Summer Fun

Videos with Grandparents

I discovered a few videos from on earlier grandparent visit that I needed to add because they are oh so cute! Each one is pretty fun to watch but there are probably the most smiles in the third one.

Singing Tihara Tihara with my mom

Airplane ride with Grandpa. There are a lot of crashes.

Exciting songs with Grandpa

Swimming with Grandpa

We have been having a blast swimming with Bradley, each time he gets more active. And we dunk him underwater twice so he'll be used to it. Here is he swimming with his mommy and daddy and grandpa while Grandma takes pictures!

Bradley may be swimming but he still loves the camera

My dad and Nathan let me hold my child! Quick, take a picture!

Scott family photo ... plus my dad

I think our faces say it all in this picture

I love love LOVE Bradley's face in this picture!

Everybody loves the baby!

Scott family swim time. Wow, Bradley looks like his daddy.

We love his hooded bath towels. This is a Tigger one.

Never wake a sleeping baby

Nathan and I are still figuring out some of this parenting stuff, as seen below. We wake up the zonked out baby so he can eat one last time before going to bed. He was ... displeased. It's funny how hard it is to wake him up when he's truly down for the night. We should have known better. Still, it makes for a cute video. Worth it!

Sometimes blogger likes to add my iPhone photos sideways. I will sort this out later ...

And the video below is from earlier in the day. At first he's very distracted by my phone that I'm using to record him, but about 1:30 in he gets very chatty. This is immediately after a difficult conversation on the phone with my sister. Difficult because I couldn't hear her half the time. Bradley wanted to be held the entire time I was on the phone and was happily trying to chat with his Auntie Laura.

Baby Firsts

First time being up on daddy's shoulders. Definitely not the last.

First time being awake at Top Pot. Definitely not the last time I take this kid out for doughnuts.

Sitting on Serena's lap! Serena is expecting, we can't wait to meet Bradley's new friend in February!

A Few Sweet Pictures

We walk Greenlake every Tuesday before our parenting group meets in the evening. Here we are waiting to meet a friend. Bradley is so stinkin cute, he loves playing with his sun hat.

And here are a few adorable pictures from his changing table. He's such a cheery, smiley guy. And I love putting him in outfits where his belly hangs out.

Bradley is very happy I stopped being overprotective with him in his exersaucer and finally took away his buffer blanket so he could grab at the toys.

 

Swimming with Friends

We had the BEST time going swimming with some of Bradley's friends from our PEPS parenting group. This was my first time going to the pool without Nathan ... and it was wonderful. I finally didn't have to share Bradley. (Yes, we are planning on a second child in the not too distant future. Bradley would be the most spoiled only child ever).

Bradley also loves swimming with other kids, he loves looking at faces. The one sure way to make this kid smile is to hold him so he can look in another baby's face.

We all dunked the babies underwater and no one cried, I call this swimming success! We can't wait to go with friends again! It's very interesting how different each of the babies are when it comes to being in the water. The little girl was yawning, one of the boys was a little nervous, and the other boy was acting like he had finally come home. Also, Bradley is the only one whose nose and eyes turn a little pink when he goes underwater. I apologize, Bradley, that's from my side of the family.

Four sweet babies in a row. Bradley is far right in his new suit.

I love swimming with my boy!

The aftermath. He slept so hard after swimming and playing with friends.

Layla wants everyone to know she was exhausted as well, Bradley isn't the only one who gets tired around here!

I haven't written much about our parenting group, PEPS (Program for Early Parenting Support) but we're so glad we've joined and we've met some really nice couples. There are seven other couples with infants within a month or two of Bradley's age. We've been meeting every week since the end of May and we're going to continue to meet over the course of the next year or so. Nathan and I don't have too many local friends with kids so it's been invaluable to have other people in the same situation as us to get to talk to about sleepless nights and exciting mini milestones.

There may be quite a few pictures of Bradley playing with his new friends in the coming months. Baby play dates are one of things I'm most excited about as Bradley gets older!

