Christmas Day 2012

For Brady's 1st Christmas we stayed in Texas so he could wake up Christmas morning at home.  Half awake we brought him downstairs and he immediately got wide eyed and eager to play with his new toys from Santa - a toy house and an activity center.  He loved the gears on the activity center (go figure).  Then we opened presents.  His Grandma Reggie got him his first motorcycle (walker), his uncle E got him some toys and puzzles and a snack tray for his stroller, and his Grandpa Bob and Grammie Terry got him some stack and tumble cups.  He also got a sit to stand walker from his Aunt Jennie and his very 1st snow jacket and snowpants from his Uncle Paul.  Indy, Fenway, and Foxboro got spoiled too with new beds, treats, toys, and a new kitty tower.  It was a fun day.

That afternoon we were supposed to fly to NJ, but instead a front came through giving us ~2 inches of snow and giving Brady a white Christmas for his 1st Christmas.  What a lucky kid!  We made it to NJ the next day.

Thank you everyone for all the wonderful gifts and hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Week 35 -

8 months old this week!  Brady continues to do great after his surgery.  He's more alert and happier now that his ears aren't bothering him.  He seems to be over his cold other than the lingering cough.  Daddy too.  And no more pink eye.

Brady had his last day at school for the year and Mom learned he has his first "girlfriend".  Her name is Stormy.  According to Ms Barb, they play together all day long following one another around, smiling, and laughing.  Brady was really cute when he said goodbye to her, smiling then turning away shyly.  Despite the recurring illnesses he gets from daycare, he does get a chance to be around other kids and learn things like socializing and sharing.  Daycare sent home gifts too, sending homemade Christmas cards and ornaments that are just too cute.

He's started to pull himself up and started trying to stand on his feet, usually not at the same time so it's not very coordinated.  But his legs are strong and he's getting good practice.  Ms Barb says it won't be long before he's on the basket pushing himself around the daycare.  He's also mastered the pincher and LOVES to eat Cherrios.  He's a Cherrio vacuum cleaner.  For some reason he's not too fond of puffed o's (sweet potato).  The ladies at daycare also recommended yogurt melts, we'll have to keep an eye out for those.  When he gets back from vacation he'll try cut up veggies.  He did try a sippy cup with water and eventually figured out how to drink from it, again not very coordinated but he's catching on.  And after a couple blowouts, it was time to move up into size 3 diapers.  These seem so much bigger and really help him fill out his 6-9 month clothes.  He's growing up so fast.  Speaking of growing up, this week he took his first jog with Mom in the jogging stroller.  He was bundled up and warm holding his monkey blanket, sucking his thumb, and checking out the local scenery.  Mom was excited to get back out and get some exercise.

This was the last working week of the year for Mom and Dad.  Mom got an invite to the CATB holiday lunch and got to see some old friends she misses very dearly.  She also got a job offer and despite the fact it was a promotion it wasn't something that really interested her so she turned it down.  The good news, she gets to stay part-time a little longer.  And Daddy got another contract extending the funding for his project another year.

Next week is Christmas. Have a safe and happy holiday!

Week 34 -

What a difference a week makes.  Last week was great, this week was not.  Both Dad and Brady got sick this week.  Brady started coughing then came down with fever, congestion, throwing up, and to top it off got pink eye.  Poor little guy was on 5 meds at the same time.  Dad came down with a sinus infection and didn't want to make Brady any sicker.  Mom had to play nurse.  No one got much sleep this week.

On Friday Brady had his first surgery getting tubes put in his ears.  The procedure only took about 10 minutes and we were in and out of the outpatient center in ~2.5 hours.  He did really well and the results were just like they told us - almost instantaneous.  See before and after photos below.  It took him ~25 minutes to wake up and he was a little fussy, super hungry, and wanted to be held by his Mommy.  Once he ate, we left for home and he was pretty much back his normal self (aside from some reflux).  He's SO much happier and has more energy, it's really good to see him feeling better.  The doctor said there was a lot of mucus and pus behind his eardrum and he is getting some drainage but that should clear up by Monday.  And he's still coughing getting that last bit of congestion out of his chest but eating and sleeping more like normal.  Now he can focus on playing and learning and not constantly trying to get healthy (we hope).

