The Bowling Clap

You know the golf clap...the polite applause people use during a golf tournament? Well, this evening Brady did the bowling clap. We're not sure he really understands what clapping is for, but Daddy says it's still pretty good because he only started teaching Brady to clap about a day ago. Not bad buddy! "Aplauso! Aplauso!" is what we say (from one of our trips to Mexico a few years back...it's what the Iberostar staff always said).

Tonight Mommy was visiting with Auntie Mo, and Daddy and Uncle Pradeep were bowling on the Wii (Brett's birthday present from his parents- whoohoo! Thank You!) when Daddy pointed out that Brady was clapping all on his own. He already seems to be a sports enthusiast...cheering for the bowlers. So we took out the camera and all encouraged him to clap. Oh yeah, and the reason the video stops when it does with the "Oh!" and giggles at the end? Brett was so focused on his next bowling throw, he "did not see" me crouched down on the floor right in front of him taking video. No joke people, he hit me with the Wii remote and then accidentally released it and it hit the tv. Seriously- PT and Mo are my witnesses. No applause for that strike Daddy!

Maureen brought this over...how clever is that?
Thanks Mo...we'll need to enjoy it together once Maya is here!

Having a ball

Brady's favorite toys lately are balls. He has a bunch of smaller ones that are parts of larger toys, but today we got him a larger bouncy ball during our trip to Harris Teeter. He's quite pleased!

Are you ready for some football?

I'm looking for my Daddy on tv.

It sure would help if Uncle Satish was wearing his
bright green GMU shirt like last year. :p

Another fun FavDay

Brett's off to Charlotte today for the start of the Hokie season. It is completely wild for me to think that last year at this time I saw Brady, who we were calling Ziggy in utero, move for the first time. Now we're seeing him move all over the place on the outside! :)

It was yet another fun FavDay. This afternoon I went next door to play with Joshua so that Courtney and Rebekah could attend Rebekah's second grade open house and meet her teacher. Brady took his 1:00 nap early, so I went over there with only the monitor at first. Joshua and I put together puzzles and he carefully watched the Brady tv for me. He'd say, "I think he moved his hand!" or "His legs moved!" whenever he detected movement on the monitor. It was so cute! When Brady woke up, we went over to get him and then went back to their house. Joshua's younger sister Bailey and baby boy Sawyer were napping. What good nappers! We didn't hear a peep from them (and keep in mind Sawyer's only 5 weeks old!).

I thought maybe this would give me the opportunity to see what having four kids is like. ha! First off, these children are Amazing little people...so even if the three remaining Cassada kids had all been awake and I had Brady there too, it would not have been a fair assessment. But two of these sweet angels were sound asleep and Joshua is adorable and just so gentle. He told Brady he would share his toys with him. "It's even okay if you chew on them," he told him. He said to me, "I'm only going to give him the boy toys to play with." Then he proceeded to sort through the toys and when he'd come across one of his sisters' he'd put it aside. It went like this "girl toy. girl toy. oh here- you can play with this one. It's a tractor." SO cute!

A bicycle built rigged for two

For our birthdays this year, Brett and I got bikes. I also wanted a trailer for Brady. I found a reasonably priced one on Craigslist. (That's how we used the birthday money you sent us Gramma Barb! Thank You!) I still need to find an infant sized helmet for Brady...that's on my "to do" list for this weekend. But tonight after the rain stopped, we took our rig for a test ride and Brady seemed to like it. It's going to take a little getting used to because I kept looking back at him while also trying to maneuver the bike, and I haven't ridden in quite some time.
Doesn't he look so cute back there? We closed the netting screen to ride. It also has a plastic rain guard. For the sake of a photo, we opened it up. Brett said, "It's basically a box. I don't know how fun that is for him." haha! But it's just like his stroller- only faster. He was doing his happy singing sighs...so I think it was fun for him.

Laugh out loud funny

So do you not agree that this is one happy little boy? And would you say he's just a bit ticklish? And to think that this video was actually the second round of hilarity...I was too busy playing and laughing hysterically myself to take video the first time around. So what you're seeing is actually after about 10 minutes of previous tickles and belly laughs with an intermission spent going downstairs to get the camera. It is pure joy to see this little man enjoying life.

Lids

Brady always seems a bit confused when I wear a baseball cap. He grabs at it and inspects it intently. The brim gets in the way of our Eskimo and bunny kisses, but it makes him laugh nonetheless. Today I put one on him too. He's getting great at the timer shots because he tracks where you point to and finds the beeping and the flashing red light amusing. :)

Stand in the place where you live

This is how I was greeted when I went to get Brady this morning. Well actually his face had a little bit more of a smile. This was the face about 2 minutes later...after I walked in, went "Wow! Look at this big boy! You're standing up this morning! Let Mommy go get the camera!" left him standing there to go downstairs and retrieve the camera, and returned. By the time I came back, he was getting a little impatient- hence the "I'm cranky and want to cry, but happy to see you" face. We had anticipated this and lowered his crib mattress a little bit a few weeks ago, but still it is funny to walk in and see your little person standing up greeting you in a "I'm ready! Get me out of here!" stance.

Paying the exit toll

The only place we can put the bumper jumper on our main floor is in the office doorway. The only place Sandy sleeps (and spends all of her time) is in the office. But the poor dog is trapped in there when Brady is jumping up and down and she actually wants to leave. She was so patient today as she tried to pass and first stopped to pay the toll taker allowing little baby hands to pat, squeeze, pull, and poke at her.

You might be a redneck if...

you go to a neighborhood block party looking like this:
But then, if you're the Luhrings, you're right at home because it's Pat's annual Redneck Party, THE event of the summer! So that's where we were this evening...eating, laughing, and playing washers with our awesome neighbors. Last year Brady attended in utero. This year, he was a full-on participant. Here he is in his overalls, with a piece of straw (grass) in his mouth.
Daddy's "Beer Goes Here" t-shirt was an obvious choice of attire. We considered bringing Brady in just his diaper. But ever the responsible parents, we decided that while that may be appropriate given the party theme, it might not be most wise choice to expose that much 8-month-old skin to the August sun (even if he does appear to have his Mommy's coloring-- he tans, whoohoo!).

Speaking of appropriate attire, here's Brady happily hanging out with Mario:

After seeing Brady admire her husband's mighty fine headgear, Kim decided to outfit Brady with a doo-rag of his own:

"Do-what?"

Kim also gave Brady his first ice cube. Given the warm summer weather and his teething gums, he liked that a lot!

Then we had a redneck picnic in the grass. Brady had sweet potatoes and cheered for Daddy in the washers tournament. Mommy never made it past the first bracket. But Daddy was in the championship game this year! He didn't bring home the trophy. However, he states that the victory claimed by Rick and Tony is under protest and that he and his partner Jenny were robbed! Washers Commissioner Pat issued a response indicating that the ruling stands, the victory will go on the books, but that Brett's objections were noted. Just wait until next year Rick!

8 months old

Happy Birthday Brady! At 8 months, Brady's personality continues to surface. He's one happy baby who laughs and smiles a lot. As we've mentioned, he loves the tv remote, paper, and when we play peek-a-boo and "I'm gonna getcha!" games. He seems to notice Romey a little more now and wants to pet (pull his hair/squeeze) him. We're really careful to watch the two of them together. We monitor Brady's grip and allow Romey to execute his escape plan. Brady also spends lots of time in his Jeep. It's an effective means for him to get around and a safe place to put him when I need my hands free. He loves a good head-on collision and often rams whatever obstacle is on the road- our feet, walls, kitchen cabinets and chairs, Sandy, whatever. When he sees the refrigerator door open, he drives his Fred Flintstone-powered Jeep as fast as his chubby legs will permit in an attempt to grab at the items on the door.

He crawls to go get something across the room. He loves walking with assistance as we hold his hands. He pushes and pulls to standing against our bodies and hands. Communicatively he continues his happy growls, but also does some cute babbling too. As far as food goes, we're slowly introducing table food that he can gum (bananas, pancakes, bread, Cheerios) and he seems to really dig that! In fact, just the other day our good little eater who used to put away 2 tubs of Stage 2 foods in about 5 minutes flat, sat and cried when offered the baby food on a spoon. He seems to prefer the chunky self-feeding kind. (Post note: I want to remember that we saw Brady's first temper tantrum on August 22 during dinner. He screamed and cried for Cheerios. He turned his head away and would not eat squash, his former favorite! The tantrum was an interesting experience. Tantrums will not be tolerated in this house little man!)

We don't have official height and weight stats to update. We don't visit the doctor again until next month for another round of vaccinations and his 9 month wellness check. We'll have some solid numbers to report then.

Can you hear me now???

I had to go in to work today for a training class and called home on my lunch break...which coincided with Brady's lunch break. Meemaw and Aunt Kris helped him eat and talk to Mommy on the phone. He's never heard my voice on the phone. I have let him listen to others (Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Meemaw, Aunt Kris, etc.) many times, but I'm always home with him so I've never been on the other end of the phone from him. That's a weird realization for me...oh Lord, how I love this boy!

Hi Ho Cheerio!

"A case of the Mondays"

This day that's a good thing! I have training for work this week Tues-Fri. So I switched my FavDay for this week from Friday to Monday. What a great Monday it was!

