17 months

17 months and 1 day (I'm late this month)

what he's up to:

• Keeps adding more words and signs. Words:momma, daddy, cole-cole (Nicole), cat, un-oh, night-night, nap-nap, wow, no, balloon, duck, bus, socks, shoes, book, bath, ball, belly button, water, car, truck, yellow, more, all done, hat, up, banana. Also lots of animal sounds: quack-quack, ruff-ruff, hiss, meow, roar, baa, moo. Signs: milk, water, eat, hungry, more, hurt, cereal, banana, cheese, dog, cracker, shoes, flower, all done, potty, snake, mouse, horse, pig, sheep, lion, book, apple, icecream, cold, hot, airplane, car, baby.
  
• Loves to find everyone's belly betton. He also knows ears, mouth, nose, hair, eyes and feet.


• He moved his bedtime back to 6-630 and is adding to his bedtime routin. Loves to brush his teeth when he gets ready for bed. He's very into reading a book before we go to bed and we usually have to read the book several times - 3 times is my max. He also likes to go to bed with some of his friends and we must kiss each of them before he'll go to bed.
  
• Loves to be outside - playing in the yard, wagon rides, trips to the playground, walking to the mailbox.


• Loves water - bath time, playing in the sprinkler, going in the pool, using the hose, splash parks.


• The teeth are still coming in and besides the 4 molars 2 bottom teeth are also making there way through - this explains some of the fussiness.
  
• Very good at cleaning up. He knows all of his toys go in his baskets and very good about putting his legos way in their tub. He also has to make sure the caps go back on bottles and that I always put things back in their place.

16 months

our little boy is growing fast and more like a toddler and less like a baby every day.

what he's up to:

• Keeps adding more words and signs. Words:momma, daddy, cat, meow, ruff-ruff for dog, un-oh, wow, no, balloon, vroom for car and airplane, quack-quack, duck, bus, socks, book, bath, ball, belly button, yellow (he doesn't know what this means but he loves to say the word) Signs: milk, eat, hungry, more, hurt, cereal, banana, dog, cracker, shoes, flower, all done, and potty (doesn't know what this means either).
• Loves to find his belly button. Also, nose and ears.
• Loves to be silly, be tickled and snorts when he laughs
• Starting to eat more foods. His favorite food right now is blueberries. He also likes a lot of not so good for you foods - chocolate and french fries. He also really likes it when we go out to eat and he gets to drink milk from a plastic cup with a straw.
• Easy to put to bed. Still goes to bed early though this past week its been closer to 630 instead of 530 or 6. When he starts to act tired we ask him if he wants to go night-night. If he's ready he'll repeat back night-night and run to the gate. When we undo the gate he runs to his room so that we can change him. After we say night-night to all his animal friends, he has some milk, sometimes a book and into the crib he goes.
• Loves to get attention when we go out. He waves at everyone to get them to wave back. If he really has their attention, he'll do high-5s with them and blow kisses.
• Loves to be outside - playing in the yard, wagon rides, trips to the playground, walking to the mailbox.
• He's starting to play with his stuffed animals. He'll give them kisses and hugs and carry them around with him. His favorite seems to be a little puppy - this toy was a gift to him from the Ritz Carlton where we stayed for our anniversary when I was pregnant.
• Finally getting more teeth. All 4 molars are making their way in but he still has gaps in the front.
  

15 months

I can't believe how fast he is changing every day and constantly learning new things. Today Brendan had his 15 month checkup - he checked out healthy and got 3 shots.

What he's up to:

• lots of babbles - he can have an entire conversation with someone and you'll have no idea what he's talking about. He also keeps adding more words (momma, daddy, cat, meow, ruff-ruff for dog, un-oh, wow, no, balloon, vroom for car and airplane, quack-quack, duck, bus, socks) and signs (milk, eat, hungry, more, hurt, cereal, banana, dog, cracker).
• Full of energy and doesn't stay in one place for very long
• weighed in at 25 pounds 4 ounces at his 15 month checkup. Thats a gain of only 4 ounces mostly because he has cut back in how much he eats and is so active. Its nice to finally have him wear the same clothes for a few months - mostly he's wearing size 24 months/2T these days.
• Loves to go get the mail everyday. He loves to have his own piece of mail to carry home. Also, he has to find a special stick during out walk.
• His 2 favorite toys right now are a basket of plastic Easter eggs and Baby Einstein flash cards which he loves to sort through and look at the pictures. He also loves his sand toys and would happy to spend all his time outside if we let him.
• Still loves to bop and dance to music and play with his musical instrument toys (or anything else that he can bang on like a drum)
• Has perfected the temper tantrum. He's best at it when its close to his bedtime and will roll around on the floor arching his back and saying "no" over and over again.
• He gives lots of kisses and hugs. This makes up for the item listed above.

stats:

weight 25.4, 50-75%
height 32 3/4 inches, 75%
head 19.5 inches, 90%

14 months

I'm a little late with this post but I had some blogger technical difficulties and Brendan doesn't have a 14 month birthday in February.

what he's up to:

• He continues to be a very active kid, non-stop running around
• He loves to be outside - playing in the grass with the soccer ball, playing in the sand, going to the playground, and going for wagon rides. He goes down the slide by himself now and bursts out in giggles when he gets to the bottom
• He has learned to walk backwards
• He's becoming a little helper. He's really good at putting away his toys when we tell him it clean-up time. He will also hand you his clothes when we're hanging them up in the closet or when I'm dusting he likes to have his own cloth to help.
• Lots of babbling and some words - his new words are meow and balloon. We also started to teach him sign languge using the Signing Time videos. He loves to watch the videos and dance to the music and has learned some signs: dog, fish, more, milk, eat.
• He's doing much better at eating and is starting to eat a little bit more variety - the new food he has most recently added is chicken. Still not a fan of vegetable, cheese, or other meats. His favorite food is bananas. He's also getting better with using a spoon but it helps if the food sticks to the spoon like oatmeal - the yogurt ends up flying around the room as the moves the spoon towards his mouth.
• He loves to dance - he'll rock on his feet or spin in circles. He also loves to pound on drums. We're still going to Music Together every Saturday and he's really learned a lot since we started the class - he'll 'sing' to the songs, pound on the floor to the beat and his dancing has become much more animated.

13 months

Seems like he just turned 1 but he's already 13 months.

What he's up to these days:

• Instead of walking these days he's running all over the place. No more crawling for this little guy.
• Discovered fruit! he loves bananas, grapes, oranges, apples, mangos and peaches. This adds to his short list of favorites - oatmeal, yogurt, cheerios, crackers, toast and puffs. No meat, cheese, or vegetables but we keep trying. He's starting trying to feed himself using his spoon. He puts the spoon in his food and then scoops out, up and over into his mouth with the spoon going in upside down - since its been oatmeal or yogurt it sticks to the spoon.
• His new word this month is "uh-oh".
• Still loves music. He now claps and sings along with the CD from his Music Together class.
• He cracks himself up. He thinks sneezing is funny so he'll do a fake sneeze and start laughing. He'll also stand on his head to get a different view of the world.
• Current favorite toys - weebles weebelot castle, Playskool Swing 'N Score Baseball, Melissa and Doug stacking construction vehicles, quatro legos, popper push toy, babystyle soft blocks classic cruiser.
• He'll give kisses and sometimes hugs.
• Loves to go for wagon rides around the neighborhood.
• Loves to take his bath and play with all his bath toys.
• Loves to play outside in his sandpit and has finally stopped trying to eat sand all the time. Occasionally he'll try to eat a rock.
• Loves balloons and airplanes

Brendan is ONE year old today!

Brendan turns one today. Its amazing how much he has changed in the past 12 months.

If you want to send him birthday wishes, you can email him at brendannbrown@yahoo.com and we'll put the emails in his scrapbook.

What he's up to these days:

• Walking and running all over the place. He has now learned how to stand up without pulling up on something.
• Babbling a lot and using a few words - mama, dada, night-night, dat (cat), no
• Lots of hand motions - waves for hi, bye, and night-night, raises his arms for touch down and loves to clap.
• Rocking and bopping to music - he loves to play with his musical toys, drum, maracas, piano, and when he hears music he starts bopping to the beat.
• If he doesn't grow up to be a muscian, he's going to be a soccer player - he loves to kick around his soccer ball and does pretty well for a kid who has just been learning how to walk.
• He points at everything and especially loves to point at balloons and airplanes.
• He loves to watch the school bus and trash truck. If he's inside when he hears the bus approaching (the bus stop is right next door to our house), he runs to the window with his arms up so that you will lift him to watch.
• Still growing. He weighs about 25 pounds (tripling his birth weight) and wears size 24 month clothing.
• Slowly expanding his diet - besides his favorite formula he likes to eat yogurt, cheerios, Gerber fruit puffs, and crackers.

Unfortunately Brendan is sick for his birthday. We're having a small celebration this weekend for him so he can celebrate with Grandma Leslie and Nicole and we've moved his party to next weekend.

