Christmas 2011

I was super excited for Christmas this year. Brady is finally old enough to understand Santa and all the hoopla that goes along with it. An Elf was delivered to our house on Thanksgiving and was named "Pedro". We made ornaments, decorated a gingerbread house, watched Christmas movies and decorated cookies. We spent Christmas Eve day with Troy's family followed by church. Both kids were exhausted and fell asleep on the way home at 7:00. We quickly moved them to bed and got to enjoy some much needed time together before going up to my family's on Christmas Day. 

 Christmas Eve

 Brynn's Christmas Dress

Opening Gifts Christmas Morning

Brynn-7 months

She has successfully tried all her 1st fruits and vegetables and has moved on to finger foods like   puffs, dried fruit bits, crackers, etc. She wants to eat ALL THE TIME.

She's a squealer. She squeals when she is happy, whiny, tired, and hungry.

No crawling yet

No talking yet

She is still taking 3 naps a day-9, 1 & 5-making it virtually impossible to go anywhere.

She loves Brady and is generally content as long as he is playing close to her.

She smiles a ton for the lucky few she likes. You really have to win this girl over.

She sleeps on her tummy now and wakes up with the cutest little pink cheek.

A much needed update and pics not taken on my phone to come after Christmas. Happy Holidays!

Taking a little break on the boppy pillow

 Playing with Brady

 Trying to move, but not getting anywhere.

Waiting for Brady to get done with school

Brady and I had our first heart to heart talk about his arm last night. He understood so much more than I ever imagined a 33 month old could.

He was making fingerprints on the countertop with his greasy hand and said "Look Mom, paw prints".

Me: "Do you have hands or paws?" B: "Hand-I only have one hand". I no have other hand."

Me: "That's right, but you have a helper arm, don't you?"

B:"When I get big I get other hand."

Me: "No Honey, you will never have another hand like Mommy. You are special and don't need another hand. You are perfect and strong just the way you are."

B: " Please."

Me: "I know it's hard Buddy and I'm sorry. Someday you will learn to use your helper arm to do all kinds of things. That's why you have beeen meeting those nice ladies at school."

It pains me that at such a young age he is already so aware of his differences. We have been meeting with Occupational Therapists to evaluate where he is in comparison to his age group and to help him with adaptive tools. He is resisting a bit now, but our hope is that he will come around and start to utilize the grapsing tool his arm provides.

Brynn-6 Months

Her smile just melts me...she is a total Mommy's girl. She is starting to recognize people she sees frequently. When she gets excited she pants and kicks her legs. She devours her rice cereal-you can not feed her fast enough. Don't even think about cleaning up her chin while she eats or she will scream. She is starting to sit unsupported. She wants to touch everything-she steals the newspaper out of your hands, and tries to eat your food if you are holding her. She loves to pull Mommy's hair and touch faces. She likes her infant playtime class and responds with big smiles during song time. She is still only up about 2 hours at a time during the day before a 1 hour nap. Overall she is very content and has been an easy addition to our family.

I am far from in love with this picture, but it is the first successful attempt at getting a family picture since we were at the hospital with Brynn 5 1/2 months ago.

We tried Brynn with cereal this weekend. She took 2 spoonfuls, spit them out and then refused to open her mouth for more.

I hate to even jinx it, but we unofficially started potty training this week. He is still wandering around in diapers, but we are making frequent trips to the potty. He stays dry most the of the day, but hasn't managed a #2 yet. I am so proud of the progress he has made in only a few days.

How cute are her little cheeks?

ABC's with a little Twinkle Twinkle

Brady started school this week-Tuesdays he goes with me, Thursdays he goes alone. This morning I dropped him off and was missing him after 10 minutes. I picked him up and tried to piece together what they did. He rambled on about basketballs, his new friend Colton, his teacher Miss Carol, playdoh, and snack time. I hate not being there for every moment, but I guess that is part of them growing up. Ugh