Braden John: 2 years + 4 months

 My yoga partner - doing Warrior 2

 Busted- holding hands

 Feeding little bro

Big brother on haircut day

The big brother of the house, Braden John, turned 2 years and 4 months on Sunday. Braden has really started to embrace his big brother role in the last month. He has helped feed Liam, he entertains him, he gets him to stop crying, and he fetches diapers and wipes. Sometimes when he doesn't think I'm watching, I catch him holding his brother's hand (like in the pic above). He is so patient when I have my hands tied up with Liam. He is an amazing big brother and Momma's helper. I don't know what I would do without him.

Braden is our little parrot. His vocabulary is still growing by the day. He picks up new words everywhere- from books, us, cartoons, going to ECFE class, and just from hearing strangers talking. He is also working on toilet training. His rewards are marshmallows. I am going to have to buy them in bulk because he is really willing to do anything for a marshmallow. His reward for getting entirely out of diapers is a trip to the Mall of America to go on the rides, so he talks about this a lot! We will see when that happens. We aren't pushing him too hard, but just talking about it alot and encouraging him. He seems interested about 50% of the time which is a great start.

What else is Braden up to? He is really into his matchbox cars and race tracks. He is our entertainer: he likes music- playing his guitar, dancing, singing and playing drums. He loves, loves, loves books. He also likes art projects- anything from painting and coloring to play dough. He loves being outside...and of course he loves to play any sport. He also likes trains, jumping and cartoons/movies. Braden is willing to try most anything. If I am trying out new workout moves for class, he wants to try them. The other day we did a 15 minute yoga class together. We went to the Zoo and he actually wanted to pet the snake that they passed around- me, not so much! Braden is a brave, adventurous, smart, fun, easy-going, lovable 2 year old. We are having so much fun with him and he constantly amazes us with what he can do and say at this age.