Tuesday, May 29, 2012

First day of "school"

So it's not officially "school" since it's the summer time, but Brady started at a new day care today.  He now attends Lamb of God Lutheran School in Manhattan.  He was soooo excited to start "school." He gets to wear his backpack every day and take a lunch with him. 

And this boy loves to cheese for the camera.  Love that!
The mandatory outdoor picture.  
 And cheesing it up with Brenna.
Dropping him off this morning was actually bittersweet.  I know it's so very cliche, but wow, he's growing up so fast.  Once the fall rolls around he'll have actual preschool 3 days a week with the other 2 days being regular daycare.  He's got his own locker and everything.  *tear* 

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Cruisin'

Brady is becoming quite the good driver this summer and loves, loves, loves to drive his truck around the neighborhood.  His friend Tucker lives next door and Tucker has a truck now, too, so they ride around together. 

 Brady's favorite part about riding outside?  Or really, favorite thing to do outside?  Edee.  Edee lives across the street and Brady loves her.  Screams her name whenever he sees her or her parents car and just runs to her whenever he can.  Fortunately, she feels the same way about him.  They're becoming quite the buds.

Brady gives Edee a ride.
And every time Brady gives her a ride, I sing a little song to myself:
"Well I got my first truck, when I was three,
Drove a hundred thousand miles on my knees
Hauled marbles and rocks, and thought twice before
I hauled a Barbie Doll bed for the girl next door
She tried to pay me with a kiss I began to understand,
There's just something women like about a PickUp Man"

That song is a good 'ol Joe Diffie classic and if nobody else appreciates it, well, I think my friend Amy would at least sing along with me!
 And she gives him a ride (she's a better driver!).
 Seriously, could they be any cuter?  Edee and her family are one of many, many reasons that I just love our neighborhood.  We've got to get a picture of all the kids playing together one of these days.

Brenna went cruisin', too.

Mother's Day

We had a great Mother's Day this past weekend.  Brenna was dedicated at church bright and early.
Brenna didn't dare let anyone else hold her; thankfully Pastor Deb totally understands that since she has grandbabies of her own the same age as Brenna.
 Brady did very well up on stage, though he provided some entertainment.  Not one to stand still, he left our side and made his way over to the edge where he peered over but decided not to jump.  The congregation was pretty amused by his antics; mom and dad not as much.

And what would mother's day be without some interaction between your children.  Here's a little taste of what we're seeing lately.  Brenna is already starting to annoy her brother; here's to 20 more years of that habit!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Morning fun

Dad has been able to enjoy some great morning fun with the kiddos lately.  Earlier this month he awakened to hear sounds of sheer delight coming from Brenna's room.  When he opened the door, he discovered that Brady had taken every single toy from her toy box and placed it in her crib.
Every.  Single.  Toy. 

She apparently thought this was just hilarious, as you can see from the picture below.  She just jumped up and down and they both were giggling up a storm. 

Teeth and steps!

We've had a big, big, big week in our house.  And I've got to write it down or I'm going to forget it.

Brenna has been quite the cranky girl lately, but no wonder because she's working on getting quite a few new teeth.  Tooth #3 (top left canine) came in last Friday, May 4th.  Tooth #4 (top right front) came in on Monday, May 7th and on Tuesday, May 8th she took 2 steps all by herself! Whew.  That's a lot of stuff for one week.

Teeth #5 and #6 look to be coming in soon and I imagine the walking is right behind it. 

These pictures have nothing to do with her milestones, but they're cute anyway!


Isn't he adorable with his glove and baseball bat?

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

One year stats

Brenna's one-year appointment was last week.  She weighed in at a whopping 17 pounds and 6 ounces, which is the 4th percentile for her age.  She stands 27.75 inches tall, which is the 12th percentile for her age.  She is a petite thing and perfect just the way she is!

At one year of age Brenna can crawl all over the place.  She can go up the stairs, but still not down.  She can stand on her own and even stands up from a sitting position, but she needs a little help to walk around.  She can also say "mama"!!!!!!  Dada has been a word for a long time, so I'm thrilled about the new word in our vocabulary.  She loves to clap and play peek-a-boo and roll balls and read books.  She also adores "playing" with the Legos. 
She loves to be outside and crawls around the grass, the driveway, the street, etc.  She has knees of steel because crawling on the pavement doesn't even slow her down.

She's eating 3 meals a day, along with a morning and afternoon snack.  She's made the transition to whole milk without any problem.  She's still not a big fan of the sippy cup, which is probably just a by-product of mom & dad not making her use it more.  She goes to bed at 8:00 and wakes up around 7:00.  She'll take one good nap of about 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours during the middle of the day, though she'll sometimes take a shorter nap in the morning and then another one in the late afternoon.

And wow, does she love to eat.  There are meals where she eats more than her brother and sometimes more than her mom.  She'll eat most stuff we give her, but she seems to be quite partial to meat.  Meatloaf, turkey, ham, burgers, etc.  Here's a little evidence of her healthy appetite.

 Starting to shovel in those spinach squares.
 That mouth is full now.
 Who needs to swallow the food when you can just cram it all in your mouth at one time?
Fear not.  Despite her tendency to shovel food, she managed to chew all of that up and get it down with no problems and then immediately started squawking for more.