, but Brodie has
been consistently off the carts for height, so I think it is safe to say he will be tall!  If you do the "doubling trick" he is projected to be 6'4".

For comparison - here are Alex's two year stats:
Weight - 29 lbs (60-75th%)
Height - 35 inches (75th%)
Head - 49 3/4 cm (80th%)

Brodie's Favorite Things:

1.  "Momma Hide".  Brodie requests to play Hide and Seek several times a day.  He can count to ten pretty much by himself now thanks to so many rounds of Hide and Seek.  However at night when it gets dark he is starting to get scared and will request to play but then won't want to come find me. He will say "momma scare me" or say "I scared".   

2.  "You see that Momma (or Daddy)?"  Brodie has to show off for us all the time.  So he will make sure that we are watching before he performs ;).  

3.  "Daddy sit watch show".  Brodie loves to sit on Eric's lap and watch tv with him.  He usually insists that Eric scratch his stomach as well.  

4.  "my turn"  Pretty self explanatory.  It doesn't matter what someone has or what someone is doing, Brodie is pretty sure it is always his turn. 

5.  "I don't like it Alex".  We are working on having Brodie use his words instead of hitting or biting Alex when he gets mad.  So we he will say "I don't like it Alex" or "Stop it Alex" (usually while he is simultaneously hitting him :). 

6.  Brodie is obsessed with all things technology.  He loves our phones and the Ipad is his favorite thing!  He can maneuver around it amazingly well.  He has the kind of mind that likes to figure things out and he loves anything with buttons/parts, etc.  He has an engineer's mind.  

7. Brodie continues to be a very easy going child.  He is very sweet and loves to cuddle.  He definitely has his two year old "staking his independence" moments, but for the most part he is a little honey. He and Alex are playing more and more together and they also fight like siblings.  When Brodie gets mad and doesn't get his way he will throw a little fit sometimes and this usually involves throwing a toy or using a toy to hit something just to make sure we got his point that he is mad to be told no ;). 

8.  Brodie is talking up a storm these days.  He is really starting to carry on conversation and talks using 3-4 word phrases consistently now.  His little inflections and comments have us cracking up all the time.  He just sounds so old sometimes!

9.  His favorite food is Eric's white chicken chili!  He will also eat Buffalo chicken dip.  He is a good eater and not very picky.  

10.  Brodie loves to play outside.  He loves to ride on the little 4 wheeler and his dump truck. He always drives them in the grass and the says "oh no stuck in mud" and has to make a big ordeal about being stuck ;).  

I can't believe he is two - time has gone so fast!

Brodie as a newborn;


Brodie Age 1:

Brodie Age 2:

Hiking

We enjoyed some sunny warm weather on Sunday afternoon by heading out for a family hike.  We went up to Rainbow Mountain Trail.  It is only 5 minutes from our house, but you feel like you are in a whole different place.  Eric and I hiked this trail years ago but had kinda forgotten about it.  The terrain is quite rocky and there is a pretty good incline on the way back up at the end.  Alex did awesome.  He led most of the way and loved being on a big adventure in the woods and enjoyed climbing on all the rocks and fallen logs.  The loop we did was a mile and a half.  Alex got tired the last 5 minutes or so - especially after the big climb up at the end, but else he did really well.  It was definitely too much for Brodie.  The rocks and uneven terrain were a lot of him to handle so Eric and I (mostly Eric) took turns carrying him some of the way to make sure we actually made it out before dark :).

Random Phone Dump

He is still one little pretty bald two year old..but the hair he did have was starting to look a little "old man comboverish" so, Brodie got his first hair cut.   He was very serious about the whole process and did not move a muscle the entire time while he just took it all in....

Alex got to take Eric's first BB Gun back home to Alabama at Christmas this year.  He asks Eric everyday if they can go in the back and shoot it.  This weekend he even got to shoot it by himself and was able to hit the target on his own.   Brodie of course must have a turn as well.

 Checking the target....

The boys and I have a new favorite place on Monday mornings - Matrix Gym.  They have a Toddler Open House in their huge gymnastics area - it is a huge warehouse sized room filled with bouncy floors, built in trampolines in the floor, ropes for swinging, foam pits, tons of things for climbing over, etc.  I tried to get a few pics, but of course they are constantly in motion so pretty much all of them are blurry ;).

Christmas in Michigan

We had a great time celebrating Christmas in Michigan with our family and friends.  It was definitely a snowy winter wonderland!  It was a busy 10 days, basically a  jam packed blur of seeing all of our friends and family, but is was a great time and so wonderful to spend time with everyone.

After a long, rainy car ride the kids were ready to get outside and experience the snow and burn off some energy.  We went sledding and hunting for animal tracks.  Sadly there was a lot of ice on the snow, so it wasn't good snowman making snow. Alex LOVED the snow.  After the first day of playing in the snow Alex said this was the "bestest day of his life and he wanted to stay in Michigan forever".   Brodie was tolerant of the snow for short periods of time, but after a few days he pretty much opted to just stay inside ;).

We headed to the Grand Rapids Children's Museum one morning. Both of the boys LOVE it here and it has become a "must do" on each visit to Michigan now.  It is really a well done museum.

Grocery Store....

 Wood fired pizza making....

 Rock Climbing....

 Veterinary Hospital....

 Fireman....

 Bee Keeper....

 Bubbles...

Construction Area....

Rescue Helicopter...

We celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve with Julie's Family.  The youngest boys are "santa" and they pass out presents to everyone.  

 Must have found one with his name on it ;)

 Brodie was quite mellow during the present opening and was pretty happy to just snuggle and take it all in....

 A group effort....

 Lincoln logs.  Alex has never seen these before.  When he unwrapped them he kinda paused and said, "I don't think I like this one" ;).  Later he discovered the fun of lincoln logs.

 We spent Christmas Day with Eric's family.  Here the cousins are patiently awaiting present time - all on their various electronics.  Brodie discovered Ipads this week and became completely OBSESSED!  Screaming meltdowns occurred when he was denied ipad time ;).

 Yeah - diggers!!!!

 Camouflage  binoculars!

The cousins all opening their traditional gift of new pajamas!

All the cousins on Eric's side spent one morning at Sky Zone - a trampoline play area.  One area is a dodgeball court.  Alex had to play dodgeball with all of his big cousins.  He caught on pretty quickly and loved it.  Brodie was pretty happy to jump in the foam pits and just explore the big trampoline area.

The boys had more fun in the snow with their cousins.
Brodie remembered the garage full of toys from this summer and just wanted to play on them...

 More sledding...

 Cousins!!!!

 Getting Grammy to do all the work!

Big fun - getting pulled behind the 4 wheeler on the sled....

A few random pics...

Proof of the Ipad obsession.  Brodie loved his big cousin Chloe/"Cwoee", for many reasons, one of them being that she was a great Ipad sharer!

 The entertainer...

 Brodie talked Papa into showing him tractor videos on the computer - A LOT!

And we were lucky to be in town to celebrate my brother and sister-in-law's upcoming arrival.  A "Girls Only" shower during the day and a couples "toast to the soon to be parents" at night.  Can't wait to meet this little one!

Eric has to upload the pics from his phone yet - so a couple of more highlights to come....