So Grown Up

Hunter is such a toddler these days. Every day I'm more and more amazed at how quickly he's growing up. He still babbles like a maniac, but he's using a lot more intentional speech also (granted a lot of what he says sound pretty much the same, but I'm smart enough to use context clues and figure it out...most of the time at least).

Since Hunter is getting older, we've been working on only having the paci during sleep times and car times. So of course during all other times, he's CONSTANTLY coming up to us saying "paci?", which really sounds closer to "babuh", but like I said, we're good at decoding. I've tried to get creative with distractions, so at least when Hunter gets the shakes from the paci withdrawal, he's preoccupied. Hawaiian Falls works well, but I can only take so much sun. Y'all have seen my pasty white skin, right? And my child's even pastier, whiter skin? We have to limit the sun intake here in the Brooks family.

So here's a list of some new things little H got to experience this week to avoid a paci takeover...

1. The realization that the Bumbo seat only lasts so long. Toddlers beware: You're legs may (i.e., will) get caught in the tiny little holes!

I usually just put Hunter's afternoon snack on our coffee table and he stands up to eat it, but I'm SO over scrubbing little bits of food off every night, so I decided to pull out the ole Bumbo for snacks. I also let Hunter watch Barney or Elmo or Veggie Tales during snack time. The couple of times I've tried the tv in Hunter's life, he hasn't really been interested, but he seems to LOVE Barney now (much to James's disgust).

Yes, my kid is totally in a tv trance here. Don't judge me. That Barney can teach some pretty good concepts with those catchy tunes.

2. Fun with the lego table. Okay, so this is by no means a new activity, but the way Hunter gently removed each piece off of the table and carefully placed them on the floor is totally out of character, so I'll call that new.

See how gentle he's being in that first picture...and the small space that all of the pieces are confined to in the second?

At least until this moment...

For a split second I had a dream of no more scratches on my floors. Then the throwing commenced...

Notice the green and white pieces thrown against the back wall. (And yes, that is a new rug - early birthday present from my honey.)

3. And finally the new thing that should win me parent of the year (drumroll please)... Hunter had his first happy meal this week. Dr. Sears would be so disappointed in me.