Cookie Monsters and Crushes

Brendan and I went to see Sesame Street Live with my friend Jill and her 2.5 year old son Steven yesterday. I was a little apprehensive—okay, more like moderate panic attack mode—anticipating how long he would sit still before he starting squirming and demanding I let him down off my lap. He's a toddler, it's understood that they have short attention spans, but you never want to be that mother. I am thrilled to report that Brendan did amazingly well.

We got there early enough for him to let off some steam before the show started. He practiced his walking, weaving in and out of the rows of chairs, which he found absolutely hysterical. We had seats in the front row, right in the center so all the characters came over to say hi and there were no kids or parents blocking our view. He sat on my lap and watched the show. Sure, there were moments here or there where he got fidgety but I pulled a toy out of the diaper bag and he would play with it for a minute, then watch the show again. Overall he did about 10,000 times better than I thought he would.

And marvel of all marvels, both Brendan and Steven fell asleep during the last five minutes of the show. Jill and I are not entirely sure how this was possible because the mic volume was clearly turned up to MAXIMUM plus about 5,000. But the only thing we could really think about was whether or not sleeping babies meant we would have to wait before we could go have lunch. Jill is pregnant, like last trimester pregnant. And well, I'm always hungry. And we were planning on having buffalo wings. BUFFALO WINGS! And a giant plate of french fries. And we had dietish breakfasts so we were STARVING, more than normal starving. Our worry was short-lived though, they woke up soon after the show ended.

So yeah, he did really well. But I will probably wait a while before I take that kind of chance again. Although, I did hear that Yo Gabba Gabba is coming here next month...

On another note, I'm pretty sure B has his first crush. Laurie Berkner. Every time she shows up on Nick Jr (we liked the Noggin name better, by the way!) singing her delightful tunes about F-A-M-I-L-Y and such he immediately stops whatever he's doing and watches her all mesmerized, with a smile that stretches from ear to ear. She does have a way with words, I'll give her that.

Oh, and by the way Moose, I don't like candy corn either.

Here are some recent pictures. Enjoy!

Reading up on one of the 50 states


Love this boy!


Giving an eye roll to the most recent tabloid scandal




Snoozing on G'Pa Charlie's lap.
The only time Gizmo will go anywhere near Brendan...

Walking is FUNdamental

Ladies & Gentlemen... We Have a Walker!

He's been taking steps here and there for a while but today he's been walking all over the place! I usually can't post video and write in the same post because Blogger hates me and my html so I'll post the video above. Squee!!


Brendan is 15 months, 2 weeks and 3 days old today!

First Night Away

I did it. Spent my very first night away from B. I cried like a toddler who realizes that he's just eaten the last bit of yogurt in the container (is our kid the only one that does this?). Picture the sort of sobbing that occurs when you're a hormonal female watching Steel Magnolias or Terms of Endearment. Yeah, like that. Shut up.

I calmed down enough to start to enjoy the prospect of a night out with old friends. Not 30 minutes after we got to the hotel, I was sitting around talking to the girls and noticed the skin around my eyes was VERY itchy. Like, I want to rip the skin off kind of itchy. Looked in the mirror and there they were. Big welty hives. On my eyelids. Fabulous. I was away that weekend for my college reunion. To see people that I hadn't seen in 10 YEARS and here I was with freaky swollen eyelids.

We went out to dinner and the hives went away so I foolishly decided not to stop for some Benadryl. Because if you take Benadryl you really shouldn't drink. And frankly, what's a reunion without a little alcohol? Priorities. Long story short, the hives came back while I was out and all I could do was put a cold bottle of beer on them to try and soothe the itch. Thankfully, the reunion itself was lame and we didn't see anyone we knew. My friends assured me that if you didn't know me, you would never know that something was wrong. Aren't they sweet.

B and Daddy survived a night without Mommy. Sigh. This is good, I know. But I will sigh anyway. They were supposed to miss me terribly, not have any fun without me, and just sit around all weepy until I returned. This did not happen. They had lots of fun and Daddy took some photographic evidence to prove that life continues to be fun even when Mommy is not around.

Exhibit A:
B has been getting a lot braver with taking steps on his own


Exhibit B:
Look Dad, 20% off!


Exhibit C:
Lounging. Fun is exhausting


Moral of the story: The world will not fall apart if I go away for a night. However, I will. Thus then, it will be a while before I attempt that again.


Brendan is 15 months, 1 week and 5 days old today!