Brody the Toddler

Brody's definitely a toddler.  He's toddling everywhere these days and he moved into the toddler room at daycare last week.  That made it official.

He started truly walking the second weekend of August.  He had us thinking he was going to be walking back in June, but he took his time.  He's still got a ways to go on the coordination and he has the bumps and bruises to prove that.  I think he's copying what he sees Jay do, which is bit scary sometimes.  Like when he tried to run on the driveway and fell and banged his head.  Yikes!  He was fine after some kisses from mommy and an ice pack, but he did give me a bit of a scare .

He's doing well in the toddler room at daycare.  Drop-offs are still hard for him, but he'll adjust eventually.  It's a slow process.  He's doing great with sleeping on the cots and actually gets a decent nap now.  He's still really tired though when he gets home and sometimes it feels like a stretch even keeping him up until 7pm.

Justin took him to his 15 month check-up earlier this week.  He did really well, which is not what we expected.  Jay freaked out at his 15 month check-up, so Justin was prepared for that reaction from Brody.  Brody weighed in at 24.5 lbs. and is 33 inches tall.  98th percentile for height and something like 75th for weight.

Some tidbits about Brody these days:

Number of Teeth:  8 plus 2 molars are working their way in on top
Clothing Size : 18 months
Diaper Size:  Pampers 4
Favorite Things:  reading books, playing with toys, especially cars, climbing the stairs, rearranging his clothing drawers, pushing the toy shopping cart around, playing in the pantry (he was walking around with a bottle of vinegar recently), petting Hobbes and Butters, dancing

Brody's favorite books right now are Eric Carle's Farm Animals, Brown Bear What Do You See and  Panda Bear What Do You See, Sandra Boynton's Doggies and the Dog and Cat books from Grandpa Clarke and Brigid.

Brody is working on his talking every day.  He can tell you the sound that a dog, cat, sheep and cow make, just by asking him or showing him a picture.   Other words he can say are bubble and yay and he is constantly trying to mimic what we say. He's also getting very good at understanding and following instructions. For example, I can ask him to find his shoes in the morning and he'll go get them for me.  At bedtime, I'll ask him to go say goodnight to Justin and Jay and he'll go find them for hugs and waves goodbye. 

Here are some recent pictures of Brody:

ESPN Picnic - August 2014

We took the boys to the annual ESPN Employee Picnic last month.  It's held at Lake Compounce, which is a small amusement park.

Jay and Brody went on the Caterpillar Train together.  We were a bit nervous putting Brody on there, but he was mostly alright.  He tried to stand up about halfway through and looked like he was going to start screaming, but he held it together.  

Jay went on the flying elephants next.  We didn't think that would be good for Brody since he had tried to stand up on the previous ride, so he had to sit that one out.  Boy, was he mad about that!  Jay actually got the dud elephant and it never went in the air!  He just sat there watching the elephant in front of him lift into the air.

I took both boys on a hot air balloon ride that lifted us in the air, then the four of us went on the carousel.

After some snacks and drinks, we headed to the water park.  We spent quite awhile in the water park, but I didn't get any pictures from there since we had our hands full with the kids.  Jay was a complete daredevil and wanted to go down all the slides.  Brody was quite the opposite and didn't want me to let go of him for a second.  Jay had so much fun in the water park and was so upset when we had to leave.  Lots of crying and screaming.  Thankfully, the promise of ice cream quieted him down.

After the water park we trekked to the pavilion for dinner.  The boys got completely covered in BBQ sauce and ice cream, so then it was time to head home for a bath.  Fun day!

Cape Cod - August 2014

Last month we went to Cape Cod for a few days to visit with Justin's dad and step-mother.  We drove up early on a Sunday morning, which worked out perfectly.  There was no traffic going into Cape Cod.  The drive was a little tough on Jay and Brody, simply because they were well-rested and full of energy.  Being stuck in the car made them a little crazy.  Thank goodness for the iPad and DVD player, which distracted them nicely.

I want to get out of the car!

   The first day there we took the boys to a sluice.  It was cloudy and a bit windy, but Jay had a blast.  Brody would probably have been happier if it'd been a little warmer.  The really shallow and warm part was, unfortunately, being used by some boys gliding on their boards, so we couldn't put Brody in there.

The boys had fun playing and exploring around the house.

Brody stealing from Charlie

Brody likes having someone smaller than him to pick on!

Carrying tomatoes from Grandpa's garden

View from the loft.  What a mess we made!

Playing in the loft

We visited a lighthouse one afternoon.  Jay was hard to convince to go, but we mentioned going up in the lighthouse.  However, when we got there, the lighthouse had just closed plus there was a height requirement and Jay didn't reach it...by a long shot.  He was crushed and much crying ensued.   It was still a pretty view though!

Our last day there we visited the Bay side.  Jay had a blast going in the water with Grandpa.  He kept saying he wanted to go hide in the water!

Ready to go to the Bay!

Ray and Julian prepared a delicious meal on our final day there.  We enjoyed the burger and fries and then headed home with full bellies.

Those were some yummy fries!

Justin and I performing clean-up on the boys

Plugged into the Mickey Mouse DVD

Trips to Cape Cod will only become easier and more fun as the boys get older.  We can't wait!