Here he is on his actual half birthday, showing off what he knows.
He is one smart little dude. One smart, STUBBORN little dude. That's why we don't always get along. But he's so dang cute and loveable that I pretty much forgive him instantly. He loves books and never gets tired of them. If you sit down, he only sees that as an opportunity to run and get a book and put it in your hand with a "erago" (there you go).
He picks up so much from the older kids and he is maturing so fast. As I watch these videos, I'm amazed at how much he's grown already in a month since these were taken. He used to squeal at every single basketball hoop that he'd see as we'd take walks or drive around, and now he actually says "hoop" at every single one. He says "cuck" for every truck and is still obsessed with basketballs, and really all balls. He says bubbles the second he sees any and doesn't stop saying it until he's satisfied that we've all passed out from blowing him bubbles for hours. He loves Elmo and says "Elmooo" with such love and joy in this voice, I can't get enough. Sesame Street is the only show he'll sit still enough to watch, and he loves to point to the tv and say, "shoooow". This is one of my favorite ages with all my kids, and Kendrick is no exception.
Kendrick is busy busy and loves to yell "go!" before he races into your arms or just runs back and forth across the room. He prefers to be outside and will play out there for hours.
He's my most mischievous and gets into lots of trouble. Especially after he figured out the stool (that stool is now hidden). He used to whine for anything and about everything, and I was about to commit suicide from the whining. I tried to get him to say please instead of whine but he REFUSES, still to this day, to say please. He will, however, say "help" instead, or "more" for when he wants more food. It took so much effort and training, but now we constantly hear "hep" from him when he needs something and it's so reassuring to be able to say, "What do you say?" when he's whining and he instantly stops and says, "hep". I've tried to return to please, but he just gets mad and screams at me.
He had a short stint as a harmonica prodigy (he was getting really good!) and he played it constantly for a week, but the thrill of that wore off. Maybe he'll return to it later.
He likes to sleep in late (around 8:30), so when he uncharacteristically wakes up early we all get grumpy. He is so much better at napping now that he's older. Typically he naps from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm, or I wake him up at 4:30. He still has his rare twenty-minute nap days, and we're all pretty unhappy those days as well.
His smile and those dimples keep him alive, and those curls on the back of his head are to die for. Every hair cut it kills me, but if I don't cut it he starts looking like a girl with his long eyelashes. So far the curls have always come back, but this last time I still worried that I cut them off for good. We'll see!
Kendrick still snuggles better than any of my other kids did. None of us can resist him. Probably one of my favorite things is how he nods his head yes sometimes, instead of saying it out loud. Seeing an eighteen-month-old nod his head is a level of cuteness I can't explain and I hope I always remember it. He used to just say "yeah" to everything. You ask him a question and the answer was "yeah" unless your sentence ended with no. This used to be my favorite conversation to repeat with Kendrick over and over again:
Me: Kendrick do you always say yes?
Kendrick: Yeah.
Me: Do you ever say no?
Kendrick: No.
But he's starting to develop a love for "bep" (yep) and "yas" (yes). And in the last week he is running around yelling "no, no, noooo" or "nooooope, nope, noooOOOPE!". Just for fun.
Lydia and Ammon will do anything for Kendrick, and unfortunately he uses and abuses that power. He is constantly screeching at them if they even THINK about touching something of his or look at him wrong. And so far, nothing I've tried has been able to stop the screeching. We've lessened it, but this kid is not easily disciplined and does not feel remorse easily. Despite Kendrick yelling at his older siblings, he also loves them deeply. My favorite is seeing him content in their arms as they lug him around like a sack of potatoes. He loves to have them carry him in from the car.
Kendrick really prefers his family, mostly me, and gives pretty much anyone else the stink-eye. You'll start to notice that in a lot of pictures where someone outside of the family is taking the picture, Kendrick is glaring. That's because someone outside of his inner circle is attempting to interact with him. Really, it's not so much that he's shy, it's more that he's a giant snob. He doesn't seem to fear them, he just wants nothing to do with them. He glares and turns away, and is quite rude. And that doesn't mix with being really cute because he attracts a lot of attention from people who want to play with him. And his reaction? "How dare you."
Take the first day of nursery, for instance. I was counting down the weeks. Church with Kendrick is a nightmare. In his defense, it's right during nap-time and he is SO tired that he can barely function, let alone behave. But I was hoping that since he plays at the church most days with the nursery toys on one side of the gym while I exercise on the other, that he would adjust to nursery well. Plus, nursery has snacks and Kendrick LOVES food. Whenever someone else watches him, they've discovered that if you just feed him the entire time, he's happy. So with snacks in nursery, I had high hopes.
His nursery leader snapped this picture on the first day. And this was with me in the room sitting right next to him during music time as he watched all the other kids having a blast. Needless to say, it did not go well. But Brigham has enjoyed creating endless memes with this picture.
Since that first week, there has been no improvement; I'd say we've even gone further downhill. He wants nothing to do with anyone in that nursery room and if I try to sneak out, they bring him to me ten minutes later with him crying as though someone has been pulling teeth while I was gone. Maybe nine o'clock church will go better?
Out of all the things that Kendrick is learning to say, this next conversation is my favorite;
Me: Say I
Kendrick: I (as he points to his eye)
Me: Love
Kendrick: Lub
Me: You
Kendrick: (raises his finger and points at me)
One time he said it without me asking. Talk about melting my heart. If you ask him to, rather than pointing he'll say "mum" "da" "bibio" "aaamun" (he still has a really hard time saying Lydia, bless his heart).
So, yes, Kendrick is a snobbish, trouble-making, stubborn little boy. But he is also a smart, loveable, sweet, snuggling, good little boy who loves to hold one finger on my hand and explore the world with me. But you'll probably have to take my word for it, because he won't give you the time of day.
Happy 18 months, little guy. Try to not grow up too fast!
Oh my goodness. I love his glare so much. I loved this update, seeing as he is the kid I know the least out of your 3. Keep being cute Kendrick!
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