Good FavDay

We are running out of days that the Easter Bunny is in town so we went to see him today. My plan was to get to the mall early and zip in and out without lines. That's what we did last year when we went on a weekday. There were two tactical errors with my plan. #1 This FavDay happens to be Good Friday. That means spring break is in full effect...Doh! Everyone is home so lines are unavoidable. #2 We went after breakfast and got there just before 9:00...only to read the sign that the big guy's working hours begin @ 10:30. Double Doh! So now we have over 90 minutes to pass. We did some mall walking and window shopping...the change of scenery was fun.

Then we came upon the airplane toddler play area in the mall. whoohoo! When we first got there, there were only 2 other kids. By the time we left, the place was crawling (literally!) with kids. It was Awesome! Brady was squealing and laughing so much that one of the other moms was smiling at him and asked me, "Is this his first time here?" haha! How could you tell? Although truth be told, he's an excitable kid and when he enjoys something, you know it! :)

10:30 came around before we knew it! Despite the fact that he talks about and points to all the bunnies in our house, asked about the Easter Bunny while we were in line ("buu-dee? buu-dee?"), and even gave him the look of adoration (or maybe it was just curiosity) from afar,

our son did not enjoy the big bunny this year. haha! I still bought the picture because it was a snapshot in time (and according to the workers there, "one of the cutest crying pictures they've seen")...at 15 1/2 months, Brady did not enjoy his visit with the Easter Bunny. As soon as I picked him up, he turned off the mad face. Funny. :p
I took a few pictures of dressed-up Brady sans the EB. I knew this outfit would look okay when he was sitting, but standing up, it's apparent that he and his belly have outgrown the tie. He only has one tie, from a 9 month old size outfit...so I had him wear his 9 month size tie with his 18 month size button down and khakis. I think he looks like the stereotypical old office worker- with the big belly and too-short tie. lol! He says "cheeeese!" now sometimes when I ask him to when I'm taking a picture and the resulting face is goofy. :p

Back at home, he spent the afternoon hanging out with his buds. He asked to sit up on the chair where his bear was and brought his frog with him. Brady says, "Seat? Seat?" when he wants to get up in to a chair.

Whenever he pets Romey, we insist that he use an open palm and we say, "Be Niiiiiice! Niiiiiice!" the entire time as he pets Romey's fur. So when he's with his stuffed animals, he pets them and says, "Niiiiiice! Niiiiiice!" Oh! That was a funny story at the play area this morning too! Brady and a 2 year old girl were both going up the steps. Brady raised his hand to push and I said, "Brady be niiiiiice!" and he pet the little girl's head and said, "Niiiiice!". The little girl's mother was cracking up when I explained that "nice" loosely translates to "pet" for Brady.

"Niiiiice!"-----------------------"Cheese!"

"Hi."

Brady and I were downstairs in the basement today. While I was digging around my storage bins looking for his Easter basket, Brady was having a reunion with his old friends. He found all of his baby items in storage and was having an excellent time getting re-acquainted. He was laughing as he was pushing his swing, banging on his exersaucer, and asking ("Seat? Seat?") to be put in to his old car seat (which was a RIOT to watch him try to get out of) and his Jeep walker. I realized he might still enjoy the Jeep. So I raised the chassis and brought it upstairs from the basement.

"Ah, to be young again...
reminds me of when I was 6 months old!"

Afterwards, we went outside to enjoy the 70 degree weather. We blew bubbles (Romey loves bubbles too!) and took a walk to the playground.

Good FavDay indeed!

10 Items or Less

Brady and I went to Harris Teeter (yup, the VIC is back!) this evening to pick up a few things we needed for dinner. We had time to leisurely shop and since I only needed a couple things, I let him drive the cart. Good times! Harris Teeter is like another (practical) indoor playground! I laughed out loud when he began choosing items from his own grocery list. I was wondering what the method to his madness was. I mean, besides the obvious reason (accessibility) of his lower shelf choices, I wondered what was behind his decisions because he seemed so purposeful. He'd be walking along and then all of a sudden stop and choose an item. It was hysterical!