Some things that did go good this week - just before getting sick Brady got to meet Santa.  Not sure if it was stranger danger or just close to nap time, but Brady wasn't a fan.  Brady did learn some new things this week including feeding himself with a spoon.  For the most part he gets the right end into his mouth, with or without food.  We bought a splat mat and will give him more opportunities to practice feeding himself.  He also started waving hi or bye (not consistently) and Daddy saw him sign for milk.  He's pulling himself up more and has expressed an interest in being able to stand but his legs are still wobbly.  No additional teeth yet, just the 2 on the bottom, but he's been chewing a lot on his teether.

Mom and Dad finished their Christmas shopping for Brady today.  Despite the fact the week ended at 70 degrees, it actually did snow (a little) earlier in the week.  Hopefully this means we'll have a good ski season this year!

Week 33 -

Another first this week - finger foods! After trying it last week, Brady kept at it and now can eat Cherrios or puffed cereal on his own.  He gets about half in his mouth and the other half in his high chair, but he's so happy when it works.  We're so proud of him, it just makes us smile to see him learn and grow.  

This year we put up a Christmas tree.  We got a real one from the lot down the street and it makes our house smell really nice.  We decorated it after Brady had gone to bed, so he first saw it the next morning when he woke up.  He wasn't afraid of it at all, rather he liked touching the branches and feeling the needles.  He even added his own decoration (a Cherrio).  He's also excited to see the presents under the tree and crawls toward them any chance he gets.  Fenway likes them too, especially eating the ribbons (bad kitty).

Mom and Dad got an early Christmas present from Brady - a finger painting from daycare.  It's super cute with photos of him making the painting around the edges and they put it in a frame.  Can't wait to try more arts and crafts with him at home.  Surely Daddy will remember some boy scout projects he can do with Brady.

Had another play date with Michelle and Keira this week too.  It's been about 2 months since we'd seen them and it's amazing to see how much Keira has changed.  Her hair has gotten longer (and super soft), she's gotten taller, and she can sit really well. She gets up on all fours, but doesn't seem too interested in crawling, rather she's starting to pull herself up to stand.  It's so cool to see how babies learn their way differently.  The kids had a great time together sharing toys and giggling.  Both were pretty wiped out taking extra naps the next day.

Week 32 -

Brady is getting more coordinated with each passing day.  He's starting to pull himself up now to climb over objects or climb up on his Mom, using his feet to push.  When given a spoon, he will put it in his mouth but hasn't quite made the connection to feed himself.  We tried giving him finger food this week (potato) but he just looked at it.  When out at lunch or dinner with Mom, he watches her eat closely, so she shares a few bites.  He tried and liked homefries, and again tried and liked turkey chop suey (meat and pasta).  Both times it was after he'd already eaten, this boy can certainly eat!  He'll get upset if you don't keep feeding him, so we're trying to teach him sign language for "more".  So far, he just does some Jersey fist-bumping and leg wiggling.  Check out the new videos we posted.

His ear infections finally seem to be going away and he is in better spirits sleeping and playing back to normal.  He loves cruising around the living room adventuring to the kitchen.  He discovered Indy's food bowl making a stop to "share" a toy.  He loves to explore and check things out, feeling all the different textures.  And it's funny, he doesn't like things left open, he always closes his laptop and book on his activity center. He still does his clapping and squealing and babbling (bababa), and has added smacking his lips.  He will often imitate sounds or motions we make with our mouths.

Mom got over the stomach flu but her bad luck continued getting a rock in her windshield and having to replace it AGAIN in less than 2 weeks.  Guess that's an early Xmas present for Mom.

Week 31 -

Thanksgiving week and 7 months old! But not without a stop first at the Dr office for Brady's 3rd round of ear infections and 3rd type of antibiotics.  Unfortunately it hasn't seemed to help as the ear rubbing continues.  We go back to the doctor Monday for a checkup and to start discussing tubes (which Mom does not want to do).  He's also still pretty congested both in his sinuses and in his lungs, poor little guy.

