Toddler Boy

Is it too early to say that in the battle of wills, I may actually be losing? How did Nathan and I end up with an extremely friendly yet extremely obstinate child?

But look at how cute he is when he's unconscious! Both my boys are so cute when they nap together.

This kid is beyond adorable but despite my determined efforts to teach him the meaning of gentle, we still hit everything. And what we don't hit we throw.

This is sort of a longish video but it's so sweet. Bradley running around the family room throwing things. Balls are the best toys ever.

http://youtu.be/NzqgsoIequE

We went to the park today and I took this adorable video of Bradley being excited to see a little girl and giving her a toy (21 seconds long).

http://youtu.be/B6m320ViCFc

Please note how quickly that video ended. 1) I didn't want to be creepy at the park filming someone else's child and 2) Bradley quickly took back his toy from the little girl. Also, within minutes he discovered you could throw sand and despite my best efforts to say no no and shake sand out of his hands as well as encouraging constructive sand use ... we just kept throwing sand. It was most fun to throw it at other children. Also we liked to hit other people's sand piles with whatever tool we were holding at the time. We were an adorable whirlwind of violence and destruction. So Mommy soon got to haul a sobbing child away from his favorite sandbox playtime ever. Is this what the toddler years are all about? I thought this was supposed to start at around age 2, not 14 months.

Luckily, I still get some angelic looking photos

We also went to the zoo today and had a blast. We even seemed to care about the animals to a small degree! Although the carousel and the kiddie playground area may still be our favorites.

On the carousel with our friend Fatima. We cry and yell when we're in line for the carousel and we don't get to get on in a timely manner. This child has inherited my patience!

Lemurs are SO fun!

Actually watching the macaws!

The other day there was a thunderstorm in the afternoon (there are SO many thunderstorms here, it's going to take some getting used to) so we had our friend Eli over since we couldn't go play outside. Poor Bradley, it was awful. Eli tried to touch some of his toys so Bradley had quite the job snatching away each toy Eli got his hands on. It was tough work, lucky thing Bradley was so dedicated. (Sharing is currently another losing battle I'm fighting). Finally he settled down a bit and just followed Eli around to supervise anything and everything he was doing. Toys that Bradley hadn't looked at for months were suddenly of great interest.

Bradley NEVER plays with this piano toy. Suddenly it was the best thing in the room.

The play date ended with Bradley throwing a wooden puzzle piece at Eli's head. Yet another losing battle. Unless that counts as sharing ... (!!). At the park today I met a mom with a little girl almost exactly Bradley's age who complained about her daughter not throwing balls or anything yet. I love my Bradley, but I'm rather excited at the possibility of having a sweet little girl who gently hands things to people and doesn't yell and point if something is not to her liking. With Nathan's and my genes, I'm not betting on it, but at least it's a possibility.

For instance, tonight at dinner I tried to sneak Bradley potato soup with some veggies instead of spaghetti with meat. Here is the end result.

SO MUCH SPAGHETTI was eaten and ended up all over Bradley's face. He had to holler at me and point insistently at my spaghetti several times but finally even the most oblivious of mommies had to figure out that a boy was not going to eat crummy soup when pasta was an option. He literally ate 2/3 as much as I did ... and I'm eating at 36 weeks of pregnancy levels. The boy is a beast.

We had a great Memorial Day weekend, Nathan and I went on a quest for a kiddie basketball hoop and to say that Bradley likes it is an understatement. Here's Bradley's very first glimpse of the basketball hoop.

http://youtu.be/9LeL3N95Jz0

We're going to show this video when he's a shooting guard for the Pistons (I think that's a real position and a real team. Nathan keeps saying that our girl is going to be a hardcore athlete but she is going to have a good amount of Anne in her keeping her from such an icky, sweaty future).

We went to the park and poor Bradley had his work cut out for him telling us what he wanted to do. He must think we are the slowest parents around, he has to holler and point so much to get his point across. If he wasn't so cute when he did it maybe he wouldn't have to try so hard.

The SWING, Daddy, the SWING. Seriously, how is this difficult to understand?

All this activity leads to a very tired boy. Good thing he has a daddy who is always game for a good cuddle.

We had a very fun BBQ with about five neighborhood families and Bradley spent most of his time chasing around the sweetest eight year olds who were very nice about the pushy small child who wanted to play with their toys and follow them everywhere they went. He got very flushed and hot and kept chugging from my water glass (not my favorite thing, when you share water with Bradley you get plenty of backwash and bits of small food in your drink ... yummy) so I ran over to our house to grab the giant bag of otter pops that genius Nathan had gotten for Bradley. Bradley had almost two popsicles on his own and was soon happy and cool and there was a small whirlwind of young children who were delighted to share his otter pop stash. Kids and popsicles are about the most hilarious thing ever, these are basically just ice with lots of sugary artificial flavors and kids go nuts over them. Even our one year old. He came home with a small cut on his leg from falling on who knows what in the yard and his clothes were covered in mud and popsicle juice. I'm pretty sure he thought it was the best day ever.

We're having a blast these days and my mom comes out to Kansas City this weekend for AP Physics test grading and hopefully a reasonable amount of Bradley time. This is the first time we'll have seen her since the move, can't wait!!

Zoo Trips and More!

We're having too much fun these days.

Bradley loves playing with hangers and mirrors. In our bedroom he gets both!

Today we went to the zoo with Bradley's friend Eli and Eli's mommy. While we aren't super keen on the animals, we may love the carousel more then swings (which is saying something) and we also greatly love chasing our friend around. Bradley is just two weeks older than Eli so it's pretty adorable to see them run around together. Eli likes to try to feed Bradley goldfish crackers, which Bradley thinks is an admirable trait to have in a friend. Sometimes the goldfish makes it into Bradley's mouth and then is taken back out and then put back in again but Bradley is surprisingly patient with this whole process.

There was a lot of smiling on the carousel but shockingly enough none of those photos were in focus

New zoo hat! He didn't throw it off and actually wore it around the park. This is really good, hopefully we won't have to sunscreen his head everywhere we go this summer.

Playing with Eli. They love each other.

It's harder when they're playing pass the stick back and forth between strollers and Eli passes Bradley his stick, which Bradley takes and then passes back, and then Eli SELFISHLY holds onto his stick. A boy has to yell and holler when this sort of injustice takes place. Eli's mom tried to give Bradley a bigger, cooler stick so he would have one of his own to hold onto but she is clearly no judge of what makes a good stick and Bradley promptly threw away the inferior replacement and hollered at Eli some more. That's my boy.

Bradley is into everything these days and he's fearless, which is both admirable and horrible. We've been going to a number of parks with a mom group I joined and Bradley loves to try to follow the older kids around. He's getting better and better at climbing up on play structures and is very annoyed when overprotective Mommy comes along with him and insists on holding his hand when all he wants to do is see if he can walk off the side with no railing or go face first down the slide. I'm eight and a half months pregnant so we're quite the sight. No idea how we'll do this when the baby girl is here and I need to either stay by her in the stroller or have her in the baby carrier.

We may spend a lot more time at home playing in our backyard when little sis first makes her appearance. I got a couple kiddie pools in preparation and we tried out the gigantic one with lots of bells and whistles just last week. Unfortunately, it was a little cool when we got it out and the hose water was very cold. Nathan and I made a lot of trips with hot water from the house to help warm it up but Bradley was still not a fan. Especially when his daddy made him sit down in the water. Bad Daddy. But it should be great this summer, Bradley loves water and once we get it warm enough for him he'll be a big fan.

I've had a few favorite Bradley moments in the past week or so. One was after we came home from the park and Bradley had been running around in the sunshine and was a bit overheated and drinking water wasn't cooling him down fast enough for his liking. I got a strawberry popsicle out of the freezer and sat him down on the desk in the kitchen so we could share it. He was so so happy. I was sitting across from him and I'd take a bite, then he'd take a bite, and there was a lot of smiling back and forth. Beyond sweet.

Another great moment was this morning. I was doing some dishes while Bradley wreaked havoc on the foam floormat in the living room (he LOVES taking it apart) when it got a little quiet and then he ran into the kitchen with a huge smile on his face holding his Where's Spot book. He loves this book and he loves having me hold him on my lap while reading it to him. The dishes were left instantly and I read to my little boy. 

And here's another with Bradley and his daddy watering the new grass. Bradley was the best helper there ever was.

The video: http://youtu.be/jX6rZsHIplk

I ADORE this picture

Bradley loves Nathan so much. I'm a bit jealous at how good Nathan is at getting Bradley to cuddle with him. I get a reasonable amount of cuddles but Nathan is the master.

Daddy is also super fun and tall. Here are a few pictures from our first trip to the Kansas City zoo a couple weekends ago. Bradley quickly ditched his stroller for the much more fun Daddy ride!

This was probably the most excited he got about any animal while we were at the zoo. Yes, this is a polar bear statue. We're only moderately excited about animals that are not doggies or kitties.

Luckily - carousel! Instantly means that the zoo is a hit. And yes, I am getting quite round these days. There is a gigantor baby girl in that tummy. 

We've been having a good amount of fun around the house even before we set up the kiddie pool. I thought it would be nice to fill this bucket with water and have Bradley splash around and Bradley was very onboard with the idea. 

We brought out a few stacking cups and a pink ball for him to play with. We had a great time throwing them into the water ... and then we had a great time throwing them out of the water and off of the deck.

Bradley still refuses to go down stairs on his own so he was forced to beg his daddy for assistance whenever he needed to retrieve the ball that he had thrown far, far away.

Things got a little pathetic. And quite bossy.

All this hard work means we have a very good sleeper on our hands most days. No, that stuffed toy isn't smothering him, it's just the angle I took the picture. None of his blankets stay on him for long. He's such a stinker.

He's also getting a lot of new teeth (we're up to seven!) so he's been chewing on anything and everything within reach. That's half of a plastic Easter egg in his mouth, I had to hide them after I took this picture so he couldn't do this anymore.

In addition to the parenting award I should receive for the picture above, here is my child eating a Reece's peanut butter cup. Why didn't I take a picture of him scarfing down Nathan's grilled zucchini? I need proof that he eats vegetables.

Nevermind, I forgot about this picture. The kid loves corn. I didn't want to give him the cobb but Nathan insisted that he would like it and it looks like Daddy was right!

However, Nathan may have been less correct when it came to dressing Bradley for an afternoon of errands. I was told that this was a "hipster cool" outfit. Bradley and I are not so sure.

I can't believe how big my sweet Bradley is getting. Although it shouldn't be that much of a shock, he eats SO MUCH. But he's starting to really look like a little boy instead of a baby. And he's so fun to play with. Nathan spent a reasonable portion of this evening chasing him around the family room and Bradley was shrieking in delight and running alarmingly well until he'd look over his should and lose his balance and fall down. He's a tough little cookie and he definitely outlasted his poor, tired daddy. Probably this time next year he and his little sister will be chasing each other around! Can't wait!

The kitties can't wait either. Click on the link for the video of him chasing Sookie around with a kitty toy http://youtu.be/Aby332uW4fM

Playing with the balloon we were given at the grocery store. It's always a party when I go out with my cute and social little guy.

And here's one last video of Bradley running around in just his diaper. It's a little longer than the others but pretty cute and it's worth watching the last few seconds to see the force with which he throws books around. Yeah, that's how he "gives" them to me so I can read them to him. Mommy is getting some very good reflexes. http://youtu.be/z4zlqOKuJ4c

Fun New Habits

How did two weeks go by without an update? I guess we've been busy!

And we've been cute. Look at this face. I love this face.

Bradley is so awesome these days. He is such a little personality. Right now as I'm writing this he's taking a plastic easter egg apart and insisting in a rather bossy manner that I put it back together again time after time. He's being hilarious about it, so I'm going along with it. How soon before he figures out that as long as he's making me laugh he's pretty much good to do whatever?

This happened this morning as well, while he was doing this. Letting him have access to the tupperware cupboard was the best idea ever.

Please note that the face is smushed against the side of the tupperware.

Yes, my child was running around the kitchen for a full five minutes or so with the tupperware smushed against his face. Both he and I laughed quite a bit.

I draw the line on other things however, I think I'm kind of going to be mean Mommy about a number of pet peeves of mine. For instance, we were out today and he kept on trying to run out of the little room that we were playing in, even when I told him to come here. Um, not allowed. I drug him back in and chastised him in a not incredibly kind or sensitive manner. Same thing happens when he whacks me on the face when I'm holding him and he wants something. I say no and if he continues the behavior I set him on the floor in a way that lets him know he's being ditched. And it's not that I want him to cry when I do this but I'm a little happy when he does because it means he's getting the message. Mommies do NOT get whacked in the face and if Mommy says you do something then it WILL be done. I aspire to be like my mother. My siblings and I had no doubt that she loved us more than anything but we were also knew better than to disobey when it was something that truly mattered. Bradley gets cut some slack for being 13 months old ... but he KNOWS what's going on and he can obey some basic rules of conduct.

Happily, he has many adorable habits that he's picked up as of late that far outnumber any naughtiness. He'll bring books over and plop down in my lap so I can read them to him. And when I say this, it's a tossup between having the book handed to me or having it thrown in my general direction. And sometimes it's tough for a little boy to care enough about a book to make it through the whole thing. But still, it's darned cute and it makes this mommy melt every time it happens.

He also likes to carry around his giant stuffed toys that are about the same size as him. Hilarious and adorable.

