Brady Turns Three

That's twenty-one in dog years. He's an adult now! Happy birthday to everyone's best friend.

21 & 22 Month Update

These months have flown by! We learned at Little Wonders that toddlers go through stages of equilibrium (period of stability and smooth, calm behavior) and disequilibrium (period of quick growth and new development; unsettled, uneven behavior). Looking back it all makes sense now. At twenty months I was throwing daily tantrums, biting, hitting, and just being volatile. Clearly I was in a state of disequilibrium. But the past few weeks I have been back to my happy, silly self, and we can all sigh with relief that I have passed that stage and am now back in equilibrium (for now - disequilibrium supposedly returns at 2 1/2 years).

Developments:
I talk and understand so much now. I know more words than we can count and will answer simple questions with a "yes" or "no." I can put words together to say something, usually it's "no something" or "Mommy all done." I love recognizing and pointing out animals, parts of the body, Sesame Street characters, and letters.

Not surprisingly I continue to be an avid climber. I figured out how to climb into my crib from the glider and back out again. It used to freak Mommy out, but now I've done it so often that she just acts as my spotter while watching me. 

Interests:

I've taken a huge interest in reading and am always making Mommy sit and read books to me. At bedtime I always try to squeeze in an extra book and get mad when it's time to turn off the light. Favorite books include: Good Night Gorilla; Where is Baby's Belly Button; Brown Bear Brown Bear What do you see?; Potty; and Yummy Yucky.

I've started to enjoy building things, whether it's with Legos, Megablox, or Magnatiles. I'll usually stack them as high as I could, then knock them down, and start all over again.

I also like drawing, with markers, not crayons, and on the walls and floor, not on paper.

And of course, there's iPad and TV. I'm able to sit through entire shows now with my full attention. Favorites include Elmo's World, Blue's Clues, and Paw Patrol. It's always nice when Kaitlyn watches with me. A few times Mommy has found us both in the coat closet, quietly watching a show on iPad (Kaitlyn likes watching in there because it's dark like at the movies).

Sleep:

Sleep has been good. I have so much energy throughout the day that I need my daily naps, and will nap between two to three hours in my crib. I sleep well at night, but lately I've been waking up around 5:30 in the morning and am ready to play. We've tried adjusting my bedtimes but that hasn't affected my wake-up times. Hopefully it's just a phase and I'll start waking up at normal hours. Until then, we'll continue the early morning iPad viewings.

Eating:

I'm still picky with food and hate most fruits and vegetables. The only foods I eat consistently are scrambled eggs, noodles, hot dogs. I'm a completely messy eater and my favorite utensil is my hands. To add to the mess I've become obsessed with dips. I will use french fries as a vessel to eat ketchup and barbeque sauce, dipping them over and over.

We are also happy to report that I am 98% weaned! For awhile I was demanding the "booby" multiple times a day, including in public. Mommy decided she had enough and one day as I was nursing, she randomly cried out "Mommy owiee!" I was a bit confused but more concerned that I hurt her, and it worked! After that I would just ask "mommy owie?" and when she said yes, I just gave up. We're working on getting to 100%. She still carries me to her bed and nurses me in the mornings so she can buy some extra time in bed.

Family:
With the holidays and frequent visits to Poh-poh's house, I really enjoy spending time with Cao-cao. He is my favorite person ever and as soon as he walks through the door, I get so excited. I even let him put on my diaper and pajamas when I don't want Mommy to.

I grew a lot closer to Kaitlyn too, since we were spending every day together for two straight weeks. I totally adore her and am always following her around the house, watching her and trying to do the exact same thing she is doing. I get so excited when we pick her up from school. As soon as she comes out of the classroom I start laughing and we give each other big hugs, it's very sweet. I can't pronounce "Kaitlyn" yet so am always calling her "She-see." I made it up myself, but it sounds kinda like "sister." 

