2 and 1/2 Years Old!

Garrison Cade, you are 2 and 1/2 years old today! You are growing and changing every single day and daddy and I are so proud of you and so thankful God blessed us with you! This age is busy, fun, and challenging and everyday brings a new adventure for us. We're loving watching you grow!

Here's a picture of you at 2 and 1/2 and you look like such a little boy to me. Where did my toddler go?? It's amazing how much can change in a year!

Here you are at 1 and 1/2 (18 months)

And here you are at 6 months

Looking at these pictures really makes me wonder how big and different you'll look this time next year when you're 3 and 1/2! Enough about next year though. For now I'm just going to enjoy you at this age... and write about everything that's going on in your life at this point in time.

First of all, you're about to be a big brother! We're approximately 6 weeks away from meeting baby Austin. You seemed to have already formed a bond with Austin because you love to talk about him, ask questions about him, kiss my belly, feel my belly, and even sometimes talk to him yourself! I'm really excited about you having a little brother to grow up with and play with and I pray that ya'll are best friends.

You also have lots of new hobbies and interests that you absolutely love. Since going to Disney World in June, you've become really into the Mickey Mouse tv show and you can actually now sit and watch an entire episode. You love singing the "Hot Dog" song at the end and calling for Toodles. You request to watch Mickey Mouse every morning so I typically let you watch while I'm getting dressed and ready for the day or taking care of some emails. You also ask to watch after your nap in the afternoons. Sometimes we'll get busy with something else and you'll forget or sometimes I let you watch an episode while I start on supper. 2 episodes per day is the limit for now!

Your other favorite things to do at home are to play with play doh or play with ice (I put the ice in a big bowl or tub and you use spoons to scoop it up and move it around to different plastic containers and bowls). You also love playing with daddy after supper. Right now you and daddy usually throw the balls (about 8 to 10 small, soft balls and balls we've collected from high school football games) together in your room or shoot the basketball in your goal. Playing with daddy is one of your most favorite things to do. You also like putting together your alphabet floor puzzle, drawing on your magna doodle, and matching your Mickey Mouse cards.

You continue to impress us with how smart you are and how fast you catch on to things! Your memory amazes us. You never forget a thing! Crazy little things we don't even realize you're paying attention to. You even remember what I wore to the Braves game back on Memorial Day! You know the abc song, almost all the words to the Pledge of Allegiance (daddy somehow started that), how to count to 13 (after that everything turns to "emteen, lemteen, femteen"), shapes like circles, triangles, and hearts, and you recognize and know about 22 of the 26 letters! You are now recognizing letters everywhere~ in books, on street signs, on t-shirts, on store signs, etc. The teacher in me is so excited about that. =)

Your current favorite foods are: Apple Jacks, Fruit Loops, raisins, grapes, applesauce, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, soft tacos (from Taco Bell), spaghetti, cheese, creamed corn, green beans, (and I can't forget Fruit Jammers for snack). We have to wait on you to finish eating at almost every single meal!

Your daily routine hasn't changed much in the past year. You usually sleep til about 7:45 on most mornings and you still take about a 2 hour nap every afternoon. We always start bath time between 7:00 and 7:15 so that you're hopefully in bed falling asleep about 8:00 or 8:15. The naptime/bedtime routine is still the same too... read a few books, sing a few songs, then say a prayer. You now request that we stay in your room "just one minute" after all that before we tell you goodnight and leave.

Most of the time you are very polite and say please and thank you, but we are working on yes mam, no mam, yes sir, no sir. We're also working on getting you to be respectful and polite when we say prayers before meals. You're at the stage now where you don't want to take the time to say the blessing because you're too ready to eat! A few other challenges lately have been brushing your teeth, washing your hair, and you wanting to hit out of excitement or anger. Thankfully these aren't major issues and overall you are just a happy, busy little boy!

We love you so much and know that you and Austin are God's greatest blessings to us! We love watching you grow and learn and change and we're especially thrilled about seeing you as a big brother! We love you Garrison Cade!