And here's the link to the youtube video. It won't let me embed it right now and I don't know why ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiwRbEtkXl4

His love for the kitties remains strong and he likes to try to bring kitty toys to them, much to their distress. We have a long stick with a thick ribbon attached that we tied a little stuffed raccoon toy to and Bradley will grab it from me and flail it around in imitation of what I've been doing to entice the kitties to play with it. Doing this, he'll run up towards a kitty and try to throw the whole thing at them. Shockingly enough, they run away every time. It's very funny to watch. Here is Layla trying to hide in a box downstairs and learning to her horror that she has picked the worst hiding place ever.

There is no escape!

Bradley loves swimming and bath time so I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that he went nuts when he encountered his first water table at a little indoor play place I took him to the other day.

This photo does not adequately demonstrate the amount of ecstatic splashing that took place. The video below does a much better job.

Link to adorable video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU4t98XFd5o

Not only was there a water table, there were ball pits to play in and big kids to watch and follow around and many rooms to explore. And we made it an hour past our normal morning nap time.

We were very tired after our busy time at the play place.

We go out somewhere every day, otherwise Mommy goes stir crazy. It's going to be interesting to see how that goes once there's a baby girl thrown into the mix.

At the park in the sandbox a couple weeks back. Note Bradley's forehead injury from chasing girls. I like to think I'll be able to manage outings like this on my own with Bradley and his little sister but we'll just have to see how things go.

He had a grand time at Union Station today when my friend Fatima joined us. She helped me work on his cool kid look at a little gift shop. Because, really, teaching your child to be cool is an important job for any parent and an issue that gets far too little attention in any baby book I've ever encountered. It's a major oversight.

After this we saw a miniature train display that impressed even Bradley and then ran around chasing a bouncy light up ball (purchased in the gift shop) for at least 15 minutes in the main walkway of the station. Bradley loves throwing balls and running so this was pretty much the best thing in the world as far he was concerned. Fatima chased him around and he loved that too. I'm extremely curious to see if this is just a boy thing or something that's just part of Bradley's personality. I wonder if his little sister will be the same way or if she'll be quiet and a bit more shy. Can't wait to find out!

Here he is reading with Fatima after we got home. She's great with him and he loves her.

Bradley is really into climbing now but gets frustrated because he's still too short to make it onto the couch or recliner on his own. But he found out that he can get up on his toddler bed that we're storing for him in the family room until it's time for him to use it. He throws balls up on it then climbs up after them. Everything goes great until it's time to get down. He refuses to scoot down backward, he prefers to walk forward and be caught by a person. The first time he went up there I waited across the room on purpose and sure enough, he walked straight off and landed in a heap on the floor. It's a good thing the carpet is soft and he's a tough little cookie. 

He also loves to point at lights, cars, people, dogs, and often times nothing at all. Here he is pointing at the light in the kitchen. I'm pretty sure this is going to be his uniform of the summer, socks and a diaper. I love a Bradley in no clothes, it's just the cutest thing ever.

And while he has been extremely easy to put down for naps the past couple months, it doesn't mean he isn't a bit of a ridiculous goober while he's in his crib. These photos are why I'm so glad we have a video baby monitor, I take pictures and send them to Nathan so he can laugh with me. 

Here we are awake in the middle of a nap and button mashing Baby Tad.

And here we are out cold after our trip to Union Station today. I don't know why I even bother trying to drape a blanket over him, he's wriggles around so much it rarely stays on him.

But this child sleeps at least 10 hours straight on a bad night and about 11 on a good night. And he slept in until 8:30 this last Saturday so he can do pretty much whatever silly stuff he wants to in the crib, it's all fine by me. No, I am not ready to train another one just yet. It has been so glorious to get a full night's sleep every night.

And in grand finale style, here is a video of Bradley at bath time. The last bit of the video demonstrates my favorite new trick of his. Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJD3ijo1MZs

Oh, and one more video. Nathan has been gone on a work trip all week and Bradley and I have been doing pretty well until Bradley watched this video with me. It's from last week and it was taken when Nathan got home from work. Bradley watched the video and got very excited when he saw Nathan and was a bit upset when the video ended and he couldn't see Daddy anymore. Nathan gets back tomorrow and Bradley will get to see him Friday morning, he's going to be such a happy boy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ-W24zn7dg

I started recording this video because Bradley was playing toys and hollering in an adorable manner and it happened to be right as Nathan was getting home. Lucky timing!

Our little boy is such a joy. I know it's going to be a bit hectic when our little girl arrives but I like to think that we make AMAZING children and I can't wait to meet kid #2 and see all the new ways in which she is wonderful, marvelous, and charming.