last tuesday, brady had his 18 month well check. have no fear, all is well! but since i haven't written an update for the kid basically since he was born, here's a special post... just for my little guy. i'll try to keep the randomness to a minimum as much as possible... but i make no promises.
just within the last week or two, brady has started getting more adventurous. and by adventurous, i mean that if we're in a not too crowded public place (like the waiting room at the doctor's office), then he will leave my side. comfortably going even ten feet away from me. and maybe if no one is around, he could even go twenty feet away. i won't lie... it's a really big deal. abigail is also helping with this because i feel like he's watching her more than ever in terms of social cues and using her as the example for what kids are supposed to do. also, he loves her to death and trusts her completely so if she's nearby, he's more courageous than if she's not around.
brady has a lot of hobbies, some his own and some that he's mooched off of abigail. one of his favorite mooched hobbies is jumping. he likes to try to jump off things (like this little step) and sometimes needs me to hold his hand but sometimes just runs off of it and laughs and congratulates himself as if he'd truly jumped. also, jumping in place is hilarious. he squats down real low and then pops himself up on his toes. he has yet to catch any air but there's not a single person that's been able to watch it without laughing out loud. it's the greatest.
quite possibly brady's most absolute favorite part of his day is when abigail is getting in bed at night. brady climbs and signs please and gets so insanely anxious until we plop him in abigail's bed. then he goes freaking crazy laughing and rolling around and snuggling into abigail and throwing himself into the pillows and basically hyperventilating because he's just so overwhelmed with excitement.
it's hard to get any decent pictures of this because it's nighttime (no natural light coming in) and they move and wiggle so fast! but this is the gist of it. they both looooove it. but brady is truly obsessed.
brady really really really loves bath time. like runs into the bathroom and tries to throw his leg over and climb in before his clothes are off or the tub is filled. and he loves just splashing and hanging out playing with bath toys. so i thought the pool would be a huge hit. it is not. the first time we took him, it was to the rec center indoor pool and he was initially terrified, but by the end was totally fine and loving it. with our neighborhood pool, i'm still trying to figure things out. he's afraid of people (especially kids because they're so unpredictable) so i know that's part of it but the crowds have died down a lot and he still prefers not to get in the water at all. he'll get his feet wet, but he won't walk any deeper than his knees. we still go to the pool several times a week though and he's always excited to get his swimsuit and sunscreen on so i know he enjoys the experience, despite having no interest in the actual pool part of things. when we're there, he walks around, rarely straying more than five or six feet from me. he frequently climbs on my lap to snuggle or have me hold him. he likes to sit in the low to the ground pool chairs by himself. we eat and snack a lot. he finds balls and throws them all in the baby pool and then grunts and cries "moooooom" for me to get them out for him. since we got back from our utah trip, he's also been finding rocks and throwing those into the pool as well. we have a good time.
it's weird for me that since abigail does her own thing with her floaties in the big pool, and brady doesn't run away from me or try to go in the water, i spend almost all of my time sitting in a chair by the pool. when abigail was this age, i was constantly up and about, following her everywhere. not with this guy. we lounge and munch.
like abigail and myself, brady cleans. he's not OCD but he does enjoy it. if his sippy cup has leaked on the floor, i can hand him a little wash cloth rag and he'll wipe it up for me.
brady used to always have a huge bowl of oatmeal for breakfast until a month or so ago when he started showing preference for eggs. now he loooooooves scrambled eggs. it's probably his favorite food (aside from sweets... the kid had a major sweet tooth) and he downs a ton every morning for breakfast. this morning i made six eggs and brady and abigail and i ate every last bite. brady isn't a picky eater but he has preferences on the food he wants to eat... if that makes any sense. it's always a gamble if he'll he what i give him because who knows if he's in the mood for that, but it's normally a pretty for sure bet that he'll want watermelon, banana, or oatmeal. and of course eggs and fiber one oats and chocolate granola bars. he's obsessed with those. he doesn't like plain pasta too much and will give it back to you if he knows you're just hiding the sauce. for the longest time, he wouldn't eat plain tomatoes... he probably still won't... but he'll eat them in fresh salsa or on a sandwich or something. he's really an awesome eater. and he eats a ton.
brady's clothes are almost entirely hand me downs so i don't really pay attention too much to what sizes things are, but i think most of what he's wearing right now is 12-18 months and 18-24 months. even some 2T. but they're all big on him. not so big that he looks really weird (it's easier for little boys to get away wearing clothes that are too large) but bigger than what i would have him wearing had i personally selected the size and purchased his clothes for him. also, i really love little boy clothes. it's simple and normal but i love just the basic cargo shorts and button down shirts or polos. or just t shirts that go with everything. and little plaid shorts and basketball shorts too! right now, i definitely enjoy dressing brady far more than dressing abigail. and i'm obsessed with his little blue slip on shoes that he wears literally every day. i cant get enough of them. brady also likes his shoes because he's determined that shoes = "go." so he frequently tries to put shoes on me while i'm cooking or laying in bed as a way to get me to go outside and always gets so excited when i tell him we need to put his shoes on.
