Yay Brayden!!! Celebrations and Fun Facts

Favorite food: Applesauce, hands down!
Favorite word: Momma
Favorite new skill: standing and clapping
Favorite tv show: Elmo's World/Super Why!
Favorite video: Praise Baby
Favorite activity: Reading books--I am REALLY good at turning the pages, one at a time, and reading out loud to anyone who will listen!
Favorite game with Daddy: throwing the ball/playing "catch"--I'm pretty coordinated for a 13 month old!
Favorite game with Mommy: throwing the tupperware, smiling when she tells me "no", being anywhere she is :)
Favorite new place to go: the beach!!!
Favorite challenge: retrieving items, esp. balls, out from under the furniture
While away on our trip, I began standing (Yay Brayden!!!) and clapping (Yay Brayden!!!). Mommy has tried and tried to teach me to clap but I haven't really been interested until now. On our trip though, one night after dinner, after I had eaten ALL of my ravioli, Mommy and Daddy were clapping their hands as they said "Yay Brayden" (like they ALWAYS do), and something clicked! I wanted to clap with them, so I did! Mommy now thinks it's cute or something. Just this morning, while at playgroup, one of my friends went pee-pee in the potty and when all the mommies clapped to say "Yay," I also joined the celebration, clapping my hands. I turned around to smile at Mommy to make sure she saw me!

I'm also pretty good at standing now. I shocked Mom and Dad in Hilton Head one night. They were getting a few things out of my room and all of a sudden I popped up on my feet and they couldn't believe it. I felt like saying "What? I've been doing this for awhile guys. Where've you been?" It's so much fun...Instead of sleeping this afternoon for my nap, I just practiced standing and falling down, standing and falling down, standing and falling down and then I'd clap for myself! Finally after an hour and a half, Momma broke up the party, but she took a few pictures first. Here's what I looked like...
I know I must be cute too! I can tell she's trying not to laugh when she comes in and finds me having fun without her. I think she gets upset when I don't nap because then I tend to wake up in the middle of the night and I'm ready to play at oddball hours, like 4am, and she has to come in and tell me to go back to sleep. She always looks so grumpy at 4 o'clock in the morning! I know she's proud of me though because sometimes she ends up laughing or smiling at me and she always kisses my forehead and says she loves me. I've been eating better too! I know this is turning into a brag blog, but I used to think I was driving my mom crazy with my eating habits. I went from eating nearly everything to eating only Cheerios and applesauce. I LOVE my milk too, but that's never been a problem. Anyway, when we went to the new doctor he told mom to quit worrying about me and I would eat again when I was ready. Well--I'm ready! This morning for breakfast I ate a cereal bar and Cheerios, for lunch I had 2 pieces of turkey, 1/2 mozzarella string cheese stick, applesauce and goldfish, and for dinner I had chicken pot pie! And of course, all three meals I clapped for myself when I finished:). I've also been drinking through a straw now for well over a month and think this is great accomplishment--so much easier than trying to drink through a sippy cup. Mommy's pretty proud too! She says it makes life so simple; she can take juice boxes to the pool. :) Well, that's all for now. It's time to go to bed. Wish me luck! (or my momma...)