Brennan-23 months

Age:23 months

This month Brennan has been so funny with his facial expressions. He'll crawl up onto me and look me right in the eyes, as he makes a funny face. It makes me bust out laughing every time.
We went on a little get-a-way to Wisconsin Dells a couple weeks ago. Brennan did wonderful in the water. Ryan will be doing swimming lessons with Brennan next month. Hopefully he is a faster learner, than I was as a child. Brennan's favorite part of the Dells was definitely the deer park. The deer were able to roam freely around us. We were bombarded by deer, wanting to grab the crackers out of our hands. Brennan thought it was so funny, as long as he was in our arms.
Brennan cracks me up so much. Lately, he will randomly come up next to me and say, "uhhh HI!"

Outtakes:

Brennan's "silly face"

Brennan-22 months

Age: 22 months

Brennan has had so much energy lately. He loves running really fast, and especially when we say, "Wow, you're so fast!" Every night about an hour before bedtime, he is really hyped up. He loves belly flopping onto his ball and being surprised by where and how he hits the floor.
Last weekend, Ryan helped move my brother, and his fiance, from Pittsburgh to Washington DC, so Brennan and I had a mommy/son weekend. We left the house early on Saturday and went to The Original Pancake House for breakfast, then drove an hour to a great petting zoo. It turned out to be a beautiful, sunny day. Even though Brennan thought the animals were pretty cool, he still enjoyed the random balls and tractors around the property more.
Brennan's favorite thing to do right now is to be outside. He has figured out how to open the sliding screen doors to the patio, if I have the large glass doors open for a breeze. If I'm not looking, he slides the door quickly, and makes a run for it. He doesn't care if it's light or dark, warm or cold, dry or rainy, he just wants to be outside. I was also surprised by how brave he is with his backyard play set. I was watering my plants, and looked over to see him climbing the ladder all by himself. He'll jump right down the slide, although he doesn't know how to slow himself down at the bottom. He goes flying off onto his butt/back every time that I'm not there to catch him.

Outtakes:

Baby #2-sex reveal

We found out last week that we are having a baby girl!
We are so excited to experience raising both sexes!

Brennan-21 months

Age: 21 months

Brennan has been incredibly sweet this month. He has been so happy and clingy. Typically, Brennan is pretty independent and does not like to cuddle. He enjoys being held, but only if you're standing and walking, so that he can get a different view of things. This month, he has been reaching up for us to lift him onto the couch, so that he can sit next to us for a few minutes at a time.
Some of his favorite things to do this month are jumping (going up onto his tippy toes) and dancing (quickly jumping from one leg to the other.) All you have to do is ask him to do either, and he gets a mischievous smile on his face and obliges.
Brennan has made leaps and bounds this month with his speech. He is really trying to pronounce words and not just saying "DA!" or "BA!" every time we ask him to repeat after us. His favorite things to say are definitely still "ball" and "whatisthat?"

Outtakes:

Baby Rahl #2

Baby Rahl #2 is due September 13th, 2015!

Brennan-20 months

Age: 20 months

Brennan's favorite thing to say now is "WhatisTHAT?" He says it about a million times a day, while pointing his finger. Sometimes he's pointing at nothing, other times he really is curious what something is. He gets so excited when birds are sitting on the roof line right outside his window. When I go into his room in the morning, I can almost guarantee the first thing out of his mouth will be, "whatisTHAT?" That is usually said before I even pick him up out of his crib.
We've been experiencing a lot of stubbornness with Brennan. He never listens to us and if we have to tell him "no" or take something away from him, he has a 5 second meltdown where he will fall to the ground and drop his forehead to the floor. Some people have told me that the most trying time with their kids was between the age of 15-20 months, so let's hope that we'll have our sweet Brennan back soon.
Brennan's favorite toy is still balls. He says "ball!" anytime he sees a circle, or something round. He loves to throw a ball for Xander to fetch (which Xander actually fetches for him about 1% of the time.) He's finally tall enough to dunk his basketballs into the hoop his uncle Adam bought for him.
Brennan is starting to come out of his shell at his weekly gymnastics class. He lets the instructor help him slide into the foam pit and hang on the bars. In the past, Brennan would freeze with shyness if the instructor so much as looked at him! Brennan has been intrigued by a tunnel there for weeks, but has just become brave enough to crawl through it. So brave, that he doesn't want to come out of the other end, and he thinks it's hilarious to hide in it.

Outtakes:

Brennan-19 months

This month was rough for Brennan and me. We both got sick with terrible head colds. This is only the second time Brennan has ever been sick, so it was so hard for us to see him so miserable. His sickness brought a lot of irritability. Everything we did made Brennan mad and resulted in a ton of temper tantrums. Luckily, he is feeling much better now, and is back to his sweet self!

This month Brennan learned to say the word "no" and shake his head. I've always dreaded when this day would come, but the way he says it. isn't so bad! He is so innocent and sweet when he says it, not aggressive at all. Anything you ask him in a question form results in him saying very gently "nah" and him shaking his head. It's so hard not to laugh at him. One day I asked him if he had a good nap, and of course he said, "nah" with a huge smile. Another time I asked him if he knew that I loved him sooooo much. Again, his response was "nah" with a shake of his head. We're trying to teach him that "yes" is an acceptable answer to questions as well.

Outtakes: