Not going to be an only child much longer!

Little does Brenden know how much his world is about to change in just about a week. He's such a great little boy, I hope he keeps up the good behavior when baby brother arrives! Lately Sean and I have just been savoring the time we get to spend alone with him and making sure he knows just how much he is loved.

Here are some pics of him helping Daddy do some cleaning. He LOVES the water hose!

Then I took him to Chuck E Cheese's last week for a birthday part. Brenden seemed to have a pretty good time, however I vowed to NEVER go back! That place was a mad house. There were too many kids crammed in a tiny space, too many kids left unattended, too many big kids in the toddler area, too little parental supervision, etc. Brenden had a blast in the little toddler climber area. There was a mishap with an older girl (too big for the toddler area but too small to be running around without a parent in sight) who pushed him down on purpose. She would walk up the slide and step on all of the toddlers and wouldn't listen to any of the adults telling her to stop. Then she blocked the slide so nobody could go down and when Brenden got too close she shoved him down. He starts crying and won't come out of the climber. So I get to squeeze my 9 month pregnant self into an area made for kids 2 feet tall and pull Brenden out. He recovered quickly and went back to playing, but I have never been more exausted in my life! If he ever goes back it will be in the morning and on a week day!

Here are some pictures of him in the climber.

Getting ready to slide ("Mommy grab my arms and give me a pull!")

Climbing up the stairs - he LOVES stairs!

The scene of the "crime" - here he is having fun, 30 minutes later picture a giant ME inside this tiny space and a crying Brenden!

Brenden is really getting good about communication. He's started telling us when he has poopy diapers. He will grab the front of his diaper and say "bi-per" when he needs changed. He's done this consistenly for several days now. I won't get my hopes too high, but it would be nice if we could try out the potty soon! He has gotten so much better about asking for help when he needs it instead of throwing a fit. He's figuring out that using his words get a better response out of us than just grunting or yelling. He continues to love music (Wiggles!) and drawing. He plays with either his crayons or his chalk every day. I got some Wiggles DVDs off of Ebay and the seller thew in a few Wiggles action figures and he LOVES them. He takes them everywhere and he talks to them. I hear him trying to "Wake up Jeff!" (if you have seen the wiggles you know what this means). Its so great seeing him use his imagination. Unless he's sick or teething he really has such a wonderful personality. He loves to laugh and smile and be around people. He's really a great little boy. I hope his brother is just as sweet as he is!

36 weeks pregnant and a 19 month old toddler

I've finally hit the 36 week mark with my pregnancy. Brenden was born at 35 1/2 weeks. Its hard to think that if this was him, I'd already have a baby. I am in the home stretch now and will have my C-section in a little over 3 weeks. I feel tired and sick a lot. Its a lot like being back in the first trimester again. I have so much pressure on my tummy from the baby that I can only eat very small meals or I get sick or even worse - reflux! I am running out of room for this little one to grow! Here is my big 'ol belly. It just feels SO round now. I bump it into things all of the time! Its getting so hard to hold Brenden now. This morning he couldn't sleep so I took him downstairs to watch a video of his and he laid his head over on my tummy like it was a pillow. It was too cute.



And here is my beautiful 19 month old boy! He's growing up so fast but just amazes us each day with how quickly he learns new things. We've taught him how to say excuse me when he passes gas. So now when he toots he will say "mooo me!" Its too precious. He still uses his baby signs but uses the words too at the same time. This is helpful because sometimes all of his words sound the same. He's up to about 40+ words now and he's got great motor skills. He can watch his wiggles videos and imitate the dance moves exactly. Yesterday he watched Sean use a screwdriver and then he picked it up and started twisting it back and forth. He's still not very graceful. He fell on a sidewalk and bumped his forehead this week at daycare but luckily its much better now. He's been sick for the past 2 days - which is very unlike him. He gets the random cold/cough, but there have probably been about 3 times in his life he's been sick enough to run a fever and really show signs of fatigue. He's had a fever for 2 days now but its not as high today as it was yesterday. Still, the poor baby has no apetite and can't seem to sleep very well yet doesn't have the energy to go at full force like he wants to. I'm hoping by tomorrow the worst of it is past. He just doesn't understand that he needs to slow down and rest in order to feel better.

My growing boy

It amazes me each day how big my little boy is getting. Its so hard to take pictures of your baby once he/she becomes mobile. I miss the days I could prop him up on a pillow or chair and make a funny face and could snap away hundreds of adorable pictures. Now its so hard because he refuses to sit still, refuses to sit still and smile at the same time, refuses to keep his finger out of his nose when the camera is in front of him... the list goes on :) I've had people comment that I don't have nearly as many pictures as I did when he was an infant, but the truth is I TRY to take pictures of him all of the time, its just hard to hit a moving target! That being said I did manage to get a few cute snapshots of him this morning all dressed up for church. He's such a handsome little boy!

Helping Daddy play the guitar...


Okay - so not a smile, but still an adorable expression.

JUMP!

Okay - so all of you parents out there know you do it, or did it at one point anyway... you celebrate each tiny milestone in your toddler's life like he/she has just discovered the cure for cancer. Our home is no different. We get excited when Brenden learns something new. His latest.. jumping. Now he's always tried to jump and made jump-like motions, but never quite mastered getting BOTH feet off the ground until now. We caught some of the precious moment on video and of course you will hear Sean and I singing our praises as our son once again proves to us that he's a future rocket scientist in the making ;)


My favorite part about this first video is the part where he realizes I have the camera so he has to stop and run up to me to say cheese!

And here is more jumping with Daddy

I had my 34 week checkup today. Nothing exciting there. I just weighed in, listened to the heartbeat and got my tummy measured. All is well with the baby.

My little artist

Anybody who knows me knows I love all things arts and crafts. I love to paint, draw, make things, scrapbook, etc. So it makes me so happy to see my little guy's enthusiasm for drawing and coloring.

He looks like such a big boy laying on his tummy and drawing on his big art paper.




We also got him an easel from IKEA that he can draw on too. One side is a chalkboard and one side is a marker board. Rather than giving a 1 year old markers, we let him use washable crayons on it and they wipe right off with a paper towel and water! He loves the chalkboard side too.