I think there is something wrong with me. I cant spoon feed Bradley without opening my mouth every time he takes a bite. It's not so bad when I am at home by myself but when I go out in public I feel like such a weirdo! I wonder if it is somehow related to the fact that I cant rub my stomach and pat my head at the same time...

Our Day Out

Bradley and I met my mom and sister at the Olive Garden by my sisters house yesterday and had some lunch together. I guess before we arrived mom and Tab had a hard time getting the waiter to understand the meaning of 3 people plus a baby in order to get a highchair but by the time I got there it was all straightened out. I don't know why but I always have a hard time getting people to understand that too! Of course, Bradley couldn't resist grabbing everything in his reach that was on the table. Bread and salad plates were his favorite and I think the chilled salad plate must have felt good on his gums because he favored that one. My sister was holding him and he climbed up on the table and started doing the river dance while she was hanging onto him. All the surrounding tables were laughing pretty hard about it. He was having a great time making dinosaur noises too. After lunch we went back to my sisters house to hang out. Bradley showed them his new moves (crawling) and my sister showed us her house newly renovated. Right before we left Tabitha brought her Doberman, Red, inside to see Bradley. He didn't seem to care too much for the baby but Bradley sure did love him! He was laughing at Red and watching everything that he did. Bradley really wanted to pet him but Red wasn't interested. Red did go in for a lick and was rewarded with a big laugh from Bradley. It was really cute to see him like that! I think they are going to be great friends when Bradley is a bit older.

The only damper on the day was that Bradley has a runny nose. I don't know if it is from him teething or if he is getting a cold. He is perfectly happy other than when I am trying to wipe his nose though. I feel so bad for him because he is already getting a raw, red nose and applying Vaseline is not effective as it wipes off every time I wipe his nose. I wish he understood how to blow his nose already!

Good Buddies

My neighbor/friend Melissa called me the other day to see if I wanted to go for a walk and try out their new wagon. They make them so nice now! They actually come with seat belts and cup holders which is a far cry from the flat, shallow wagon that might come with tetanus if it was old and rusty enough. Jaxon loved the wagon and was laughing and making all sorts of cute baby noises the whole time. Bradley however took his "cool guy" approach and put on his poker face. I say that he liked it because he didn't cry.

The boys got along great too! They were just enjoying the ride except for every now and again when Jaxon would grab Bradley's feet and then Bradley would grab Jaxon's hat.

We took them to the park and pushed them in the swings for awhile after that. Bradley finally gave in and cracked a few smiles.

Later that day, Scott took Bradley and I out on the lake. Here's Bradley waving at the camera:

The wind blew his hat "Hugo" off!

All the fresh air from the day really wore him out and he gradually started to close his eyes and fell fast asleep.

Busy Baby

Bradley woke up in the middle of the night and after letting him cry for a couple minutes I went in to get him. I walked into his room to see him standing up in his crib. I literally gasped and picked him up right away. I know, it might have been slightly an overreaction... We already lowered his crib one notch so he really wasn't in any danger of falling out unless he somehow developed major upper body strength to pull himself up but it still made me worry to see him standing there. I think with him reaching milestones by leaps and bounds these days I would feel much better lowering his mattress to the lowest setting. He has turned into quite the little busybody these days. He is climbing on our stools, chairs, his walker, the stairs, and even me! I have turned my back for a second and he managed to cross the room, pull himself up into a standing position, and fall down in that short amount of time. I don't want to coddle him too much so every time he takes a spill he wants comforting but it is so much easier said than done. I have been going on a case by case basis of comforting. He is such a sweet boy though. He is giving me kisses all of the time now. He grabs my face with his little hands and lays a nice open-mouthed kiss on me. It is so amazing to watch the baby who couldn't even turn his head when he was born develop and become his own person.

Now I Understand

The day after Bradley figured out how to crawl this is what he is now doing...

It isn't necessarily the fact that he is trying to stand that bothers me but rather him trying to do it against movable objects such as his highchair and walker. Whenever anyone told me how fast children grow up I would think "I am sure they do" but without any true understanding. Now I get it.

He's Crawling!

Bradley and I were hanging out today playing with his toys and all of a sudden he gets up on his hands and feet and crawls over to me like he knew how to do it all along. I couldn't believe it! I caught him on tape crawling a little later in the day too. Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvDh6Uh6tCY

Jaxons First Birthday

We had such a busy weekend! My mom came down on Friday to babysit while we went to a friends wedding and then the following day we had a birthday party to attend. Our friends that live across the street have a little boy that turned 1 on Saturday so they threw him a big party. They rented a bouncy castle, had tons of toys for the 25 kids that were there, and plenty of food for the 80 adults in attendance. Our other neighbors even opened up their pool for the party which was a huge hit considering it was a really hot day. Mike, Jen, and Mackenzie came over to stay the night as well so it was a busy day. Bradley played with Mackenzie in the shade of a bunch of beach umbrellas and even got his feet dipped in the pool. The best part though was when our friend Melissa kicked all the older kids out of the bouncy castle so the babies could go in. Jaxon, the birthday boy, Mackenzie, and Bradley all got in (with the help of the parents) and bounced around.

Bradleys cool outfit

Bradley loves bouncing!

Scott and Bradley bouncing

Bradley trying to bite Mackenzie

The next morning, Barry and Melissa invited us back over for breakfast. Mackenzie and Bradley are old enough now that the age difference between them and Jaxon isn't as profound. Mackenzie is 8 months and Bradley is 7 1/2. They were fighting over toys but eventually could learn to get along and share. He slept good over the weekend from all the fresh air and play time!

