Zayden Lately

Zayden is approaching to the two year mark in the not so far distance and I wanted to make sure that I took some time to record what he's up to lately.

His personality is definitely developing. Although he is often to referred to as the littles shadow- copying everything his older brothers are doing, of course, as not to be outdone by them- he still is his own little person.

He loves to dance. This is something that separates him from his brothers. He's had this love of music since he was young. Always shaking his bum to the beat of the song. I thought perhaps it would fade away as he got older, but I'm so glad it hasn't. I'm interested in seeing where it goes. Recently he enjoys singing the 'Do as I'm Doing' song-- which is adorable when he tries to do the arm motions. He also likes the 'Ducks' song and to sing 'Jesus wants Me for a Sunbeam' --during which he says 'beeem'.

He has added some new words to his vocabulary. He can now say: mom, dad, bupah- grandpa, bum, go, uh oh, dink- drink, firetruck is responded with 'wee ooo wee ooo, onk onk', wha dah- what's that,oooup- poop, doosh- juice, peese- please, trah- truck, eeth- teeth, bup- burp,bee bee-- baby, and the list goes on and on.... each day he adds something new, which pleases me since it seemed for a while he could have cared less about talking. He also likes to "sing", which is usually jibberish in tune with a song in his head. It's cute. He has also taken up yelling, mostly this occurs when all the boys are yelling and he just joins in, not to be left out, of course.

He might have a love for singing and music, but he still wants to rough house and play sports with his brothers. Most recently the boys are into tackling and playing "football". Zayden is NOT about to be left out of these games, regardless that he's the smallest of the group. He gets right in on the action, usually resulting in minor injuries, but he gets right  back in the game after a magical healing kiss from mom. He's a tough kid though and can mostly handle all the rough and tumble stuff pretty well.

He's a stomach sleeper. Every night I go in to check on his he's laying on his stomach, it doesn't matter if I turn him on his back he rolls over. He's a good sleeper and has adjusted well into sharing a room with Braxton.

He knows most all his body parts now: eyes, ears, mouth, cheeks, nose, tongue, teeth, hair, neck, chin, hands, elbows, legs, feet, bum, peanut, and belly. I'm trying to start on colors next. Part of me feels ashamed that he's almost two and doesn't really know colors yet, as Quincy knew all by the time he was 18 months, however I pushed it with Q and of course didn't have 2 other children to teach. This time around I'm trying to let his learning progress naturally.

He is starting to show signs of interest in potty stuff. He's fascinated when anyone's going to the bathroom. He points to things going into the toilet, to the toilet paper, and gets happy when we flush things 'bye bye'. I don't think he's quite ready for potty training yet, but he loves to wear underwear and I look forward to the day we don't have to buy diapers!! Oh that will be a glorious day!!

He is a total mama's boy. When he's hurt he will gladly bypass daddy to run straight to me for comfort. He's frequently mauling me throughout the day. He also gets jealous when B is sitting close to me or on my lap. He will yell at Braxton and push him away from me. He'll almost always give me kisses when I ask for them, however, if Tyler asks for a kiss he'll give me one instead... I'm pretty sure he enjoys seeing his dad gravel for a smooch. I'm also quite positive that he'll grow out of the phase, so for the time being I'm trying to enjoy all this.

He has started getting his two yer molars. He recently cut his first one a couple of weeks ago. The rest have yet to follow suit. He loves brushing his teeth and yells at us until we get his toothbrush and the toothpaste for him. We are trying to completely break the thumb sucking habit, which we are making progress in, however when he's trapped in a car and tired it's a lost because. He sucked his thumb a lot when we drove to Idaho. Although he was cutting that molar too, which I didn't discover until after the fact.

He has lots of energy and likes to laugh about things when he thinks something's funny. He also has no fear. He frequently jumps off beds and couches and makes me want to have a heart attack. He loves baths and HATES showers.

It's so great getting to experience his personality developing as he gets older and I can't wait to see who he becomes when he's older.