Wednesday, October 3, 2012

This boy...

This boy is all boy...

He loves to be outside and hunt for acorns,

and observe acorns...

and throw acorns.

He is such a fun loving little boy,

but has a serious side too.

He is mischevious,

fast,

 and determined,

but also laid back.

His smile is brigher than the sun,

and melts my heart everytime.

He is full of joy,

and loves to make us laugh.

This boy is our little man, and we love him so much!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

18 Months Old!

Brady, You are 18 Months Old, One and a half!




You are changing and growing every day!

Since I haven't done a monthly post about you, since you turned 1, there are lots of updates!


Stats:
As of October 4, 2012 your stats are:
Weight:  28.8 lb = 85th percentile
Height 32.5 inches = 50th percentile
Head Circumference 19.5 in = 85th percentile

Sizing:
You wear 12-18 month clothing and 6 1/2 size shoes.  You wear a size 4 diaper (Pamper's Cruisers).

Schedule:
This is a typical weekday schedule for you:
6:00 a.m.:  Rise and Shine!  Mommy wakes you up and we cuddle in bed for about 10 minutes.
6:10 a.m.:  Daddy changes your diaper and gets you dressed.
6:20 a.m.:  We head downstairs, where I fix your hair and you and daddy take Jordan outside.
6:30 a.m.:  We leave for school.
6:50 a.m.:  We arrive at school.  Mommy takes you to your room and you sit down for breakfast with your friends.  Mommy hangs out for a few minutes, since I hate to leave you, then kisses you goodbye, and I head to work.
9:00 a.m.:  You eat snack.
11:00 a.m.:  Time for lunch.
12:00 p.m.:  Nap time.  You sleep on a mat at school without a paci.
2:30 p.m.:  Time to wake up.  Your teachers tell me that they always have to wake you up.
3:00 p.m.:  Outside time
3:30 p.m.:  Snack time and mommy arrives.
4:00 p.m.:  We arrive home and play.  We usually take Jordan outside and play outside for a few minutes.
4:00-6:00 p.m.:  Mommy and Brady play.
6:00 p.m.:  Time for dinner
6:30 p.m.:  Bath time and daddy gets home
7:00 p.m.:  Play time
7:30 p.m.:  Sweet dreams.  Mommy and Daddy read you a book and then daddy leaves while mommy sings to you (I always sing "You Are My Sunshine" and "Jesus Loves You") and rocks you.  I put you in your crib while your still awake and you fall asleep within 10 minutes.

During the weekend, you wake up around 6:00.  Mommy wakes up early with you on Saturday's, so Daddy can sleep in.  When you wake up on Sunday's, Mommy gets you out of the crib to snuggle with you.  Sometimes you fall asleep in bed with us...I love that!  Other times, you are ready to get going on with the day.  Daddy will get up with you, while Mommy sleeps for a little bit longer.  I usually wake up around 7:00, and go grocery shopping. 

The morning consists of playing with mommy and daddy, a snack at 9:00, lunch at 11:00, and nap time at 12:00.  Mommy or Daddy holds you during nap time if we are home.  You've only taken a nap once in your crib.  We love holding you during your nap time.  You take about a 1 1/2 hour - 2 hour nap, then it's playtime again.  We usually get out for a little bit after your nap.  Then it's home again and we play.  You eat dinner at 6:00, take a bath, then in bed around 7:30-8:00.

Talking:
You can say so much, and you understand even more.  Here are the words you say on a regular basis without prompting:  ma ma, da da, dog, duck, hot, cheese, milk, mo (more), pease (please), moon (you also love to find the moon whenever we go outside and it's dark), ci (for paci), side (for outside), ball, tractor, book, up, no, yellow (whenever you see a yellow object), blue (whenever you see a blue object), phone, hello, mouse, house, baby, Brady, shoes, boon (balloon), bubbles, bath, oval, nana (banana), ight (light), eyes, nose, off, uh oh, choo choo (train) (I know I'm missing a ton more, but I can't think of them right now.)

You can say the following sounds dog (you stick your tongue out and pant), cat (mow), elephant (you stick your arm up in the air like it's the trunk), duck, snack (ssss....), monkey, tiger, lion, car (vroom, vroom), train (choo choo while holding your arm up), bird, (I know I'm missing a ton more, but I can't think of them right now.)

You understand so much too!  Tonight I asked you to close your closet door, and you walked right over to it and closed it.  I can ask you things, and if you don't want it, you will say "no".  You're REALLY good at saying "no".  You have an animals picture above the dresser in your room, and if we ask you, "Where is the butterfly?", you will point to the butterfly (and flap your arms).  If we ask you, "Where is the snake?", you will point to the snack and say, "Ssssss..."  You know most of the 26 animals on the picture.  When we read books, and I ask you where something is, you can point to it.  For example in the book Goodnight Moon if I ask you, "Where is the fire?", you will point to the fire.  Whenever we read a book with a flower or see one, you will lean down to smell it.  When we say "Touchdown Auburn", you throw your hands in the air.  You learned that in about 2 minutes.  If I ask you where your firetruck is, you will go get your firetruck.  Whenever we are out in public and someone starts talking to you, you will point to me and say, "Ma Ma."  It's like you are introducing me to everyone.  It's very cute!