Yay! Got all of these fun pictures from Aunt Kris:

Getting in to the Word
Brady does a bible study with Aunt Kris.
(be careful Aunt Kris...Brady Loves to crinkle and tear paper!)

Meemaw showing Brady a picture of Mommy and Daddy

Lots of love to you too buddy!

I said, "Don't give me no lip!"

Grumpy old man face

Cute story: Aunt Kris, Brady, and I went to Target this afternoon. Aunt Kris was pushing Brady in the stroller and I was a few steps behind when I hear, "Hey! That looks like baby Brady! But that's not Brady's mommy!" I turned to look and there was Norhan, one of Brady's summer teachers (who I Love and will miss terribly when she goes back to school), and three of the older girls from his daycare! I called out to them and said, "That's because that's baby Brady's aunt." and they squealed with delight in realizing that this baby was indeed their little buddy. Aunt Kris got to witness Brady's "celebrity status" at daycare first hand. :)

Cool dude

The entire time Great Aunt Toni, Great Uncle Gil, Meemaw, and Aunt Kris were here (August 16-20), and this is the only photo I took! eesh! Aunt Kris is sending me the ones she took with her camera...I'll post a few when I get them.

"Lock Up Your Daughters"

This was the fair warning advance notice Brady gave to his girlfriends' parents this weekend by sporting this awesome t-shirt from our Texas buds, the Consers. Today we attended the Thaivalappils' shower to celebrate the upcoming arrival of baby Maya.

Funny note: my aunt and uncle from New York arrived at our house just as we were heading out the door. Brady cried a little bit when I handed him off to them and then went out of his line of sight. But go figure...we get to the shower and Brady is right at home among all the brown faces. He was perfectly content the entire time he was passed to the aunties and uncles...some of whom he's very familiar with (like Uncle Satish, Uncle Basil, Auntie Soma, Uncle Pradeep, etc.) and some who had never seen before (like Maya's grandparents- Pradeep's mom and dad). If this does not prove his paternal genetics, I don't know what does! This little boy is definitely Brett's son!

As a reminder of just what we're talking about here, below is a picture from Basil and Soma's wedding about 6 years ago. At one point one of the guys was making fun of Brett for not having his jacket on and sticking out "like a sore thumb." Uh yeah, THAT was what distinguished him in the crowd, not the fact that he's the only glowing white face in the entire crew...it was the lack of jacket for sure. LOL!

Anyway, the shower and visiting with all our friends was so much fun! Brady got to see his #1 gal Kadyn for the first time in a while. They were so cute sitting together. Kadyn asked Brady for a foot rub, and of course the gentleman that he is, he obliged:

B: "ooo...I like your feet."

K: "Will you rub my feet?"

B: "Okay."

B: "Hey, where you goin?"

B: "I wasn't being fresh Uncle.

My daddy says my shirt says it all!"

B: "You want another foot rub?
Okay, but don't get me in any more trouble." :)

They also had a dightie-changing session together followed by some toy sharing:

While the babies shared toys, always-thoughtful Auntie Mo and Uncle Pradeep shared their baby celebration with birthday-boy Daddy. They had a little bday cake, sang to him, and even gave him a present! (an awesome orange Hokie fleece in preparation for the upcoming football season) Thank you Mo and PT!!!!

Uncle Satish laughs with Brady while Uncle Basil pretends to lock up his daughter--

Auntie Mo and Uncle Pradeep even let Brady test drive Maya's walker. He had lots of fun! It was the hovercraft to his Jeep...it allowed him to move sideways in addition to forward and backwards...Awesome!

We stayed for quite a while and Brady was starting to get a little cranky. Uncle Pradeep pulled out this little Nerf airplane that Ritin had left behind and showed it to Brady. That thing was trippy! When you press the button, the airplane propellers move and after a while some psychedelic lights come on. Uncle Praveen put it in front of Brady and commanded, "You will like butta-butta chicken!" (Daddy's favorite Indian dish) Given that Brady has already "embraced the Indian culture" (as Uncle Satish said Daddy did on our wedding video) ;p I'm sure he won't need any additional coaxing to like butter chicken!

We should have taken a family photo earlier in the day instead of when we were all getting tired and cranky (and there weren't tiny fingerprints left by baby hands on the camera lens causing a slightly blurry picture). But we didn't, so we had to use the hypnotic airplane on Brady. The picture below made us all LOL because you can see Uncle Pradeep's hand holding the airplane while Uncle Praveen took this photo. It did not occur to Uncle Praveen to step forward until Brett said, "uh, why don't you get in front of Pradeep when you take the picture?" Always fun times with these guys! :)