Ole!

My inside baby has started becoming a lot more mobile, at least to the point where I can feel the movement much more frequently now. Saturday night the little jumping bean was moving so much I could see it from the outside. At my 16-week appointment two weeks ago the nurse said she was having a hard time finding his/her hearbeat because baby was doing flips like crazy in there. I couldn't feel it at that point though. Two more weeks and I'll be at the halfway mark - right on Labor Day. Then the next day we get to find out what we're having. (Please cooperate, little one!!!)

Once we find out I'll get motived to clean out the closet and pick some paint and bedding for the baby's room. Hopefully some loving family members will volunteer to help. :)

My outside baby finally got his big-boy bed, yay! It was getting too hard for me to hoist his 34lb body in and out of his crib with my growing belly. Not to mention, he was outgrowing that thing like nobody's business and the move was long overdue. We picked it up yesterday and B helped Papa and me put it together. Such a big helper! Only thing was the store was out of the tent thing that goes on top, which is the coolest part! They won't have it in stock until tomorrow and of course they don't deliver because the nearest one is an hour away. Lame. He slept in it for the first time last night and did fantastic. Didn't try to get out of bed and slept right through the night.

His other first last night was a gnarly fat lip. We put a baby gate in his bedroom doorway so he can't sneak out at night but it's got a bar at the bottom that's a total trip hazard. Poor guy was running full steam ahead into his room, tripped, and landed right on his face. His top lip was swollen and bleeding; he cried for a good 30 minutes, straight through his bath. A few bedtime stories in his new bed calmed him down though and this morning he was in good spirits even though he said his booboo wasn't better yet. By the time I picked him up from camp the swelling had gone down pretty much completely and has been replaced with a big scab. I'm now on a mission to find a new gate that won't cause any more injuries...

We have some pictures of the new bed and the fat lip but I haven't uploaded them. I also need to have Kenny take some belly pictures so I can compare this pregnancy to the one with Brendan. Someday I'll get around to uploading and posting them.

Deezus!

Despite the fact that Brendan is still super picky with what he'll eat, he's somehow managing to grow like a weed. We haven't had him measured since his 18-month appointment and it's damn near impossible to get him to stand still long enough to measure him but I think he's grown at least 1.5" since then.

His vocabulary is also growing by leaps and bounds. His newest thing is saying Jesus all the time. I know I should hang my head in shame over the fact that my child uses the Lord's name in vain and whatnot, but I find it kind of funny that even though his Daddy says lots of fun 4-letter words (the kind that rhyme with truck and pit) he picks up the word Jesus.

I have a habit of saying it as a replacement for other, less toddler-friendly words (like the kind that rhymes with grassbowl). For instance, when I'm driving in the middle lane of a three-lane highway and some driver merges onto the highway and immediately MUST move into the middle lane. Even though THERE IS NO ONE IN FRONT OF THEM FOR MILES and they have to CUT ME OFF to perform this manuever. So out comes, "JESUS!!!" instead of... well, other things that wouldn't be very nice. I never realized just how much I say this until he started repeating me. Thankfully he says it "Deezus" so I doubt most other people know what he's saying.

Brendan is still delightful as a daisy when he wakes up in the morning (and he still wakes up by 6am most days, waaahhh!). On one recent morning when it happened to be my morning to sleep in, I heard him saying "Mommy, Moooommmmmy, up peas (please)." So I opened one eye and said "Tell Daddy to get up." And he whispered, "Daddy's beeping (sleeping)." Why he recognizes that Daddy is sleeping but it doesn't matter that Mommy's eyes are closed is beyond me.

I say this about every age, but this age is sooooo much fun. I'm going to miss this baby talk stuff when he's speaking in full sentences with perfect pronunciation while giving his valedictorian speech at Harvard. At the tender age of five. Because my kid is a genius. Move over Doogie Howser.

Blowing bubbles with Nana (sometimes known as "Nina" although I'm not sure why)








In an attempt to get him to eat more, I thought I'd use fancy food presentation. In a fancy ice cube tray. Left to right: red grapes, cucumbers, swiss cheese, cheddar cheese and pizza, all cut up into bite size pieces. He ate the pizza and grapes. It was a valiant, if not particularly successful effort.


Walking around one of Mima's gardens (Mima is G'ma Annie's new name that B just came up with)






Taking a sip of "wattuz" (waters)










Trying on Daddy's work "shyooz" (shoes)





Brendan is 23 months and 3 days old today!

His future's so bright...

I realized it's been a while since I've bragged about my child's geniusness. (Is that even a word?) So let me tell you about all the fun things he does.

What he can say...
Single words:
Belly, ear, nose, eyes, mouth, socks (shocks), shoes, open, no, yes, cookie, momby, daddy, papa, scotch (uncle Scott), bye

Phrases:
I want a cookie, I have poopy, night night, I love you too, I wanna brush teeth, uh oh, oh no

Other amazing feats:
He can sing happy birthday, old MacDonald (sort of), Noggin theme songs and itsy bitsy spider, count to 10, flash people, close doors (and drawers and anything else you leave open), follow commands

Aaaand, that's all I can remember. Because it's late and I'm brain-dead.

Now for some pictures...

Daddy is mean




Farmer Ted is talking to the bunny


Farmer Ted is flashing the bunny


Trying on sunglasses


And a hat the firemen gave us on our walk that day


Sporting a mouthful of cookies on Easter


Posing for the camera


Taking a break from all the activity to watch TV


Playing peek-a-boo



Brendan is 21 months and 8 days old today!

18 Months

Sir is a growing machine! He had his 18-month appointment today where we found out that he grew 2.5" since his last appointment three months ago. He shot up from the 75th percentile to the 95th percentile!

