Let's talk Kasen!

Not to overshadow the birthday celebration we had Saturday night for Gma M & Luke, but I haven't really talked Kasen in a while, so let's do that today. :)

He seems to be at a stand-still growth wise. I think he's about 24#s, still wearing 18mth clothes (actually if he isn't in cloth diapers he needs 12mth pants or they fall off his skinny little heiny!). He has 10 teeth (the front 4 on top & bottom & the top 2 1st year molars). I think he might be getting another one, as he has started drooling a lot this weekend, but I can't see or feel anything yet.
He has a great vocabulary & amazes us with his memory! One of his favorite words right now is "down". Of course, he says it for up also, so it's a bit confusing, but he makes sure you know what he wants.
Kasen is learning animal sounds. He's got quite a few down - cow (moo), cat (meow, in a sweet voice), dog (oof, oof), mouse (clicks his tongue), elephant (blows his lips, no sound comes out), duck (quack), rooster (doodle doo), horse (neigh), sheep (baa)... I think that might be it - oh, and baby (waaahhh) & car (roooom).
Luke has been teaching him counting & sometimes he remembers that 2 comes after 1, but we've still got some work to do.
A couple of weeks ago I taught him pat-a-cake & he LOVES it. He can't do it on his own yet, but he will start clapping if you say pat-a-cake.
He really is an amazing kid. I could go on & on. Of course every parent thinks their kid is the smartest, but he really does amaze me with how quickly he learns & remembers things. These days he's paying attention to everything we do & he's pretty good at mimicking us. Sometimes I wonder where on earth he has learned something & then I realize it's something I do. Perfect example - he says "man" a lot, at really random times. I couldn't figure it out until one day I caught myself saying "man..." & the light bulb went off - mama says it, so of course he's gonna say it.
He LOVES cars, books, & balls. Give him nothing but 1 of those 3 things & he'd be set! He will bring us book after book after book to read to him. (And he has learned to put them back & then bring another one. Good boy!) He can dribble (as in soccer) a ball really well, so I think we'll have to put him in soccer tots soon. He now says "roooom" (the v is silent, don't you know?) instead of "booooding" most of the time when he plays with his cars.
Kasen not only amazes us with the things he's learning, but he has us laughing ALL. THE. TIME. Sometimes he's trying to get us to laugh, but usually he's just funny without trying. He is also a really sweet boy. I mean REALLY sweet. He hugs & kisses everyone & everything. Animals are guaranteed either a hug or a kiss (or both), and most people will get one (or both) too. He is such a loving kiddo!

He has his 15mth checkup soon. I think he has to get more shots then. I'm sure he'll hate that. Not real sure *I* will enjoy it this time either.
Okay, on to the pics of the week!

Daddy stayed home with Kasen on Friday. When I got home from work I found them outside playing in the sandbox. He loves his sandbox!

(Don't you just love those curls?!)

Saturday was a busy day! We had a birthday party in the afternoon (Cassy's 4th), then Saturday night we had a birthday dinner for Luke & Gma M. The 3 of us killed time between the 2 at Papa & Gma M's house.
Not the best pic, but here's Kasen & I: The bday lady:
Papa & Kasen. (LOVE this silly face!)
Obligatory table shot. Well, part of it anyway. Oh, and the guy that waited on us (his head isn't in the pic, lol)- he's been at the Rockett Cafe as long as we've been going there. He pretty much watched Shannon & I grow up. He was very sweet to us Saturday night & bragged on Kasen's beautiful hair & his general cuteness.
Shannon's house after dinner for cake & conversation. The cake was beautiful, but we didn't get a pic. doh!
In the big version of this pic I have red eye - it looks crazy 'cause I'm locked in on Kasen. Almost like I'm a possessed mama! ;) I'm trying to teach Kasen to be a tree hugger... I think I'm getting somewhere - he's a tree kisser!

See? Another kiss for the "baby". (I told him to be careful with the tree 'cause it's a 'baby tree', so he now calls it "baby".) Then, he found some mulch. I said "DO NOT eat that! Yuck!"
He looked at it like "why? looks good to me... what's wrong with it?"
Then found a smaller piece to put in his mouth. "YUCK!" -Yep, I told you so! I was getting his watermelon ready & looked up & saw THIS:
I was sad. He can get into his chair himself now. How'd that happen? Isn't he my BABY?! So, I did what any mom would be obligated to do, and had him do it himself again so I could get pics.

Climbing up... (he took a nap after his snack, can't you see the exhaustion?)

Okay, I'm here, let's eat!
Tonight I let him come downstairs to catch a little of the Cowboys game before bedtime. (He loves football - again, he loves BALLS, football is no exception!) I was taking pics of daddy reading to him & noticed they were both mesmerized by the game. As they say, "like father, like son":