Diem-23 months

Age:23 months

Diem has been such a sweetheart, per usual. She is the most polite 1 year old ever. She only says "Yes, please" and "No, thank you." The funniest thing that she says is when she yells "No thank you, Mommy!!!" at the top of her lungs, when she is upset. How can you not laugh? She also loves to scream "Mommy!" or "Daddy!" when she points at something.When we flew to Texas last month, Diem would yell our names EVERY time she saw an airplane out of the airport window. (Our flight was delayed/canceled for over 5 hours, so you can imagine how many planes we saw.)
Diem is enjoying spending time with Brennan. They play and laugh all day! I love seeing her chase him and laugh so hard that she falls down.
Diem is still such a little copy cat. She does everything that Brennan does. I love when someone squats down, to talk to her, or show her something and she squats down, too.

Brennan's 4th birthday

Brennan had a wonderful, Batman-themed fourth birthday party! 

Brennan-46-47-48 months

Age: 46-48 months

Height: 3'5" (66th percentile)

Weight: 39lbs (75th percentile)

Brennan is FOUR! We can't believe it! These last three months, Brennan has been so pleasant. I love having my fun-loving boy as my sidekick all day! 

Brennan has been doing a lot of summer activities. He has swim class on Mondays, gymnastics on Tuesdays, and soccer on Wednesdays. He really loves soccer, because he gets to show off his speed. He loves to run and loves when people comment on how fast he is. His favorite game to play during soccer is "sharky minnow" which is a fun version of tag. 

Brennan's vocabulary is incredible. The way he puts sentences together amazes us daily. I always smile, when he uses words like "actually" and "definitely." He still enjoys reading anytime we suggest it. We still try to get to the library every week. Ryan reads us all two books every night before bed. Brennan gets to select the books. He usually picks the same two books every night for a straight week or so. Keep in mind that we usually check out 50 books a week from the library, but I guess he's a creature of habit. 

It is just not possible for us to love our little four year old more than we do! As Brennan says, "I love you to the moon and back...24-69" (He thinks that's a really big number.) 

Outtakes:

Diem-22 months

 Age: 22 months

Diem is turning into a little billy goat! She enjoys climbing to the highest point that she can. She climbs onto the bar stools at our breakfast bar and onto the counter. She climbs onto every large toy or box that she sees. She loves to hang her toes over the edge of whatever object that she is on and say, "whoa, whoooa!" My parents say that I did the same thing at Diem's age.
Diem just started to say "Mommy" on her own recently, and now she loves saying, "Hi Mommy" every chance that she gets. She will repeat just about anything that you ask her to, except "Brennan." I could go through 100 words, and she will always attempt them, but as soon as I say, "Say Brennan" her response is always, "No" with a little smirk on her face.
We love Diem's facial expression when she's trying not to smile. She tries pushing her upper lip down over her teeth, but the rest of her face is still smiling.

outtakes:

Diem-21 months

Age: 21 months

Diem is OBSESSED with her baby dolls! She loves holding them  (all at once) while going about her day. She gets so excited when she sees one laying around. She yells "bay-BEEEE!" and has pure joy in her eyes. Some of the new things that she is saying are "Uppie" which I realized is actually "up please." and "jack-key" which is jacket. We often have turkeys passing through our backyard, so Diem loves to run to the window and say "tur-KEY!" I always thought she was being funny, when there wasn't really a turkey, but now I figured out that she thinks robins are called turkeys. We are in the thick of the "no" stage. She used to say it so sweetly "no-no", but now it is a sharp "NO!" with her chin on her shoulder. It is still adorable to us :)
Diem enjoys acting afraid. It cracks us up. Brennan is going through a stage where he pretends there are ghosts and monsters in the other room and Diem plays right along. She raises her eyebrows and gasps. (The outtake photos capture this. She was reacting to the thunder and lightening outside.) I love that she has such a sense of humor.
She is such a copy cat. Everything Brennan does, she does right with him. If he lays on the floor and acts like he's sleeping, you better believe that her little body will lay right next to him. If I itch my nose, she itches hers. Every weird noise Brennan makes, she imitates.

Outtakes:

Diem- 20 months

Age: 20 months

Diem is so talkative. I love hearing her say new words everyday. Brennan spends most of their meal times, asking Diem to say different words. She will attempt pretty much any request that Brennan makes.
I find that Diem likes to hide things. She puts Hot Wheels in my drawers, in my closet, and toys in our kitchen cabinets. I love finding little surprises from her!
Diem got her first skinned knee this month. She tripped while running on our driveway, during a hot day. She didn't cry, but just pointed at her knee and said, "Eh! Eh!"

Outtakes:

Brennan-43-44-45 months

 Age: 45 months

Brennan has such a great sense of humor. His latest is playing tricks on people. He says random things like, "Mommy, look at that elephant!" While we are driving down the road. Then he'll say in a proud voice, "Tricked ya!" He also always asks, "Are you tricking me?" if he doesn't believe something you tell him.
Brennan is incredibly observant. Every night I quiz him on things that he should know, such as the ABC's, counting to 20, his address, and how to spell his first and last name. Sometimes I'll ask him what color eyes people have, and he literally has never gotten one wrong. I ask about every person that he knows! I asked him what his grandpa's name is a couple of months ago, not thinking that he would have any idea. (I don't think he's even heard anyone call him "Carl") he hummed and that about it and then said, "Rose?" which is what my mom calls my dad ("Rose"nquist) I couldn't believe that he picked up on that!
Brennan loves playing pretend with his cars and toys. Sometimes he gets a little embarrassed and says, "I am just pretending." He has a wonderful imagination and is very polite while playing. I hear him say," Excuse me," "Please," and "no thank you" in his animated play voice.
Brennan loves using words of affirmation. He says, "You're the best." "You are my favorite." "I love you to the moon and back...20 times." and "I need you." all day long, every day! The other day I heard him say to himself, "Aw, that Mommy is so sweet to me." I'm not sure what he was thinking about, but it melted my heart.

Outtakes: