First Fruit!

Today Brenden had his first non-cereal food. He had an avocado (yes, its a fruit). It was really easy to fix. I just sliced up a fresh avocado and mushed a few of the slices with my finger and added some breast milk to thin it out. Like the cereal, he wasn't sure about it at first, but kept opening his mouth for more.



Here's a video clip of the first bite!

Here he is opening wide for a bite

mmmmm, I think I like it!

Its fun to play with my feet between bites!

Eating real food is fun!

Nothing goes better with avocado than a big bite of bib!

He hesitated at first and made lots of funny faces. Then he kept opening his mouth wide for another bite. Then he started getting more vocal between bites as if to say "more more!" And then he started playing with his food - which meant he was done!

Here's a video where he had the hang of it and is more vocal about his eating experience:

A tribute to the blankie - 5 months old

Isn't it amazing that with all the high-tech toys out there, its always the simple things that provide our children with the most entertainment?

Brenden definitely has a love for crocheted/knitted blankets. They provide entertainment as well as comfort. He loves to play with them when he's bored and hold them by his face when he's sleepy. He has a few knitted blankets that he'll bring to daycare with him and he's always all curled up in his blanket when I go to pick him up. I even catch the other kids hanging out by him so they can touch and feel the blankets too.

Here's a little photo tribute to Brenden and one of his many blankies.


Playing with/eating the blanket:





And sleeping with the blankie:

Funny Faces

I have so many of Brenden's funny facial expressions caught on film . You can definitely tell he's starting to really develop his personality. Its so much fun!

Here he looks like he's flexing his bicep

This was his second taste of cereal. You can see he's not quite sure about it...

Here he is using his bumbo seat. He's pretty excited to be able to sit up by him self when he uses it.

These next two are his silly hair pictures. We played in the water outside and his hair dried in this fun little style!

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.