Summer 2013... fun times!!

What a fun age I'm at right now. I talk up a storm and repeat everything!!! I love to sing and play with everyone.  I recently found my nose and pick it often! Daddy gets so disgusted but hey, it's my age!! Gross huh?  This summer, I learned a lot too! I'm reading more of my books on my own and even have the same inflection that Mommy uses. It's funny to watch me! Sometimes Mommy will sit in her chair and read, and I'll sit in mine and read. I still love our nighttime stories though- we still do them every night!!

This summer we were so busy!! We started it off by taking our very first family trip to San Diego! Just the three of us drove down and stayed with Aunt Leslie and Uncle Gary. We had so much fun! I was an angel in the car going and coming home... slept for a couple hours, read books, played with my games, and talked with Mommy and Daddy. They're pretty lucky to have me!  We went to Sea World, the Zoo, and the beach and I loved every minute of it!  Sea World was awesome! The dolphins made me mad because they splashed me but other than that, I loved it! I even got to ride on my first kids roller coaster.  Then we spent time with my cousin's Rachel and Charlie.  What a great vacation!  The beach was cold but daddy and I still made the best of it and played in the water. (Mommy bundled up and took pictures.)

Once or twice a week, mommy would go into work and I would go to school, which was fun too! We had water day and painting fun!!!  Then we went on another vacation to Pinetop with Uncle Chris and Penny.  We got to stay in a cabin and play outside in the woods. We even got to go fishing too!!! We caught one and I got to play with it, but don't worry, we let it go!  When Mommy wasn't working, we were hanging out with Nanie and Mema. We had lots of play dates at Mema's house and I loved every minute of it!  Mema is doing much better and she has started getting out of the house more. Starting to feel more like normal again :)

We had lots of BBQs, playtime with friends, and fun gatherings!  I even got to spend the weekend with Gramps and Nonie so Mommy and Daddy could take a little trip themselves (twice!).  We were busy busy this summer but having so much fun!

I've been learning A LOT too! Check it out:
*I am learning sign language at school. I know words like, family, mommy, daddy, sister (yes I ask for one all the time!!!), play, please, thank you, and lots more! I'm even teaching Daddy... Mommy already knows this!

*I learned my numbers and am now working on my letters. We play with them in the bathtub every night! Daddy's a great teacher!

*I'm learning lots of great words like; beautiful, wonderful, delicious, impressed, and much more! I copy everything!

*I sing lots of songs on the radio and actually pick up the words after only hearing them once or twice

*I have a great sense of humor now. I love playing tricks on people and am getting better at hide and seek too!

*BIG NEWS: I'm in a big boy bed now!!!  When I first got it, I was calling mommy to come get me first thing in the morning (seriously like 5 AM!!!) so she bought me a clock that tells me when I'm allowed to get up. Now it turns green at 6:30 and that's when I know I can get up. It only took me a couple days to figure that out and now I'm a pro.

*I've started to get scared of things... the other day I told Daddy there was a monster in my room, and for a little while, the bear in the movie, Brave scared me.  I guess that means I'm growing up.

I'm becoming quite the big boy now!! Lots of fun and full of questions. This is Mommy and Daddy's favorite age!!

Startin' the summer out with a BBQ full of friends, family, and bubbles. It was a blast!!

The ladies in my life... love them!!

Aren't they beautiful!?!

 BBQ with great friends at Amanda and Gabe's new house. Maddy and I had fun sittin' on the steps!

 Peter Piper Pizza with Daddy, DD, and Kelsey. :)

 Pool time!! Ok so swim lessons may not have been a blast for me this year, but playing in my own pool with my family is much much better!

 Nanie and I playing with my cars. Did you know this was Uncle DD's when he was my age? Crazy!

 @ Sea World. Daddy and I are making the face at the dolphins that just splashed us!

 Fishy Face

 Playtime with cousin Charlie

San Diego Zoo!!!

 I walked through the entire toy store and was allowed to pick whatever I wanted... and this is what I chose?!?

 Uncle Gary is the best story teller!!  He even taught me Boochkie Cheeks!

 Bentley love before bed

 Happy 4th of July!! Playin' horse shoes with Uncle Chris and Daddy!

 It's fishing time!

 We caught one!! Don't worry though, we let it go!

 MMMMM a little ice cream after a long day of playtime with Layla and Daniel

 We're in the woods in a cabin and it's raining outside, what is there to do?!?