11 months

Today Brendan is 11 months old, just 1 month away from his first birthday!

updates:

• He's walking all over the place. He doesn't like to be held as much as he would rather be down and exploring either by crawling or walking. He is just starting to be able to get in a standing position without using something to pull up on.
• Loves to wave hi, bye-bye and good night.
• Says mama, dada, and night night.
• He has started pointing at everything.
• He's got the beat - when ever he hears music either on the radio or from one of his toys he starts to bop to the music.
• His favorite toy right now is the block sorter and he's getting pretty good at getting the blocks through the slots (though we have to show him which shape to put it through).
• He likes us to read him books. His favorite nighttime book is Time For Bed.
• starting to feed himself a few foods mostly just veggie puffs and cheerios. Besides formula, his favorite foods are yogurt, pureed fruits and vegetables.
• He keeps growing and is at least 25 pounds and wearing size 24 month clothing.
• He loves the holiday deocrations and lights. He especially likes the large blow-up characters that a lot of our neighbors have in their yards and he waves to them when we go out for walks.
• He doesn't like to wear socks or hats - he's always pulling them off even though its chilly.

Brendan doing his crazy baby routine

10 months!

Brendan is 10 months. He's growing up fast and no longer our little baby.

• This past month he started walking with the help of his push carts and will take a few steps unassisted - his balance isn't very good yet but he's working on it.
• He babbles mama and dada all the time and if you tell him to wave bye bye he'll wave.
• He starting to drop naps so instead of 3 naps its usually just 1 or 2. And he's starting to move his bedtime back 1 hour to 730 or 8.
• His favorite food is yogurt. He's still eating pureed baby food and doesn't care for anything with any texture. He will self-feed fruit puffs and he's getting better at getting them into his mouth. He loves his formula and his recently added another bottle to his daily intake - I'm expecting a growth spurt soon.
• He loves cars and trucks, girls, and anything with water. His still loves his ball pit, maracas and his new favorite is his blocks.
• He laughs and giggles all the time especially when you chase him, tickle him, or play peek-a-boo.
• He's got 4 teeth and 2 more are working their way down.

9 months

Brendan's 9 month birthday

He had his pediatrician checkup yesterday and he checked out healthy. He wanted to eat the doctor's stethascope and he had fun crinkling up the paper on the exam table. No shots for this visit, so we were all happy about that.

stats
height: 30.5 inches, 95%
weight: 23 pounds, 90%
head circumference: 19 inches, 85%

updates

• He's crawling all over the place and loves to climb over things (especially people who are lying on the floor). We decided to see if he could crawl up the stairs and he went right to the top! He's pulling himself up on everything and can cruise along the sofa or wall holding on with just one hand but hasn't taken any steps away from a solid support. His favorite thing to do is to jump up and down - I call him "my litttle jumping bean". He'll jump up and down holding onto the sides of his crib or packplay and he loves it when you bounce him.
• He's babbling "mama" and "dada"
• He loves to play with his toys - his current favorites are his ball pit, maracas and these little toy cars that make a noise when you push them. All toys (along with everything else) go in his mouth.
• He's got 3 teeth (2 bottom, 1 top).
• Sleeping and napping well - 12 hours at night and 2 to 3 naps during the day. He sings and babbles in his crib before going to sleep at night and when he wakes up in the morning - its fun to listen to his babbles on the baby moniter.
• He's growing fast staying in the 90/95 percentiles - he's already wearing size 18 month clothing and size 5 diaper. Most of his weight is in his thighs!
• He loves his milk and still has little interest in foods - he eats a little bit a fruit and vegetable baby food everyday but no self feeding yet.
• He loves short adventures out to the store - the shopping cart is a fun ride for him and he loves getting attention from othe people.
• In the mornings we go outside to watch the schoolbus pick up the neighborhood kids - he loves the bus! In the evenings we go to the park and watch the kids play tag on the playground - he loves watching the kids running around and making lots of noise.
• He loves water. He likes to play with his rubber ducks in the bath and to lay down kicking his feet to make waves in the water. He likes to watch the fountain on our front patio and has a lot of fun when Daddy lets him play with the water (which always results in one very wet baby!).

8 months

Today Brendan is 8 months old!

Updates:

• He has perfected his crawling and can get around very quickly - if you turn your head for a second, he's across the room getting into something.
• He's also much better at pulling himself to a standing position and can play for awhile when standing at his activity table.
• He's just started cruising taking at most 3 steps along the sofa.
• Favorite toys are his Leap Frog activity table, submarine ball pit and maracas. He also really like the empty Huggies box that we gave him.
• He likes to push toys around the room moving on his knees.
• He got his first tooth - he's done pretty well with the teething though the past few nights he has woken up in the middle of the night upset. Hopefully this will pass soon.
• He learned to wave bye-bye, though recently he has forgotten how to do it. Hopefully this will return since we think this is just so adorable.
• He's starting to babble in addition to his bear screams (when he does this we call him out little T-Rex)
• He's sleeping and napping well. He goes to bed around 7 and wakes around 6am though if you give him some toys he'll play in his crib for awhile. He takes 3 naps a day - 1 hour morning nap, 2 hour mid-day nap and 1 hour afternoon nap.
• We take him to Gymboree and Babytime at the library - he loves to be around other kids and loves the songs.
• Brendan loves bathtime. He's graduated to the big tub and loves to crawl around, splash in the water, and play with his rubber duckies.
• He's doing better with eating babyfood - for breakfast he eats oatmeal and fruit and for lunch he wats oatmeal and a vegetable. At dinner time he perfers to wait for his evening bottle. He loves to play with his sippy cup but doesn't show much interest yet in drinking from it. He also loves to drink from our glasses, however, he just likes to put the water in his mouth and not swallow it.

Who is this a picture of??????

It looks a lot like Brendan but its actually a baby picture of Rob.

7 months

Brendan turned 7 months on Saturday - he's growing up so fast. This month Brendan started to be able to get into a sitting position, he learned to blow raspberries, and he learned to crawl. He really has the crawling down now and he's all over the place which keeps us busy chasing him as he gets into everything. Since there's no containing him on a blanket anymore, we spend most of our time upstairs in the playroom so that he can romp around on the carpeted area. We're busy getting the room completed - painting is done, sofa arrived this week so now we need a TV and some art to complete the room. Brendan is also doing much better at sleeping - he was a great sleeper up until around 4 months, but thankfully he's sleeping through the night again. He usually wakes for a bottle around 5 am and then will go back to sleep until 630 or 7 though he'll play in his crib for another hour if you give him a toy which is nice since it gives us time to get up slowly.

We finished our first week of swimming lessons at the Glendale Parks and Recreation - its actually called 'water acclimation' for his age group since they don't learn how to swim and work of getting used to the water and learning skills that will help them later. His class has kids up to 3 years old so there are some skills that Brendan is too young to learn but he loves being there in the pool with other kids. He's good at splashing, laying on his back so that the back of his head and his ears are getting wet which is practice for backstroke when he's older, and going under the water. His favorite part of the class is when we sing 'motorboat' and 'wheels on the bus'.

This Sunday night, Pat (Grandma) and Kirsten (Brendan's Aunt) joined us for dinner. We had mexican food followed by cake, of course - mexican chocolate cupcakes with buttercream frosting:

Everyone wants to play on Daddy

Brendan and Mommy

6 month stats and other updates

We just got back from the pediatrician's office and Brendan checked out healthy. He got 5 shots and only cried when he got the last one but recovered in a few minutes. He's slowing down for height, catching up for head size and remaining steady for weight.

height: 26.5 inches, 50%
weight: 20 pounds 10 ounces, 90%
head: 17.5 inches, 50%

Feeding update

Brendan is taking a bottle! We've struggled for the past few months trying to get Brendan to take a bottle and its always been a battle. On his 6 month birthday, he decided it was time to switch and been consistantly taking the bottle easily since. This means freedom for me and Rob and Nicole can participate in the feedings.

We're continuing to try more foods and most have gone over well so far:

yum list: rice cereal, carrots, apples, peas
yuck list: sweet potatoes

Brendan is getting mobile

He keeps doing better and better with sitting up. He's also getting very good at pulling up to a standing position while holding onto your hands or other things that are placed low enough for him to reach. He's trying really hard to crawl getting up on his knees and rocking but gets frustrated when he moves farther away from where he's trying to go.

Future drum player

Brendan's latest favorite activity is to bang on pots and pans.

Rob and I went on our first evening date since Brendan was born (our first date out alone was to an afternoon movie). We went to the Chris Isaak concert with Therese (one of Rob's coworkers) while Grandma Brown babysat.

5 months

Today is Brendan's 5 month birthday. Its amazing how much he has changed - he so much more alert, plays with his toys, smiles, laughs and giggles and just in the last few days he has started rolling over (back to front - he hasn't learned yet how to roll from his tummy to his back). He also loves to suck on his toes!










































This weekend we got to go out on our first date since Brendan was born while Grandma Brown babysat. We went out for some Mexican food and then saw Da Vinci Code. I did pretty good being away from him for a couple hours, but I started to worry and wanted to get home to see him. The movie was pretty good - certainly true to the book.

Brendan is 4 months old

Today is Brendan's 4 month birthday. Its amazing how much he has already changed. His new favorite things to do are squealing, rolling onto his side (not rolling over yet but halfway there!) and putting everything in his mouth. We think he's teething but no teath have appeared yet. Tuesday we go to our new pediatrician for a checkup and more shots.

I survived my first week back at work. Nicole, our au pair, is settling in and she is great with Brendan.