Raising a "modern man"

As mentioned, Brady likes to be with me (and today that translates to every waking moment)...that works out pretty well because I like him too! ;p However, he also likes to be entertained...good thing it doesn't take much to amuse a 7 month old! Today I told him if he wanted to be with me, he'd have to help me check some things off my list including laundry. The laundry basket was of particular interest to him and he sat nicely as I folded. Towards the end of our task, my little modern man seemed to be getting bored with this household chore. He cried that he was done...yes buddy, sometimes I feel the same way about housework!

7 months old

Happy Birthday Brady! Brady's definitely becoming more and more of a "little person." He's independent- sits by himself and plays (okay mouthes and licks) his toys. But at the same time, he wants us to be close. He looks around for us and cries if he notices we're gone for what he deems too long. He still seems to have a slight preference for me. I love it though. It's God's perfect design (and some say reward) forging that mommy-baby bond from carrying and growing your child for almost 10 months and then feeding for another year. :) Someday this little boy will only want to be with his Daddy, but for now he's my baby.

We can tell he's on the verge of crawling. I'm discouraging this- haha! He rocks on his hands and knees like he's not quite sure what to do yet. He is motivated by objects out of his reach though and will stretch as far as he can go. ("Go go gadget-arms!") It's only a matter of time before he figures out that his body can move (other than rolling)...then the real trouble begins! He does pull to standing when you hold his hands, but he's been doing that since he was about 4 months old. Just the other day he pushed his own way to standing (unassisted), but I'm not quite sure of the position he was in so can't repeat it. He continues to get his thunder thigh workout by jumping around in the command center or the bumper jumper.

Brady babbles a little bit but we've only heard the repetition of consonant and vowels sounds a few times. He babbles when he is upset...so of course that is why we've only heard it a few times. lol! Seriously though, he babbles "bababadadamama" when he's upset but growls (or makes sort of boy/car noises) when he's happy. He's really in to growling...maybe he's watching Romey a little too much??? :) He seems to know his name and will look when called, but he's been doing that for some time now too.

Brady is a Very curious little boy...always has to know what's going on. When I'm holding him, he switches sides and whips his head around to look beyond me almost as if to say, "Move your big ole' head! I can't see! What's that?" I always tell him he's going to get baby whiplash from being so nosey. He tracks Romey and the Roomba a lot and is very interested in their movements.

We don't have a wellness doctor visit until 9 months. I'm not even going to bother with height and weight measurements @ home...we already know how inaccurate our scale is! Suffice to say, Brady is a healthy little boy (buddah belly and all) and is growing quite nicely.

Just your average Saturday

We enjoyed lunch out today at Not Your Average Joe's. Brady was good eating out and being with us at a restaurant again. He ate his favorite food (squash) and some applesauce before we had our meals. He loved watching people, and playing with the menus, the napkins, and the toys we brought along for him. He was really snuggly afterwards and we had fun cuddling him. I love Brady's little head with a hat on and the way his pudgy little hand falls on his Daddy's shoulder.

Later that afternoon, Brett was beginning the task of cleaning out the garage when we spotted our next door neighbors. Pat was out doing yard work and Rebekah was playing with the rake. Brett wasted no time in putting the energy of the kids to work and told her to rake up the leaves that had fallen from our tree. We gave Joshua our rake so that he could help his sister. No issues with child labor laws here! :p I mean really, Brett's put infant Brady to work already, of course he'll capitalize on 6-year-old Rebekah and 4-year-old Joshua. Afterwards the kids had fun taking pictures of all sorts of things including the grown-ups who were just chatting supervising while they did all the work! ;p

Pat and Brett
(aka "Mr. Luhring...the dad, not the mom" as Joshua calls him to clarify which one of us it is when he is not sure if he used the right Mr./Mrs. term...so cute!)

Then we cooled off and hung out in their backyard with Brady's pool and their slip-n-slide. It was so much fun for us All! Brett commented on how good Brady was being (especially since it was so sticky and hot outside). I told him it was because the kids were providing live entertainment for him. I think that's one of the reasons he enjoys daycare so much...every day is jam-packed with excitement to watch! I cited it as evidence to further the case for having a litter. :) The kids entertain each other...especially the babies! I still don't think he's quite sold on my "let's have four kids!" idea just yet though.

Kiddie Coffee Shop

Can we have any more names for the exersauser...one of the coolest kids toys ever? Brady loves this thing! They have 2 at his daycare too and the providers tell me he loves them just as much as he does the ones at home. In the morning, we call it the kiddie coffee shop. After he's been in it for about 10 minutes, he starts crying and raising his arms to get out. He also needs a diaper change every time (in the mornings). It is like clockwork...never fails. Must be all the gravity workin' for him. Brett says it's like coffee for him. So now after he eats and I need to wash my face and put in my contacts, I'll say, "Okay, time to go to the kiddie coffee shop!" and plunk him in there.

The photo above is from this afternoon. I was laying down beside it while Brady jumped around. The view cracked me up! I love his chubby little legs! He was having such a good time, I wanted to capture it on video. Even though he looks very serious jumping around, he is having a good time head-banging:

New patio for Daddy-o

Our new patio furniture that Brett's been wanting for some time now arrived today and the only assembly required removing the plastic and arranging the pieces...so about 30 minutes after the box was opened, our living space was extended outside. Brett is loving it and proclaimed that he "may sleep here tonight." The picture is blurry because we were trying to capture the serene essence of a (citronella) candle-lit porch with a super comfy couch without a bright flash (but we had to turn the porch light on to get the picture).

A Sunday afternoon in the country...

Okay so it's not really the country, it's Uncle Satish and Auntie Monica's house. But they have so much land, it's like being out in the country! We had lunch out at a fun little crab shack and hung out with the Unnis. Still-sick boy Brady got special TLC from Auntie Monica, who is a Physician's Assistant. She examined him and used her stethoscope to listen to his lungs to ensure they were clear. She even let Mommy and Daddy play with her cool toy! We got to hear Brady's quick little heartbeat. It was so cool! We haven't heard that since he was in utero. Brady also had a blast being tossed around by and climbing on his Uncle Satish. He's all boy...barely 7 months old and he loves to rough-house already! OH BOY! I have a feeling we are in for it and as he gets older we'll be visiting Auntie Monica in the ER in addition to at her house! doh! *crossing fingers that I did not just jinx us!*

STTN

That's online lingo for "sleeping through the night." At almost 7 months, I'm pretty sure Brady is now STTN. He's done so for the past 2 days...and you know what? Instead of celebrating, I've been freaking out! I have gotten less sleep the past 2 nights than I have in a while. That's because I wake up @ 2, @ 3:30, @ 4:30, @ 5:30, and @ 6:30 listening very hard and wondering why he isn't hungry. He has woken up, and either sort of cried out or just babbled. But it barely lasts a minute and it's not a cry...then he's back to sleep. Brett's like, "Sweet!" But I'm like, "What's wrong? Why is he not hungry?" I so prefer getting up once in the middle of night...the ~30 minutes it takes to get up, walk to Brady's room, nurse him, and put him back down is worth my piece of mind. So I think I now have to work on sleep training again...this time for ME. :p

At the head of the table

We met Murali for dinner tonight and then took him to the airport. This was Brady's first time using a restaurant high chair, instead of sitting in his car seat, and his first time having his dinner out. Thank you Guptas for our way cool shopping cart cover that doubles as a high chair cover...we love it! Brady was entertained sitting there watching people go by. Murali's sister just had her second child (which was his main reason for visiting; seeing the C Buds was just an added bonus!) so I don't think he thought I was too crazy for taking all these pictures of the little man just sitting in a chair (or maybe he did and he's just too nice to say so?). :)

On the way there, I took this picture of Brady because I love how he often holds on to his car seat when he's riding in it. Seeing his little chubby balled up fist like that makes me think he's relaxing in his own version of a barcalounger. So cute! He's gotten much better about being in the car. It always makes me laugh to look back and see him looking out the window. I'm always wondering what he's thinking about...

