Wanderer

Bradley loves his walker so much but he sure does get into stuff while in it!

He drunkenly runs down the hallway and stops at the end where his room and our room are and looks back and forth deciding what room he would rather go in, then heads right into our room and straight for the DVD player to push buttons. I have to go and wheel him out and close the door. He runs back down the hallway into the kitchen and does laps around the island occasionally checking drawers and cupboards.

Here he is "playing" in his room.

Sleepy Time

Bradley is getting to be a better sleeper lately (knock on wood). I have to still get up with him usually once a night but I am not about to complain about that considering all that I have gone through getting him to sleep so far. This week I actually got two nights in a row where he slept through the night until around 6:00 am so I have been very spoiled. Now that he can move around more I have decided to let him have a couple stuffed animals in his bed with him to cuddle or play with while falling asleep. He really likes the blanket with a bear head and a bear with a rabbit hoodie on. I position these in the corners and when I get him after his naps they are always moved in different spots so I know he is enjoying having the company.

Yesterday I put him down for his last nap of the day and actually had to go wake him up because it was getting so late in the night that I was afraid he wouldn't sleep through the night if he slept too long during his nap. When I went in there I found him with his knees tucked up underneath him and his little butt in the air. I had to go get the camera to catch the moment of course!

We spent the weekend in Grand Rapids with my mom and step-dad who have been patiently waiting for a visit with Bradley. I really enjoy playing golf and havent been able to play in about 2 years because of mulitple reasons. Firstly, the weather in Ontario only allows golf for a few months of the year and secondly, being pregnant or having a newborn usually puts a halt on those types of activities. Either way, my parents took us out golfing on Saturday and had called ahead to make sure it was ok to bring Bradley out on the course. My mom and I decided we would get a cart and play 9 holes while taking turns holding Bradley while the guys would play 18 on foot. For taking that much time off from the game, I played pretty decent (for me) and had a lot of fun. By the 5th hole, my mom had enough of the game she plays a couple times a week in favor of playing with Bradley while driving me around to wherever I hit my ball. It was great!

Here are some pictures:

Bradley got to meet the PGA professional that works at this course. Everyone that saw Bradley loved his little outfit complete with his golfing hat. Bradley was of course completely exhausted from all of the fresh air and took a lot of naps the rest of the day.

Picnic

Scott's 2nd annual company picnic was yesterday. It is set up for children so they had a huge inflatable obstacle course, a bouncing castle, pony rides, face painting, mini golf, and some other games. Bradley was obviously too young for most of these activities but I couldnt resist getting him on a pony. He held onto the saddle for almost the whole time and didnt seem to mind being on the pony. He obviously had no idea what was going on but it was fun for Scott and I.

We also got him a balloon hat made by the clown.

There was a play area with a baby swing so he got to try that out for the first time as well. He really enjoyed the swing!

I had a ton of cotton candy and Scott had a couple snow cones so we all left sleepy but full of sugar. He was a big hit with all of Scott's coworkers who got to meet him for the first time. He is really good with new people and in crowds but seems to try to take it all in rather than being his normal babbling self. Next year should be a lot more fun for us all since Bradley will be old enough for some of the other activities. It is definitely getting easier to do things with him now that he is eating cereal and other foods instead of only being nursed. He is full longer now which makes it so much better to get back out and do things like this.

Balloon

The day Bradley was born his Aunt Carley bought him a balloon. Almost 7 months later this balloon is still floating. Although it is not in the best condition, it is still hovering about 3 feet above the floor. When we came home from the hospital I tied the balloon to a chair in the dining room and it has stayed there ever since. Well, until the other day when Bradley was exploring in his walker and managed to untie the balloon from the chair.

Now it is a fun game for him. He holds onto it by the strings all throughout the house.

When not holding onto it he is chasing it around. He loves this balloon!

Forward Motion!

We are in the last days or weeks of having a baby that stays where we leave him. He is now not only doing push ups and going backwards but getting up on his knees and rocking like he is trying to figure out forward motion. He has actually tried an army crawl as well and went forward a little but he is still obviously figuring it all out. We bribe him with his favorite objects including the telephone and remote control to try to crawl. It seems to work better than his own toys but once he gets going we won't be able to put those within his reach out of fear of him making some overseas calls or ordering some movies on accident!

