If I could think of a witty title for this post, I'd put it here.

Brendan will be a year old in just over a month. ONE YEAR OLD PEOPLE! This little fact tends to cause palpitations and eye spasms, not to mention excess forehead wrinkles. I'm excited about everything that's to come, watching my little baby grow into a little boy but at the same time, I can't help but miss all the special little baby things. All those adorable milestones - like the first time he gave me a genuine smile. And the first time I heard that contagious laugh. I spent so much time in the beginning looking forward to when he would be just a bit older (can't wait until he's out of the bobble-head phase, can't wait until he can sit up on his own, etc.) and now I'm wishing he was still my snuggly little peanut.

The babe is not at all interested in sitting still. I think it's a frustrating stage for him because he still hasn't figured out how to crawl or walk on his own and he wants to go out and explore. Daddy and I work on his walking with him every day. But Sir has his own idea about how the process should go so when Ken and I try to hold him by his waist rather than his hands, he goes into near-hysterics. How dare we deviate from the established Bootie walking procedure?! I'm pretty sure I'm going to need back surgery by the time this stage is over.

Sadly, he already has a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the scale. When we're walking him, he makes a beeline for the kitchen and then walks right to the scale and promptly sits down on it. Every time.

About two weeks ago he figured out how to get himself up into a sitting position from laying down. It was one of those, when I walked away he way laying down but when I came back, not so much situations. "How... hey... weren't you just... hmph!"

As I get ready in the morning, I leave him sitting on the living room floor surrounded by toys and his favorite show, Blues Clues, on the boob tube. I'm in the habit of checking on him every minute or so to make sure he hasn't learned to run in the last five minutes or found any sort of inedible substance to toss in his mouth while I'm not looking.

This morning I did my mid-hairdrying check and what do I see but our little explorer trying to pull himself up to get a better look at all the stuff he isn't allowed to touch on the coffee table. I say his name and he turns around with an absolutely angelic look and proceeds to slink down slowly so that he's laying down all innocent-like on the floor. With a look that says, "Mommy, I was just laying here watching TV. I wasn't trying to pick up that pen/magazine/remote control on the table."

I walked back into the bathroom, counted to ten, and tiptoed back out into the living room. And lo and behold - there's our little angel making his way back over to the table. I stood there quietly until he made his dutiful look back to make sure Mom wasn't watching. And there's that innocent, "I was just sitting here looking. I wasn't going to touch, promise" face. I've got your number kid.

So yeah, one year. ::sigh::


Brendan is one day away from 11 months today!

Fun In the Sun

Last week was a week of many firsts for Brendan: First plane ride, first time meeting lots of family, first time at the beach and his first time in a pool.

We left on Saturday from the local airport. As we walked and walked and walked down the plane aisle to find our row, we finally got to the back and realized we were in the very last row. The one with no leg room and the seats that don't recline. We're tall people folks, 6'3" and 5'10" and we are holding a lengthy 10-month old on our laps for the next 2+ hours. We need some space!

Thankfully, the seat tray on my seat was stuck open and the angel of a steward told us he was going to find us better seats. And glory of all glories, he found us a lovely 3-seat row in the front with tons of leg room and an empty seat for Bootie's little hiney, in the event that he actually wanted to sit for a change. Our child did not sleep a wink. No, no. He wanted to be entertained the entire way. So Kenny and I took turns passing him back and forth like a hot potato for a few hours. As we landed, Sir decided it was an appropriate time for a Mr. Softee diaper, chocolate if you get my drift. It was smelly and thisclose to busting out of the back of his diaper. Daddy shamefully even went in for a picture of it. (Okay, Mommy held his waistband out so he could get a better shot. It had to be done.)







We made it to our destination in one piece and headed up to the condo. The one we stayed in was right on the ocean, with a great view from the balcony. Sunday everyone came over to hang out and get to know Brendan. Grandpa Billy, Grandma Sharon, Aunt Nicole, Uncle Keith, Aunt Shannon and Great Grandma Jackie were all there showering our little nugget with lots of attention. Which, being the little ham he is, he loved every second of.

