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:

Brennan-18 months

Age: 18 months

Weight: 27lbs 4.5oz (87th percentile)

Height: 32.5" (50th percentile)

Head: 49.7cm (96th percentile)

Brennan started gymnastics this month. It's a parent and tot class. He's a little timid to try out the equipment, but loves just running on the spring floor. I hope this will help him be a bit more social. I wouldn't say that he's shy, but he's definitely not outgoing with strangers. When he gets nervous, he always puts his hands into his mouth. Once a stranger turns their back to him, he starts waving and yelling at them. It only takes him 10 minutes to warm up to people, but we want him to feel confident in social situations.
One of Brennan's new moves this month is walking backwards. He thinks he's pretty cool doing it. He'll walk really slowly backwards, with a huge smile on his face and then once he bumps into something, he bursts out laughing.
Brennan is really understanding what we're saying. We can ask him to get something and 9 times out of 10, he will. If he doesn't understand he'll say, "Huh?" and wants us to point to the object. He can also point to any animals eyes in a book. Sometimes he surprises me when I ask him, "where are his eyes?" and he'll take his little pointer finger and precisely point at the tiniest eyes in a book!

Outtakes:

Brennan-17months

Age: 17 months

Brennan has concurred opening doors this month. Most of the doors in our home were child-proofed when we moved in (you have to lift the handle up, instead of down.) Brennan has figured out which ones are not child-proof, and he spends a lot of time on his tippy-toes, opening them, This includes our front door! 

One of Brennan's favorite things to do this month is dance. He knows which toys play music, and where the button for our surround sound is. He'll start the music and dance in a circle. Earlier this month, Carrie Underwood was preforming on the Today Show and I saw Brennan dancing circles all over the living room.

It's very obvious when Brennan is ready for a nap. He hasn't paid too much attention to our Christmas tree, but when he's tired he'll repeatedly pull ornaments off of it and throw tantrums when you take the ornament away from him. It's not a coincidence that this only happens around 11AM and 3PM. 

Brennan met Santa for the first time this month. He hated him. We figured he would be stone-faced or have a pouty lip, but we never predicted he'd cry like he did. We met him at brunch with Santa at the Florian Park. After Brennan sat on his lap, Santa tried sitting with us at brunch, and Brennan lost it again. He didn't want that guy within eyesight. 

Outtakes: