Brady's Second Birthday

Happy 2nd birthday Brady! We had a fantastic birthday celebration for him. Mommy helped me make a birthday cake and cupcakes in shape of a paw print (my idea). I chose yellow frosting because Brady is yellow. And we set up decorations, pictures, and, of course, party hats!

Dog-friendly peanut butter/applesauce/greek yogurt cake with cream cheese frosting.

Brady looks so sad, but he's really eyeing the cake.

Candles blown, and one step closer to that cake!

Yum! He loved it! And we enjoyed some people-cupcakes too.

Here is the birthday card I made for him. 

Outside: Bone on the left, birthday cake on the right.

Inside: Me and Brady.

Another drawing of me and Brady. He was wearing a cone hat that day since he cut his paw, so that circle around him is the cone.

I hope he enjoyed his birthday party. I certainly did!

Ten Month Update

Ten months! This month seemed to whiz by with the holidays and trip down south. 2015 is off to a good start and my first birthday is just around the corner!

Developments:
I can now stand on my own for a few seconds without holding on to anything. It won't be long before I'm walking! I continue to cruise around the house and try to climb up on everything I can possibly climb. I can also walk super-fast across the room using either a chair or a walker. I'm so much more mobile and curious than Kaitlyn was at this age, I really do try to get into anything and everything. Mommy and Daddy had to set up a play area to contain me. Of course I always complain when I'm left alone in there.

I love watching and mimicking my big sister, especially at mealtime. At her prompts, I will shake my head no, clap my hands, bang my hands on the table, and play peekaboo. I'm also starting to recognize songs like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "Open and Shut Them," and smile whenever someone sings them.



Sickness:
I survived my first ear infection while we were down in SoCal. I suffered three nights of really bad sleep before it got better, including spending New Year's sleeping in Mommy's arms. Good thing I liked the taste of the antibiotics - every time I saw that pink-filled syringe coming toward me, I got so excited.

Eating and Drinking: 
New favorite foods this month included tofu, waffles, cheddar cheese slices, and any type of bread. I've gotten pretty good at feeding myself and now prefer that over being spoon-fed, although I tend to shove all the food into my mouth and then just sit there, not swallowing. Oh yeah, I also had my first taste of cheeseburgers from both Five Guys and In-n-Out and finished every bite that was given to me. Daddy was proud.

I never did figure out the sippy cup so have moved on to straw cups, and enjoy drinking ice cold water. I still nurse a few times a day, and will likely continue until I get introduced to cow's milk in a few months.

Sleep:

I am a champion napper, and take up to two hour naps both in the morning and afternoon. I need to replenish that energy from all the moving around I do when I'm awake! Night-time sleep is still pretty solid as well, though we still need to eliminate the middle-of-the-night wakings.

Likes: climbing stairs, unraveling toilet paper, Brady's bed, dog bowl, and toys

Dislikes: wearing shoes, being left alone in the baby jail

Winter Break in SoCal

Here are a few photos from our winter vacation in SoCal. We spent a few days at the grandparents' house in Huntington Beach and then spent the rest of the week with the Tan's in Arcadia. Aside from a trip to urgent care for the whole family (flu meds all around, plus an ear infection for Colin), it was a fun, relaxing trip. I played with my cousins nonstop, and even enjoyed my first sleepover in Alex's room.

Lunch with the Torrance crew. I was shy so Daddy had to sit in the picture with me.

Belated Christmas gift exchange.

Celebrating Alex's 11th birthday!

See the peacock in the background?

Eating snow cream at Blockheads Shavery in Pasadena. YUM!

Rose Parade Floats

The day after New Year's, we went to Pasadena to check out the Rose Parade floats. We didn't realize it was such a popular event! There were lots of people and over two miles of walking, so we checked out about half of them before turning around. So much work is put into these floats as the parade is aired on national TV, so it was neat to see all the flowers and detail up close.

Birthday girl blowing out her birthday candles.

Every single stem is placed into a tube filled with water and Sprite to keep the flowers looking fresh.

It was fun to take part in a New Year's tradition!

Aquarium of the Pacific

After Christmas we went down to SoCal for the week, and went to check out the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach.

Note: If you've never been to the Long Beach Aquarium before (or even if you have but it's been awhile), that big building painted with giant whales and fish is NOT the aquarium (even though it looks like it is)! It's actually the Long Beach Convention Center. Keep that in mind before parking the car and walking almost half a mile around the entire building looking for the entrance before realizing that the actual aquarium is down the street! 

Not the aquarium.

Moving on...we finally made it to the aquarium and headed straight to the outdoor exhibits, since I wanted to see the sharks. It was a little crowded since everyone was on winter break, but we were able to see everything we wanted. We ended up getting an annual family pass, so hopefully another visit is in store in the future.

Penguins!

For five bucks we got some shrimp and got to feed the bat rays.

There was a lorikeet exhibit where we were able to feed them cups of nectar. I got a little nervous so ended up letting Mommy and Daddy feed them while I looked on. 

We spent most of our time outdoors so zipped through all the indoor tanks. But I was able to say hello to this diver on the way out!

Random Holiday Photos

It's mid-January so about time to wrap up the holiday posts! Here are some final random photos from December.

This year's Gingerbread House, courtesy of Walgreen's. Kaitlyn wanted it to look exactly like the picture on the box, so I ended up doing all of the icing while she ate the candy.

Christmas lights on Eucalyptus Ave with Wylie

Christmas cookies! I looove holiday baking. These were all five-ingredient-or-less recipes that I found on Pinterest. If I get around to it I'll provide details, but I probably won't.

Salt dough ornaments. Thanks again Pinterest.

Kaitlyn kept asking how many days it was until Christmas, so I had to start the advent calendar tradition. The top one is from daycare, which she started after I had already bought the bottom one.

Christmas Eve dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory.

Kaitlyn's drawing of Santa Claus, complete with cutout beard.

Kaitlyn's Christmas present for Brady. She even wrapped it up and put it under the tree for him.

Cookies and milk for Santa, a carrot for his reindeer. Looks like they came already.