Walking is FUNdamental

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.

New Milestones!

Last Friday, at five days past the 11-month mark, Sir decided it was finally time to figure out this whole crawling thing. I guess he got tired of public transportation (i.e., mom and dad carrying him everywhere) and took matters into his own hands (and feet). He's not crawling all over the place or anything just yet. He's kind of lazy like that. He'll only exert that kind of effort for something REALLY important. Like Daddy's cell phone. Exhibit A:



And we didn't stop at just one new trick! On Monday, Sir and I went to watch Daddy play softball. Sir decided to show his appreciation for the game by clapping his meaty hands. We were sitting there... (Well, that's not really true. More like, I was sitting while he climbed all over me, bit me, wiped his excessively snotty nose on me, etc.) Anyway, I was sitting there cheering on the team when all of a sudden the little loudmouth started yelling and clapping. And he's been a clapping fool ever since.

For instance, the other night he was having a hard time falling asleep and one of the times I went into the bedroom to calm him down, Sir was crying. And clapping. AT THE SAME TIME.

He's been doing it a lot at daycare too. Today's note read: "Brendan played and crawled and clapped his hands all morning." There's really no rhyme or reason for it at the moment. Just claps when the mood strikes. Of course, when I try to get it on video he acts like I'm terrorizing him. Exhibit B:




Brendan is 11 months and 10 days old today!

House of Cooties

We have cooties, folks. Well, I have cooties. Brendan has a cold that's holding on for dear life (two weeks and counting), Kenny is getting over a cold and I'm breaking out in mysterious hives all over my body. They started innocently enough on my elbows Thursday morning and just kept popping up in new places as the hours ticked by. I went to the doctor on Friday and she's guessing it's a reaction to something I ate since I'm not using any new detergents, lotions or soap. I've been taking Prednisone but it hasn't given me any relief yet. I woke up in the middle of the night last night itching from head to toe with lots of new clusters of hives. I'm so over this!

Brendan has been sleeping later in the mornings. He's been pretty much sleeping through the night but most nights about an hour after he falls asleep he'll wake up crying. I wonder if it's too soon for bad dreams? When I'm already in bed and he wakes up I hear him whimpering in his sleep before he's fully awake and crying. What could he possibly be dreaming about already? Mommy took his toy away? Daddy made him eat green beans? Poor thing. Hopefully whatever it is will end soon. Other than that, when he's not waking himself up with all of his coughing, he sleeps until about 6 or 6:30. Much better than his old 4:30 wake-up calls! Oh, and he's got his 8th tooth! Now he has five on top and three on the bottom.

Just over a month to go before we take our first plane trip with Brendan. We're going to FL so he can finally meet his Papa Billy, Nana Sharon and his aunts and uncles. I'm a little nervous about the flight but I'm going to buy some new toys and have plenty of formula and food ready. Hopefully he'll pass out since we're flyng during his usual afternoon nap time. It will also be his first time at the beach (Mommy's favorite place!). I'm excited to see how he likes the sand and the ocean. I bought this tent to bring on the beach to keep his pasty butt out of the sun. I figured it would also be easier to lure people to the beach to keep me company if I had some shade to offer them.

I don't have any new pictures to post today but I have a video that I wanted to share from last night. He's figured out a new trick when he eats that he just finds hysterical. I have to admit, it's pretty hard not to laugh back at him when he does it.




Brendan is 1 day away from 9 months old today!

To eat or not to eat...

We attempted to feed Brendan his first bowl of baby cereal on Saturday night. He was excited about his cool new chair and the funny faces Mommy and Daddy were making to show him how to eat but he wasn't quite sure what to do with the cereal once it got in his mouth. He mastered opening his mouth and moving the slush around in there (and everywhere) so we'll just go ahead and label that a success. The next night I think he actually even managed to swallow some! Hopefully he'll get the hang of it soon. Before we know it he'll be asking us for a bite of our cheeseburger (get your own!).

Here's the video of his first meal:


And here's a video of him rolling over:



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

More Milestones!

Brendan rolled over last week, October 22nd to be exact! He was laying on the bed next to me while we were pretending to get ready in the morning. I had put him on the Boppy pillow like I always do so he could watch Disney and he wanted nothing to do with his beloved Boppy. So I laid him flat on the bed and all of a sudden he rolled from his back to his belly! He did it a few times but of course every time I called Daddy in he would lay on his back looking all innocent like I was making it up. Once he got on his belly he would get annoyed because that's his least favorite position and he kind of got stuck there so I'd have to help him roll back the other way.

Within the last week he's gotten noticeably better at holding himself up when he's laying on his belly. See exhibit A:
It's absolutely amazing what a difference just one week makes.

And here's a sleepy picture, just because.


But the best new thing of all is the laugh! He does it for Mommy and Daddy every once in a while but apparently he does it for everyone else all the time when we're not around. I was able to get a video of Grandma Annie playing with him and a good chuckle at the end. Hopefully I've figured this you tube thing out and the video works:




Brendan is 3 days away from 4 months today!