Holy cow. You are almost an entire year old, Brady boy! Where did time go? Even though I follow you around with (several) cameras and try to document everything, time has flown by and you’ve grown so much right before our eyes. Your personality just blossoms more and more. You turned 11 months old at the end of September, 2013. Almost a year old!

Your personality is great. You stick your tongue out and mimic dad or me and smile in return. We joke that you and dad have a secret “code” since you mostly stick your tongue out really fast over and over only with dad. I’m lucky if you do it for me. Occasionally you do it in public and people think it’s funny. You’re like a lizard.

You cross your ankles. All the time. When you’re sitting in your car seat, when your on the ground playing, in your high chair, in your stroller, in the bath, etc… It’s adorable.  You’ve stood up / balanced on your own a few times. It’s still a little wobbly at times so you use furniture to navigate your way around. You practically run with your “push cart” toy. It’s hilarious how proud of yourself you are!

You are nursing so well lately! We’re finally both pros!  You started to discover that you can pull down my shirt to access your milk. Oy vey. I usually just wear camisoles around the house so it’s extra accessible for you. You are still very polite about it, though. But if I don’t give in to your nursing on demand… it’s cranky baby city.  Sometimes I will purposely wear a higher neck shirt or something that doesn’t accentuate that area so you are less inclined to invite yourself for a milk snack.

My goodness, child. You are going to eat me out of house and home. You get so many comments on how rotund your belly is. You have these skinny-ish arms and legs and then this belly that looks like you ate a huge water balloon.  Your poops reflect this for sure. I mean, they’re practically adult-sized. I’m not one to discuss bathroom humor/habits, but man oh man.  It’s sad though, because more often than not it hurts you to poop (because they’re so dang big!) I’ve tried giving you more water, prunes, pears, etc..  You eat mostly fresh fruits and veggies by feeding yourself small pieces – we are weaning from the purreed texture (unless we’re in a hurry then, I’ll spoon feed you quickly). You are really good at it. Sometimes we have to tell you to slow down and “one piece at a time, son”.   You tend to grab a piece of food, raise it up high in the air (as if you’re very proudly toasting) then jam it into your mouth. Although, occasionally you drop it down to feed George. He LOVES you during meal times. The only meal you don’t typically share is breakfast.  Sometimes when you and I are at the table you try to hand me a piece of food and I’ll come in to “bite” it and you shove it into your mouth. Such a little tease!   Here’s an example meal: Breakfast is typically a whole banana cut into small pieces, 2-3 strawberries cut up, a handful of raspberries and a handful of blueberries. Then, I sit down to eat my oatmeal and you insist on me sharing with you.  This is all after you’ve nursed, too. How is there room for all of that in your belly?   We also upgraded you from your Bumbo chair to a real booster/high chair seat with a tray that straps to a chair at the table.

You’ve discovered light switches. We hold you up and let you turn on and off the lights. It’s funny when we’re at other people’s houses and you try to turn on and off the lights while I’m holding you.  Sometimes you randomly get very excited and your eyes get big, your eyebrows raise/arch, your mouth opens and your put both your hands up in the air and kind of wave them around (while also wiggling/kicking your  feet). This is also usually accompanied by lots of “talking” noises or you quietly whisper while gaping your mouth open and shut repeatedly.  Your dad and I like to joke that you’re trying to show us that you can do “3 things at once”. I’ve started putting “big boy” shoes on you (that actually have rubber soles so you can walk/stand without slipping), but I have to wait until right before we arrive at our destination, because you pull off the velcro straps and kick the shoes off in the car. Even when we pick you up from childcare at church they hand us your shoes, because you’ve kicked them off.

The second week of September you got a little cold and running nose. 🙁 Thankfully it passed without turning serious.

You’re more interested in sports balls lately. In the mornings we play with George’s soccer ball in the grass. You’ve learned to “throw” the ball. You lift it up high and then sorta grunt and drop it so that it rolls a bit.  You could do this for hours on end if I let you. Thank goodness the weather has turned nicer/cooler.  We then usually swing for about 30 minutes in the backyard. You seem to have this thing about holding onto objects for a long period of time. For example, the sunscreen bottle, bug spray bottle, or a small wash cloth that you drag around the house. Whenever I put sunscreen or bug spray on you (usually before lake walks or playing in the yard) there might be a fit thrown if I don’t let you hold the sunscreen can. Then you just hold onto it like it’s your job. So funny.

You are having lots of conversations. You babble with your tongue “Blahblahblahblalalalbalala”. Your top two teeth are cutting through.  You haven’t said any “real” words, but we think you’re assigning certain sounds to certain items/objects. For example you went on a kick for about a week saying “zah!” and pointing to George. Then it was “dah!” (dog?) Then “dooodoooo..Oooo” (with very pursed lips and large eyes). Although, I’m pretty sure you  know much more than you let on. Whenever I ask “Where’s George?” you look for him and sometimes point. Same goes for “Where’s Dad?”

You’re still in your same daily routine (nurse 4x, eat solids 4x, 2 naps – one morning & one afternoon, bath time before bed btwn 7:30-8 ish. Your hair is getting quite long. It’s got some wave/curl to it, but the top is mostly long and straight and the sides/back neck area is curly. It’s so adorable. You have lots of cowlicks currently, so your hair is just kinda doing its own thing. I am hesitant to cut it, of course.

We went up to a lovely cabin in Oklahoma with the women and babies in our Home Group. It was a nice little getaway.  RaRa, Aunt Di, and Gammy were in town for a weekend to celebrate Scarlett’s birthday. We also celebrated your cousin, Alexis’, 1st birthday.  Here are some of the best photos from the past month.

 

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