This week Grandma Reggie, Jeff, and Uncle Erik were in town for Thanksgiving.  We ran/walked the Arlington Turkey Trot 5K with Erik running his first 5K at 26:29 and finishing 20th in his age group - congrats Uncle E!  After burning off some calories, we ate the second ever Seminara fried turkey and it was quite delicious.  Grandma Reggie was a huge help making all the sides - potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and carrots - the sound of it still makes us hungry!  And Mom made her first ever sweet potato casserole.  Brady sampled the feast, liking the potatoes and sweet potatoes but spitting out the turkey (he didn't seem to like the consistency).  Another morning he also tried bacon and unlike his Dad did not seem to like that either.  Indy was happy as Jeff took him for 3-4 walks/day in the gorgeous 60-70 deg weather.  Uncle E and Gary took advantage of the warm weather and put up the Christmas lights.  This year's decorations include the bushes and reindeer.

Brady loved all the company and attention.  He learned how to clap from his Uncle E and loved watching Grandma make sock monkey make faces and do flips.  He showed off his crawling skills going all over the living room and kitchen floors.  And he showed how strong he is doing "jumpies" in his exersaucer.  As his personality continues to develop, he has started making a scrunchie face (a half excited half smile) usually followed by his arms and legs going in excitement.  And he's developing his ability to chew, biting down and holding his spoon in his mouth sometimes not wanting to let go.  He's still in a "mommy phase" crying and reaching for Mommy when he sees her, but he can usually be distracted to settle down.  

By the end of the week, both Dad and Mom came down with stomach flu.  This wasn't exactly how they wanted to lose those extra pounds after Thanksgiving, but it did give them a chance to catch up on their Christmas movies and not spend money on black Friday.  Only 4 weeks until Christmas, wow.

Week 30 -

Getting stronger, more active, and more mobile.  Brady still loves water bottles, and according to friends on Facebook we must be raising Baby Superman since he can crush a plastic bottle with one hand!  This also makes it difficult to clear his nose or clip his nails when he resists.  He is definitely more active, constantly on the go checking things out or turning to look when he hears a noise.  And he's all over the place now on the floor crawling around object to object.  Mom lets him crawl around in the living room, seems backwards picking UP the dog toys and putting the baby toys on the FLOOR.  The pets seem to be getting used to him.  Indy sniffs him then walks away, Fenway holds her ground until he gets close and Mom moves Brady away, and Foxy can't really be bothered preferring to stay away at all times.  Brady loves watching Indy, we're sure they'll be BFFs someday.

Grandpa Bob and Grammie Terry left this week, but before they went Brady got to check out the RV.  Grandpa Bob let Brady play with the keys and wheel, next year they will have to take him for a ride.  The RV will stay with us in Texas for the winter, or least the next 2 months, before they come back down to get back on the road.  We also went to the Rainforest Cafe in Grapevine.  Brady liked watching the fish in the giant fish tanks and the gorillas and elephants move to the jungle music.  That's a great place for a kids birthday party. The family visits continue next week with Grandma Reggie, Jeff, and Uncle Erik in town for Thanksgiving and fried turkey.  Crazy the holidays are already here.

Brady had his first shoplift this week at a major superstore.  Somehow a toy he was playing with ended up tucked in the cart seat and we made away with it.  Hopefully we are not destined to a life of crime!

Brady is up to 2-3 solids a day now with meat and veggies or rice for dinner (blended of course).  This made for some quite solid poops this week too.  Can't believe he's growing up so fast, he will be 7 months old later this week.

We had a bit of "fall" weather this week with the temperatures at night dropping into the 30s.  Indy and Fenway took advantage of Indy's oversize pillow and were really cute cuddling up on it at night.  They each try to get as much room as possible and while Fenway has claws to her advantage, Indy's tail can be overpowering.  In the end they managed to share.

Week 29 -

This week was the presidential election with Barack Obama being re-elected to a second term over Governor Mitt Romney from Massachusetts.  Grandpa Bob and Grammie Terry made it to town in the RV logging 2600 miles from NH to TX. They were able to stick to their original travel plans since Uncle Erik took care of the tree on the roof in Maine. We were very fortune the tree did not puncture the roof or cause major structural damage.  And now we have more firewood for spring.

Report from daycare is Brady is all over the room.  He is much happier in tummy time now that he can move around, and boy is he fast.  He still half crawls/half drags himself around using his arms and right leg (left leg still just sticks out).  He's getting better at it too, holding objects while crawling, and crawling over things to get toys.  Best of all for Mom, he's so excited to see her when she picks him up that he crawls toward her when she enters the room.  Love this kid!  He's on a feeding schedule eating cereal and 1/2 jar of fruit in the morning, veggies in the afternoon, and 3-4 5oz bottles in between.  Unfortunately he picked up a little cold (oh daycare) with some congestion and a cough.

