Axel at 22 months

The past week has been such a blast with our little guy. Now that Axel is feeling better he is really blooming in his personality. He is such a little crowd pleaser. He knows when to give or blow kisses, or when to make the cute little grin with his head tilted to the side. He knows when to start dancing and singing or even how to tease you to make you laugh. He officially repeats EVERYTHING we say, which is really cute, most of the time. This morning as he was helping me make french toast by throwing the bread into the egg mix, I said "gentle" Axel. He said "gentle," as he threw in the next piece. I think he understood what gentle was by the time we were finished.

Besides Axel's vocabulary continuing to bloom, his climbing skills are finally improving as well. I haven't been able to tell if it was fear or strength that hindered Axel's climbing, but either way, it is much better know. He is able to climb in and out of his car seat and in and out of his high chair as well as up onto the couch. It is really funny because he tells us what he is trying to do as he does it. "Pull, mommy", as he tries to pull himself up on the couch. Now, that doesn't mean he wants help. He is only letting me know that he is pulling himself up.

As you might guess, his tantrums are kicking up in frequency because he wants to do more things by himself. This morning the two tantrums were about his sippy cup, and cutting his french toast. He wanted to have his old sippy cup and not his new one. I decided he was done with the soft top sippy cup and ready for the hard top sippy cup, whether he likes it or not. So he cried for a few minutes and gave into his thirst. Now, with the cutting of the french toast, the end result was him not eating breakfast. The good thing is I ignored the tantrum, helped him cut it when he asked for help, but then he still won in the end by not having to eat it because he was mad at it :) Kids sure are funny.

Axel continues to love books and reading. We are going to the library every week or two and picking out 5 new books for him to read. He absolutely LOVES the library and wants to bring ALL the books home. He finally is catching onto numbers, though, and understands that he can only bring 5 home (per my rules because I don't want to have to keep track of anymore than that :)- ).

Axel is really into stickers now and has fun playing with a sticker book he received from his great Aunt. He has so much patience and ability to concentrate it amazes both Keith and I.

Axel is also getting more playful at the park. He can go up and down a slide 10+ times now, which is really fun to see him say, "again, again".

Well, speaking of Axel, he just woke from his nap. He is talking to himself and his animals this very minute.....so cute! sorry for the lack of pictures. I should have more next week as all of us are feeling better :)

Ok, enjoy the game tonight!