Showing off one of his swim outfits


Chomping on his rake (hoe?)


Practicing standing with Grandpa


Talking to Great Grandma Jackie


Conked out after an exhausting day




Dancing


Closeup of the feet








A sneak peak of the days to come (more about that below)


Daddy could only stay until Tuesday so Grandpa Billy stayed with us during the week to help out. Brendan got a kick out of his Grandpa, especially whenever he spoke in his Donald Duck voice. He also tried to teach Brendan how to make funny sounds by popping his finger against the inside of his cheek. Brendan only got as far as sticking his finger in his mouth, but it was a solid attempt.

By the fourth day, Brendan woke up with a cold and a little fever. And for the next three days he was a bit of a beast. He would be perfectly content, then pitch a fit for no reason. My happy little boy became a cranky, relentlessly whiny little poop. And this was the baby that Grandpa was around for the better part of the week. If the wind changed or you looked at him the wrong way, watch out! Arched back, big gloppy tears, the whole nine yards. If it wasn't for the absolutely gorgeous weather I'm pretty sure I would have flung myself off the balcony mid-week.



A blurry shot of the pool, beach is to the left


View of the beach from the balcony


Sunset view from the balcony


Looking at the funny people in the mirror


Yet another swim outfit


Brendan has a brand new cousin, Micah, who Uncle Matthew brought us to meet during the week. He's an adorable little guy who looks just like his Daddy and gave lots of smiles.



Micah and his daddy Matthew





On Friday I had an appointment at a hair salon and enjoyed a solid two hours of heavenly peace and quiet while Aunt Nicole watched Brendan. She claims he was a perfect angel for him, which just figures. Apparently Mommy brings out the worst in you when you're sick, off schedule, in a strange place and overtired.

We hit the pool later that afternoon and Brendan enjoyed another swim. At first, he would cling on to me for dear life but as soon as he got used to it he'd kick and splash around like a pro. It probably just seemed like the biggest bathtub ever to him.





Hat hair


Warming up with Aunt Nicole


We all decided it should be Aunt Nicole's job to walk Brendan around since she's such a shrimp at just 5'4" (hehehe...)


The view from the back (baby got back...)


Aunt Nicole and I also decided to try a photo shoot on the beach. But Mr. Crankypants wasn't terribly into it. Who cries at the beach on a beautiful, sunny day?! This boggles my mind. How can any child of mine not LOVE the beach?







A closeup of a big. gloppy tear


And a random picture for fun. Giving new meaning to the word flexible...


On the last night I put Brendan to bed and had some fun girl time with Shannon and Nicole and a nice bottle of wine and tub of ice cream. Every girl's perfect night.

I dreaded the flight home all week since it would just be me to handle Mr. Fidgets but he gave me a great Mother's Day gift by behaving like a perfect little gentleman. He was awake for the first hour, then slept on me for an hour. I was stuck in a hideously uncomfortable position but frankly, I'd rather have achy joints for a week than deal with a cranky baby for an hour so I thought it was a fair trade. We were supposed to land a few minutes early but Mother Nature was PMS'ing and decided to make it really windy so we ended up having to circle around above the airport for 30 minutes until it calmed down enough to land safely.

It was really a cruel joke. I wanted nothing more than to be home and there was home, within view, but I couldn't get anywhere near it. We were sitting in the window seat next to an 8-year-old girl and her mother and the two of them were puking in their barf bags for the entire 30 minutes. So I was stuck in my suddenly claustrophobic seat getting whiffs of vomit panicking that Brendan was going to start getting pissy. In all seriousness, it was only a matter of time before the plane ran out of fuel and barf bags. We finally managed to land safely and spent the day at Nanny Darlene's house with Grandma Annie, Grandpa Charlie, Uncle Scott and Daddy.

It was a great trip and it was wonderful to see everyone and for Brendan to finally meet the rest of my side of the family. We are counting down the days until our next venture down there next year!


Brendan is 10 months, 1 week and 4 days old today!