Week 46 -

Making messes!  That was a theme this week with Brady ripping up magazines, crumpling mail, dumping out Cherrios, smearing green beans, and knocking over piles of books.  The messier (and noiser) the more fun.

Another fun thing he does now is imitations.  Mom and Dad will make noises and he'll repeat them - blowing raspberries, clicking our tongues, etc.  He'll also imitate motions - smiling, pressing buttons, clapping hands, showing his muscles, etc.  It's pretty cool to see him recognize something and try to imitate it.  He still babbles and makes "ah", "ba", "da" sounds but no real words yet.

He's getting pretty independent, eating out of his own bowl, holding his own bottle or sippy cup (50% of the time), and playing in his play yard by himself.  He seems really interested in the cats and the dog, more than normal, and has taken to petting them but we have to watch and make sure he does it gently.  Most of the time he's pretty happy, but when he gets tired and doesn't want to do something, he will have a little tantrum arching his back and fussing, so hold on!

Our little guy is pretty lucky to have such caring Grandparents.  He got two care packages this week - some new bath toys to play and splash, and his very own astronaut suit and state park souvenirs from the RV road trip.

Some new things we are trying are giving him 8oz bottles (instead of 6oz) as he's seemed more hungry, and getting him into the bath 30 minutes earlier so he's not as cranky before bed.  He has drank the 8oz a couple times and seems very satisfied.  And he doesn't seem to be as reluctant to take a bath when we do it earlier.

What's left of a magazine

Bed head

Patting Fenway 

The boys playing in the bed of the truck

1st time on a playground - at Veterans Park, Arlington TX

Checking out the play ground

Checking stuff out

1st time on a swing

 He seemed to enjoy it, even started to fall asleep a little

Hanging out on the jungle gym 

Sitting on the slide 

Week 45 -

Mom was "single-parenting" this week with Daddy gone a few days on business travel.  Mom was also leading a major review at work so by the end of the day she was exhausted.  But it worked out ok, she and Brady had lots of fun and laughs together before bedtime.

Brady continues to show a lot of personality.  He loves to explore and check out new things.  He really enjoys pulling clothes out of laundry baskets, giggling and laughing.  His other new favorite thing is shaking objects particularly the homemade rattles at school (think Pringles cans loaded with beads).  When he doesn't get his way though look out, he does have a temper.  He'll throw his head back and scream.  This is not fun for Mom or Dad.  He decided he didn't like baths again this week crying during his bath every night.  We think this might also be attributed to how little he sleeps at daycare coming home tired.  On weekends he naps 2-3 times, usually 2-2.5 hours the first nap then 30min-1 hr the other naps for a total of 3-4.5 hours.  At daycare, he only naps 1 time usually 45min-2 hours.  Hmm.

He's still eating and growing well and just started outgrowing his 9 month clothes.  This was sad for Mom as most baby sections are 0-9 months, now he's in the 12 month - 5T section (sniffle).  He's growing up too fast.  Brady got to try a new food this week at daycare - vanilla wafers - he loved them too (must get this from the Muzzey side).  We also gave him a self feeding container full of Cherrios.  He did figure out how to reach in and pull them out, but it was a pretty violent process getting Cherrios everywhere.  He also found dumping them out accomplished the same goal (lol).

It's funny when Brady hears another baby babbling or hears himself babbling on video.  He gets all excited and starts babbling.  Sometimes the words sound like actual words.  We could have sworn he said "where did Indy go" the other day.  We know Brady and Indy are future BFFs.

Hi there! 

Playing peek-a-boo 

Nothing beats my blankie 

"Learning" how to use a self-feeding cup

Indy likes the play yard too

Week 44 -

10 months old this week! And gaining confidence and speed.  Brady's beginning to venture out and explore the whole house now, going room to room with his "big boy" crawls, and attempting to climb the stairs.  He will pull himself up on the stair railing and walk side to side hanging on to the posts (they're close enough together he can't fall through).  This also means more baby proofing - baby gates, outlet covers, moving objects out of reach, and installing drawer locks upstairs and downstairs.  In addition to his big boy crawls, he loves his walker.  He pushes it around the house downstairs with speed and just figured out how to make it corner.  Now that he's more coordinated he can use the motorcycle walker too which goes even faster because it rolls instead of pushes.  He has SO much energy, it's hard to keep up with him.