This week Brady started eating dinner at the table with his parents to start getting him used to having family meals.  And he started eating meat having chicken or turkey mixed with veggies or rice.  So far he likes just about everything he's eaten except banana plum brown rice (but that just sounds gross anyway).

He's getting better at sitting up and he can hold it longer, but still leaning forward on his hands for some extra support.  This week we toured Cowboys stadium and got him to sit on the star at the 50 yard line.  He's also getting more coordinated.  When Mommy takes him out of his car seat or high chair he leans forward to be picked up.  If you try to put him down he tries to cling on to you, but he's not strong enough (yet).  Speaking of high chair, it seems to be the new source of blow outs having two back to back this week.

We played some fun new games with Brady this week including sitting playing the keyboard and playing with his reflection in the mirror.  When he gets excited his arms and legs get going, and he still babbles and giggles a lot.  And he started sticking out his tongue, maybe he likes playing with his teeth?

One thing we noticed about Brady is he likes to wake up SLOW.  He doesn't like being woken up abruptly.  Mom had a hard time waking him up one morning, it was 8:15am and he wanted to snooze (check out the video).  He also likes to cuddle his Pats sock monkey in his crib, or watching his future BFF Indy.

Week 28 -

Losing track of the weeks now, had to check the blog to find out it's #28!  And for those trying to do the math in their heads, that's 6.5 months.

Hurricane Sandy hit the northeast this week just before Halloween bringing wind and rain and knocking out power. Dave and Nancy's house in NJ did ok, just lost a few trees and will be without power for ~1.5 weeks.  Unfortunately the big red pine along the shoreline in Maine blew inland falling on the house.  Bob and Terry are in Arkansas in the RV so are trying to get contractor help to remove the tree and assess the damage before any more storms hit the northeast.  This was a really huge tree so we are lucky it did not crush the camp.

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Nancy were in town the first half of the week.  We checked out Boo at the Zoo in Fort Worth which was actually a little disappointing - $3/person (including Brady) to go under a tent for candy and games, neither of which Brady can do.  The 3 and under "Tot Zone" was a bust too, basically it was just a play area to get kids to sign up for gymnastics.  Brady did get to meet a clown (and wasn't scared, in fact loved her bright yellow hair) and got one of those tiny palm-sized pumpkins.  We found a pumpkin patch in the regular zoo area which was much more fun.  Halloween night we took Brady around to say hi to the neighbors in his Angry Bird costume.  The ladies loved him giving him little bags of candy. By 7:30pm he was done and ready for bed.  He'll enjoy it more next year.

The second half of the week Mom and Brady were solo while Daddy was in Vegas for work.  Brady got out of school early Friday to go shopping with Mom at the farmer's market then down to the lake to see the ducks.  Friday night Brady got to meet Mom's friend Marguerite who was the first person Mommy told when she was pregnant.  Brady was funny too, he discovered he has volume and kept squealing REALLY loudly.

Brady continues to eat well but had too much fruit this week getting a diaper rash with a little blistering along his front diaper line (too acidic).  Switched him to veggies for a little while and it seems to be clearing up.  Poor guy, he didn't want to be in his jumper or execsaucer, it must have been painful!  Now that he's eating solids regularly and will be starting meats, we may need to give him more showers during the week (3x instead of 2x?).  We may try a bath again, hopefully he's grown out of hating them.

School pictures came back this week!  They did two poses - one sitting propped up and one close up.  The little guy had tears in his eyes in the close up.  Looking back, he was chomping on his fingers because his teeth broke through the next day (you can see the white bumps in the close up).

Brady is just so much fun - he likes to crawl around and play, babbling frequently.  Mom still makes up songs and rhymes and gets him to giggle.  He's also very ticklish.  Think he's going to like football because when it comes on TV he just get mesmerized.  And he seems to be going through a phase where only Mommy can calm him down when he's upset.  Sure he'll grow out of that soon.

Brady's 1st Halloween - he and Indy dressed up as Angry Birds.  Thank you to Grandpa Dave and Grandma Nancy for helping carve pumpkins.  Happy Halloween!

