The Seminaras

Weeks 36 & 37 -

Happy New Year! We have been on travel so these posts are combined. Also there will be no week 35 or 36 Brady week-by-week photo. We will continue to attempt the week-by-week photo but it is extremely difficult to keep him from rolling over and trying to crawl away.

The last two weeks we have been in the NJ, Maryland, Virginia area visiting relatives and friends for Christmas and New Years. We visited the Seminara grandparents and Brady got to meet the Seminara extended family. Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Dave were extremely generous giving Brady a large play center along with a wooden train Dave made himself. Brady had fun playing with cousin Dana and her friend Lily, they may be just the right age when he's ready for a babysitter? We also took Brady to see the Northlandz trains with miles of underground train sets. Hard to believe this was all originally in one guy's basement. One night we met up with Jill and Anthony and their kids for dinner. The boys made homemade pizza while the girls caught up and played with the kids. Jill and Mom were roommates in college. Brady had fun playing with Penelope (9 mos, 2 weeks older than Brady), AJ (3 yrs), and Brianna (6 yrs). While in NJ we also got about 3-4" of snow. We packed Brady in his snowsuit and pulled him on the sled. Grandpa Dave and Daddy rolled him up a snowman complete with a cowboy hat. Brady wasn't afraid of the cold or the sled, but didn't seem very comfortable in the snowsuit which prevented him from crawling around. He did grab a branch and fling some snow, and watched Daddy throw snowballs at Grandma with interest.

After NJ we went to Maryland to visit Grandma Nancy's family. Brady had a great time at the farm playing with all his cousins. Brady is the youngest behind Nicholas (18 mos), Madelyn (2.5 yrs), Sophie (4 yrs), Zachary (4 yrs), Isaac (7 yrs), Sam (8 yrs), and Ethan (10 yrs). Needless to say it was a busy house but Brady did well adapting to all the activity and new sleeping arrangements. He even played a couple rounds of duck-duck-goose. Isaac was a great "big-brother" talking to Brady encouraging him that he will be able to walk and talk soon. He also helped Mom get Brady after a nap and really enjoyed holding Brady. Isaac was also one of the few people Brady was relaxed with, other new faces Brady usually reached for Mom. We enjoyed our time at the farmhouse. Aunt Linda has done an amazing job remodeling and decorating, the interior reminds Mom of a ski lodge with hardwood floors and the large stone fireplace.

Next we visited Virginia for New Years. We spent New Years Eve with Nicole and Ben, and their almost 1 year old Augie. Mom, Dad, and Nicole all started Lockheed the same week and Mom and Nicole were roommates in DC. Augie is just adorable, and took to Brady right away showing him all his toys. The boys could barely keep out of each others way. We had lobster and steak for dinner (super yum) and enjoyed some wine at the firepit when midnight rolled around. Meanwhile the kids were fast asleep (mostly). From there we visited Andy and Liz and their 2.5 yr old daughter Zoe. Andy is a childhood friend of Daddy's that he met in the 3rd grade. It was good practice for Zoe as Liz is due with a baby boy end of January. Zoe loved Brady and was generous sharing her toys. She seems to have the same spirit as Brady determined to play and not go down for a nap.

Developmentally, Brady tried some new foods including cut up bananas, strawberries, cheese, yogurt, and mangos. He puckers up with bananas and strawberries, but loves cheese, yogurt, and mangos. The squeezy packs were a life-saver on travel allowing us to feed him on the plane or in his car seat with little mess and clean-up. He's a very active child when he's in a familiar place. In new places, it takes him a little exploring to get comfortable before venturing too far from Mom and Dad (which is a good thing). He's started sitting more regularly (which he learned from Penelope), and started pulling himself up onto his knees and even to standing. He leans on Mom or Dad to semi-walk from toy to toy as his legs aren't stable enough yet to do it on his own. The baby-proofing continues, and will be an on-going process.

As with every holiday vacation visiting family, it goes by fast and we enjoyed every minute we got to spend with family and glad everyone got to meet Brady. 2012 brought us the best gift with Brady and transforming us into the roles of Mom and Dad. Brady had his 1st smile at 1 month, started daycare at 3 months, started rolling over at 4 months, got his 1st two teeth at 5.5 months, started crawling at 6 months, had his first surgery and started pulling himself up at 8 months. It's exciting to look ahead to the new year and think of all the firsts Brady will experience like waving hello and goodbye, walking, talking, feeding himself, throwing a ball, and potty-training (maybe). Mom is looking forward to starting weaning and getting back into physical activities like softball and soccer. Dad is looking forward to spending more time working on the '61 Chevy and going on family vacations. Wish you all the best in the New Year!