Reports from daycare have been good.  He has taken to racing his classmate Jackson on the laundry baskets.  The ladies love to watch them zoom around the room, giggling, and stopping to look at each other.  He still doesn't nap well at daycare (doesn't want to miss the action) so some nights he's less than pleasant by dinner making it an early bedtime.

Weaning has been going well, he's up to 3-4 bottles 100% formula and only nursing morning and night.  It's nice for Mom to be off the pump schedule, but also sad to know she won't have this time with her Brady anymore.  He's also gaining weight and nearing the 20 lb mark which explains why Mom's arms are so tired.

For the 1st time Brady started baths!  He used to cry and hate them, now he seems to enjoy splashing in the water and banging his cups together.  It didn't take him long to figure out how to turn the water on and off from the spout when getting his bath ready.  He's so funny, before he crawls away he shuts the water off, ha!

He is getting very talkative.  We still can't understand what he's trying to tell us, but we can tell if he's happy/sad/frustrated/playing just by his tone and volume.  One night when getting ready for a bath, he was almost singing.  We tried to get it on video but once he saw the camera he got distracted, next time!

Check out the new videos and see Brady's week-by-week progression walking!

1st Valentine's from daycare

I don't know what I want for my birthday! 

1st "bite" of cheese (Mom proud of his bite marks)

I wasn't doing anything, right? 

Playing with my toys 

Steering optional 

Ready for my bath 

Playing in the bath tub 

 Sitting in a big boy chair at dinner

Double decker

Week 43 -

Brady's 1st ski trip!  This week we went to Steamboat Springs, Colorado with Grandma Reggie, Jeff, and Uncle Erik.  It was also the first time skiing out west for Uncle E.  Due to nor'easter Nemo (when did they start naming these things anyway?) Uncle Erik was delayed a day and Grandma Reggie and Jeff were delayed 2 days, but we all eventually made it.  Steamboat is a big mountain and had lots of powder and tree skiing.  Uncle E was like a kid in a candy store trying to ski every trail.  Grandma Reggie came out to babysit but had fallen and broken a rib 2 days before (the luck!), still she managed to play with Brady.  He loved eating oatmeal and reading books with Grandma.  Jeff even got out on the slopes keeping up with Erik and Daddy on a day of snow and low visibility conditions.  This week was also Mom and Dad's 8th wedding anniversary, Valentine's Day, and Mardi Gras so a good week to be on vacation.

Brady really started to feel better this week and the congestion and drainage from his ears is just about cleared up.  Another tooth popped in (upper right) bringing the total to 8 teeth.  The first night in Colorado Brady broke out the "big boy" crawl actually crawling on his hands and knees versus his usual military crawl.  He's gotten so much faster at crawling and pulling himself up to stand.  And he can support himself kneeling without holding on to anything.  When he uses his walker (or laundry basket as was the case in Colorado), he's really gaining speed.  It's pretty amazing how quickly he's gotten the hang of all this!

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

A beautiful day

 Found some good powder

A little different visibility later in the week

 The boys

The girls and Brady

 Rockin' his Pats hat in Broncos territory

Hanging out at "base camp" 

Mr Smile 

"Brady platyapus"

Brady and Uncle E

Brady crusin' around the condo

Kneeling on his own

Week 42 -

It's official, Brady has a college fund!  This week we opened a 529 plan for the little guy with some maturing LM stock options and will contribute to it monthly.  We jokingly call this our 3rd "mortgage" after the monthly payments for the house and daycare (lol).

Other new developments this week include the appearance of 1 more tooth (bottom right) and the top right almost through.  The other 4 new teeth are half way in.  This brings the total to 7, he's getting quite a mouthful!  With all these teeth he has actually started to chew when he eats.  Another development was the first time we used a babysitter (yikes!).  This really made us feel like parents having to pay someone to watch our kid and put him to bed so we could go out for dinner.  Brady did great not fussing and eating and going to bed just fine.  It helps that we're using one of the same ladies from the daycare.

