Months (or Meses in Spanish)

Brady surprised us today when he started to sing a song of the months of the year. His pronunciation has a tinge of Spanish ("Yoon" and "Augus" for example) as he emulates Miss Adela and Miss Flori. His bilingual ability also emerges when you ask him the color of something. He almost always tells you the color in both English and Spanish. Muy bien, Guapo! (as Miss Flori calls him)

Gardening with the Grands

Brady helped his grands plant the mum they got me as part of my birthday present. He was all too happy to don his kid (gardening) gloves, put his wheelbarrow and watering can to use, and dig in the dirt.

Bystanders watching the landscapers do their thing-

Carnival Fun

This evening we went to a carnival in our neighborhood sponsored by our HOA- so fun and so free...double whoohoo! Both kids had shaved ice for the first time. Brady thought it was sort of neat. Sylvie was not just going to be a sideliner and loudly vocalized her desire to share in the fun. Hers was served straight up...just ice, no sweetener. She enjoyed it nonetheless!

We watched a magician/juggler and all found him amusing. So much so that we didn't get any pictures. ;p Brady played a few games and got some little prizes. He had his first Tootsie pop and got a real kick out of that. Sylvie was a trooper- she hung out in the stroller having some water to cool off and ate dinner on our blanket while we watched the magician/juggler.

Brady also got a balloon animal. He requested an elephant, of course and was happy to have another friend to introduce to his best bud, Elephant, at home.

Bubbles and Boots

This morning while playing bubbles with the neighbor pals, a clean-up activity was required. The giant bubble bottle spilled and we had to clean the porch and sidewalk. Brady was all too happy to perform this task. On his own, he grabbed his frog boots and the hose and said, "I need to clean up!" I thought he looked like a cute mini version of a SeaWorld employee with his "equipment" (rubber boots and a hose).

Pleased with Puffs

I gave Sylvie Puffs for the first time today. She was So Darn Cute getting all excited about this new food. She "chews" very well (despite the fact that the Puffs literally melt in your mouth in seconds). Oh, you are So squeezable Sylvie!

Birthday Dinner

Brett and I went out to dinner for my birthday tonight. We all (Brett, Brady, Sylvie, Grandma, Papa, and I) went out to dinner for Brett's birthday one week ago, but I forgot to take any pictures. Well actually, my hands were too busy to do much else besides hold teething Sylvie on that night. She seems a little better this week. But still, just the two of us went out so that I could eat leisurely to enjoy the food and the conversation.

My Best Presents

I attempted a few timer shots this morning...again, marginal success. Still, these two are the Best presents I've ever received!

With Age Comes Wisdom...and Wheelchairs

Brady often says, "When I get older..." when he thinks something is cool. You know, b/c grown-ups or older people get to do cool things. For example, you can hear him say it in the airplane video. He says, "When I get older, I can get on an airplane." Brett says this made for an awkward moment when he and Brady were in a store today and Brady spotted a woman in a wheelchair. He exclaimed, "When I get older, I'm gonna get one of Those!" hmm, well perhaps. But Brett had to explain to the lady that that meant he thought her ride was pretty cool. Kids do say the darndest things!

Retroposting Paparazzi Shots

I grabbed these off Papa's camera-

I love both their bright eyes in this one. :)

Speaking of Sylvie's Nap-

Sylvie is Really good about going down to sleep. She pretty much always has been. I've been rocking her before naps and bedtime lately b/c I want to, not because she needs it. It just feels good to me to have her little head resting on my shoulder and to hear her breathing get deeper and deeper or to have her chubby little hand pat me on the back. Sometimes when I put her down, she is still wide awake and sometimes in the middle of the night when she's woken and needs her paci reset or has just eaten, she's wide awake. It used to be that I'd place my hand on her chest and she's play with it or hold on really tight. Lately I've been giving her one of her PBK stuffed toy rings (the frog) to hold on to. So this little frog is always in her crib. I checked on her napping this afternoon and found this:

Somehow the frog went from being a security object she holds close to her chest to being an anklet. lol! I love this picture too b/c it shows another thing she often does- holds on to the bumper. When she's sleeping, I think it's for security. When she's awake, she pulls it down to peek out. When Brady and I go to greet her and she's peering over the bumper, we see this crazy bedhead (yes, she rocks the retro Kate Gosselin do- and it really puffs up after she's slept on it) and we hear this stifled giggle from behind the paci. It's so cute.

My HT Pal

I had to go to the grocery store this morning. Sylvie was napping and Brady was having fun playing in the basement alongside Daddy. I was starting to tell Brett that I was running out for a bit when I decided to ask Brady along, "I'm going to the grocery store. Do you want to come?" "Yes, I do!" he shouts. He's so fun to have around sometimes! :) I love that he's like me and can get excited about little things. I love that he wants to hang out and run errands with me (okay, so he doesn't know they are errands...but I still love that he wants to go with me)!

We only needed a few things so he drove his little cart and was super pleased about that. All these times we've been enjoying the Teeter and Brady's never noticed nor have I pointed out Harry the Dragon's cookies. He noticed today and asked if he could have one. Sure.

I thought he'd eat it in the car. But he led me to the little coffee cafe area of the store and said, "Sit with me Mommy!" What a fun little date it was- complete with a grateful child (who knew the free sugar cookie would be so appreciated?!) and great conversation...okay it was a little repetitive, but still, I Love this boy...he makes my heart swell and my whole self laugh.