Spring 2013

This was a big time for me because I was no longer spending my days with Laura and Layla, now I was going to school!!! I enrolled in school and from day one, I loved it!  Made lots of new friends right from the start and learned very quickly how to play and share with lots of kids!  After being at ChildTime for 2 weeks, they decided it was time to bump me up to the 3 year old class because those kids read books, sing songs, are potty trained, and can hold conversations. The kids I was with that were my own age didn't do any of that and I was very bored.  I love my teachers and my new class!  I come home every night and tell Mommy and Daddy at dinner all about my days. I paint, color, play outside, make lots of pictures, and lots more! Some friends I've made are Benton, John John, Mikayla, and lots more.

When Daddy had his surgery, we spent lots of time at home relaxing so I got to watch lots of movies. I learned that Cars is my all time favorite and watched both Cars 1 and Cars 2 all the time!  Daddy thought it'd be cool if I started to collect them so that's what we did! Once we played together, I got hooked and now I'm obsessed!!! I have every car character there is and lots and lots of race tracks too! We have so much fun with them!

In February, things started to change A LOT.  Mema was sick a lot and very sad and my mommy cried all the time. It was very hard for me to understand but I knew I had to give lots of hugs!  by March, we had lots of visitors and Mema was gone for a while. I didn't know it but she was in the hospital because she had a major major surgery.  (She was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in January and by March, she had her entire lung, heart lining, and diaphram removed.)  It saved her life but boy was this a tough time for us!  Mommy was going to the hospital everyday and then coming home to eat dinner with us and put me to bed. What I didn't know is that she was going back after I was asleep and staying the nights with Mema. Thank goodness she wasn't alone.

During this time, I started to change. I was very needy and whiney. I mean, could you blame me?!? I missed my family the way it was before. But thankfully, Uncle Jeff, Papa, and God were looking down on us, making my Mema better!  Spring was a tough time for our family but we got through it!

Eventually, Mema got better and I got to go and visit her more.  The hospital is a weird place but the food was actually good!  Once she got home, we got to hang out more thank goodness! Man I missed her!

Aunt Leslie came a lot which was super cool! She read me books and played with me a lot!  Nanie came home too!!! I love them so much and it was so nice to see Nanie every week!!  Aunt Leslie and Uncle Gary came to visit too and we had fun hanging out.... they brought me the coolest car that I brought with me everywhere for a while!

Even though things were tough, we still managed to have a lot of fun! We went to the Children's Museum and the Zoo a lot! We also played outside and hung out with friends. Mommy and Daddy tried really hard to keep me playing!! And I picked up on a lot of funny, cute habits too!

*Mommy taught me how to give wet kisses only I put my own spin on it. Brayden Wet Kisses are when you lick people's faces! It's sooo funny to surprise them with it!

*I became very lovey and started giving hugs and kisses all the time!!!

*I started saying "I love you" on my own without being prompted. I say it to my family all the time!

*Now that I'm potty trained, I think it's hilarious to tell people when I tooted, and even come out of the bathroom yelling, "I went potty!!"  People cheer for me, it's the coolest thing!

Even good things come from challenging times!

 We took family pictures in the park. I was very crabby but we were able to get some good pictures! As I would say, "I just love my pamly"

 I spent the day with Kelly and Madden and had a blast riding around on Madden's car!

 This is my "cheese" face... I know we are working on it.  But what a great day with Gramps and Nonie at the U of A basketball game!

 Pouting outside of Daddy and Laura's favorite sandwich place. Don't worry, I pulled it together and finished eating with Layla.  (It only took a few times in public of me sitting in the corner before I stopped throwing tantrums. People may have thought Mommy was mean but it worked!)

 Mema is sad and not feeling good but at least we get to cuddle!

 Uncle Dave and Aunt Soni came to visit. 

 Aunt Leslie came to visit and we played a lot! She LOVES playing Cars with me on her Ipad LOL

 Layla and I got all dirty and had to go topless. I know cute now but in 10 years, we'd be in big trouble!

 Monday's at Gramps house = Nonie's yummy "pasgetti" I live for this stuff!

 Dying Easter Eggs. Wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be but man did I make a mess!

 I'm a pretty cute kid!

 Grandma time!

 Easter at Grandma's house! I found LOTS of Easter eggs. Sorry Ken, no snakes this year!

 A pic with Wilbur. (That's U of A's mascot)

 Baseball game with Gramps, Nonie, Rina, Dustyn, and Phillip. It was a great night!