Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens...

BJ is growing up so quickly. He'll be one in a few short weeks. As he grows it's interesting to see the toys he chooses to play with and activities he chooses to do. Here is a list of BJ's favorite things:

1. Balls. BJ LOVES balls. Yes, it is something that Daddy introduced to BJ when he was a mere tike of 3 days old. But BJ has really taken the love for a ball to a higher level. His eyes light up when he sees one. He could throw the ball and chase it for hours.

2. Bananas. One of BJ's favorite breakfast foods. He gets super-excited when I pull out the banana. His legs start kicking and he claps. It's one of the few foods that he'll sign "more" for.

3. Bears. Brian taught BJ a game: first you hug the teddy bear, then you throw the teddy bear. You'll see him hugging his two teddy bears with a huge smile. And now he likes anything soft and fluffly. He's hugged my sweater and even my comfy sock (while it was still on my foot!).

4. Books. Part of our naptime routine is reading a book. BJ doesn't just sit there and listen; he likes to interact with the book. That could be turning the pages, flipping the book over, or even biting it. His favorite books are those that have textures to feel. He also likes the books with the flip tabs. Every Thursday we go to our local library for storytime. Although he doesn't sit still for the stories, he does enjoy the other children and the activities they do.

5. Bath. BJ gets a bath almost every night. He loves the water and the toys. It's fun to hear him talking to himself in the bath. I wonder what he's thinking about. The only part of the bath that he hates is the actual washing. He screams and twists and turns, like I'm intruding on his play time!

6. Blue. The color that is. It's the funniest thing. He has toys of all colors but he usually gravitates to the blue toys. We have a stacking rings thing. As an experiment I put the rings on so that the blue one was on the bottom. Wouldn't you know, he picked off all the rings until he got to the blue one. So I did it again, this time with the blue one in the middle. He took off only enough to get to the blue one. Funny.

6. Sweetie. BJ loves our cat, Sweetie. We first got her 8 years ago when Brian got deployed with the Army. She was a stray and was extremely skittish. Through the years she has gotten slightly less skittish but still a scaredy cat around strangers. When I was pregnant, we were afraid that she might get so frightened of the baby and become defensive. When BJ arrived Sweetie wasn't thrilled, but she coped. She would keep her distance but still be in the same room. Once BJ started crawling, he would chase her around the house and she would run for cover. Now, either Sweetie is getting lazy or old because she just lies there as BJ tackles her!

7. Music. Not just any old music. It is the music of three particular toys: the activity table, the ball popper thing, and the ring stacker. He will push the button on these toys just so they will play the music and then he will play with something else. Once the music stops he will go back and turn it back on. And then play with something else. It's gotten so, um, annoying that I've put tape on the speakers so it won't play as loud!