I cant believe how fast he is growing up and although I love seeing all of these new discoveries, I don't want him to get too big too fast.

Camping

We went up north Michigan to my Dad's cabin over the weekend bringing baby in tow. We got the comment from my Dad upon arriving that we packed for a month but I find that when going out into the middle of nowhere it is better to go over prepared than under. My Dad and Step mom, Debbie, brought their poodle and when my sister arrived she had her doberman, Red with her. Debbie watched Bradley while everyone else went on the boat including my sisters dog. It was a great time! We went tubing until my arms were like jello and I couldn't hold on any longer. Meanwhile, back on dry land Bradley was having a great time with his Grandma. They played together, he took a nap on her, and he even pet the poodles ears. She normally isn't much of a licker but I guess she licked Bradley on the ear and he laughed. I wish I would have seen that! The campfire was a bit different as my Dad set up a screen tent for Bradley so I felt like a bubble-boy quarantined from the fire but it was nice to not have one mosquito bite. We had a really fun trip and a great car ride too.

Swimming

My mother in law invited me over to go swimming yesterday so Bradley and I went over to do just that. She got him little swim trunks and pool floaties. I slathered him in sun screen and we hopped into the pool. He doesnt quite know how to kick his legs yet but I worked on that with him by taking him in big circles to see if that would help. (I have never attended a baby swim class so I am not really sure if this is what you do to teach babies to swim but it cant hurt anything.)

Here is Bradley giving me a high five!

He was splashing like crazy and getting himself soaked. It was awesome to see him doing that!

Here is him in the pool floatie. He was not stable enough for it really so I had to hold onto him and all he tried to do in it was eat the bar on the front but he sure does look cute! (I later found out that this one was also part of the mass recall of pool floaties that are known to have the seat fall out so I am glad that I always had a hold of him just in case!)

It was only about 70 degrees out and even though the pool was a nice 85 we didn't stay in too long because it did get chilly. Swimming really wears him out and he slept like a baby (obviously) all the way home.

Movie Night

I went out last night with my girls, Jen and Melissa, to see the movie "My Sisters Keeper" and left Scott at home with Bradley. He has never had to feed him cereal before so I left my instructions on the counter and the phone on vibrate during the movie just in case. The movie was pretty sad so of course I couldn't wait to get home to my family and give them some kisses. When I pulled in the driveway I see Scott holding Bradley in our big front window. Bradley is wearing nothing but his diaper (of course) and waving his arm at me on his own. I am sure he doesn't know he was waving but he was! Scott already fed him and bathed him so all that there was left to do is get in some snuggle time before bed. He said Bradley must have missed me because he was crying during his dinner and bath (which is not normal) and when I got home he stopped. It feels so good to be missed that much but at the same time it isn't a good thing because it makes Scott's time with him a lot more difficult. That was the first movie I have seen since Bradley was born and I have another "date" lined up with my sister to see Harry Potter and am really excited about that.

Sweet Potatoes

I have made a batch of sweet potatoes for Bradley all ready to be frozen in convienent 1 serving cubes. Looks yummy, right?

It took awhile but he eventually took to them and is eating them like a champ. He tends to get more on his face and clothes than he does in his mouth but we are still working on that! So far making baby food has been really enjoyable and simple to do. I'm going to keep doing it as much as possible but the jars are going to be much easier to travel with than frozen cubes.

Boating

We went out on a short boat ride up and down our creek the other day for the first time with Bradley. He had to wear his life jacket, of course, even though the water is only about 4 feet deep. It was a bit tough holding him because the life vest came up so high that he seemed really uncomfortable sitting down plus his hat kept blowing off if I didn't hold it on his head. I cant just put him in his car seat or strap him in anything because that defeats the purpose of the life jacket so I have to make do with him standing on my lap the entire time. It was nice to get out on the water but I just cant see us doing it all that often because of how uncomfortable Bradley seemed the whole time. Hopefully when he gets older it will be easier because I miss going out on the lake with my husband!