Haul out the holly...

It's the day after Thanksgiving...and time to decorate for Christmas! We tried to tell Brady about the tree that was being constructed in his family room. He was more interested in touching the ball of lights (of course, it's a ball!) and playing with all the decorations that sing and dance. :)

Grandpa caught this cute one of happy boy hanging on to my robe in the morning just after breakfast. He can tell it's going to be an exciting day!

Happy Turkey Day!

Grandma and Grandpa are here to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. We are all especially thankful for family and our sweet little man this year. Brady donned his homemade, handmade bib for the big dinner. His inaugural Turkey Day was memorialized by his first hand print turkey...it's so cute and small and came out pretty good given that he didn't know what was going on and it was his first hand-in-paint experience.
The grandparents arrived around 4:30 on Thursday. I had prepped most of the food and the turkey was just about done. It came out pretty well! (Amber, I forgot to get a picture of it! Doh! It really was pretty though.) You can see it on the platter on the table following Brett's fine carving job.
Brady didn't seem to love his turkey dinner. He had a better time crawling around under the table playing with Romey, our legs, and his Grandpa while we finished our meal. That's a-okay Brady!
Enjoy being a little boy!

Customer in Training

Our Harris Teeter VIC has moved up to Customer In Training status. Grocery shopping is so much more fun as a family! Normally Brady has to endure sitting in the front of the shopping cart listening to my endless babble about what we need and what's on sale. I do love Harris Teeter though because the samples they have out have saved me many times. I stock up and grab like 10 pieces of cheese and pacify cranky Brady when he wants to get out and/or be held. Today was different though. Daddy came along and was able to supervise Brady while I shopped. Brady had a BLAST pushing the mini shopping cart.

What's so funny?

Brady really does enjoy life- it's Awesome! He finds humor in the silliest things and his belly laughs and fits of hysteria light up our souls. Many times for Brady it is the anticipation of something that makes him laugh. One of the funniest things he thinks I do is to look at him sideways with my finger tapping my mouth and go "mmmmm" like I'm thinking then come at him fast. He also likes when I'm approaching him and stomp my feet and say "whoosh" with each step. Before we tickle him or give him a zerbert or do something else he thinks is funny, we take an audible breath in...and it cues him that something's coming. The anticipation of whatever is coming (which is usually a squeezing hug, tickle, and kiss combination) is hilarious to him and sends him in to a fit of giggles. Below are two clips of him laughing. Note that the video is long (about 3.5 minutes)...but we just can't get enough of his contagious joy. :)

A brisk November walk

Even though it was coooooold outside today, we bundled up and took a walk. Even though Brady seems to have mad face on in every picture, we all had a good time. :)

"I like him now."

This was a quote from Brett, while he was playing with Brady today. Following a look from me, he revised his statement and with a grin said, "I like him better now. I have always loved him." :p

"Mo Maya, Mon!"

Auntie Mo, Maya, and Auntie Monica came over for a short visit today. I was too busy visiting and having fun chatting to take pictures. But I did take one of a crazy happy looking Brady watching over his little 7 week old friend. :)

Brady's Walk of Life

"You've come a long way baby!" In the past month, Brady's walking stretches have gotten longer. He still will only walk to or between people (with encouragement) but the distance has gotten pretty far. The other night before his bath, we had him do the entire length of the "catwalk" upstairs (which is about 18 feet...yeah, I measured it). :p The little Frankenstein makes it the whole way and even stopped to balance himself a few times. Way to go buddy!

I was going to do a long video beginning with his rolling, to crawling, to first steps...but decided on this abridged one for now. Maybe I'll do a longer one later. Anyway the video shows the evolution of man Brady in the past month. The first (crawling) clip was from Oct. 19. (He's usually quite a bit faster when he crawls but this was the day after we returned home from vacation and we were all moving slow then- ha!) The second (walking with assistance) part was taken on Oct. 22. That push toy has become one of his favs- both at home and at daycare. The third part where he's motoring in his Jeep (man, he has gotten fast in that thing!) was taken Nov. 9. The last part of him walking was taken on Nov. 14.

11 months old

Happy Birthday Brady! Wow- this is our last monthly birthday post! It makes me proud and sad to reflect on how far our little man has come in these 11 months. I'm sad because our baby will not be a baby for much longer. He's a little boy...that makes Daddy very happy (Brett's always loved toddlers and "little people you can reason with"), and it make Mommy a little sad (I Love babies). But it's still Lots of fun. Brady's a real character and it is simply awesome to watch him learn new things and be so proud of himself. He's just about got walking down...but will only walk to or between people with encouragement. When he needs to get somewhere, his preferred method of travel is crawling or cruising (or having us carry him...still. But I'm okay with that for now).