Adrenaline Junkie

Well, it's happened. Sooner than I expected. My parents took my sweet, kind little boy and turned him into a crazy adrenaline junkie! I had been having the darndest time getting Bradley down for naps until I finally realized he wasn't crying because he was tired, he was crying because he was bored. Bored! With me of all people! 

Isn't chasing around the kitties and petting them exciting enough for you?

I like to think that we party pretty hard when we play together. Well, it wasn't good enough after my parents' last visit where he was exposed to songs like Tihara Tihara (involves bouncing on a foot) and The Grand Old Duke of York (involves flying up and down in the air). My dad also enjoyed pretending Bradley was an airplane experiencing crash landings. Twice. Look at this face and tell me that I stood a chance after this visit.

At least my child still likes books. He better, I think that's everyone's favorite activity with him. And I feel somewhat strongly about the importance of reading, if this boy doesn't end up loving books it will not be for lack of trying on my part.

Okay Grandpa, you're redeeming yourself a LITTLE by reading to him.

However, we went over to our friend Brendan's today and Bradley was captivated by the movie How to Train Your Dragon. Really? I've already lost the battle against television? Here, I'm going to write down a list of things I'm against right now so I can laugh at them later.

Anne's Parenting Do's and Don'ts

1) Minimal watching of television. Go play outside or read a book. Maybe you can watch one cartoon per day.
2) Minimal playing on computer, unless it's something awesome like Carmen San Diego. You can play math and science oriented games as long as you want unless it's sunny outside. Go play outside or read a book.
3) Car rides are supposed to be boring. Read or play horrible travel size versions of board games. This is what Mommy did while growing up and look how I turned out!
4) Presents are for birthdays and Christmas. If you get a present and it's not one of these days consider it a rare rare treat.
5) Weapons are not toys. If you want a toy gun so much, please build a lego version or find a cool stick in the backyard. Then I can applaud your creativity!
6) We love chores! How soon until I get to try to convince Bradley that vacuuming is fun?
7) Snacking between meals is not okay. I need to stop doing this myself before enforcing it in the future ...
8) We are nice to the kitties, and all animals for that matter. Unless we're talking about bugs, kill those suckers. Or better yet, bring the kitties over to them so you can watch the bugs become cat chow.
9) Whining will never be rewarded. Seriously a pet peeve of mine. I know kids whine but mine will hopefully realize that it is not only pointless, it means you are less likely to get what you want.
10) We all say I love you lots and lots and kisses and cuddles are important aspects of happy family bonding. I'm already working on getting Bradley to return my kisses, so far he kind of drools on my cheek but I can work with that.

 Adorable Baby Hands

I was looking at Bradley's little hands while he was sleeping the other day and could not believe how cute they were. How are there dimples over all the knuckles? How is that possible? Cuteness overload!

He still hasn't "discovered" his thumb, even after the period with no pacifier. But he loves sucking on his right hand's fingers. Or right arm, whichever is most convenient. Sometimes after tummy time his right sleeve of his outfit is pretty well soaked. If this kid doesn't end up being a righty I'll be shocked.

Comparing my hand to his. I love how tiny his pudgy little fingers are.

Baby Angst

 Bradley has a love/hate relationship with this toy. It's so fun to grab and play with but he gets very angry when he plays with it because he is unable to get it into his mouth. In this picture he's about to cry from frustration. I understand, Bradley, I get very angry when I can't eat things too!

 Exersaucer

Bradley also has a new toy which is the best thing ever as far as he's concerned. I've had a lot less trouble with my easily bored child since Nathan put this together. It's kind of a bouncer seat and there are toys everywhere! Since he's down to about 2 hours of total nap time per day, here's hoping that he's able to happily and independently play on this for good chunks of time. I'll have to take a video of the adorable bouncing boy sometime soon!

See how his right sleeve is a darker gray than his left in this picture? That's all from him chewing on his arm. What a kid.

