Party Time

Brady had his first birthday party this past weekend and we were fortunate enough to have a bunch of family come celebrate! He had a great day from the time he woke up to the time he went to sleep. First of all, he slept in until 7:30, which is about an hour later than normal so he didn't need to take a morning nap. Instead of a nap, he got to go with Daddy to swim in the pool at the hotel where Kendall and Michelle stayed. They all had a blast! After all that fun he had to take a nap and then when he woke up, it was almost time for the party. I made him a shirt to go along with the puppy theme...He got to play with his cousins for a while before the party, and he got jealous when Grandma Moore was holding Jonas (Shannon's baby), so Grandma had to hold them both. We played some fun games at the party, including pin the tail on the dog with the tails that each kid colored. When it came time for presents, Brady was so excited to play with each one that got opened that he wanted nothing to do with opening the next present. So we had to take away the new toy and hide it so he could get the next one! He definitely got spoiled with presents and loves them all! Here are some cake pictures (see previous post for description and video). Let's just say we had to go straight to the bath when we were done, and while waiting for the water to warm up he peed all over. Everything turned out really well and everyone seemed to have a good time. Thanks to all who attended, especially those out of town. And thanks to everyone who helped decorate, with a special thanks to Aliisa for her help with the cupcakes!

We went to the Dr. today for his 1 year check up. He did well and everything looks good except he still has water on one ear, so we will go back in to get that checked soon. He did great with the first shot, but apparently the second and third hurt a lot more because he screamed like crazy. And then screamed more when he got labs drawn, but he calmed down pretty quickly. Here are his stats:
Height: 30 3/4 in (75%)
Weight: 21 lbs, 7 oz (30%)
Head: 48 (90%)
This boy eats so much I'm surprised he hasn't gained much weight. Then again, he is constantly moving, so he probably burns it all off in a matter of minutes! We sure love our little man!

Cake

Here is Brady's video of the cake eating. I couldn't get the first video to load (it was probably too long) but at first he was not interested in his cake at all. We had to keep giving him bites and shoving his hands in it. Eventually he warmed up to the idea and started eating it by the fistfuls as you can see...
I will post pictures later!

Birthday Boy

Tonight we had a mini birthday party since the official party will be on Saturday. Grandpa and Grandma Moore and Aliisa came to join the party. We started off with my version of a Korean first birthday tradition where I layed out different objects to represent careers and then whatever the baby picks up first is what they will become...see video in previous post! I did bandaids for a doctor, money for a banker, a pencil for a writer, and a tape measure for an architect. He immediately went for the pencil, so I guess we have a famous writer in the family. Well, future famous writer.
Then we did presents. He wasn't as interested in unwrapping them as he was in playing with each present! I didn't know if we would even make it past the first present, but I was persistent (and made Aliisa hide the opened ones). He got a "bathketball" set from Grandma and Grandpa. He also got some much needed socks, but shoved those away because why would that be exciting when you have balls to play with? He definitely got more than he needed, but it was fun to watch! He also spent plenty of time trying to climb and sit on his presents...not sure where that came from, but I don't look forward to all the climbing accidents we will surely encounter in the future! I almost forgot to get this little ride-on toy out, but I remembered right when we finished the rest of the presents.After presents, we ate dinner and then gave the birthday boy a Little Debbie heart cupcake that he got in his Valentine Bag from daycare (did I mention how much we love Lori? She is the best daycare ever!) He immediately shoved the WHOLE thing in his mouth...we're talking both hands shoving it in his pie hole...errrr cake hole! I'm excited to see how he does with the cake at his birthday party on Saturday!We also did a handprint on a canvas, and then I plan to do one at each birthday to show how much he grows. It didn't go so smoothly, but about how I expected. Quentin put it in the wrong place, so we did a round two and it went a little better, but now I will have to try to paint over the mistake. Oh well, it will still be fun to have it years down the road!

Birthday Video

We did a few videos of his birthday, but most of them are pretty long. This one is nice and short. Kirsten told me about a Korean tradition where they put objects on a table in front of the baby for their first birthday that represent different things and then whatever they select reflects what traits they will have when they grow up. I did my own version and put out objects to represent a career choice...here's what Brady chose:

Happy Birthday Brady!

Today is Brady's 1st Birthday and I cannot even believe it has been an entire year since this little guy was born! It feels like just last week we brought him home from the hospital, but at the same time it feels like he has always been a part of the family. We feel so blessed to have this sweet boy. He has always been such a good, happy, low maintenance baby and he is just a joy to have around. He is getting better at walking, although he prefers to still crawl. His 4th tooth just poked through, so he now has two on the bottom and once the top ones come in more he will look like a vampire. He is starting to say some words, but not routinely. He says mama and dada, ball, and has said bye a few times. He doesn't go to the doctor until next week, so I don't have the official stats yet, but I will go ahead and do the likes and dislikes.
Likes: Butters, and the new trick of "barking" back at Butters (it is seriously the cutest thing and really doesn't sound much like a bark at all!), books (he has his favorites and has to do this little side scoot thing to bring them to me), eating, drinking from sippy cups, balls, balloons, dancing (or head bobbing), cell phones, dumping Butter's water dish all over, bathtime, blowing kisses

Dislikes: Being told no, riding in the car, getting cleaned up after dinner (which would be much easier if he just wouldn't bathe in his food), and that's pretty much it!

More to come after the actual celebrations.

Happy Valentine's Day!

(Note: In my mind, this would be Brady holding up his paper heart with the hearts as a background. However, it is much more fun to crinkle up a paper heart and try to pull off the other hearts on the background. Still pretty cute though!)

3 Baby Steps

Brady has been standing without holding onto things for a while now. He will pull up to the couch, door, wall, my legs, whatever he can pull up on and then he will get distracted and let go and still just stand there. Until he realizes that he's not holding onto anything and then he quickly grabs hold again or just sits right down! He's getting better and better at doing it, so I figured I should get a picture (because what else do moms do?) so last night I stood him up in the middle of the floor and tried to snap a picture. He stood for a good 30 seconds and then took off...errr...took 3 steps! I was sooooo excited! We clapped together to celebrate, although I'm pretty sure he had no clue what he did. We have been tricking him into taking steps (holding his hands and then letting go), but these ones were all on his own! I tried to get him to do it again so Quentin could see, but he was over it. Soon enough he will be running all over the place!