Food:
You are a pretty good eater.  You definitely know what you like and don't.  For breakfast, you usually eat yogurt, bananas, eggs, or sausage.  I'm not very creative when it comes to breakfast.  

For snacks you like cheese, Annie's Cheddar Bunnies, Veggie Chips, Baby Food Squeeze Pouches (I like these because you get a veggie and a fruit), Yougurt Melts, cookies, Ma Ma's pancakes (I use buckwheat flower and add bananas, blueberries, applesaude, and spinach.  You LOVE these.  They are probably your favorite snack.)

For lunch and dinner you like homemade chicken nuggets (chicken, italian and panko bread crumbs, and parmeasean cheese), homemade turkey meatballs, hummus and turkey wraps, pizza, mac n' cheese, and cheese ravioli.

You love blueberries, strawberries, edamame, peas, corn, rice, mandarin oranges, avacado, icecream, and sharing cheerios with mommy.

Favorite things:
Your favorite things to do are to read, play ball, play with your tractor, and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  You could read all day long, and I love that you already love it so much.  We read a lot of books at home, but your favories are (what you call them are in parentheses) Go Dog Go (Dog Dog), Goodnight Moon (moon), and On the Night You Were Born (moon).  You love to play ball and you have so many of them.  Whenever we go to somewhere, and they have balls for sale and you spot them, we usually end up buying you one.  You love them and love to throw them.  You also love to play with your tractor.  You love to push it around the house.  You love for mommy to play with you, so you will give me the dump truck.  You call it ma ma's.  If I try to play with your tractor, you will point to the dump truck and say, "Ma ma" and then point to the tractor and say, "Brady."  You don't like to share your tractor.  We push them all around the house, and you like to be the leader and have me follow you.  You LOVE Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  You call it "Dog Dog".  You pay really close attention to it and you will smile and laugh during it.  You understand so much of what they are saying and doing.  One day you were watching it, and they were teaching a bird how to fly.  Goofy said to hold out your wings and flap, and you did it.  On your own.  I never showed you.  I was so amazed!  You love the Hot Dog song and love dancing to it.  You really love to dance to any music.  Whenever music comes on, you will start dancing.  You are an adorable dancer! 

You also really enjoy puzzles and you are really good at putting them together.  You like to do your animal and shape one at the same time.  I'll ask you, "Where is the oval?", and you will pick up the oval and put it where it belongs.  You are SO smart!  You love to play outside.  You love finding the acorns and bringing them to me.  You also enjoy bath time, which now you've started taking showers in our shower.  You love to fill up containers with water, and transfer the water from the containers.  You also love to have the shower door closed and will sign please and say "peas" for us to close it.

You also love trains!  For your 18 month birthday, we bought you a train pass for 14 train rides on the train at the mall.  Whenever we go to the mall, you always run for the train.  Whenever you see a train, you say, "Choo Choo", while pulling your arm down. 

You love to make us laugh.  If we start laughing at something you are doing, you will get the sweetest grin on your face, and keep doing it.  You make us laugh ALL the time.  You are such a funny little boy!


So Smart:
You are such a smart little boy!  Your teachers tell me all the time how smart you are and how quickly you pick up new things.  Speaking of school, you are now in the Toddler Room.

  You know the colors red, green, blue, and yellow.  You have a toy that comes with a wooden mallet and you bang the pegs down.  We take out the pegs (2 of each color), and I'll ask you, "Where is the green?" and you'll pick up both of the green pegs.  You do this for each color.

You know where your eyes, nose, mouth, tongue, teeth, ears, head, hair, belly button, toes, hands, and fingers are.  You love to find them on us too!

Brady, I can't believe you are 18 months old!  These months are flying by so fast!  I am so thankful that you are a healthy, happy, sweet, baby boy!  And that you are mine!  You bring so much joy to our lives!  You are just amazing!
I love you more than you'll ever know!
~Ma Ma


Thursday, July 5, 2012

Water Fun with Friends

We have had so much fun this summer playing in water!  Brady just loves it!  We've gotten to spend some time with good friends too!

We met up with Tasha and Collins at the splash park!

I love how both of our boys headed to the fence when we got there instead of the water!


Heading to the water now!


Brady will run out to the water and then run back out.  He's so funny!




After playing in the water, we had a picnic!  Brady and Collins enjoyed sharing oranges.


We also spent some time with The Parker's.  One Friday night, we headed to their neighboorhood pool and swam and ordered pizza for dinner.

Brady is having so much fun!

Brady and I took Mommy and me swim lessons.  Our last day was on this Friday, so Brady was showing Daddy all of his new tricks that he learned.  Here he is blowing bubbles in the water.

I love these pics of Brady after he was finished swimming!

My sweet boy!

Beach Vacation

We took our 2nd beach trip as a family to Panama City Beach the week of June 19-24, 2012. 

