Tanner's Favorite Things at 21 months

I thought it would be fun to keep a list of Tanner's 5 favorite things - every so often I'll post an updated list since its ever changing...
Right now, Tanner's 5 greatest passions (in his words) are:
1. "Side"
From the moment he wakes up right up until bedtime, the child wants to be outside. Sometimes we're out in the dewey yard before 8am. He loves it so much that I have to bribe him to get him inside. I continually have to think of ways to get him in the house when its time to come in. It can be tough, since almost nothing trumps outside. Lately "want a cookie?" works quite well...but if we don't have cookies or if its right before dinner, I can count on a meltdown. Many a times I've had to drag him in, kicking and flailing all the way. He'll cry passionately for a few minutes then I can usually get him distracted with another favorite activity, like:
2. "Bubb-o"
What kid doesn't like bubbles, right? Well Tanner is VERY passionate about bubbles. He gets so excited he shrieks and jumps around when we get them out. He usually insists on holding the bubble container himself, which he inevitably spills...I've tried other things but have relinquished to just filling it half way and letting him go to town...The no spill types of containers don't work as well so I decided to let this one go...and buy lots of cheap refills...
3. "Eye Keen"
A couple of months ago, when it became clear that dairy was no longer an issue with Tanner, we started treating him to ice cream every so often. Well of course he LOVES it. He makes this face when we ask him if he wants it- we call it the "ice cream face" - he looks so excited that he can hardly contain himself - its hilarious. I'll have to try to capture it so you can see. We have a Friendly's about a 1/2 mile from our house and we've been there a couple of times for ice cream. Now he yells "Eye Keen" "Eye Keen" "Eye Keen" every time we pass by. If we give him ice cream for dessert, he tends to ask for it right away when he wakes up the next morning. Apparently, its made a big impact.
4. "Bah-Gah"
This is Tanner's word for Dora the Explorer. We figure he's trying to say backpack, one of the show's characters. Anyway, he has yet to say "Dora" he just says Bah-gah Bah-gah when he wants it turned on. Dora has just recently replaced Elmo as his favorite show. Dora is our wind down time at about 7pm when he's tired from his day and needs some down time to unwind and chill out before bath and bedtime at 7:30...Its wonderful.
5. "Binty"
Binky Binky Binky. Tanner has LOVED the binky from day one. Literally. His binkies are his most prized possessions. He has not picked a lovey yet and has no attachment to any of his blankies or anything. Those binkies are his ultimate comfort. He likes to have 3 or 4 of them at a time, switching them in and out as if they are all different flavors. He makes a "mmmm" sound when he first lays down with them, as if he's tasting the most delectable treat ever. We only use them for sleeping and once in a while during the day if he gets hurt or has a meltdown and needs a calm down. I hope he lets go of them easily one day when he is ready. I really don't want it to be a challenge...but it very well may be one of our vices.

A few other notes on Tanner:
His naps have been fabulous the last couple of months, going down around 11:30-12:30 and averaging 2-2 1/2 hours. 3 hour naps are not uncommon occurring once or twice a week. He's even slept 4 hours on two occasions! I never thought I'd have a good napper - mr. cat napper is a thing of the past!

Mommy thinks Tanner is very smart. Not only his language amazes me on a daily basis (he regularly says help ("elp"), thank you (dank goo), and "I did it", by the way) but he also recently learned to count to 3. Its so sweet - I'll hear him doing it on his own "un. doo. tee." Today we went on a long (over an hour) walk and he did not stop talking the ENTIRE time - pointing out everything he saw "bike, barn, boat, dog, mow (cat), bunny..."

Just this week he started pretend play. It was so funny - he reached down and picked up nothing off the ground and handed it to me saying "a piece?". He then pretended to eat it. So mommy did the same. Well he continued to do this for every person that was there. Going back to the deck (kind of a long walk), picking up nothing, and carrying it back very carefully giving it to each person and saying "a piece?" - we were at Rob's parents at the time and there were about 8 people there. Everyone got "a piece".