Brenden's first laugh!!

What a wonderful sound - to hear your baby laugh for the first time. Brenden was sitting beside me on the bed and I did a fake sneeze "a-choo!" sound as it always makes him smile. This time I sort of threw my head forward and did it really dramatic and for some reason he found it SO funny and burst out in the cutest belly laugh ever. This is the first time I've ever heard him laugh. Then I started laughing when I heard him laugh. Then he started laughing even more when he heard me and then I just started crying because it was just the most blissfully cute moment ever! The first smile is sweet - but its always hard to tell if its a real smile or if its gas! But there is no mistaking the laugh. I tried to get some on video. I captured a small giggle but nothing like the deep belly laugh I got earlier. The very end of the video clip is where he lets out a good laugh. Sorry for all the fake sneezing that you have to hear me doing - but that's what this kid finds funny!

He also is very fond of anything cloth that he can scrunch up and shove in his mouth... bibs, towels, burp cloths, blankets - he loves them all. Here he is getting cuddly with a towel:

4 months old

Okay - so I know I just said he had his 3 month portraits done over Mother's Day weekend - but its true, he was still 3 months then! Now he just turned 4 months old (May 16th). I just cannot believe how fast the time is going by and how big he's getting. He's so much fun now. He likes to squeal and kick his feet all around. He's grasping small objects and shoving his bib in his mouth all the time. He gets really excited when I put a bib on him and shoves it in his mouth immediately. The other day I caught him scooting around on his back using his feet to push off. I'll have to keep a close eye on this little guy, its quite obvious he's ready to be on the move!

Here is his outfit from "beach day" at daycare. As you can see he's eating his collar!



Here he is on his exersaucer. He's not quite figured out what to do with the toys, but he likes watching mommy play with them. The teeter-totter makes a clicking sound that he gets very excited over!


This is his "excited" face he does when he's kicking and cooing. I love the bugged out eyes, flared nostrils, and the puckered mouth! He's got great expressions!


Here he is doing tummy time and NOT falling asleep!! Yay Brenden! Granted he only lasted a few minutes before getting mad, but at least he's making an effort to pick his big noggin up!


Tomorrow is his 4 month well visit. I'll have to post his *stats* after the appointment. I'm sure he'll weigh in nice and heavy. He's grown so much recently. The hat he wore in his portraits just under 2 weeks ago is already too small for his big head! He also has his shots tomorrow :( I hope he does okay - I hope I do okay!!

3 month portraits

Brenden had his 3 month portraits done over Mother's Day weekend. I think they turned out really well

I love this shot. He looks like such a big boy in the wicker chair! We had to be careful not to make him smile in the picture because when he smiles he starts kicking and we thought he'd fall out of the chair if he got too excited!


This is his sleepy baby face. This was one of the last pictures taken. He fell asleep shortly after!


This seems to be the "crowd favorite." This is just a classic expression along with the finger pointing. Like he's saying "hey babe!"


I think he looks so old in this picture. There's something about the way that he's sitting up that makes his face look like he's a toddler or something. Such a cutie!


Have you ever seen a happier baby picture?? This is my favorite picture of the bunch. Such a smiley!


He likes to stick his tongue out when he smiles. Its too cute.


This just looks like a classic chubby-cheeked baby picture. We had to put the bib on because as expected he spit up all over his outfit. There are some up-sides to naked baby pictures! If they spit up you just wipe them off and keep on snapping photos!


I think he did a great job! What a wonderful Mother's Day gift! A perfectly posing baby boy :)

Pictures from Daycare

So Brenden's daycare occasionally takes pictures and sends them out to the parents. Here are some pictures from an outdoor play day (he's in the shade, don't worry!)

He looks like he's in deep thought here.. like there should be a light bulb above his head or something!



Here he is being held by one of the teachers.


This was from "art day." They usually let the babies finger paint, but since Brenden is still too small he gets to hang out in the "texture cozy" where they let the babies feel different textures to develop their sense of touch. Looks like he's on a fluffy blanket and there's some little shreds of paper for him to feel.


Here he is showing off one of his charming smiles to the teacher!


This was from the May Day party they had. It was a fun little party for parents and kids to get to spend some time together. Brenden loves to be held so that he can lay his head against my chest and cuddle.


He seems pretty happy there and is well taken care of. All the teachers seem to really love him and take good care of him. He loves watching the other babies play with the toys.

Am I cute or what???

Okay, I know I'm the biased mommy, but I just think my little guy is the cutest thing ever! He's starting to develop his little personality and I just love watching him grow each day. He loves to follow me around the room with his eyes. Whenever we go out everybody always says "he knows who his mama is, he can't keep his eyes off you!" That warms my heart because I worry having him in daycare 5 days a week will make him more used to his teachers than me! He's using his hands and feet to reach out and swat at objects. He's still not great at tummy time, but he's getting better. He at least tries picking his head up a few times before going to sleep now :)

Here are some more pictures of the cutie pie:

This is his tongue-smile. He likes sticking his tongue out all the time and its so cute!

Here he is - not holding his head up, but at least he's not sleeping! He can pick it up long enough to turn it from side to side. I keep telling him the longer he waits the bigger his head gets!

This is his classic 'ooooooh!' face. He loves to pucker up and let out ooooh's and ahhhh's

Here he is in his activity center. He likes it for about 10 minute spurts and then he wants out of it. I suspect its because he's still not strong enough to hold his head up for long periods of times. I'm sure this time next month he'll be playing in it all the time!

And here are the baby Air Jordan' sneakers my mom gave us (they were Will's when he was a baby). The ladies at daycare loved them so much! The other kids liked the shoe laces! He's obviously more interested in looking at his hands in this picture than showing off his cool sneakers!