Week 27 -

CRAWLING! Shortly after last week's post Brady got his arms and legs in sync and got mobile! Now we really have to watch him.  No more leaving him on the bed to make a quick run to the bathroom.  It's cool to watch him experience new things, like his fascination feeling the carpet or looking up at the window.  He's still learning spacial awareness and has given a head butt or two to the wall.  Check out the video library to see him on the move!

As he continues to grow, we've moved him up from the stage  1 (4 oz) baby food to the stage 2 (6 oz and blends) baby food.  He doesn't always make it through 6 oz, good to know there may be a limit to all his eating. He eats good in the high chair, but does flail his hands or grab for the spoon.  When he gets a little more coordinated we'll let him try to feed himself, for now we just let him play with a spoon.

Got to see an old friend from New Hampshire last night - Berta Sinclair was here to visit her brother Adam who's still living in Dallas.  Bummed to hear Adam didn't get the job at Fenway, but that means Berta and Scotty will still be coming to visit!  Berta got to meet Brady and experience Mellow Mushroom (yummy pizza), it was a good night.

Mom got cortisone shots in both wrists this week to give her a little relief.  Apparently they hit a nerve causing both hands to go numb.  It's hard to do simple things when both hands are numb - like drive,  scratch an itch, or brush your teeth.  A day later and she's got feeling back in half her hands.

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Nancy are coming to town to visit Brady this week.  He's looking forward to snuggling with his Grandma and showing off his new skills and new teeth.

Survived our 6 month checkup - weight 14 lbs 3.5 oz (5%), length 25.5 in (15%), and head circumference 43 cm (25%).  Got 5 shots, including the first round of the flu shot, and 1 oral rotavirus.  The pediatrician was really surprised with how much he eats a day (more than avg) and how little he weighs, guess he's just that active!  Speaking of active he tore up the paper sheet and played with his reflection in the mirror laughing the whole time.  Unfortunately all that ear rubbing was not because of teething, but double ear infections, so he gets another 10 days of baby amoxicillin.  He cried in agony when he got his shots, but quickly forgot about it taking a short nap then back to play time.  And his bandaids matched his shirt.  We go back next month to check on his ears and get round 2 of the flu shot (good grief).

Two little Pats fans cheering their team on to a win.

All cheered out (thank you Keira for letting him sleep in your jumper).

Week 26 -

Today is Brady's half birthday, he's 6 months old!  It's also Grandpa Bob's birthday. It's kinda fun that Brady gets to share in his uncle's and grandfather's birthdays.

Brady continues to get mobile.  He has developed a kind of "pull to crawl" method of getting around.  He seemed to push with his legs last week, now he's pulling with his arms.  Maybe soon he'll figure out how to use his arms and legs together! Either way, his methods work and daycare is reporting that he is moving across the room.  He also started wearing shoes to school this week which helps him with his grip getting around.  As we've come to accept with daycare, he got another cold with congestion and a runny nose.  We're getting quite good at the bulb syringe and nebulizer and hopefully it will clear up soon.  He's still eating really well at school, up to 6 or 7 times a day (4 bottles, 1-2 cereals, and 1 jar of baby food).  Mom is looking forward to making more baby food this weekend, which means another stop at the local farmer's market!

He's really growing too.  Monday is his 6 month checkup so will report his stats then.  He can reach the lambs in his swing and will grab one so they can't rotate causing the mobile to click.  At first we didn't know what the noise was!  Mom started putting him front facing in the new jogging stroller when they go for walks.  Brady hates getting in his harness but eventually settles down when they get moving.  He likes being able to look out and see where they're going.

Brady does so well sleeping through the night.  He sleeps in his PJs every night, and depending on how cool it is, we may put him in his sleep sack too.  He's got this one fleece long sleeve sleep sack that is so cute.  He loves it too, getting cozy, and falling asleep right away.  We typically put him down to sleep at 8 or 8:30pm and he will sleep until 6 or 7am if we let him (weekends).

This is the last weekend of the TX state fair.  Sadly Big Tex burned down yesterday (electrical short in his leg) and the stratosphere got stuck 200 ft in the air with 24 people on board.  We didn't make it there this year, but maybe that's a good thing.  Tomorrow going to watch the Pats vs Jets game with some friends and checking out an apple orchard.  Should be fun.