Preston Update

Sorry to be so all-or-none with my blogging, but I've got to do it when I have time.  Here's the latest on Mr. Mischief.  

• He discovered the flushing of the toilet and is absolutely obsessed.  I'm pretty sure he flushed the poor toilet 20 times while I was trying to get Dylan's teeth brushed.  I couldn't get him to leave it alone and oh the fit he threw when I finally kicked him out of the bathroom.  
• Preston has a love/hate relationship with the vacuum.  He is so intrigued by the vacuum, but completely afraid of it.  He can be over looking at it and playing around with stuff, but the minute he hears the machine turn on, he turns and runs.  Poor little man!  I finally got him to hold still for a minute so I could put the vacuum wand up to his hand and show him what the vacuum was all about.  I showed him on my hand first and then put it against his hand.  He tried to pull his hand away at first and then once he realized what it did, he looked at me with such relief, then smiled, giggled and stuck his hand out for me to do it again.  It's very possible that he will be slightly less afraid of the vacuum in the near future.  
• He's such a cute little twirler.  He spins around and around until he falls down.  He also loves to bounce and dance and do other cute toddler-type activities.  His favorite is the little bouncing zebra my mom gave him for his first birthday.  He's always enjoyed it, but now that he's a little taller, he bounces and spins around like a pro.  So cute!
• He's starting to say a few more words, but it's pretty much still jibber jabber for the most part.  He really thinks he's talking to you though.  He'll look you right in the eyes and mutter 10-15 words and then shake his head in agreement.  It's the funniest thing ever.  I'm not sure how I should respond.  I want him to learn to speak, but I can't help but say things like "I know" and "Okay" when he tries to talk to me.  I'm sure he's looking for feedback, but I simply know not what he says.  
• Because he doesn't communicate very well yet, he's taken to leading me around by the hand.  He might not even know what he wants, but he takes me up to the refrigerator to look around until he's satisfied that he has what he wants or that what he wants is not in there.  Oh how I follow these boys around!
• When he wants my attention, he just pushes against my legs until I pay attention to him.  It happens the most when I'm in the kitchen.  He'll just inch his way in front of my legs and start pushing me back until I am forced to pay attention to him.  It's usually that he wants to sit up on the counter and help me out, but he's pretty strong.  If he wants my attention, he can definitely find a way to get it.  
• How to sum up the majority of his day?  Tornado of destruction is what comes to me first. My sister-in-law recently commented to me how busy he was.  I guess I had forgotten.  Compared to Dylan, he seems so much more laid back, but mellow and lazy are not the same thing.  He is SUPER busy.  That's the age, I know, but still.  He keeps me on my toes.  He can destroy a room much faster than I can clean one, which would explain why I feel like I am constantly cleaning only to have a messy house.
• One of his favorite things to do is to rearrange the silverware.  It's official, the non-baby-proofed drawers have been discovered.  I keep bibs, baby spoons, and other baby-type items in my third drawer down.  It's a newly organized drawer and Preston found it quickly.  He loves to take all the baby utensils and put them in the top drawer with all the other utensils...all day long.  I may very well go crazy one of these days :)  
• He loves pulling stuff out of drawers, cupboards, boxes, my nightstand, etc. and putting them back however and wherever he sees fit.  He pulls out all the videos, CD's, DVD's and drags them around all day.  He loves pulling the little shapes out of his shape sorter and trying to find the right hole to put them back again.  He pulls books off the shelf and shoves them back in some random place.  Yep, he's my official redecorator, only I do not care for his taste in decorating at all.  
• He loves sweeping and swiffering my kitchen floor.  It drives me crazy, but I try to let him help me out once in a while. 
• He loves sitting in his high chair without the tray.  He wants the freedom of getting up and down by himself, which he is getting very good at.  He's a great little climber and also a pretty good faller, which would explain the many bumps, bruises and scars on his little noggan.   
• He's finally starting to hold still a little better for books.  He's got a couple of absolute favorites that he hauls around with him all the time.  One of them has baby faces on it and oh how he smiles at those little kids.  It's so sweet!  Dylan usually takes a book with him to bed to look at after we've read and I've tucked him in and Preston has started doing the same.  I ask him if he wants to take his book to bed and he goes over to get the book and then waddles back over to the crib for me to lift him up.  When I tuck him in, he smiles and opens the book over his head like a big boy.  It's adorable! 
• He runs away and hides when he knows I need him for something.  This is especially true at bedtime or when I'm trying to get him dressed or put shoes on him.  He thinks it's the funnest game ever!

I'm sure there are a million more, but this will have to do for now.  I just wanted to update the journal portion of my blog while I was thinking about it.