Hmph!

Bradley was cruising around in his walker and making a bunch of bird noises as usual when I decided I wanted to pick him up and give him a big "I love you" squeeze for being so cute. I scoop him up into my arms and he wiggles in and blows a raspberry on my face. Is there anything more perfect than motherhood I wonder to myself? However, I no longer smell the clean baby smell that I associate with my son but instead a foul odor. At the same instant I smell this I realize that my arm feels wet. He might be cute but he sure makes diaper companies out to be liars with the "leak proof protection" promises. Oh well, what is a second shower and some additional laundry really in the big scheme of things?

My Child is a Genius

From the very beginning when Bradley was hungry he would say "ma ma ma" and I obviously thought it was a coincidence. However, last night while I was out with the girls Bradley said "da da da" when he got hungry. Not only was it the first time he made that sound, it was while only Daddy was home to feed him. Therefore my baby is a genius that knows which parent to address when he is hungry. There is clearly no other explanation! ;)

Rash

Bradley developed a rash on his abdomen on Thursday morning. At first I thought it might be an allergic reaction to plums since it showed up right after I gave him plums for the first time but the rash never spread and hasn't gone away. We went to the walk in clinic this morning since our family doctor is booked for weeks in advance and that doctor was stumped. He had no idea what the rash could be caused from. He ruled out a virus since it isn't bothering him and he has no other symptoms. It isn't a food allergy since it is only really on his stomach and no where else. He recommended trying Aveeno bath products and if it doesn't go away by Thursday to come back and see him again. I am rewashing all of his clothes and doing an extra rinse in case it is the detergent that is bothering him just so we can rule everything out. I am glad that he doesn't seem bothered by it but I hope that it goes away soon!

Messy Messy Messy

I am not sure what happened to my good eater but for the last two days Bradley hasn't been interested in solid foods at all. Last week he must have been having a growth spurt because I was constantly feeding him but so far this week he has eaten his milk but refused fruits, veggies, and even his favorite cereal. He is so interested in his sippy cup full of water that he follows me around in his walker as I am filling it up though. I think he likes the do-it-yourself aspect of it. While I am trying to feed him solids, he reaches for the spoon and takes it from me. He does manage to get the right end in his mouth along with most of the contents on the spoon but a lot does end up on his face, clothes, high chair, and even on me. I don't know if he is just not hungry or he is showing his independence by proving he can feed himself. He will eat if he has control over the spoon so that makes me think he just wants to do it himself. I would have less of a problem with this if it didn't require as much of a clean up as it does! I know, I know, this is just the beginning...

Balancing Act

It was right after Scott got home from work yesterday that Bradley decided to show us a new trick. He was on his hands and knees trying to figure out how to move forward without doing his usual worm impression when he lifted one hand up and balanced on the other. No sooner did he do this then he started experimenting and figuring out what else he could do while balancing. He can pick up toys, chew on his fingers, grab our faces, and put one hand in front of the other.

Overnight he has somehow changed his tactic and can now scoot forward to get his toys so much faster. He can also go from sitting up to be on his hands and knees now when something is too far away to reach. My child is mobile. This is the end of my freedom, isn't it?

Our Weekend

We have had a busy weekend so far. On Friday night, Scott and his brother Mike, went out for a friends birthday so Jen and I made dinner at her place with the babies and watched chick flicks. Mackenzie has this blow up cylinder shaped toy with jungle animals printed on it. Last time we were over Bradley started crying when he saw it. I didn't know if it was a fluke so I sat him down and rolled it towards him. He went from smiling and cooing to crying when he saw it! I moved it away from him and then put him in their exersaucer but apparently that wasn't far enough away for him. Just catching a glimpse of this toy makes him upset! I don't know what it is about this seemingly harmless toy that he hates but he really doesn't like it.

Scott, Bradley, and I stayed over that night so we didn't have to drive home late at night but for some reason I couldn't keep Bradley asleep. He is pretty used to sleeping away from home so I don't think that was the problem but every time I would get him to fall asleep and put him down in his bed he would wake up crying. Not just a normal cry but an all out wail. After several of these failed attempts I decided to just let him sleep with me so I could actually sleep that night. Of course that did the trick and we both were able to get some shut eye.

Last night, Jen and I left the babies with our husbands and went out downtown with a group of girls for a friends bachelorette party. Scott dropped us off downtown and picked us up when we were ready to come home so we didn't have to worry about parking and walking too far in our cute but uncomfortable shoes. When we got back to Mike and Jen's, Bradley and Mackenzie were asleep but no sooner did Bradley hear my voice did he wake up and demand food. This kid is going to have a tough time weaning that is for sure! He fell back asleep after eating though and we left shortly after that to go home. Now the fun begins. He would not sleep and nothing could make this baby happy. He didn't want to eat, he didn't want to be held, he didn't want to be in his bed... you get the point. I figured it must be a stomach ache from the way he was stiffening up and crying so I gave him some Gripe Water, bicycled his legs, and bounced him around the house. He finally burped a couple times and seemed to calm down right away. By this time it is close to 4:00 when we managed to lay him down and sleep. He slept good after that but we are all dragging a little bit today except for him who gets to take naps whenever he wants. I don't understand the whole concept of "sleep when your baby sleeps" because somehow I cannot fall asleep during the day and if I do manage to do so it is a nap interrupted by a phone call or Bradley deciding he wants to get up right when I fall asleep. We are planning on taking a long walk today and getting Bradley in some fresh air with the hopes that it will help Bradley sleep tonight.

It Starts

I turned my back for one minute and this is what I find...