March 2012

March ended up being a really fun month.  Sean adjusted to his new schedule and enjoyed his new job.  He took a week off before he started his new job and I took a couple days off and we went wine tasting and shopping together and enjoyed some couple time while Brandon was in the daycare.  The weather also happened to be good several days this month so we were able to get out and play.

Wine tasting at Sokol Blosser where we became wine club members

Driving my Dad's convertible 

Hanging out at Cook Park

Laughing with Daddy at Cook Park

Brandon and Logan at Cook Park on the airplane together

Brandon had his 15 month check up in March and weighed in at 28.5 pounds and was 33 3/4 inches tall.  He was in the 98 percentile in height and 95 percentile in weight, a big boy overall!  We started transitioning Brandon to one nap a day (a long one around noon) and he did great.  He typically naps in the afternoons for 2-4 hours.  Brandon also started napping with the "big kids" on a sleeping bag in the living room with the other kids at day care.  

 Brandon enjoying his play piano

 Brandon on St. Patrick's Day-his shirt says "I got your pot of gold right here"

Brandon and I on St. Patrick's Day

Brandon became much more vocal this month.  He points at dogs and says "doggie." He is really understanding what we tell him much more and listens to simple commands like "put ball away" and performs the action you request him.  He also added the word "bye bye" to his repertoire of words.  He likes to imitate animal sounds as well.  Brandon physically became more confident in running and climbing on things.  He graduated to the next level in Gymboree (Level 4) and enjoys his new class a lot.  Towards the end of the month, Brandon also got three of his first year molars all at once (which made him a little crabby).

 Brandon's new favorite toy his bouncing Zebra

 Believe it or not, it snowed quite a bit in the middle of March!

We took Brandon to OMSI for the first time.  He had a great time and really enjoyed the water room.  He splashed around and got soaked.  I know we will have many more fun times at OMSI in years to come as well too.

 Playing with the fake food at OMSI

 Playing with the train at OMSI

Brandon loved the water area at OMSI

He got pretty wet by the end

At the end of March, Brandon and I took a trip with my mom to visit my sisters and my Aunt and Uncle and cousins in California.  Since Sean had just started his new job he stayed behind.  It was so fun to see everyone and to get away from the crappy cold Oregon weather we had been having even it was just for a long weekend.  We went to Santa Cruz and Brandon had a ton of fun playing on the beach.  We had a party for Rachel's wedding and I got to meet a lot of Rachel's friends and we had a crafts day working on Rachel's wedding favors.  We had a fun poker night and took Brandon to the park.  It was exhausting though watching him to make sure he was not getting into things he was not supposed to be getting into!  

 Watching our plane arrive

 Strapped in on the way there (there were extra free seats)

 Mama and Brandon in front of Santa Cruz

 Playing in the ocean with Gramsie and Auntie Rachel

 Brandon loved the ocean

 Enjoying some good Santa Cruz icecream

 Playing outside of my Aunt's house in Los Gatos

 Brandon and his best bud Lucky (My Aunt's Labrodoodle)

 Fun crafting day

  

February 2012

Brandon got to be very verbal during this month.  He loves to babble long sentences.  He can say a few words: mama, dada, doggie, yay, ney.  Brandon also began to really love to read this month.  I took him to the library several times, which is only a half mile away.  They have an awesome kids room for him there and he can run around.  

Our first trip to the library

Playing at the library

Taking a break at the library

February turned out to be a great month.  Sean got a new job with Unisource so he will be off night shifts with Coca Cola.  His new job starts in March.  Also as I mentioned in my prior month, I really hate the months of January and February mainly due to the darkness and the weather, but the month went by really quickly which was nice.  Brandon did get sick again right around Valentine's Day with a fever and flu like symptoms so we spent our Valentine's Day taking care of him.  At his doctor appointment, he weighed in at 27.5 lbs.  Brandon is still napping twice a day, about 1-2 hours in the morning and then 2-3 hours in the afternoon.  He is sleeping about 11-11.5 hours a night.

Poor sick Brandon

Taking his hat off

Tickles from Daddy!

Feeling better towards the end of Valentine's Day-his shirt says Most Eligible Bachelor

Cute in overalls

Sleep time with butt in the air

My parents left to go to India for 5 weeks in February.  Before they left, Brandon and I went down to Corvallis for a long weekend to spend time with them.  Brandon loves Callie and loves running around my parent's house getting into everything.  It was really fun but exhausting too because their house is not as baby proof as our's and is huge.  The weather was nice when we were down there and we went to the park and played in an indoor play area.  

Hilarious picture of Brandon eating his spaghetti

Playing at Avery Park

Big Smile

Gramsie and Brandon at Avery Park

Having fun on the swing at Avery Park

Playing with Gramsie on the train at Avery Park

Playing at Cook Park in Tigard

Sean and I also got Brandon his first baby sitter, a high schooler in the neighborhood, while we went out to a much needed dinner and wine tasting.  That was a lot of fun and Brandon did great with his sitter.  We are hoping to be able to use her quite often as he grows up.  Brandon also got his second hair cut towards the end of February.  This time we did it much shorter so it would last longer than the last (we did not want to pay to have it cut every 4-5 weeks).  He did great with his second hair cut and enjoyed playing with the toys at the salon.

Wine tasting and enjoying some time together

Sleeping with his butt in the air

Such big blue eyes

2nd hair cut much shorter and Brandon got a lollypop

Rosie had her bridal shower for her upcoming wedding in April.  That was a lot of fun and we played fun games and I got to see a lot of my old sorority sisters.  

 

The cute cake pops at Rosie's shower

Me, Rosie, and Brooke at her bridal shower

January 2012

Brandon got his first ear infection this month and had to go on antibiotics.  The antibiotics cleared the infection right up.  He was weighed about halfway through the month and weighed 26 lbs 6 ounces.  I did not measure him height wise.  I love the opportunity to start a new Year but hate the month of January in Oregon.  Its so rainy, cold, and dark.  The days are so short.  This makes it hard for me to entertain Brandon as we can't go outside and play after work.  We continued to do Gymboree this month which was a great way for Brandon to exert energy and exercise.  Brandon got really good at climbing things at Gymboree this month and got much more sure footed with walking.  He began running even.

Playing with his elephant toy

Running at Gymboree

Playing with the parachute at Gymboree

Brandon stopped nursing this month.  He just did not want to nurse any more and wanted cow's milk instead.  He loves cow's milk and could drink it all day if we let him.  It was sad to have him stop nursing as it was proof that my little baby boy was growing up.  Brandon now sleeps about 11.5-12 hours a night (usually 8:00 PM-8:00 AM) and naps still twice a day-usually a short nap in the morning and a longer one in the afternoon.  This boy loves his sleep!

Brandon got his first hair cut this month.  We went to Little Clippers in Lake Oswego and got his hair cut.  The haircut place had a little car that he got to sit in while his hair was getting cut.  Brandon always has had a lot of hair.  It was sad to see them cut his curls but I knew that they would grow back.

In the car about to get his hair cut

Those adorable curls about to be cut

Brandon's first hair cut!

Almost done!

Brandon gave his hair cut a thumbs up!

Towards the end of January my mom came and visited for several days to keep me company.  It was so nice to have another adult around in the evenings to talk to and help out with Brandon while Sean was working.  We went out to dinner and watched silly HGTV shows and took Brandon to the park as the weather was dry.

Playing one morning

Swinging at Cook Park-it was cold!

Swinging away

Running around the playground

Brandon loved being outside and playing on the playground