The Best Toys are Free...

I got a package from Amazon this afternoon, and of course Broden noticed the big cardboard box on the counter. I think playing with cardboard boxes is a childhood rite of passage...

Audrey & Kelly visit, plus some extra photos. More to come later this week...

Getting in some quality Audrey time when she came home for a surprise visit!

It did not take long for Brody to warm up to Kelly (Audrey's sister). She was home for Spring Break and babysat Brody and he was friends with her right away.

Practicing his spoon handling (similar to puck handling, but slightly easier).

When the step stool isn't around, Brody just finds any other object nearby to climb onto to get closer to what he wants!

Time with Daddy

Are you going to take a cracker away from that kid? With those eyes on you? Yikes! He's got all 4 molars plus an eye tooth, I think it best to just let him drool on and enjoy his crackers!

Cheerio on the butt, ha!

Working on learning how to drive around the dump truck.

Climbing...ug, he's going to be a climber. He takes the step stool that he stands on to look outside the window and moves it to other places so he can climb up, great!

I must say, different things happen when a toddler hangs out with his dad instead of his mom.

I have some pictures to post from my birthday to yesterday, but I'm saving those for later. My best friend, Audrey came home from Washington for a week and flies back tomorrow. She surprised me and was sitting there at Josh and Whitney's house when I went to pick Brody up after work on my birthday. That's the craziest, biggest, best surprise I've ever had for a birthday!!! It totally made my day (and winter for that matter). So the last week Brody and I got in some good quality Audrey time. I took the day off and we went to the zoo yesterday, pictures to come.

Here are a few pictures that my friend Katie took last night while she was babysitting for Brody so I could go Ace my Microbiology test (hopefully). Thanks to Audrey who quizzed me yesterday in between play time with Brody. It brought back such wonderful college memories.

We put a step stool by the window. Brody loves to step up on it and look out the window. Man I love that little boy, he's so cute standing there looking outside!

Hangar

Daddy built a hangar for Brody's plane out of Mega Bloks.

Lounging Around

Taking it easy in his new chair that came from my friend, Katie. He loves the one Claire has and the one at the farm, so the second I got this one out, he was all over it. I did not pose him for this shot!

We had the baby chair out for when Max was over so Brody was rediscovering his old toy.

Bonnie and Greg got this growth chart for Brody's birthday. He's just over 30 inches from what I can tell, just a tad shorter than "mama".

Sick Boy

Walking around with his barn.

And around the island he goes again.

New hockey stick!

Heading for daddy to show him the goods!

Cindy found a bunch of boots in various sizes. He can't wait for Spring so he can try them out in the mud.

Standing up all on his own without a chair or knee or toy to help him. These are the jeans that are a little too small.

So this week Brody has been sick and we finally figured out he has strep. Poor kiddo. I wish I would've taken him in on Tuesday when he first had a fever, but they always assume it's viral and there's really nothing to do for a virus other than wait it out. Thursday morning when his fever was at 104.8, I decided I'd had enough and made an appt. Hopefully tomorrow Brody will be a new little boy feeling happy again!

Here are some pictures from last weekend when Brody was happier. Last weekend he really figured out how to stand up with no help from anything in the middle of the room. We also realized his 18 month jeans are too tight (even though they're plenty long), so we upgraded to 24 month jeans to help him stand up from sitting. We gave him a barn that makes noise for his birthday. He loves this barn and he loves that he knows exactly how to turn it on and get it to sing. Rather than playing with it though, he really prefers to pick it up and walk around with it. So he grunts and pick up his barn and walks around the kitchen island aimlessly with it. We also found a little hockey stick at Unique that we gave him last weekend. He's caught on pretty quickly that it's for hitting the big beach ball that he loves. A hockey player in the making? Perhaps, although I really cannot see myself as a hockey mom. People can change though, right?