Beach Bound...Success!
When we arrived, late Tuesday night, Brady wanted to find everything in the beach house that was breakable.  He found this seashell and enjoyed telling us all about it.


On Wednesday, we headed down to the beach in the morning. John had some work to do (he's in the back emailing some things), so Brady and I played in the sand and took pictures.

Love these adorable beach sand feet!

Brady thought it was so much fun to dump the sand on his head.

He saw these birds while he was playing and took off after them.

Looking at the ocean! 


After we played in the sand, we headed down to the water to put Brady's feet in.  He LOVED it!  The water was very rough, so we didn't take him in.  In fact, when we first got down to the beach, there were two guys carrying a woman in from the water.

Famly pic.

We stayed down there for about an hour and a half, then headed inside for baths and a nap for Brady.

After Brady woke up, we headed to Destin for some shopping at the Outlets.  It was hot, so we stopped for some gelato!  We all enjoyed it!


We then headed to Destin Commons to let Brady play in the fountains.  It was such a nice night, and Brady was having so much fun, we ended up just eating dinner at the places around the fountain.

Love this pic of him having fun!


Thursday, we woke up and headed back down to the beach.  This time, we brought a pool for Brady to play in.  We were a little worried he would only want to play in the ocean, and since it was so rough, we needed something to distract him.  Success, he loved playing in the pool!


One of my favorite things we did, while we were down on the beach, was Brady would sit in my lap while the water came up to us.  I could have sat there all day with him.  He fell asleep a few times.

After the beach, we headed out to lunch at Sharky's.  I enjoyed my lunch holding Brady...

and John enjoyed his!

After lunch, we headed to Gulf World for the day!  We had so much fun, but it was hot!

Brady loved watching the sea lions drink water from a hose.

He also enjoyed watching the penguins.

Who knew that sea turtles liked paci's too!

We saw a few shows, Reptile Show, Sea Lion Show, and the Dolphin Show.


That night, we headed to Captain Anderson's for dinner.  While waiting, we enjoyed a nice walk looking at all the boats.

Brady also did a little shopping (which means he took everything off of the shelves).  Whatever it takes to keep him occupied and happy!

We had a wonderful dinner and had a great table right next to the window, which gave us a great view of the boats coming into dock.

Friday morning, we woke up and headed to the beach again.  John enjoyed making sandcastles, and Brady enjoyed knocking them down.



While I was trying to lay out, John and Brady took a walk on the beach.  My laying out didn't last long, because I wanted to join them.

Loving the beach!

After the beach, we headed to Seaside for lunch!  We had a wonderful lunch at Pizza Bar sharing a delicious Italian pizza and a caprese salad.  Brady took a nice nap while we enjoyed our lunch!

After lunch, we walked around a little bit and did some shopping.  We got a snow cone to eat, but it was so hot, so we decided to eat it in the car while we headed to Destin.

Brady's favorite thing, and ours, was to go to the fountain, so we headed back to Destin Commons.  We also enjoyed looking at the fish at the Bass Pro Shop.

We went to the fountains everynight, but one, while we were there.

After the fountains, we headed to John's favorite restaurant at the beach, McGuires.  Yum!  Brady took a nap while we waited for our table.

He woke up and played with the sugars at the table.  John took him into the gift shop while we were waiting on our dinner to arrive, since he got fussy, and he found a ball there that he wanted.  John didn't buy it, but during dinner Brady would point to the direction of the gift shop after dinner and say, "Ball.".  Of course we had to buy it for him.  After dinner, we let him walk into the gift shop, and he went right up to the ball, picked it up, and walked out.  It was cute!  On the way home, we stopped at Shakey's and had a delicious frozen custard!  This has become a tradition of ours!

Saturday morning, Brady and I headed to Thomas' to get donuts.  They have the best donuts, but the wait is so long.  I don't know what I was thinking waiting in line with a one year old, but we waited for 45 minutes.  It was hot, but I wanted donuts.

After our delicious donuts, we went back down to the beach.  Within 5 minutes of us getting down there, the rain came, so we headed back inside.

John and Brady played cards.  Brady loved to take the cards and throw them all over the beach house.

That night we headed to the Crab Trap in Destin for dinner.


Brady loved running up and down this ramp while we waited for dinner.

We were very lucky on this trip, and always got a great table right next to the window.  The view of the ocean was beautiful.


 After dinner, we headed back to Destin Commons for Brady to play in the fountains.  I decided to leave my camera in the car, so I could just enjoy our last day there, instead of being behind the camera.  I wish I would have brought it, because Brady also rode the train (he loves trains) and we all rode a space ship ride together.  We had such a great night!

Sunday morning we woke up to rain!  It was supposed to rain all day, so we packed up and headed home. 

 Brady enjoyed playing with these balls (another love of his) on the way home.  He got the soccer ball one at the gift shop at McGuires.  He decided it would be fun to play a game of ball in the car too!

We had a wonderful vacation!  It's so nice to get away from work and chores, and head to the beach to spend quality time together as a family of 3!