He has 7 front teeth- four upper and three lower ones, with the fourth lower emerging. As most boys are, the kid's a climber. Sometimes it seems as if he's not even aware that he's doing it. When I'm sitting near him next to the table or couch, he reaches for the furniture and starts climbing up me and using my leg as a step. I'm not sure what for...as if the view 4 inches up is that much better. But he likes it. He's become quite the StairMaster. About 2 weeks ago, Brett was playing with him and says, "Whoa. Check this out. Brady can go up the stairs. Cool." We're still working on safe landings though. Brady flings himself off the couch, bed, or whatever he's on with all the trust in the world that we'll catch him. We're working with him to get down stairs and from furniture safely on his tummy. Here are some of the outakes from this morning as I tried to get his 11 month shot. This one on the right captures Brady pretty well at this moment in time- his one hand scrunching and pinching Hippo's nose, the other ready to push off with while saying the exuberant "oooo" noise. And to think that last month I was nervous about his movement in the rocker. ha! This month after he'd crumbled the paper up (he still likes doing that), he began to check the rocker out in his explorer fashion. See how he's using the hippo for a leg-up and stepping on him to ascend? That's what he does to me when he's next to furniture.

Dude, where are you going?

More Mamarazzi

I realized I haven't taken many pictures of Brady or posted much lately. I mean, has there been a day gone by that I haven't captured on film!? gasp! Never fear- the mamarazzi returns!

Random pictures of Brady at play
I just like how he looks like a little person.
I want to remember his mini stature.

"You can't feed chili to a baby!"

I found myself borrowing this line from Mr. Mom on Tuesday night. We were having chili for dinner...and so was Brady (although his had the addition of some green peas). This was the first time we attempted to actually eat dinner at home as a family. It was possible because #1 due to the government holiday, Brett was home in time for Brady's dinner time and #2 my mom already had dinner ready. (I usually feed Brady around 6:00, then we play and he gets a bath. Brett gets home 6:30-7:00 and plays some more with Brady. Brett and I usually eat dinner after 7:30, when I've put Brady down to bed and can finish making the meal.) So this night, we removed Brady's high chair tray and scooted the chair all the way up to the table. Above he is having his Cheerio appetizer. We know several kids whose parents report that they just won't eat leftovers. Interestingly enough, I think Brady is the opposite. From what we've seen, he is usually not too sure the first go-round. He makes a face and then pushes the food out of his mouth with his tongue. But when we offer the same food to him the next night, he takes it more readily.

Saturday was a rainy one and all three of us spent it lounging around in sweats. Mamarazzi captured Brady at play again. Really that's mostly what his days consist of. He seems to still be cutting a few more bottom teeth. Hence the panting puppy dog look in many of the pictures.

Daddy and Brady did run a few errands together. Given that it was so rainy, they both wore their ball caps. So cute!

One for the road...

before heading out with Daddy, Brady tanks up.

Veteran's Week

Brady enjoyed a fun visit with Meemaw this past week. She watched Brady while daycare was closed on Tuesday for Veteran's Day and played with him the entire week. As always, I loved having my own (maternal) "veteran" here. What a treat it was to have a happy (tired from playing and laughing) kid, and dinner prepared, cooked, and cleaned up after each night without me having to do anything at all! Thanks Mom!!!

Monday morning

After a casual Friday, the boys are all dressed up and ready for the week ahead.

Big B, Little b

I loved how they were both barefoot in khakis and t-shirts today.

On the road (to Richmond) again

Today Brady and I made the trip to Richmond sans Daddy. Brady was an angel for the entire car ride down. I'm guessing that was due to what Uncle Ken often refers to as "post perennial narcosis" when we are on vacation and eat big meals, then pass out. :) Apparently for lunch at daycare, Brady feasted on a delicacy of lamb and beef with peas, carrots, and rice today in addition to his lunch bottle. Then he had another bottle in the car. I kept laughing when I looked back and caught sight of him in the mirror. He totally had "Thanksgiving face" on- pleasantly happy, but maybe just on the verge of uncomfortable...so sleepy, but needing to stay conscious a little while longer while the food settles. It amused me. The full tummy, toys, and nap kept him quiet for almost the entire trip. He woke when we were about 5 minutes away- and that was perfect!

We first visited with Amanda and Jackson, who we haven't seen since they moved to Richmond. It was so fun to hang out and talk with Amanda again and to watch the boys play. Brady was loving all of Jackson's toys and he even got to sample a few new snacks at his pal's house. Jackson was very interested in Brady's sippy cup and then got a little nostalgic seeing Brady with a bottle.

Hands down- catching up with friends is super fun!

Then we went over to Sathya and Eashan's house for dinner and a sleepover- SO fun! On Sunday I realized just how much I've missed Sathya...and just talking and visiting with each other. We figured with the daddies in Blacksburg, why shouldn't we and the little boys get together? Avi and Harshna came over too so Generation 2 got to play and Avi and Brady even had dinner together. Yes I have to say I'm in complete agreement with the awe in Sat's profound observation from this past weekend- "Wow. We all have families now." :)
Life just keeps getting better!