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

Week 40 -

Brady turned 9 months old this week.  Crazy to think he's as many months old as Mom carried him in her belly during pregnancy.  He's becoming a little man now, very active and determined, his personality really showing.

This week we had to say goodbye to Grandpa Bob and Grammie Terry as they headed southwest in the RV.  We were very thankful for the 2 weeks they were visiting us, babysitting Brady the days he was sick and cooking yummy meals for Mom and Dad at night.  And Grandpa Bob put together Brady's toy shelf.  Thanks to a little Grandparent TLC, Brady recovered from his RSV getting back to sleeping and eating like his normal self.  He still has some drainage in his ears, but it's not as thick or green anymore.  We will continue to give him ear drops until he fully recovers.  This was also a very warm week in Texas, up in the 70s, meanwhile back East it was in the single digits or even negative temperatures.  Grandpa Bob and Grammie Terry took advantage of the nice weather giving Brady (and Indy) a few walks outside.  We also rescheduled our Colorado ski trip rebooking Steamboat Springs for later in February.

As Brady got to feeling better, he became more active and got to play a lot with his new toys.  This week we put up a play yard in the living room so he can practice his standing and walking (and rubber mats for his attempts at getting back down).  He really enjoys his toy house and activity center playing with all the gadgets, doors, windows, and slides, perfect for an active baby boy.  We continue to give him practice walking on his walker or toy motorcycle.  The wheels on the walker can lock allowing the baby to push it which for now is more Brady's speed until he gets better coordination in his legs.  Meanwhile the motorcycle he prefers to ride (aka be pushed) while he honks the horn.  Ever since he was a little baby he enjoyed music (even Mom's car radio while he was in the womb).  Most of his baby toys play music and he likes to hang onto to something while on his knees or standing and do a "booty shake".  It's hilarious.

With Brady feeling better and the Grandparents gone, Brady returned to daycare.  Since the holidays Brady has taken on a new feeding schedule at daycare.  He has pancakes for breakfast, chicken or beef with noodles for lunch, pieces of fruit of veggies for snacks, and three 4oz bottles.  He also naps 2-3 times per day (30 min to 1.5 hrs each) and poops 3x a day.  He's seems to prefer table food for dinner and is still a good sleeper at night.  He tried blueberries this week and really seems to like them.  It's so nice having our little guy feeling better again!

January 23rd, 71 deg at 6pm!

Enjoying the new play yard

You've got mail! 

Sorry Mom, no girls allowed 

"Pushing" the walker

Handmade baby rocker from Uncle Lou

Practicing crawling on his hands and knees (it was short lived)

Week 39 -

Grandpa Bob and Grammie Terry were here this week preparing to get the RV out of storage and head back out on the open road.  Mom's friend Megan from high school was also in town visiting her husband's family and got to meet with them one night for dinner.  And the New England Patriots advanced to the AFC championship game beating the Houston Texans and getting ready to face the Baltimore Ravens.  Unfortunately this turned out to be another sick week for the family with Brady picking up RSV for the 2nd time, Mom coming down with a sinus infection, and Dad catching the dry cough that's been going around.  For these reasons we had to cancel our trip skiing in Colorado this week, we just didn't want to be far from the doctor should Brady's ability to breathe get any worse (stupid RSV).

Despite being sick, not sleeping through the night, and not being interested in eating much, Brady did have a few developments this week.  We officially have 4 new teeth coming in.  That's the 2 front top teeth and 2 left side teeth (one upper one lower).  And Brady has developed an interest in pulling himself up on his hands and knees like he wants to crawl the more traditional way, but just kind of rocks back and forth a few times before dropping back down to the stomach.  He's more comfortable on his knees when playing on his toy house, holding himself up to swing the door or play with the window.  The kid is really strong and has developed quite a right cross.  He will knock over towers of blocks, knock objects around on the floor, or swat at things he doesn't like (ex food).  Speaking of food, he much prefers table food (or whatever is on Mom's plate) over his baby food.  This is probably good all around, as he is happier eating dinner with us and forces us to eat more nutritional food on a regular basis.  Also, Grandpa Bob showed Brady how to turn off light switches, he's getting quite good at it now.  We'll have to work on turning them back on.

Had to make a run to the kids resale store again to buy more 9 month or 12 month clothes as all his 6 month, 6-9 month, and even some 6-12 month clothes are getting too snug.  He goes back for his 9 month check up in 2 weeks.  He'll still probably be on the low end of the growth chart, but he's definitely growing and has put on some weight.

Gary, Brady, Lucy, and Chris

 

1st trip today to the ER - spent 4 hours at Cooks Children's hospital in downtown Fort Worth getting checked for the flu, pneumonia, and other illnesses.  Turns out Brady's fever (max at 102.9 deg F), cough, and rapid breathing is another bout of RSV.  And we'd almost made it 4 weeks without being sick, poor guy! Being at Cooks also made us thankful it was only RSV, we saw much worse when we were there.

Smallest hospital gown ever

Getting to be quite experienced in nebulizer breathing machines