Kennan at 18 months Old

Kennan recently turned 18 months, which means he has attended Nursery twice now. He did so well, he went in with no problems and sat down with his Nursery leader and began looking at books without a hesitation or quivering lip. I have no idea what the secret is but both of my boys have done this, whew! I am relieved, I don't know how I got so lucky and yet I am grateful that it has gone so well thus far. Bill and I were both taking turns man handling him through church and our arms and backs are grateful for the rest.

I have been feeling remiss as of late since I have not been as stellar with documenting Kennan's life so I wanted to take this opportunity to record what Kennan is doing and enjoys at this stage of his development:

Favorite Toys: Kennan loves, loves, LOVES to play with anything round because in his mind its a ball. He loves to roll the ball, throw the ball and even catch the ball. He has amazing aim and coordination for a small guy. I recently found a package of 100 balls for a great price and I quickly purchased it for him. He is now in ball heaven! I put all of the balls in our superyard or in his pack and play and watch him go. Big brother likes to climb in with him as well and both boys enjoy playing together. I like these balls because they are light weight and don't damage or mare anything when thrown. Kennan has learned the hard way about how gravity works on a hard ball. He threw a ball directly above his head and looked up to catch it and got hit really hard in the face for his troubles. So these balls are great since they wont give you a concussion or black eye.

Another favorite toy for Kennan right now is anything with wheels. He loves to play with trucks, cars, anything that has wheels and can be pushed, pulled, or wheeled around the house. I am amazed that he is able to make car sounds at this young age, I am sure it helps having an older brother to show you how its done, but he does make some very convincing car sounds. He and I spend a good portion of our play time pushing our trucks and cars around the play room floor.

Favorite Books: Kennan LOVES books! Hooray!! He enjoys climbing on to my lap and reading several books at a time. He has a great attention span and enjoys looking at each page and pointing at the pictures. If Kennan is sad or needs some extra loving,
a book is a sure way to make him happy again. We love to read and snuggle before nap time. I love this special time with him, its our special bonding time and I love that I have a boy that has a special fondness for books. However, when big brother comes home and does his reading with mom, Kennan gets upset that Liam will not share his book or let Kennan tear the book away from him. Many fights break out during Liam's reading time I am sad to report. I have to try and be creative on solving the book debacles that break out in our home. Kennan typically ends up being handed a stack of his own books to enjoy in his super yard. Sometimes this is satisfactory for him and other times he is down right scandalized that Liam will not share his books with him.

Communication Skills: When Kennan came home from the hospital his Grammy proclaimed him to be " a communicator" from all of the grunts, squeaks, and noises that he made.  True to this proclamation, Kennan has proven time and time again that he is indeed a communicator. He is a loud communicator that will let you know that he is in need of something. He is also really good at doing baby sign, however he has added some of his own that we have yet to decipher. Words that he can clearly say:

Hi
Go
Me go
MINE!
He calls Liam-Liah, he says this a lot!
Dad
Dat for that
Ma for Mom
out side 
What is it?
WHOA
WOW

He understands easy commands and will follow through with them. He knows that when he has his shoes and a jacket on it means we can go out the door on to some amazing adventure. Once he has these items on you better be ready for him to walk out the door. Any hesitation on your part and he will begin crying, "Go, go!!!" If I want him to come to me to get ready to leave I can ask him, "Kennan do you want to go?" He will then come and lay down and wait for his shoes to be put on.

When we change his diaper he is really good at also taking his dirty diaper to the garbage and throwing it away. However, we have to watch what else he puts in the garbage. I have found the TV remote, my shoes, and Liam's shirt in the trash can. We now have to lock the lid shut so that he can't discard anything that we might actually miss!

Physical Skills: Kennan began walking just after Christmas when he was almost 15 months old. He has since added running, jumping, and spinning around and around to this list of accomplishments. He loves to block the TV and dance to the music that he hears in the commercials and such. He entertained us during general conference when he danced to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performing the rest hymns. He loves to stand up on the bench in our pew during Sacrament meeting to lead the music, much to our ward members delight. He has great rhythm and loves to move to music.  He and I attended our local library's story time where they would sing and have the kids dancing in between reading books.  Kennan was in heaven!! Pure Kennan bliss! Books, music, and dancing. WHAT!! He was in pure blissful heaven!!

Kennan's loves: Kennan loves to be outside, doesn't matter that its hailing, snowing, raining, or the sun is beating down. To Kennan, these are not deterants at all. He loves to be outside. We have to lock our doors since he has figured out how to escape through them. He has even managed to make it out to the main road in front of our house. SCARY!! When Liam and daddy leave for the day Kennan cries for several minutes because he wants to go outside since they are going outside as well. He loves to be outside! Daddy takes him on adventures into the park outside of our house while I make dinner. He loves this special time where daddy lets him freely roam and explore. 

Kennan is also very good at folding his arms and bowing his head for prayer time. He loves to kneel with us at the end of the day and pray. He will spontaneously "pray" throughout the day. When we are grocery shopping when someone speaks over the PA system he instantly bows his head and folds his arms. I have no idea why someone speaking over an intercom makes him think of praying but it sure does.

Kennan also loves to scribble on anything, walls, books, furniture, himself anything you can imagine. We have had to become more aware of what writing implements are accessible to him. I am grateful for a magic erasure cleaning product that allows me to erase all of his graffiti. I love that he is a budding artist as well, however we have been trying to teach him where he can draw and where he cannot. "Paper is for drawing, the couch is not for drawing."

Kennan is also a great eater. He LOVES his food!! He especially loves meat, pasta, oranges, yogurt, and cheese. I am so grateful for a healthy eater that enjoys his food and makes the funniest noises while he eats. You can tell that he is enjoying that PB&J by the noises he is making while he eats it. I love this little detail about him.

I am so thankful that I get to be this wonderful and delightful little boys mom. He adds to the joy in our home and we are so grateful for the blessing he is in our lives. He keeps us on our toes running from one disaster to another but we would not have it any other way! We love you Kennan!!