speaking of going... brady loves it. he's always wanting to go somewhere... especially go outside... and his vocabulary reflects that. it took him a while to start speaking. everyone told me that boys aren't as verbally advanced as girls and brady has lived up to that stereotype... as well as every single other gender stereotype i've ever heard but that's a different paragraph. brady's first "word" was something like "unga" which meant pretty much everything. "i want that" and "okay" and a bunch of other things that it sounded like in context. his first recognizable word i think was "cheese" which was a total accident when i was taking pictures of him and he really would say "cheeeeeese" clear as day when i got out my camera. then his most common (like for a while it was literally non stop sometimes) word was "mom" in his special "mooooooom" sort of voice that he does. he calls chris mom too. and maybe other family adults like grandparents, but i'm not positive because i haven't paid attention well enough. when we went on our utah trip, he was 17.5 months and was saying at least two new words a day. so now his vocabulary also includes, fish, cow, horse, chief (that was the dog), dog, cat, and most importantly... "GO." so "unga" (pronounced like oon-ga) is now more commonly "ungo" which just means "i wanna GO!" the latest variation from this is "ungoooouuuuuut" which subtleties i can't even begin to attempt to capture in writing. but it means "i wanna get out." the get out part is said very strangely (it makes me think of someone speaking cambodian or something) and the "t" sound is barely audible. anyways, it's fun hearing brady learn and say new words and phrases. the funniest part of everything is that aside from "mom" he doesn't say any basic words. he can sign please, thank you, all done, milk, and bye bye, but he doesn't actually say any of those words. also, he doesn't say yes or no (abigail's two first words) but has his own version. when the answer is yes, he does a sort of laugh and when the answer is no, he scrunches his face and does a whine. it's really obvious when he's doing it so despite his limited vocabulary, i almost never feel like our communication is limited because of it.
so far, brady has lived up to all of the gender stereotypes people have told me ever since i announced i was pregnant with a boy. "boys really love their mommas. the term 'momma's boy' is REAL." abigail has always preferred me even though she loved everyone. brady? no. it has to be me. if he falls down and cries, he will pass multiple grandparents, aunts and uncles, abigail, and chris, to stand by me until i pick him up and comfort him. if we are in an unfamiliar place, like when we were at the cabin, he only wants me. he needs to be held and it needs to be his mom. also, the kid loves to cuddle. he comes to me frequently during the day just to give me cuddle hugs. not like he needs to cuddle with me for a few minutes, he just needs to cuddle into my arms for 10 or 15 seconds before he goes off to play more. "boys aren't as verbal as girls but they're definitely more physical." yes and yes. brady's speech has been less skilled and slower to come... although i feel like the same could be said for his physical coordination. but the thing is, he's physical, especially in the ways that are sterotypically boy things... like throwing. the kid throws everything. seriously everything. also, he's fallen down the stairs and bumped into things and holy cow, he's always getting hurt and getting major facial injuries it doesn't do a thing to deter him from doing that thing again. "boys like playing with balls." yes. this is brady's biggest obsession right now. add "ball" to the incomplete list of things that he says. he loooves balls and loves throwing balls (especially in the street so they can roll far, far away) and kicking balls and just holding balls. yesterday we were reading the stanford 101 board book we have and we got to the sports page. brady got so excited and just kept pointing to the balls so i could say "tennis ball" or "basketball" or "golf ball" or whatever. nature vs. nurture... i surround the kid with a good variety of toys... especially girl toys... and while he appreciates bracelets and purses and fairy princess slippers and grocery shopping as much as the rest of us, he's found his niche. "boys aren't as social as girls." as i said somewhere above, in general, brady is afraid of people and i have to tell people this all the time because they're always confused about what made brady cry. brady was wearing a striped shirt the other day and when my friend cristy saw it, she gently touched brady's shoulder and said "oh, we have this shirt too." brady started fussing and crying and clutched my pants while he hid behind my legs. she was all "oh my goodness, what did i do?! i'm so sorry!" but i just explained the situation "well, he's afraid of people... and you semi touched him." his doctor's appointment last week was all estimates on his measurements because we were in a small room with a nurse he didn't know and he FREAKED OUT when i laid him down to get his height measurement. and then he was in such a HUGE HUGE PANIC when i tried to put him on the scale that we couldn't get a reading on his weight. we actually repositioned the scale and then i had to explain to the nurse that he's afriad of people and could she please stand in the opposite corner of the room while i place him on the scale. it only helped moderately though because he was already so suspicious and freaking out. the head circumference was also a crap shoot. ha, whatever. when the doctor came in, i had him sitting on my lap and it seemed like he remembered her because he didn't freak out as much. she's awesome though and she conducted the whole appointment with brady laying cuddled in my arms. sometimes he panicked, but never too bad because i always kept a firm and secure grip on him and i think he knew i wasn't going to hand him off to anyone. today, i took him back to get his vaccinations since he was sick last week and the doctor didn't want to shoot him up when his body was already fighting off infection. i'd prepped abigail in the car "brady is going to be getting two shots because he's 18 months old and these shots will poke him and hurt him a little bit but it's okay that he cries about it because the shots will help him to stay healthy." well, the kid started screaming bloody murder when i laid him down on the table... like if i wasn't watching, i wouldn't have even known when each of the shots happened. he stopped crying though as soon as we left the tiny room with the nurse. he got a sticker and was happy about that. anyways, not a fan of people but even less of a fan of kids, especially babies his own age. frequently at church and the library, baby girls his age are trying to give him hugs and kisses or check out his binky or something else that puts them in brady's physical space. he cries. every time. sometimes he scrambles to get away and ends up falling in the process. so i guess it's the fall that made him cry, but really it was the kid. he does better with kids abigail's age and with people he's familiar with. although, i won't lie, he just cries easily in general. whether he's bumped his head or tripped or gotten startled or not gotten his way... he just cries. it's just his nature... he's a sensitive guy.
