Leaps and Bounds

Well, as usual I am a little behind in keeping you all up to date on all the happenings with our little man. I could just sum it up and say we are amazed on a daily basis about what Tennyson can say and do. I say he is in the "parrot stage" where he's starting to repeat everything he hears. It's so great to be able to have conversations with him now, and it makes life so much easier (for the most part) that he can ask for what he wants.

Tennyson counts everything and gets so excited when he sees a number. He is constantly naming (correctly, I might add) the colors on objects, and he loves to read any and all $alphabet books. We are proud to say that at only 22 months old he unequivocally knows some of his letters: G, M, O, P, T, X, and Z. He sometimes gets the other letters right but at least he's already showing an interest in reading by himself.

Within the past few weeks he has started doing laps from the back door to the front door. As he runs he moves his left arm forward and backward, for momentum I guess, as he says "fast" and "racing." Of course, we assure him he's the fastest boy in the whole wide world. ;-)

And don't think I've ever mentioned on my blog about his favorite comfort item. It's the soft, fuzzy blanket that matches his green, white, and brown nursery and it has elephants on it. Well, Tennyson calls elephants "mitts", so that's what his blanket is now known as - his mitt. I love it!

No one else but Tom and I probably care what new words he has now added to his vocabulary, but I am putting them in this post for documenting purposes: pillow, banana ("mana"), drum, hair, people, ear, cheek, mouth, smoke, rice, cereal, bridge, pig, rabbit, away, run, stay, racing, sausage, and bacon. (The last two words are mostly because he "helps" Daddy eat his breakfast in the mornings.)

Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks. I haven't been as diligent as I should be about taking photos of him, but it's difficult when you can't move and bend like you used to.

I think this shirt says it all!

He looks slightly annoyed that I was taking his picture while he was stacking blocks.

He had some crazy hair after his nap

Tennyson was eating a warm chocolate chip cookie and therefore had chocolate on his hands. I told him to keep his hands up so as not to get it on his pajamas. So after every bite he'd raise his hands. Hilarious!!

What a cheesy smile!

Showing Mommy how he can count (he was saying "two" here)

Eating popcorn ("pop pop") and watching "Toy Story."

We have been having some frustration with him lately in that he's starting to throw tantrums when he doesn't get his way or is told "no." Yeah um, I really thought girls were the only ones that expressed their feelings like that! Grrrr. So we are trying our best to break him of it before we (and by "we" I mean "I") lose my mind. *wink*

There's no denying Tennyson has a mind of his own. He's no follower and he has a strong will. It helps me to know how to pray for him, that God will use his leadership abilities and his mind to serve him.