Friday snapshots

Just some random pictures of the little man playing today:

I've let him sit around in his pj's all day...I think he had his first fever today. You wouldn't be able to tell from his demeanor that he is sick...he's been pretty happy and not fussy. But all day long he was drooling and spitting up much more than usual, sneezing, had a runny nose, and was really warm. I tried to take his temperature via his armpit, but little Curious George was fascinated by the thermometer, kept wiggling around, and grabbing at it. It wasn't quite finished reading, but did get up to 99.9. The mommy-thermometer (kisses to his little bald head) indicated that he had a fever though. I gave little b some infant Tylenol (only the second time he's had that) and then put him in his swimming pool to cool him off. It worked and his temperature went down. All is well!

Wooodee Wooodee

That's the sound my sister and I used to make when we were little and something was "risque." Every night after his bath, I let Brady roll around naked either on our bed or on a soft flannel sheet on his floor. At first I was doing it to allow his little butt to be dighty-free in an attempt to combat diaper rash. But he really likes it and is super happy...so now it's just a part of our routine. He rolls around, making all kinds of joyful noise, and tires himself out in the 15 minutes he has before he nurses and then goes to bed.

"Don't give me no lip!"

For some reason (maybe because he's sort of teething?), this is the latest face Brady makes:

Brett doesn't love it. But it's so goofy that it makes me laugh. He's not pouting, more like sucking on his upper lip (which is really small anyway). It's funny to me. :) In the close-up pictures you can also see that little man's a Boogie Man again these days...another case of the daycare sniffles.

Where there's smoke alarms, there's the fire dept

Just a little bit of excitement here @ 21520 today (as if the debut of the umbrella stroller wasn't exciting enough!). This was the scene at our house around 11:15 this morning as the firemen left. I was trying to be all stealth and not blatantly take their picture. I suppose I could have just said, "Uh, could you smile for the camera so I can blog about this and document The Luhring Life?" They were very nice and probably would have obliged.

So I'm on a client call this morning when all of a sudden the sound of six, yes SIX smoke detector alarms pierces the air. I shout to the client that I'm "going to have to call him back!" and immediately call Brett so he can be a part of the excitement too (and tell me what to do). I am so bad in "emergency" situations. I'm on the phone with Brett while running around trying to find a ladder. I can only find his 8' one and lug it in from the garage. I drag it around to the six screaming devices and rip them all out off their brackets in an effort to just make the "eeee-eeee-eeee!" sound stop!

I finally restore silence to our house and call the fire dept. I tell them it's no emergency but the dispatcher advises me to get out of the house and wait for the firemen outside. I get poor old Sandy (who pretty much slept through all the chaos) up and she, Romey, and I wait outside for the truck. They came, inspected the smoke detectors, changed the batteries, gave me advice, and put the units back up. I felt So bad for having them come out in their long pants and heavy gear in this heat just to tell me that I'm in need of new smoke detectors (these are dated 1999...did you know smoke detectors expire in 10 years and should be replaced?). Thank you AVFD...you'll be getting another donation from the Luhrings this year- and not just for the sake of the free 10x13! :)

Low rider

As often as we can, Brady, Romey, and I walk to daycare for the morning drop-off. The heat and humidity are usually pretty tolerable then and it's a nice short trip. Today we used the umbrella stroller for the first time. This was another neighbor donation (as 2 of our 4 strollers are...thanks Jackie!) and I have been wondering when it was okay to use it. Since Brady sits up unsupported now, I thought we'd give it a whirl. It kind of weirded me out at first because it's so lightweight. It looks and feels like our little neighbor Bailey's toy stroller! There is no storage underneath it like the other strollers so it rides very close to the ground. Brady seemed to like it. I kept laughing looking at his chubby little thighs. I found myself walking Really slow because even though he was belted in, I felt like he would fall out with every sidewalk crack we rolled over!

