So Big!

There doesn't seem to be any "baby" left in our little guy. The other day Jake and I were talking about how crazy fast Dax is growing and learning and how his face even looks different lately with his expressions and intentional interactions.

Goofy guy

Every day I pick him up from daycare our amazing provider, Denise, tells me about new words he has been saying. The list just keeps on growing and he uses them so regularly and correctly! Some of our favorites include responding to us telling him we love him with "I you" and when we finish praying before dinner he says "'men" (Amen). He still loves balls and notices them everywhere. This has recently extended to include basketball hoops so while we are on walks or driving around he will constantly point at any that he sees and shout, "ball ball!" (his version of basketball). He even wakes up talking - "Blankie! Light! Ball! Monkey! Daddy!" while pointing at all of the things he can see in his bedroom. And every time we acknowledge his speech he is visibly proud of himself.

While we haven't been able to capture some of his cutest phrases, this shows some of his speech:

He also loves to feed himself. He does really well with finger food and always wants to have a fork or spoon to manipulate on his tray. While he has not yet mastered these tools, he tries hard and it is fun to see his determination.

Eating without much help can be messy...

...but it's so fun to be a big boy!

As of today he is only eating table food. I never thought that I would nurse as long as I did, but Dax and I both enjoyed it and with the health benefits for him, it seemed natural. I'm just hoping that my independent little man will still snuggle with me from time to time. He has taken another big step with drinks, too - using a water bottle with his daycare buddies! All the boys have their own water bottles available to them throughout the day and this week Dax got his. They won't be calling him, "Baby Dax" much longer!

But, even as he turns into one of the big boys at daycare and continuously shows us his independence at home, he will always be my sweet baby boy.