Pretty

This morning Brady found a baby headband in his toybox. He said, "Ooo! A headband! It's for Sylvie! I put it on her so she can be pretty." My heart melted. so so so sweet.

As he was trying to put it on her head, she was wiggling. He says to her, "Wait, Sylvie. You not pretty yet." so so so funny. :) I told him Sylvie was pretty all the time, but that the headband just made her prettier. Here's what she looked like when he was done:

We modified it so that it would be like Mommy's and push her hair out of her face:

Any day now...

The teething pre-crawler is ready:

She's just so darn cute. My sweet pea.

Brady's providing motivation to move (she so wants to be near him and touch him) while he also supplies background music. It's a family affair; so even Romey's in on the training trying to show the little lady how it's done.

7 months old

Happy Birthday Sylvie! At 7 months old, she's pretty much doing exactly what her brother was at this time. She's in one of the best stages right now...she sits independently but doesn't quite move yet. We can tell she's on the verge of crawling b/c she rocks like she's revving to go but then resorts to the roll and the Go, Go Gadget Arms reeeeeaaach to get things. I love her clumsy reach, rake, and grab with those cute little chubby arms and hands.

She's pretty content sitting if you give her a toy to play with or if her brother is nearby. It's funny though b/c if Brady is running and she's tracking him, she whips her head around to see him and often falls over as a result. Once she falls, she'll roll around on the floor for a bit until she gets frustrated. Then she grunts and cries for help. Her vocalizations are mostly vowels at this point, but she's got volume and turns it up when she wants to.

She wants me near her all the time. One of my favorite things to do is daycare pick-up. She gets SO excited when she sees me- with a huge smile, kicking or jumping legs, and flapping arms. It's awesome! At home, it seems she's fine when I'm not around (and she's with Daddy, or Grandma, or Papa and Brady). But once she catches sight of me, she fusses until I come get her. Some of her fussiness may be due to her first two teeth finally popping through. One (bottom middle tooth) is trying to break through the gum, but not fully visible yet. She is the cutest teether (visually...not the whiney needy part- that's not cute). She drools a bit, but mostly sticks her tongue out. That explains most of Sylvie's pictures these days.

Too True

For Sylvie, for sure Happiness is Mommy....and Hilarity is Brady. ;p

Thanks Auntie Sat for this adorable onesie and sweet blankie!

Another Genetic Indicator

This was Brady driving back home from the Rocks' house. I love how his feet are criss-crossed in the car seat. Sorry Brady, both you and your sister seem to have inherited my unattractive sleeping stance- mouth wide open. But hey, we can sleep anywhere and we sleep well. :)

He's Humm-ble

A little known, but completely HYSTERICAL fact about Papa is that he cannot hum. We discovered this a few years ago while we were playing Cranium. Since then, we found a game called Hummble and it provided non-stop side-splitting, abs-aching amusement for us on Saturday night. Ken contributed to this as well. He's only slightly better at humming than Papa. He mitigated this weakness by first whistling his tunes. Only, he cannot whistle either. He sucks air in (although I can't make too much fun...I do the same thing!). When his whistle failed him, he resorted to supplementing his humming with conductor-like movements.

Here's a small sample of the hysteria we were in.

Returning to Rock Resort

We returned to the Rocks' house this weekend. We haven't been to this fine resort in over a year. This time Brady was able to appreciate how fun the place is- complete with Lots of land to run around, a pool off the deck, a clearing for a bonfire, entertainment provided by Connor's soccer tournament, oh and "Aunt DeeDee got TWO toilet papers Mommy!" (It was most exciting to him that there were two toilet paper holders in the powder room. lol!)

Daddy brought Brady a Buzz Lightyear toy from his visit to FAO Schwartz in NYC and gave it to Brady at the Rocks' house. Connor had his Buzz from when he was about Brady's age. TOO cool! So they got to play to-geddar (as Brady says).

Somebody else took a little bit of an interest in Buzz also...those flashing lights and funny voice are appealing.

Aunt DeeDee always has some new fun toys. This time she got Brady bath body paints and 3-D chalk- So fun! He looked in the silver circle drain of the bathtub like it was a mirror and held the bottle of body paint like it was a razor and rubbed it on his face. When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "I'm shavin'!"

We All had fun with the 3-D chalk...it really worked (well it was the cute glasses that actually made it work)!

On Saturday we went to Connor's soccer tournament. Brady watched for a little bit, but also wanted to play. He and Daddy had their own game on an adjacent "field."

Later that afternoon Brady went swimming and made a whirlpool with Aunt DeeDee- who was the only one willing to get in the pool. (It was a little chilly. Yay, thanks Deanna! Brady Loves her for it!)

Can you see the evidence of the chill? Little purple lips. :)

That evening we headed down to the clearing where Uncle Ken built a bonfire and we had S'mores- YUMM! It was Brady's first and much to my surprise, he didn't love it. But then, it could have been that he was just exhausted after a fun day (he asked me if he could go to bed- uh, sure!). Also, the bonfire was "too hot!" he said.

I love S'mores enough for the both of us, son...along with Toby and Romey who are begging for a taste here.

Sylvie was already asleep, but Deanna had Connor's old baby monitor. She brought it as far as the range would allow, then hung it in a tree so I could hear if she cried out. Yup, this is how West Virginians do baby monitoring.