Thought we'd do something different this week and recap Brady's favorites:
Favorite food - sweet potatos
Favorite drink - bmilk
Favorite toy - learning farm walker
Favorite blanket - Mr Squirrel, Elly, and Monkey
Favorite sleep position - on his belly, butt in the air
Favorite book - The big red barn
Favorite song - Itsy bitsy spider
Favorite pastime - pulling himself up to stand or banging objects together
Favorite comfort - sucking his thumb (left one of course) and holding his favorite blanket
Favorite place to sleep - lamb swing or crib (night only)
Favorite place to visit - the park at the lake
Favorite people - Mom and Dad
Favorite animal - Dog (Indy)
Best friend - Stormy (at daycare) and Keira (outside of daycare)

We're starting to plan his 1st birthday party, so please send us your ideas!  Looking to keep it simple yet fun (and not too expensive).

Enjoying a nice day at the lake. 

Sporting his new hat

Getting sleepy and hanging out with Elly

Week 41 -

Brady had his 9 month checkup weighing in at 17lbs 7.5oz (5%), 27.5" tall (25%), and 45cm head circumference (30%).  Since his 6 month checkup he's gained 3lbs 4oz, 2" height, and 2cm head circumference, so basically despite all his eating he's still a little peanut.  This visit he only got 1 shot for HepB, and after the initial sting he was back to his usual playful self.  Unfortunately the ears and sinuses are still draining, even some out his eyes (congestion after effects of RSV), so we got yet another antibiotic plus the ear drops he's been on for the last 2 weeks.  This kid can't catch a break.  Since he was 3.5 months old seems he's been sick 3 weeks of every month :(

Developmentally he continues to get more coordinated.  He's gotten better at putting food in his mouth, getting it in like 90% of the time instead of 50/50.  He has started using the walker more, gaining confidence and coordination "push-walking" himself across the room.  He doesn't seem as interested in walking as he is going for and exploring objects up out of his reach, but he does have to navigate to get there.  And he likes to "ride" his motorcycle.  As he gets taller he can stand straddling the bike doing his "booty shake" to the music.  Another cute thing he's doing is copying sounds.  When he drops something, he will copy Mom saying "Uh oh".  Or he'll copy Dad with "da-DA-da".  He still gets separation anxiety when he sees his Mom across the room, preferring for her to hold him.  If she's not in sight or ear-shot he will play.

The days of baby food are done.  New parent mistake #1 (at least the 1st one recorded) - don't buy a bunch of baby food.  Babies only like baby food from 4-9 months of age.  After that it's all squeezy packs and table food.  According to the pediatrician, he still gets all the nutrition he needs from breastmilk and formula, the table food is just for practice and exploring.  This week we were successful feeding him 3oz breastmilk with 2oz formula in his bottles at daycare.  Next week we will try the reverse.

Had another playdate with Keira this week at the Rainforest Cafe.  They had fun in their high chairs eating table food and watching the animals.  Mom and Michelle spoiled them too catching sales and buying some cute baby clothes.  Keira loved shopping and looking at outfits.  Turns out Brady isn't a big shopper, preferring to be on the move in his stroller instead of stopped.  Then it was back to Michelle's for a some photos in their new Valentine's outfits.  Keira loves to touch Brady, he just smiles and turns away (bashful?).  Despite how little he is, he's gaining on her.  She's only 1lbs and 1" taller than him.  The photo shoot also gave Mom a chance to practice with her new digital SLR camera, it's way more capable than cell phone photos.

One more week until skiing in Colorado!

Brady's 1st trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards

Playing on his motorcycle

A fistful of ground turkey and pasta

Checking out the fish at Rainforest Cafe

Mr Hollywood shopping with Mom

Keira (9.5 mos) and Brady (9 mos) at Valentine's photo shoot 

Someone else likes the play house