Its almost pool season

Brendan had his first dip in the pool (well first real one, he did have a quick dip the week before). He had a blast even though it was on the cold side. A few more weeks and we'll all go in (all the way in and not just staying on the step).

lounging on the sofa while eating his skittles before bed. He looks very tall in these photos but I took him in for his 2 year visit and he's average in height and weight now (45% percentiles) - he's really slimmed down in the past year.

Yesterday I gave him an icecream sandwich to eat and he eat the entire thing! (those round skinny cow ones)

more photos from March

Catching up with March before I can move on to April. A friend of ours hosted an easter egg hunt - Brendan did great finding the eggs and had a fun time with the easter egg toss - his favorite part of course was eating the candy. I had to post a picture from this party because I love his outfit.

Brendan has a new haircut - perfect for the warmer weather. Here's a few photos of him enjoying a nice day outside lounging in his chair and playing some baseball.

Brendan LOVES spaghetti (he's actually eating his "Easter bunny candy" but is still covered in sauce and chearing for spaghetti.

Happy Easter

Brendan was very excited for the Easter Bunny to come to our house because he knew there would be candy in the eggs. First we did an egg hunt in the back yard and Brendan quickly found all the eggs that the Easter Bunny left - he even hid the colored eggs that we dyed the day before. It was very very windy outside. Then we came inside to find our baskets. The Easter Bunny brought baskets for the entire family! Brendan's included chocolate (Easter Bunny made a stop by Simply Sweets), matchbox cars, rubber duck, stuffed bunny, Where the Wild Things Are book and some Thomas videos and books.

On Saturday, Rob and Brendan visited the Easter Bunny at the mall. Brendan even kissed and hugged the bunny.

Stables tour

Last Tuesday he was finally starting to feel better - he was jumping on the couches, so I decided he needed to get out of the house so we joined my MOMs club for a tour of the local stable. He had a great time and his favorite was the white horse. He even fed the horses apples and carrots.

march update

A few weeks ago it was Dr Seuss week at school and he came home with his own cat in the hat hat which he enjoyed wearing.

We decided to switch Brendan to a montessori school which he started today. We really loved the school when we toured it and we think he will do great there. When we went to meet his teachers on Friday and joined right in with the kids on the playground and joined them for snack time. When it was time to leave, he wanted to stay. This morning at drop off it went well because he was excited to go feed the goats. Some big changes for the little guy though - they use real dishes (no plastic sippy cups) and no diapers!

Brendan came down with pneumonia two weeks ago and missed his last week at his old school and we pushed back the start of his new school to this week. I've been home with him for 2 weeks but he was ready to go back to school (and I have a lot of business stuff to catch up on). Brendan's grandma Brown stayed with us for a few days to help with Brendan so I could get all my orders done. He's recovered now and all of his toddler engery back!

Easter bunny

Here's the photo of Brendan with the Easter Bunny

Its March

Now that Brendan is 2, we've stopped counting his age by months. He's such a toddler boy these days. Learning new words every day and now puts 3 or 4 words together - its fun to hear him communicate and how he puts the words together. Definately a boy - loves motorcycles, dinosaurs and dragons, trains, fire engines, construction vehicles, cars and soccer balls and is very good at getting dirty!

Since its March and Easter is early this year, we pulled out the Easter decorations to start decorating. Brendan loves to play with plastic easter eggs so he had a great time.

We've started to introduce him to some movies and televisions shows in addition to his favorite Signing Times. His favorite cartoon is Little Einsteins and he also loves the Thomas videos. Here's some photos of him lounging around Saturday afternoon (after a full day) watching Little Einsteins.

Earlier in the afternoon Rob brought Brendan over to the Spring Celebration at the local shopping center where I had a booth. He had a great time finding Easter eggs, listing to the band, watching the magician, petting the k-9 dog and he even sat with the Easter bunny. We'll post that picture as soon as I get it.

Here's this month calendar (and Brendan 1 year ago)

Happy Valentine's Day

Brendan LOVES cake so I made him some cupcakes for Valentine's day

We went to a MOMS club Valentine's party at the park. He spent most of the time at the treat table and working on his craft (using glitter glue to create a Valentine for Daddy).

catching up

Sorry for the long time since we've posted. Lots of changes for us and I've been under the weather for most of the new year (Brendan is bringing home lots of new germs from preschool).

Nicole left to go back home to South Africa at the beginning of the month. She's been with us since Brendan was 4 months old - Brendan still asks for his "Cole-cole". Check back at this old post to see Brendan when she first arrived. She made it home, is living in her own apartment and is starting college.

Here's some photos from Nicole's last night with us when Brendan gave her a going away gift:

Brendan started preschool the same week that Nicole left and that is a big change for him. He loves being with the other kids at school, playing on the playground, and activties like crafts and music. But never having been left anywhere without one of us, the drop-off is a big change for him and he clings to us - though once we're gone he happily participates in the class actvities and play with his friends.

We've had a few rainy days here in Phoenix and Brendan loves to go out and "cha-cha" in the rain (thats his word for splashing in the puddles)

2008