I have lots of catching up to do and lots of pictures to share...

First we'll begin with picture of Mommy au naturel and Bryce. Besides getting to spend the whole day with Bryce on the weekends, one of my favorite things is not wearing makeup all weekend.

 Since Friday was Bryce's 18 month check-up, I guess it would be appropriate to go ahead and share those stats along some new things Bryce has been doing lately. 

18 Month Check-up

Weight: 24 lb 10 oz (32 percentile)

Length: 31 inches (13 percentile)

Head: 49.5 cm (89 percentile)

Yep, aside from his head he's a small guy! I was surprised by the weight since our few remaining size 3 diapers were getting small on him. I guess because he's grown a little longer, that is what's making the size 3's seem much smaller. I do know that he feels a lot heavier than 25 lbs. He's not one of those children that likes to hang on to you, so when he's being carried it's  like carrying dead weight. I definitely know my arms should be a lot trimmer than they are!

 We've been learning where and what our body parts are. The ones he's gotten down are belly button, mouth, and ears. Sometimes you can get him to show you feet and nose. Then very rarely will he get eyes correct. His favorite is the belly button though, it's also one of his favorite words.

He's slowly picking up a few new words here and there. In the past few days he's started trying to repeat words and sounds that we are making, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time before his vocabulary broadens. Pretty much anything that is round and/or can be thrown is a ball. You can tell when he's about to throw something because he will say "ball" first. So far he has broken one plate, but other than that nothing else breakable has been thrown. We try really hard to see that breakable items do not make it in his hands, because when he gets a hold of something you hardly cannot get it out of his hands because of his strong grip.

 He's still a good eater...that is when he's not too distracted to eat. Right now he is loving Pop Tarts, another one of his favorite words, but he still will eat just about anything BESIDES mashed potatoes!! I know every kid but mine loves mashed potatoes. Bryce would rather have carrots or peas, which I suppose is a good thing.

This boy loves food but that also includes junk food, especially chocolate...I guess I should have expected that since the first time that I definitely KNEW it was him moving in my belly. It was right after I had eaten a chocolate pie of some sorts. I knew that baby was doing back flips in my belly! I think it's pretty easy to assume that he has a double dose of that since Nic and I both have a HUGE sweet tooth. He knows exactly where these snacks are stored so I have to continuously move them.

Which leads me to how great of a memory he has! Earlier we were going to Wal-Mart, and I let him walk to the car and climb in all by himself. As soon as he got in the car he started saying "ball". I told him there wasn't a ball in the car. He proved me wrong by reaching deep under the driver's seat and pulled out a ball! Also yesterday we went to his Mamo's, where despite not being there in a month, he knew exactly where his high chair was.  I've always had a pretty good memory which helps me tremendously in my school work and at work, so maybe he will stay that way as I have great ambitions for what he's going to be when he grows up! ; )

Hopefully he will not choose to be like Evel Knievel though. He's not afraid of anything yet that I have found. Daily he exhibits his dare devil side! I'm surprised we haven't had stitches or a broken bone yet. His favorite activity right now is trust falls. He climbs on something then falls expecting you to catch him. Then today we had his pool out full of water. I had my chair next to it so I could sit with my feet in it and he climbs on the chair and 'jumps' in his pool over and over.

 Before he was walking, he was climbing! These days he climbs in his high-chair, climbs into Mommy & Daddy's bed, thankfully does NOT climb out of his crib...yet, and climbs the shelves! How do you like my new decoration??

We've also gone through a couple of phases. There were a couple weeks straight in which Bryce did not want to take a bath. He would scream and cry the entire time I was bathing him. I tried everything I could think of: putting him in the bath with me, putting him in our big tub, having him take a shower...nothing worked. It was strange because he continued to like his pool and liked the lake. Then about a week ago he just decided that he was over it, and now gladly goes into the bathtub when I ask him if he's ready for bath. 

He also we went through a few days where he would fight me to put a diaper on! He even thought he could run from me on his four wheeler!

I thought he might be ready to potty train, so I bought a potty. Of course after I did that he hasn't fussed at me again when putting his diaper on.

He also tries to be a little helper. He attempts to assist with the laundry. He helps wash my hair when I'm in the bath, then hands me my towel when I get out. He also has taken over the responsibility of feeding the dog. Unfortunately much of the dog food ends up on the floor instead of the bowl.

Well I think that will be all for today. I'll try to post about our Memorial day later this week. Back to the grind tomorrow!