surprisingly, he actually did really well at nursery on sunday! i was worried because it's a small room with two adults he doesn't know and a bunch of kids he doesn't like. but the nursery leaders said he only cried five or so times and that by the end they figured out the trick to keeping him happy was balls and treats. yes. chris dropped him off and picked him up so that's pretty much all i know, but i consider it a huge success that they never brought him to me and that he didn't cry the whole time. also, chris said he didn't even cry when he dropped him off (he waited by the door and looked through the window after he left and brady was still happy) and that he waved goodbye to all the other kids (i think there were only five there... which probably helped the day) when chris came to pick him up. i'm more worried for next week that he'll remember and panic since he knows the drill now. and i know from my experience working at a daycare that the second day is normally the day things unravel. so hopefully next week (and all the others!) goes well.
every time i sit down to write one of these kid updates i'm all "what on earth am i going to write?!" and then it gets out of hand long like this. i swear i'll never learn.
anyways, brady is in size three diapers during the day and size 4 at night. he's got 12 teeth... four top, four bottom, four molars. he's the most ticklish kid i've ever met in my entire life and will bust out laughing even if i just make a funny face or show him my hand (like i'm about to tickle him). he eats as much as an adult, and out eats me most days. he sleeps 12-14 hours at night (although since it's summer and light outside it's been closer to 12 or 13) and naps every afternoon for around 3 hours but could be as little as 2 or more than 4. also, he's got a huge belly and loves to lift up his shirt and rub his belly. and no matter how tired he is, he'll always tell you no when you ask him if he wants to go to bed even though he never actually fights bedtime.
brady's typical day:
9:30-10:30 wake up and get dressed
the hour following- eat breakfast
11ish- if we're going out to story time or errands or the pool or something we're normally leaving by 11.
playtime until 1:15 or 1:30. i normally feed him a quick lunch or snack (like a banana or granola bar at the end of errands or right after we get home and then give him a binky and put him in bed.
1 30 or 2 naptime (this time totally varies on wake up time, how late errands keep us, and brady's mood.
a good nap is 3 hours. sometimes it's less than two, sometimes it's over four.
until 5 - wake up. we play and maybe attempt to make dinner. since honey's work schedule varies so much, this is always just some unstructured time at home, normally in the front yard.
5 30 - 6 30ish - dinner and hanging out as a family
until 8:30* - playtime... normally outside. either hockey on the driveway or a walk around the neighborhood.
9 - head upstairs and get ready for bed... teeth, diaper, pj's, fan, binky bed. if we're doing the nighttime routine with both kids at the same time then we do books, snuggles, a scripture (abigail says one to brady each night... he gets giddy with excitement) and prayer in abigail's room. this can last as long or short as we want it... but it's normally 20 minutes when we do the kids together and maybe 4 minutes when i do brady by myself.
*nighttime varies a lot since it's summer and we've got a lot going on. if the weather is rainy or brady took an early nap or if honey got home early from work and we already had a lot of time to play then we'll take the kids up to bed at 7:15 or 7:30. but right now it's more common that we'll have something going on like getting together with family or friends or taking a long walk or just sitting outside with the neighborhood kids or whatever and we don't even go inside until after 9. i know 9:30 is late for a 1 year old to go to bed, but he sleeps in to compensate and right now, it just really works for us.
every time i take a picture of brady, i can't help but think how he looks so big. like a real kid! it makes me giddy with excitement. he really is such a fun kid. i love that he wants to cuddle and that he laughs as a way of saying yes. he started walking around 14 months and when he runs, i think it's the most adorable thing ever, right up with saying "moooom" all the time. i'm really loving him right now but i also can't wait for him to be two. he's got a good sense of humor and i have a feeling he's going to be a hilarious two year old.
i can't wait to see what the future holds for this guy.