3 Month Photos

Nathan and I were just talking about how we're having more and more fun with our little boy. He screams with delight when he sees Nathan, it's the cutest thing. He also yells a lot when he's on his tummy and sometimes he's so busy making baby noises that it's difficult to carry on a conversation while he's nearby. I know, we're in for it.

And if it's not the yelling it's the crawling. He's SO close! I might take some credit for this one, I time how much tummy time he gets every day. He eats, I change his diaper, and then I put him on his stomach for as much time as he'll take (and sometimes just a little bit more). We're going for at least 15 minutes Bradley! Don't cry, you're happy! Here, look at this distracting toy! I might regret my good work in this arena once he starts moving around and getting into things.

 

We had a fun weekend with our little family, it was a good mix of relaxing and active. Okay, it was fairly busy but it was very fun, albeit a bit exhausting for a little boy in the middle of a growth spurt! (He's been going four hours between meals during the day and three at night. Naughty boy).

Swimming

We went swimming again yesterday and had an amazing time!

 

Here's a video of Bradley and me playing in the water! It's not super exciting unless you are a parent or grandparent, you can skip to the 2 min 15 second mark if you want to see the most active part of the video.

Family Time!

Bradley also got to spend some time with his Aunt Tina and first cousin once removed Kera. We're probably not going to have him refer to her as that, you can blame my Meister family reunions for me even mentioning this. Tina showed off her baby cuddling skills and Kera showed off her Layla cuddling skills. Both baby and kitty enjoyed the love and attention.

Thanks for spending Saturday afternoon with us, we had a great time catching up with the two of you!

3 Month Photos

 I caved and went and got Bradley professional photos for being three months old.  Well, three and a half. I have the new fancy camera but I need a lot more practice with it before being able to compare to the pros. Nathan and I went together, it was a four hour endeavor from start to finish but it was worth it! Check out the totally adorable photos.

Looking fresh to death in his corduroys

Ready for the beach

Oh my! You caught me playing with Mr. Ducky!

Cool surfer dude

THIS is our Bradley. Smiley and friendly. We adore this child.

No More Pacifier ... just kidding

So the tale of this last week is how Nathan and I thought we were hardcore awesome parents and were going to wean our child off his pacifier at just over three months old. We made it almost five days, which I think is rather impressive. But then after a long day with a few marathon crying sessions, I gave in. Nathan was fortunate to receive a number of text messages from me with my feelings on the matter.

4:40pm - Bradley won't stop crying. Not a good afternoon.
5:04pm - Tomorrow I'm recording all of his crying and you get to listen to it when you get home. I want the pacifier back.
5:05pm - Because it's been 45 min straight with no sign of stopping. That's in addition to the meltdown this morning.
5:20pm - We're at the one hour mark. Except it's screaming now. This is so frickin stupid. I'm getting the pacifier.

And then I went and got the pacifier. Nathan was very kind and supportive when he got home, he's a wise wise man.

There are zero pictures from these days, there is just sorrow. Now the pacifier is back and everyone is happy!

Love this video of Bradley working on eating his fingers. This kid is cute always.

 Kitties and Baby

The kitties are settling into having a baby around, Sookie in particular seems to enjoy when I hold Bradley through one of his naps. There isn't a ton of room between me and Bradley here but where there's a will there's a way.

 And here is photographic proof of how easygoing our kitties are, even Meg. Picture on the right is high fashion.

Meg better be easygoing, she still comes into the room yowling for affection whenever I'm trying to put the sleepy baby down for his nap. But at least he can sleep through it? He slept through the very loud thunderstorm yesterday, he truly is my child.

Costco

Nathan and I showed remarkable restraint with our trip to Costco today and didn't get this for Bradley.  That's a grandparent job, my job is to roll my eyes and make comments about where we're going to put it. And then use it for many photo ops with the child, because it's AMAZING!

