I haven’t done one of these in a while, so I thought I’d catch all the Brenden fans up on his newest tricks.

1. He’s doing fairly well eating with a fork and spoon. Unfortunately, he hasn’t quite got the hang of which side is “up” on them both, so it’s a pretty messy process. But he’s a fan.
2. We found out this week he likes spicy stuff – chili, black beans and rice, etc – which is kind of nice since that is getting him closer to eating what we eat.
3. But he’s definitely still a picky toddler. What he likes to eat today will probably be spit out and cause a fit tomorrow. I don’t understand that.
4. After his last fit at Chili’s, I don’t know if we’ll be going out to eat as a family again anytime soon. Maybe when he starts college. It was a doozy.
5. Speaking of fits, they’re getting pretty bad. Throwing himself on the floor, wailing, rolling around like he’s possessed….they’re actually pretty funny if you’re in the right mood. I’ve started walking out of the room, which seems to end them quicker.
6. We try to go to a park at least once a day if the weather permits. I walk him around until he’s tired. We play on the slides and playground and then pick up pecans off the ground. He’s usually super dirty by the time we get home, but nice and worn out and ready for a nap.
7. His other favorite activity is to play in the water. The water hose is the best…..you can get everyone wet that way. We usually just strip him down and let him loose in the kiddy pool in the back yard.
8. His vocabulary hasn’t grown much – everything is a “B” word – “bah” pretty much covers it. He’ll say enough syllables of “bah” to get the point across. “Nutrigrain Bar” is really funny sounding coming out of a one year old. However, he understands pretty much everything you say to him, which is nice.
9. He also knows when you’ve told him to do something (or stop doing something, which is most of the time) and he’ll look at you, grin a big defiant grin, then keep doing what he wants. That’s not nice. Disciplinary times at the Box house!
10. My dad taught him to grunt and growl. He now sounds like a boy.
11. He’s walking pretty much all the time now – we let him walk to the car, into church, to the park, etc. The only problem is that he will not hold your hand at all. Mr. Independent wants to do it all by himself. I want to get one of those backpacks with a leash!
12. The boy has no fear. He’ll go down a slide by himself, no matter how tall. And if it happens to be a fast slide, that’s even better!

Have a good week, everyone!