This is kind of where I imagined he'd be all along, considering how tall Kenny and I are. He gained one pound, nothing crazy, but he's been fighting a stomach bug (which he graciously shared with Momby and Daddy - yes, he calls me Momby) so I'm sure that he's closer to a 1.5 to 2lb gain. Anyway, he's still in the 50th percentile for weight and above the 95th percentile for head circumference, which still makes me giggle.

He's been a lot more vocal and determined to express himself. Most of what he says still sounds like a whole lot of gibberish but we can make out some words here and there. Some of his favorites are:

Oh mo! (oh no)
Shyooz (shoes)
Uh oh!
Cookie (of course he knows this one!)
Mombydaddy (he has a habit of babbling and stringing these two words together)
Ee-i-ee-i-oooo (this is the only part of Old MacDonald he knows and he likes to interject it randomly during his rants)
Uppy (up)
Bush tee (brush teeth)
No (always with a head shake to emphasize the "no" part)
Te-you (two, after I say one)

And of course he knows a few of his favorite shows on Nick Jr.:
Wow wow wow wow Wubshe (Wow Wow Wubbzy)
Booz cooz (Blue's Clues)
Yoo (Yo Gabba Gabba)

His receptive language is really developing nicely too. He knows what it means when I ask him to bring me something, when I say it's time for a bath or bed, etc. It's amazing how quickly their language develops at this age. Every time I look at him I wonder where my baby went.


Brendan is 18 months, 2 weeks and 4 days old today!

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!

Walking, sort of

Brendan has been getting braver and taking steps on his own more and more. He used to demand both hands to hold on to but has recently started dropping one hand so that he's only holding on with one. Daddy got a video of him walking with Mommy around the aquarium yesterday. We didn't get too far. B has a habit of walking around in circles when he only holds on with one hand.

Stuff and other stuff

Not much new to report. Brendan is still a cruising fool though he allegedly took a few steps last week. I say allegedly because I wasn't present to witness either one, thus then it did not happen. Right? Right. Mommy sees all the firsts, that's the rule.

I've been enjoying a nice, long weekend with my little lovebug. My job gives us a 4-day weekend for Labor Day and Brendan's babysitter is away this week so I've been home with him since Friday and will be again tomorrow. Today we took a ride to the mall so I could drop my car off at Sears and get some new tires. My mom's neighbor pointed out that the front ones were basically bald over the weekend, which totally freaked me out. So while we waited for the new tires, B and I did some shopping. I was hoping to get him some new shoes but didn't find anything we liked in his size. We stopped and had some lunch and I took a chance by ordering something off of the kids' menu for B. I was all prepared to whip out the purees from the diaper bag but Mr. Finicky actually chowed down on some chicken fingers. My little boy is finally eating table food like a real, live person! Sure, it's greasy and deep fried but it's progress people, and that's really all that matters at this point. Right? Right. (I'm loving that you're so agreeable!)

After the mall we met Daddy at the barber for B's second haircut. I made sure to arrange this on my day off so I could be all paparazzi-like and take eleventy billion pictures. Below are some recent pictures, some are from a visit at Grandma Annie's, some are from a birthday party we went to over the weekend and some are from today's haircut. Enjoy!

Aren't they supposed to save this look for when they're teenagers??


Oh, the chub on those legs!


More chubby deliciousness


Giving a smooch to Uncle Scott


Swinging


Taking a tour of the backyard with Daddy




With Nana


Hanging out with Daddy


Haircut:
Before


Watching the progress in the mirror


Starting to get a little uneasy


I don't like this anymore!


And... apparently I forgot to take an "after" shot. We'll have to do that tomorrow before we head to the aquarium. YAY!


Brendan is 14 months, 1 week and 2 days old today!

Road trip!

Last week Brendan and I made a trip upstate with Aunt Lauren, Grandma Annie and Grandpa Charlie to visit family we haven't seen in almost 15 years. It was a five hour road trip and I was totally freaking out about how Brendan was going to handle being couped up in his car seat for so long. He slept for a total of 15 minutes on the ride up. That's right folks, 15 minutes. 10 minutes on the way from Grandma's house to Mimi's house to drop off Gizmo and then another 5 or so later on.

We stopped for lunch about halfway through at a Cracker Barrel. Seated at the table behind us was an older woman, presumably in her 70s, having lunch by herself. The little heartbreaker twisted himself around in his highchair and blew her kisses, two at a time. Can he possibly get any cuter?

In all, he did remarkably well on both the trip there and back. The few instances where he looked like he might pitch a fit I just tossed some food or a toy his way and he forgot all about his furor at being strapped in for hours on end. Although, he clearly had the most comfortable seat in the car. Those Britax carseats are like Lazy Boy recliners with their plush padding and recline position.

We had a great time seeing everyone and my cousin's three boys had Brendan totally enthralled. (On a side note: I am now 100% sure that two kids are way more than enough for me!) Their dogs also provided some entertainment, although if Brendan could speak (in English) I'm sure he would tell you that it wasn't the good kind of entertainment. The smaller of the two couldn't get enough of B and would run over to him and lick the crap out of his face. I'm pretty sure he gave B his first tongue kiss experience.

Oh! Brendan took his first few steps while we were away. And I completely missed them. From where I was sitting I could only see the top half of him so I thought he was holding onto his cousin when he was walking. All of a sudden everyone started cheering and clapping. Apparently he let go and took 2 or 3 steps before he realized he wans't holding on to anything. I ran to get the video camera and he wouldn't do it again. My son is in daycare so I understand that I will miss some of his firsts. But COME ON, I was right there!!! Unbelievable.

I like your rock better Grandma








B and G'pa Charlie feel asleep soon after this pic was taken...


The ferocious face licker


The gang


Brendan's cousins



Brendan is one year, one month and 4 days old today!