10 Things I Love About my 17 Month Old

1. He wakes up bright & early in the morning ready to go. When you walk in his room, he stands up in his crib & starts talking very excitedly (except those rare times when he's crying).

2. His abundance of energy. He doesn't walk. He is always running with his little arms waving around & runs his shoes into the ground (as you can see from these shoes that I have finally retired).3. When we walk in to pick him up at daycare he jumps up from whatever he's doing (dancing, eating, reading), runs over to get his coat & runs to the door & says bye to everyone in the room.

4. We are constantly trying to teach him how to say new words & it seems as though he's learning new ones daily. So whenever we ask him to try & say something he mimics us. BUT when we ask him to say Kim or Kayci (his aunties) he remains silent. I'm pretty sure he does this on purpose because he looks so proud of himself while he sits silent.

5. He loves his aunties like they are 2nd moms to him. Big smiles whenever he sees them & sometimes tears when they leave.6. Watching him & my hubby spend time together.7. When I had a baby I always looked forward to playdates & today 3 of my girlfriends brought their kiddos over to play. Johnnie is finally enjoying having other children to play with even if he is going through a possessive phase. We couldn't get all the kids to look at the camera, much less smile but as they grow & I continue to take photos it will be sweet to watch them grow together.(Ariana-7 1/2 mos, Bella-11mos, Johnnie-17mos, Kate-3 1/2 holding a screaming 8 wk Joey & Tyler- 3 1/2).8. Recently he has been able to sit still for minutes at a time watching shows like Sesame Street, Zoboomafoo & his favorite, Word World. When he's really enjoying what he's watching, he stares very intently at the tv... a little scary but at least he can concentrate.9.If you know me, you know I take a lot of photos. Johnnie is a great sport & will almost always look at the camera when I ask him to. I love when he smiles but I also love capturing his intense face & his little curls.10. The love he already has for his brother. Jo-Jo & Baby is how he refers to him now. He has figured out after 8 weeks that hitting him upside the head is really not okay. Instead whenever Joey cries, Johnnie thinks it will make him feel better to throw a blanket over him, his head included. I tried to get a photo of them both smiling, but since Joey rarely smiles that wasn't going to happen & I feel lucky to just get them both looking forward. Aren't they cute? And the bonus pic for today. Joey's official 8 week photo. A little smirk.