Likes: playing with anything water related, whether it's in the bath, the faucet, Brady's water dish, or puddles of dirty rain water

Dislikes: wearing shoes, socks, jackets, or sweaters, no matter how cold it is.

Family Photos 2015

I'm a little late in sharing this, but here are the photos from our mini session that we took back in October. We did these through a fundraiser for San Mateo Mothers' Club, and the package deal couldn't be beat. I've decided that mini sessions are the way to go. They take 30 minutes, cost much less, and we get the best pics before the kids get bored or melt down! 

Taken at Twin Pines Park in Belmont by Jennifer Maesen Photography. 

Winter Break

This seems like it was forever ago, but here it is - our winter break recap! For two whole weeks, I had no school, Colin had no day care, and Daddy had no work. We split our time between home and Poh-poh's house and tried to stay busy with lots of outings. We were happy to spend lots of quality time together, especially during the first week. By the end of the second week I would say that we were all eager to get back to our normal routine.

Vasona Park, Los Gatos:

We wanted to go on the train ride and carousel there, but it turns out they only operate on weekends. 

Safari Run, Sunnyvale:

Rainy day plus school vacation means it was packed! It was a bit chaotic, and Colin kept making Mommy or Daddy crawl after him through the play structure. It was definitely not relaxing (for them), but fun for us!

Christmas in the Park, San Jose:

We went downtown to see the Christmas decorations and exhibits, and discovered there were carnival rides too! I went on almost every single one of them.

Colin wouldn't get on the horse so I ended up riding by myself.

San Mateo Central Park:

Loved the koi pond inside the Japanese garden!

On our way to the playground, we walked all the way down the path like this. Colin kept waving hi to everyone we passed. 

Ice Skating in Central Park, San Mateo:

My second and third time ice skating this year! I liked this rink because they had these big blue walkers you could lean against. It made ice skating actually enjoyable. I even built up enough confidence to lose the walker and skate unassisted! I had so much fun that Daddy took me back later in the week.

Here's a video of me skating with the blue thing (basically walking on ice):

And look - no hands!

Rockin' Jump, San Carlos:

An indoor trampoline park! We went with Wylie and Lidia and had a great time playing dodge ball and jumping into the foam pit. 

 

On top of all that we squeezed in a trip to Junior Gym, to the movies to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks (my current favorite), more parks, and hanging out at home. It was a fun two weeks, but I'm glad to be back at school!

Mah-jong tower at Poh-poh's house

Mommy's friend Valerie came to visit with her two kids. It was a perfect time to play with the Orbeez that I received for Christmas. It felt really good to stick our feet in it but also got messy, especially when Colin started hurling them out of the tub.

Outdoor hockey with Daddy.

New Years Celebration

For the first time in my life, I celebrated New Years by staying up to watch the ball drop and toasting at midnight (even though it was just the East coast feed so we only had to stay up until 9pm).  The ball drop was rather anticlimactic for me, but both Colin and I couldn't get enough of the sparkling apple cider. Happy New Year!

Yay for Christmas!

This year's Christmas was pretty similar to previous years'. We had Christmas Eve dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory, woke up early in the morning and opened tons of presents, ate a big breakfast, then headed to Poh-poh's house to open more gifts. We were too lazy to get dressed so we hung out in our Christmas pajamas all day long, even to Poh-poh's house. It was Colin's second Christmas and although he doesn't understand the concept of Santa Claus yet, he got the hang of opening Christmas gifts pretty quickly. 

Christmas Eve

Here's a video of how our Christmas morning played out. Santa even left a note this year.

This year I got a new bike! Santa also brought me the Perler beads and Orbeez that I had asked for (I had also asked for an ice cream maker that I saw on a YouTube video but after doing some research, Santa knew that it probably wouldn't work well and I would end up disappointed with no ice cream). Colin received Megablox and a new push car, and at Poh-poh's house he got a new scooter too! We were definitely spoiled this year.

Santa pancake. Mommy totally forgot the strawberry for his mouh.

Poh-poh loved her new calendar with photos of us.