Raisins

So we have this snack drawer where we keep all of Connor's healthy snacks that he can have like banana chips, raisins, granola bars, etc. When he wants something, he will usually grab it out of the drawer and bring it to one of us to open for him so he can have it. The other day I was in the kitchen having just finished giving Connor his dinner. I cleaned him up and set him down, then proceeded to clean up the rest of the kitchen. Connor runs over to the rug that we have in the kitchen, squats down, and reaches under it to grab out 2 boxes of mini raisins. Now I would have noticed if there was a large lump on my floor for more than a couple of hours, which means that Connor must have "hidden" his raisins there when we got home, while I was picking up the house. We know that he like to hide things, but typically it's in a cupboard, not under a rug that gets an insane amount of traffic on any given day. lol

cooking

The other day Matt noticed that Connor was carrying around his little wooden play screwdriver and holding the handle while pretending to lick the other end of it. Connor would pretend to lick it then offer it to Matt to do the same. Matt thought it was funny, but didn't think much of it until the next day he found Connor playing in the kitchen with a little plastic cup and the same screwdriver. Connor had the plastic cup lodged under his arm and was "stirring" whatever it was he imagined was in there. It was so funny to see because this is the first time he has ever shown that he understands what's going on in the kitchen. Makes mommy SO proud!

garbage

This morning, Connor was walking around the house eating his blueberry bagel when he just decided he was all done with it and tried to shove the pieces in my hands. I took it from him and asked him if he wanted me to throw it in the garbage. He grabbed the pieces out of my hands, and walked from his bedroom all the way to the kitchen and threw the pieces in the garbage can. Then he closed the lid and went back to his room to keep on playing.

Now, if I can just get him to throw his food away in the garbage when he's done instead of throwing it on the floor, we would be all good.

frozen still

About a month ago, we had some family over, just hanging out on a very mellow day. I was playing with Connor when I laid him down onto the chaise portion of our couch. The windows were open, and as anyone who has been to our house knows, there are a lot of big trees in our backyard. Well Connor just laid there for about 20 minutes that morning not hardly moving at all, just staring at the trees.

He was there so long in fact that I was able to get the camera, change the batteries and then take these pictures...and he still didn't move! Eventually I picked him up because I started to worry that he might be hurt. As soon as he was up, though, he was normal, energetic Connor. It was so funny to see a perfectly healthy toddler just sit there for that long not hardly moving a muscle.

helping dad

Connor really wanted to help Matt put the baby lock on the cupboard door a few weeks ago...here are some pics from it...

blowing

Connor started copying us when we would occasionally blow on his food before we gave it to him if it was too hot. It's pretty funny to see, but it was hilarious this morning when he blew on his spoon that was filled with Cheerios, blueberries, and MILK. Luckily he doesn't quite have enough force behind his blows to make too much of a mess.

Terrible Twos??

So whoever said the "Terrible Twos" start at 2 obviously never had a 16 month old...because Connor has started them already. I think a lot of his frustration at stuff is not being able to speak what he is thinking in his head. When he does get his point across he is always so proud of himself.

In an effort to help diffuse his fits, we've started carrying him and putting him on the floor in his room, leaving the door open and telling him that when he's done with his fit, he is welcome to come back out, then leaving. For the most part, he ends up coming out within a minute, not crying and bringing in some new toy or book.

I just hope that since we're starting the "Terrible" phase early, that it will end early as well...but I have a feeling that won't be the case.

more teeth

Connor now has 11 teeth! At some point I kind of lost count, but that's how many he has for now. There is one more coming in though...the right incisor, so that number may soon be increased to 12! And boy does he like to bite down on them! You can guarantee that if you put your finger in his mouth it will get bitten. It was hilarious to watch him go wild with corn on the cob and pork ribs last night for dinner. He was biting as hard as he could on those....and he picked them both clean!

Ninja Connor

Uncle Brandon was over at our place a few weekends ago and we were all watching Ninja Warrior, which is a show where Japanese people compete on a difficult obstacle course. Connor decided he was going to go on his own Ninja course. So he checks out Uncle Brandon laying on the floor in the middle of the room and slowly starts backing up to the other side. When he got far enough back, he started running and did a dive on his Uncle Brandon's belly. It was so funny and caught everyone off guard, including Uncle Brandon.

New Words

Lately Connor has started experimenting with new consonants and found that he can say quite a few more words. His favorite word is still Oww and Owie, but he has started saying tree, dirt, book and more (which sounds more like mmmmaaaaaahhhhhhh).

Unfortunately, he has also learned some less favorable words...but we try to ignore those as he is practicing with all his new sounds so he learns that they aren't "real" words.

It's so much fun watching him learn to talk and figure out that he can communicate with us.