18 Months

I am a little late with this post, but Brady has been doing some of the cutest things lately I had to write them down somewhere. He recently has formed a very strong attachment to Daddy. He gives him a hug and kiss every morning before he leaves for work. I leave and he barely gives me a second look. I need to get out more....

We are now up to 7 words-Go, Beep, Mom, Dada, Car, Jeep, and Cheese. He points at everything and asks "dah?".

During the moving process we discovered Troy's matchbox car collection. He plays with them all day. Lining them up, carrying them around in a bucket, driving them around the floor. He recently has started insisting that he brings one to bed with him.



He climbs on everything. We have had to take baby proofing to a new level by making sure the computer keys are locked, and the phones are out of reach.

He blows kisses and loves to dance. He loves Dora and Handy Manny. He recently started doing puzzles. We cheer for him after each successful piece. He sometimes get so excited about doing it he cheers for himself. He pats his tummy with his hand to clap.

We are still working on house plans, but are buying a lot soon. We visited our new neighborhood and saw a deer walking through our soon to be backyard. Very cool!

Arm #2

Brady got casted for his new arm this week. They are fitting him with a friction elbow joint and pinchers. This will allow him to use his shoulder to pick things up. He new arm will be this loud print....



He hated the casting part. Thank goodness Grandma tagged along and kept him distracted long enough for it to dry.



A quick family pic...

Moving

Big changes happening around here! Our house is officially under contract and we should close on August 9th. Some of you may be asking yourselves when we put our house on the market? Technically, we didn't. There was never a for sale sign in our yard or pictures on the internet. Troy and I have been dreaming of building a new house, but then the real estate market crashed and it didn't make much sense. A realtor friend happened to mention to Troy she had someone coming from out of town to look at houses in our neighborhood. She asked if we wanted to show. We figured what harm could it do? Two weeks later we sold our house. New house plans are in the works and we are hoping to dig ASAP. Meanwhile, we will be renting this cute 2 bedroom house a few blocks away while half our stuff goes into storage.

So, if you don't hear from us for about 5 months it's because we are busy making decisions about bathroom tile and door knobs. Here's hoping this doesn't go down as the worst decision ever!

Lately Brady has been into carrying as many things around the house as possible. It took him atleast 15 attempts with several different arrangements, but he finally got down the hallway carrying both his tractor and front end loader.

Father's Day

Brady got to ride on his first tractor today. Grandpa happens to have a very nice one. He got 3 rides and was thrilled!

CAR

The words started flying out of his mouth yesterday...me "Do you want to go for a ride in the car?" Him "Car". I was in such shock I almost dropped him. Then later in the afternoon he said "GO GO", a line from one of his favorite books.

Today he said "Juice" and something that sounded like "Milk" and "More".

16 Months

It's been a while since I have done an update so I think I will take this one bullet style...

-A week after surgery Brady came down with a killer viral infection.  The kind that comes with a 103 temp and skin rash. It lasted a very long 6 days. (See pic)
-Because he was sick for so long, he got to watch TV. He now knows every character on Nick Jr. and the Disney Channel. Favs include Mickey Mouse Clubhouse,  Chuggington, and Handy Manny.
-He says one word-Mum, or sometimes it comes out MumMum or Mom.
-He's still obsessed with trucks. We have checked out every book the library has on the subject, and those have done wonders in keeping him entertained. He loves to point them out when we are in the car. He points and grunts until I acknowledge his spotting. He loves to sit in Daddy's van or Mommy's car and pretend to drive.
-He kisses Mom and Dad. He makes eye contact and comes at you mouth wide open.
-He follows simple commands like "Bring this to Daddy" or "Let's go outside". I sense he is understanding me much more these days. He still rarely responds to just a verbal warning.
-Tantrums are in full swing and I see them just about everyday. I  can now say I have been THAT parent....the one with the child screaming down the aisles at Target. Hitting has become a recent issue...funny things is he only hits me.
-It took me a while to appreciate how fun this stage is. He is a very strong willed little boy and wants to explore all day. He's not interested in shopping or riding in a stroller (unless it involves a free cookie...thank you Cub).