First time this year...

The beginning of this week Brayden was feeling a bit under the weather so when he was finally feeling better we decided to do something extra special. We had been talking about getting Brayden a pass to the zoo since it was so close to us and he loved seeing the animals last year we thought it would be a great way to spend part of our summer. I told Brayden as we were getting ready that we were going to the zoo and that quickly became his favorite word. As I was getting ready Brayden was walking around saying zoo, zoo, zoo.

The DM Zoo is smaller but it is perfect for us! It has all the important animals such as: giraffes, monkeys, fish, and goats. Those are in no particular order but they are the animals that got the biggest reaction out of Brayden, well and Mommy of course! I didn't take too many pictures as it was pretty hard to maneuver the stroller to a picture taking location and then get Brayden to look at me and not the other people passing by but we got a couple good shots. I didn't time our trip very well as towards the end it was about nap time so Brayden wasn't as excited. He must have had fun though because he was asleep within 5 minutes of leaving the zoo. We bought a pass for this summer and even have extra members so if you are ever in the area we would love for you to join us.

Umm, Mama... I think.... those birds up there are trying to get out...

Those are some neat looking fish!

That Emu is getting closer to me Mama. How do I get out of here?

How can you say no?

Some days I think I could write a book about all the new, fun, and exciting stories we have to share. Here is another one where I just sit back and wondered where does he learn this stuff.

Over the weekend we saw Oma and Papa at a wedding. Since Brayden was born Papa has a tradition of giving the grand kids a dollar coin everytime he sees them. The kids know this and are always ready when Papa goes digging for the coins. Papa gave Brayden his coin at the wedding and Daddy put it in his pocket for safe keeping. We got home and on Monday night Andrew goes and gets Brayden's money so we can put it in his piggy bank. Brayden puts his coin right into his bank and then looks at me and signs more please while saying more. He even used his manners in saying please so I tell him I will go check my wallet for more money. When I come back into his room he is still sitting on the ground with his piggy bank. I gave him some change out of my wallet and Brayden quickly put it in his piggy bank. I even got a hug from Brayden for sharing. He has got some great savings habits already. I think he learned them from his daddy!

Yes Yes it's true. His shirt says my mom is my biggest fan!

Playtime with Daddy

What better way to spend my time waiting while Mommy finishes supper then by playing play-doh with Daddy. Mommy has some really fun toys for me to use with my play-doh so I love when she gets it out. I used to just watch her play with it but now I enjoy digging right in myself. I love playing with Daddy and we usually get a special playtime right when he gets home from work while Mommy is busy finishing supper. Mommy decided to take some pictures of us playing play-doh because we were having so much fun.

Cheese! I love playing with play-doh!

Let me show you what to do Daddy!

I gotta use some muscle to use these stampers in the play-doh.


Look at what I made.

Look Mommy, Daddy rolled the play-doh into a ball.

Anything that is round and resembles the shape of a ball must be thrown into the air. Heads up Mommy the ball of play-doh is heading straight for your camera.

Mommy, can I have one?

I just realized I never blogged about meeting Pepper and seeing these pictures brightened up our gloomy, rainy day. Brayden's Godmother, Sara came up for a visit and brought her newest addition to her family which is her dog Pepper. Her hubby Scott was busy at a wedding so Sara came to Iowa to visit. We met Sara for breakfast at Panera and Brayden loved it. I don't blame him though since he got a strawberry smoothie and a muffin! After breakfast we took Pepper to the park so she could have some time to run. Brayden loved Pepper and wanted to hug her, pet her, and I think he would have even tried to pick her up had we not stopped him. I took lots of pictures so enjoy!

I am glad Brayden could enjoy playing with Pepper because I do not see a dog in our near future.

Park Surprises!

While we were playing at the park we saw that it looked like there was a baseball game going on so we decided to go for a walk to check out. On our walk we had to walk over a bridge and Brayden enjoyed looking at the stream below. We used this as a good photo op.











Holly: Is it safe for Brayden to stand up against the fence like that?
Andrew: Don't worry they won't fit a foul ball right here.
1 minute later: HEADS UP its over the fence. Don't worry no one was injured but you should have seen how quickly everyone turned to look for the ball.
Andrew: I guess maybe they can hit foul balls right here.


We went to a baseball game that was going on over in the park. Brayden walked right up to the fence and bent down so he could watch. When he say the pitcher pitch the ball he pointed and yelled BALL! He was excited at first but quickly got interested in something else. Brayden did wave to everyone in the stands as we walked by. It was just some interleague play with the high school team but it was still fun to watch for a bit.

On the way back on the walking trail we stopped at the pond. We enjoyed sitting and resting for a bit. Brayden loved pointing to the wawa (water).

