Toodlerhood

Bret has been pretty easy thus far. I mean, sure he cried a lot the first 3 months of his life, but once we figured out that I didn't have enough milk and he was hungry... it was a done deal! Sweetest baby! Funny. Super energetic, social, slept through the night. No problem!

So you can imagine my shock when he would produce his deafening screams every time I fed his sister, changed her, held her, challenged him in some way, or when he didn't get his way. At just 16 months!!!
My son's tsunami of emotions hit me completely unprepared. Finally, two weeks after the initial wave, I resurfaced and accepted the fact that Toddlerhood, had come knockin' crashing through my door.

We endured a month of soul-searching tantrums that lasted from 5-7 hours every. day. A nightmare! 

Then, it stopped. The tsunami turned into a hurricane and the hurricane to a tropical storm and now, we're just floating around in semi-raging waters. But we're good! SO much better than last month. 

Ladies and gentlemen,  

Bret is now 18 months!!!

Photo Credit: Alyssa Sue Photography

He is awesome! BEST brother ever! Just a completely different kid than a month ago. I think he may have been going through his mid-life crisis of wanting to be a baby, but wanting to grow up at the same time.

I will have to tell you though, all of the feelings he experiences, are basically magnified to the hundredth power.

For example:

When he's happy,

he's bouncing-off-the-walls happy.

When he's sad,

he's in-the-pit-of-despair sad

When he's angry,

Well, he burns a hole through your soul with his eyes

And when he loves,

he loves so deeply! He gives you the warmest fuzzies!

Bret is a chatter. Just like his mom. He actually talks more than me!

Here he is chatting up a storm with uncle Morgan, who had no idea what Bret was saying, but obliged to converse anyway. 

 I have NO clue what he says for like 90% of the time and the other 10% is the words I catch here and there. His voice is WAY deep. Just like his dad's.  I think his voice will begin cracking by age 5 and sound like a man by age 10. Here's a list of the words he says,

Check out THAT vocabulary! I think he's doing very well, if I do say so myself. I must admit, he hasn't said "Grandpa" to Grandpa's face yet, but he says it at home a lot.

He's combining words in English more, even though I almost always speak to him in Spanish.Which goes to show his wonderful bilingual abilities. I can't believe how smart he is!

He loves to read in English and Spanish. Sometimes, he sits down and I hear him reading to himself with the same intonation that I read to him. Or, the other day he was reading "Mr. Brown can Moo, can you?!" and every page, he would make the sounds corresponding to the page! 

Kind of.

He knows when I say, "Vamos a leer el Libro de Mormon!" (Let's go read The Book of Mormon!). He goes and gets the kids version and brings it to me. He loves singing a primary song afterwards and loves it even more when his dad chimes in. Everything is cooler when dad does it too. 

Talking about dad, they went camping for the first time together. With Scout (the dog). Bret's new best friend. Heath says it's now going to be a yearly tradition. To say they loved it, is an understatement. Although I missed them and worried about them, I was grateful for the time I had to recharge my batteries and patience (and spend time with Mia of course), as well as the time they got to spend together as father and son. 

Check out my mountain men. So good looking and pro-like!

I love Bret and the sweet little toddler-baby-boy he is. 

He is helping more around the house. When I sweep, he gets the dustpan and once I sweep it in, he throws it in the trash and then yells "YEEEEEEEEH!" for a good 10 seconds afterwards to celebrate. So, it's pretty cool doing chores with him because every chore accomplished, gets a loud and strong cheer!

He's growing up so fast! 

So let me just end by saying:

Bret, 

Thank you for being my son. For hugging me when I'm angry and kissing me when I'm sad. Thank you for caring for your little sister and trying to entertain her when mom is busy. You are such a good helper and Mia LOVES you to pieces! Thank you for painting with me, dancing with me (even though I am not very good at it), and singing with me! Thank you for wanting to have story-time every night for hours! Thank you for your reverence during prayer (even when they're long-winded). And thank you for teaching me to see life through your eyes. It's pretty magical isn't it? 

You are my pride and joy! My baby boy! 

And I love you so much! 

Happy Year and a Half! 

I wish time would slow down. It's so bitter-sweet to see you grow. 

You were born to do GREAT things son! You have already accomplished a lot and I can't wait to see what else you've got up your sleeves!

Te amo mucho mi nene hermoso!

Con amor, 

MumMh!