Devon: November

Devon is so smart! He can sing the whole alphabet and can recognize most of the letters by sight. My favorite part is "L, M, N, O, P" because he basically says "Elmo, P" , but it's close enough ;) He is learning what words start with what letters and will randomly say,"T-shirt ... T!!! Truck ... T!" It's adorable. Devon loves to sing in general and knows all the words to many of his favorite songs (twinkle, twinkle). Joe and I hover over the baby monitor at night to hear Devon singing himself to sleep.

I am still working with him on his counting and numbers, but he seems more like an alphabet guy for the moment.

Devon loves to drink juice out of my "fancy" (plastic) cup. One handed no less.

Devon loves to run fast, play cars, dance, collect rocks, jump, go outside, play on the slide, watch cartoons, feed Audrey milk and "drive" Daddy's truck. Joe will put him in the driver seat and he pushes every button he can reach. Devon loves to watch sports and bands play on the computer. He still likes calculators, but above all else he loves to play cars. He wakes up in the morning and wants to play cars before a diaper change, milk or breakfast. He never gets tired of it. He plays with all his Hot Wheels and all his random trucks at the same time. He also loves to drink milk, eat lemons and popcorn.

First "official" hair cut. He got to sit in a Jeep chair and pretend to drive, he got a sucker and they turned on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I don't know what else they could possibly do to distract him from his hair cut other than sit a puppy in his lap, but it all worked and he sat there like a champ. (It's Sports Buzz $13. Kinda pricey for a kids cut, but it was so easy I think it's worth it).

Devon has started to get a bit more "tantrumy", but I try to get him to calm down by getting him to show me how big of a deep breath he can take. This usually works ... usually. I never intend for Devon to appear like the "perfect" child, but he is very well behaved. Of course he has tantrums and doesn't listen from time to time like any other child, but honestly, he is a pretty laid back, go-along kid.

Devon is starting to enjoy our play dates more and more and will talk about his friends when they are not around. Mackenzie seems to be his current favorite and he even gave her her first kiss. Oh la la! It was so cute. She leaned in, he backed away. He leaned in, she backed away. The both leaned in and kissed. Sweet! Now they hug and kiss on the cheek ... it's very sweet to see them play together so well.

I am so excited for Xmas this year to see Devon enjoy it and have an understanding of what's happening as well as having Audrey with us for the first time. Joe and I don't usually go gifts for each other, but we are slowly starting to implement family traditions without making it stressful. We hope to make the holidays about doing fun things as a family and not all about gifts. I carefully picked out a few toys that I think he will like without spoiling him with too much and I can't wait for him to open them. We have been talking to him about picking out a tree and decorating it and he loves for me to tuck him in at night and sing Jingle Bells. It's a nice break from "babies" (The wheels on the bus: "The babies on the bus go wah wah wah" is his favorite part).

I gave Devon a pony just like Audrey because his hair kept getting in his face. Isn't he so pretty? ;)

It's funny to be able to have full conversations with Devon and hear the random things that come out of his mouth like,"Here, Audrey. Hold this." as he hands her a toy. Too funny. Some of his popular phrases right now are: "Devon do it self" (Devon did it by myself) "Mama sit down there (and points exactly where he would like me to sit ;)"See? Better" (See? Isn't that better). "Love you lot. Miss you lot." "No like that." I love to hear him talk.

Joe and I are really enjoying Devon right now. We can easily communicate with him and have conversations about his day. His favorite color is blue ;) He requires a TON of seemingly endless energy, but he is so much fun to play with.