On the way back we saw some people fishing and I jokingly said to Andrew I wonder if they are going to catch anything because I didn't think there were any fish in the pond. What do you know, as we got closer a little boy reeled in his fish. I asked if we could see it and the little boy was happy to show off his big catch. Brayden seemed to really enjoy seeing his first fish. I guess he is ready to go fishing with Cousin Caroline, although I think she catches much bigger fish! The lady even showed us a good fishing trick. If you are like me and don't really like to touch the scaly fish just bring an oven mitt and all your problems are solved :)

Our afternoon at the parked turned into much more! A walk, a baseball game, and some fishing. We love weekends when we are all able to hang out together. Brayden is learning so much and so excited about life. I love living life through the eyes of an 18 month old.

We love Spring!

Beautiful weather and great temperatures means one thing around here and that is enjoying the outdoors. Saturday afternoon we went to play at the park with Daddy. Mommy and I had been to this park before so we wanted to take Daddy there. We had a lot of fun. They were practicing soccer on the fields and a couple of times when the ball went out of bounds they let me throw it back in. Mommy took a lot of pictures of us and I think she had more fun taking pictures then playing.

C'mon Dad, walk faster!

Ready, Set, Go!

Just my size! I can go all by myself!

This slide looks like a bulldozer.

I love this weather.

Daddy and I went down a little bit bigger slide together.

Ready, Set, Go Daddy give me a push.

We have tons more pictures from our time at the park but we will do those in another post. I guess you will have to keep checking back for part 2. We had some wonderful surprises that you wouldn't quite expect from a park visit.

Mommy's New Haircut

Last week my mommy got a haircut. She left me with Daddy for the night and we had fun bonding and playing together. She was gone for 2 hours so Daddy was in charge of feeding me and putting me to bed. I didn't get to see her haircut until the next day because I was already in bed. Mommy thinks I like her new haircut even though I don't quite have all the words to tell her myself. I did notice it was shorter though. Mommy says I am lucky I am a boy because my hair doesn't take much maintenance. Take a look.

We were all ready to go enjoy our afternoon together!

Since this blog is mostly about me Mommy thought she would post this cute picture Daddy took!

Updates

Wow sorry I have not updated in so long. We have been busy and it seems like getting on the computer to make an update seems to get left to the last of the list. So I apologize for that.

Anyways, on to some updates. We had Brayden's 18 month check up with his doctor and she said he is doing great! Yeah! He only gained about 18 ounces in the last 2 months but she said that is normal with how active he is. He is following his curves on the growth chart too so we are so glad to hear that. Brayden is in the 50% for weight and in the 25th for height! He sure is growing fast.

We have really been enjoying playing outside lately. We got a trailer for our bikes so that we can take Brayden for bike rides and he is loving it. So far we have only ventured out around our neighborhood but eventually we would love to ride the Saylorville trails. Thanks Willie family for passing it on!

Last weekend we left Brayden with Grandma and Grandpa for the first time over night. I was a little sad to leave him but knew he was in good hands. When we were getting into the car to leave he waved and blew us some kisses. Brayden did great but I think he made Grandma tired. We were thankful that Grandma and Grandpa were able to come down so we could go to Minnesota to enjoy a friends Couples Bridal Shower.

I can never end a post without some pictures so here they are. Enjoy!

18 months ago!

Happy 18 month birthday little man!


Wow Andrew and I are blown away that Brayden is a year and a half! The time has just flown by. Brayden has been changing so much lately that I thought I better make a post of what he is up to now.


He is so much fun to be around and we love watching him learn. In the last month his vocabulary has really exploded. If you spend a day in our house you will notice a lot of repetition and it is funny to watch Brayden as he studies your mouth and then tries to repeat the word. This last weekend I was reading him a book and he said apple. Some of his other words from over the weekend include: dog, ball, purple, apple, woof, papa, oma, dus (Dustin), amimal. We went shopping this weekend and Brayden saw some statues of dogs and learned to woof. When you ask him what a dog says he woofs 3 times and shakes his head. He also meows.

ETA: When writing this post I forgot about all the words he signs. Brayden signs more, please, milk, apple, and book. We were eating applesauce and I asked him if he could sign apple. For those of you who don't know apple is like a fist that you twist back and forth next to your cheek. Brayden put his first by his ear and started twisting saying aaaple.


Brayden loves to play outside. His favorite outside toy is his lawn mower. He evens makes a vrooom noise as he pushes it around the yard. He also loves his Cozy Coup car. He usually carries a basketball in it with him as he drives. His other favorite outdoor toy is balls, whether they be basketballs, soccer balls, or footballs. He loves to play catch.


Inside Brayden loves books. He enjoys sitting in your lap and having you read to him although he is in charge of flipping the pages so if you don't read fast enough he will turn the page before you are ready. Brayden loves anything that makes noise too, but what kid doesn't.



Brayden loves to wave and blow kisses. If you mention the word bye he starts waving! Of course I can't have a post without any pictures so here you go.