C Buds Reunion 2008

The gang's all here and Brett is happily re-living high school memories. Murali and Carmella flew in from San Fran. Bill and Sarah (who are expecting their second child on January 1, 2009- Yay! Congratulations!!!) drove up from NC. Steve and Michelle drove down from NY. Eric, Lauren, Jeff, and Adam came out west from DC. The C Buds have not all been together since April 2007 when we all went to NC to met the first installation of C Buds Gen 2- little Ian. We did have a partial reunion in April, but this time around, all of the buds were here. Brady thoroughly enjoyed their visit...he was very happy to be passed around or watch the silliness ensue from his view in his Jeep. I was having too much fun visiting and didn't get a picture of Brady with everyone. But we did take a few-

Jeff's not so sure about "wee ones,"
(I think it's funny how they are looking at each other though).With Steve and Michelle:Steve's question this time around was,
"So what'll it take to assume responsibility for 'one of these' for a week or so?"

With Murali and Carmella: Murali had a cold so he didn't want to get too close. Brady really enjoyed snuggling and playing with Carmella (who is a pediatric nurse...she was so great with Brady and Romey too!).

As American as Baseball and Apple SAUCE?

Happy Fourth of July!

I stuffed our little All-American in to this cute hand-me-down baseball outfit from our neighbor Janice's son Jared. It's 3-6 month size, but it was just too cute to pass up! We had a busy day today as we again worked together as a family to restore Brett's man-cave to all its glory following the flood. We have a strict deadline because the C-Buds are coming for an all participatory reunion tomorrow. We have all been working on this project...Brett's been cutting and painting baseboards; I've been organizing the storage room; and Brady's been playing nicely and allowing us to do these tasks.

Tonight we went to Kim's house for a neighborhood party. Of course it was another good time with friends. I brought Brady home around 7:30, fed him, and put him down to sleep. Then I took the monitor across the street to Kim's...and it worked! Brett and I got to continue hanging out while still watching our kid (literally) on the video screen. The monitor even worked when we walked up to the cul-de-sac to watch fireworks. Brett had fun with our camera taking these.

In other news, I finally gave Brady fruit today. I was holding off because a few things I'd read advised introducing vegetables first because some kids only like sweet fruit after having it. Actually, Brady's first solid was avocado, but it's not a very sweet fruit. Anyway, he had applesauce today. He frowned at first taste, as he does with all new food. But ate it just fine. I also bought him bananas to try. I've been singing that phonics song to him for the past few days..."I like to eat, eat, eat, eeeples and beeneenees. I like to ate ate ate aypples and banaynays."

Swirlie

I just had to take a picture of little man's swirl because one day it may be gone and I want to remember it. When he was born, Brady had a full head of dark black hair (see 2 reminder picts here). Over the past six months, he's been losing his hair and developed a sort of "reverse toilet bowl male pattern baldness." He had no hair where some old men have it on a band around the middle of his head. We're guessing this was because of all the turtle-on-its-back lying around that infants do these days. In addition to that, his front hairline was also receding leaving only his comb-over-Donald-Trump swirl. The other hair is slowly growing back in and seems to be coming in lighter...more like his Daddy's hair.

Interesting tidbit: my neighbor Jackie shared this "old wives tale-" if a baby has a swirlie head, the next sibling will be the opposite sex. Jackie said this was true with her kids, but generally speaking, who knows? I can tell you many of the old wives tales re: pregnancy and gender indicators (including the Chinese gender predictor, heart rate, and cravings) were wrong with Brady. The "old wives" said he'd be a girl.