 

However, we did purchase season 1 and 2 of Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers and a Disney movie for Bradley. Sigh. This counts as planning for the future, right? Kind of like a college fund? I think it must. Go team NABS! (Nathan Anne Bradley Scott)

4th of July

It seems like we've barely been home in the past week, from a weekend away with Nathan's family to going up to my parents' house for the 4th of July, there's been a lot of traveling for us! And yes, the kittens did not take it very well. We didn't think they could get any needier. We were wrong.

Our cheerful guy has been enjoying newfound mobility and dexterity. He can grab at toys now and I think it's on purpose. He can also scoot backwards a few inches when he's on his tummy. Does that count as crawling? What does it count as exactly? I'm not quite sure how he does it, I think he kind of pushes back with his arms and wriggles around.

 

All items already find their way into his mouth. This is just a "taste" of what is to come, I'm sure.

4th of July at Grandma and Grandpa Redferns'

We went up to Camano Island on the night of the 3rd, which was fortunate since there was a parade of visitors over the course of the 4th. It seems that the key to popularity was having a child, I never knew! However, having a child is also the key to having no time to go out and see people. It's quite the conundrum. 

We discovered that Bradley loves being read to while on his tummy, it makes tummy time much more fun for all involved. Here he is reading his favorite book with his grandpa. Thank you to Auntie Anna for picking out this book while we were in Poulsbo. It's a hit!

Gerald McBoing Boing! There are many sound effects.

Look at our brilliant child, he's obviously reading along.

And once again, here is the sleepy child during naptime. I cooed at him and pinched his cheeks. It's how I soothe him back to sleep.

My philosophy is, sure he could have a better nap if I didn't do these things. But it would be far less fun for all involved. And obviously having smiley baby pictures trumps nap time every time.

 

I've never been more sleepy! Thank you, mommy!

 Grandma got a chance to read to Bradley as well. We all love reading to Bradley, there's going to be no shortage of books in his future!

This is Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton. It's an adorable book.

He is so fun to read to.

Family came to visit and Bradley was a little overwhelmed by all the new faces he needed to check out. When there are too many people around he'll look at everyone except for the person holding him. Poor Aunt Nancy discovered this the hard way.

Fortunately, as soon as he was passed to his Great Grandma he gave Aunt Nancy the attention she deserved!

Grandpa read Gerald McBoing Boing for Bradley ... and a crowd of relatives. I should have taken a picture of the circle of chairs with adults watching Bradley get read to. It was pretty funny.

Fireworks

We now shoot off a small number of fireworks every year thanks to Nathan. He spends about $30-$40 on a variety of small items and we go shoot them all off with the Peterson family. Bradley was very excited about seeing his first fireworks.

I was a little more nervous about the fireworks and baby combo and took some steps to ensure his safety. There's no overprotective parenting going on here. 

The sunglasses didn't last, but the noise canceling headphones did. They were completely worth using, even the little fireworks can be very loud!

Baby Presents

And here Bradley is showing off his two new favorite toys thanks to my college friend, Beth. Yes, he's holding these toys up completely by himself. While looking at the camera. You can't train them to be this good, what a kid!

New Friends

He is also good at making new friends, on our morning walk today we discovered a dog happily wandering around in the middle of the street and brought her home to her owners. And what a nice couple! Fran is 88 and her husband is 90. Fran gave us five beautiful hand knit baby hats and held Bradley while she and I had a nice chat. She's an absolute dear and Bradley fussed until I let her hold him and then fussed again when I put him back in his baby carrier to go home. Such a polite little boy. Here are some pictures of Bradley modeling the hats, aren't they amazing?

This is our favorite, but they're all wonderful hats

I'm just sad that summer has finally come to Seattle, I may have to wait a while before using these. And we are definitely going back to spend more time with our new friends, what a sweet couple!

I have to say, I'm pretty amazed at how generous everyone has been when it comes to gifts for our baby. Friends that I haven't seen in far too long have sent gifts, there were all the meals we received when we first came home from the hospital, and of course I appreciate family making long trips out to meet our little man. I can't even begin to thank everyone. Bradley brings so much joy to our lives and it's wonderful to have others share that joy with us.