Brady's grocery list:
Spaghetti-Os. check.
Hot Dogs. check.
Coffee. check.
Tea. check. check.
Cup O Noodles. check.
Tomato Sauce. check.
Batteries. check.
Chips. check. check.
PopTarts. check.
Popcorn kernels. check.
Cheese. check.
Squishy playballs. check. check. check. check. check. check. :)

The Grocery Cart Challenge:
Here's all we really went in for (and actually brought up to check-out):

Here's what happens when you let a 15 month old be in charge of your grocery list:

I was allowing him to shop independently #1 because I found it absolutely hysterical, #2 because it allowed him to expend some more of his toddler energy and, #3 because I thought it would be a good direction-following exercise to re-trace our steps and have him put everything back. Ah, the best laid plans. :) Brady petered out before we got to my #3 and wanted to be carried. So I wound up lugging around a 25 lb. weight while hunched over trying to steer the mini cart made for super short people as we returned his items to the shelves. I must confess that we did not return everything to it's proper place. There may just be Spaghetti-Os on the Entenmann's Donuts display or Maxwell House next to the salsa. My apologies to our Harris Teeter peeps...hope we're still friends. :)

"Clean Up on Aisle 3!"


The infamous "BAWW!" shouting face expressing his delight!

Sunny Saturday Fun

It is a beautiful sunny day, a welcome treat after almost a week of rain! B and b had their second swimming class this morning...

Ever the ball hog, Brady is happy as can be!

After the workout in the pool, Brady had his first drink from a water fountain. Funny that I was okay with this. The threat of public germs usually completely creeps me out, but it was a "first" experience that was fun for him.

Then we met Auntie Michelle and Auntie Renee (who was in town from Florida) for breakfast. Brady Loved Auntie Michelle. She is super fun for adults...and (if possible) even more fun for kids! It's been almost a year since we last saw her at Lauren and Jeff's baby shower! Yikes! Way too long to be denied this much fun. He very much enjoyed coloring with Auntie Michelle and convincing her to share her breakfast with him. :)

After his nap (at 15 months old, he's now transitioned to just one afternoon nap and is usually out for about 2 hours) we enjoyed more of the sunny day while Daddy mowed the lawn for the first time this season.

Sure is bright out here!

We have so many pictures of Brady shouting something...because he is always shouting with excitement! :) "Ball" is almost Always a shouted word (it is Very exciting, you know!?). Today Brett goes, "I hope he grows out of that. It's going to be a bit awkward if he's a teenager screaming, 'I'm going to play basketBAWWWW!' " haha!

His neighborhood buds came over to hang out for a bit.

Brady sat down on the front door step so Joshua and Bailey joined him and shared their goldfish snacks. Kids are the best!

Open Gym

Brady and I spent the morning of this rainy FavDay at a community center's "indoor playground." It was a gymnasium with balls, ride-on toys, slides, hula hoops, mats for jumping and rolling, a tunnel, and even a mechanical pony to ride! Of course, Brady's favorite area was the one where all the balls were. For the first half hour or so, I could not get him to go anywhere else despite all the fun new things to play with.

This was his first time shooting hoops. He liked the mini basketball net and kept asking for help to put the balls in by saying, "Up!" to me. I was impressed at his understanding because when he saw the big basketball hoop (again, for the first time, because I don't think we've ever gone to a gym before), he said "Up!" to me again. Very amusing to me and the other parents there. :)

Palming the ball for a one handed lay-up...

Oh, and Brady and I were matchy-matchy (and comfy comfy!) today with our pants and tops. :)
My favorite pictures from today-

Asian Fools

I made an Asian dinner tonight- beef lo mein and SUSHI...April Fools! I found this cute recipe online and totally wanted to try it. It is very rare that the things I plan on actually turn out how I want them to, so I was pleasantly surprised by this and had to take a picture. Of course, we didn't have chopsticks in the house, so I had to improvise with wooden skewers- haha! But the effect was perfect. When Brett saw it, he said, "Oh wow! Are we having sushi tonight?" (I don't eat sushi and have never bought it but Brett likes it.) Indeed we are...but sushi that I would like too- fruity rice krispie treat sushi! We both enjoyed it and I packaged them up in a left over Asian take-out container and sent them to work with Brett the next day. His co-workers and clients got a kick out of it too. So fun!