My Boys and Me

I took this picture a couple months ago when I bought Mike new tennis shoes and Mikey his first pair.  I thought it would fit today’s entry perfectly!

We are SO proud to announce that Mikey is officially a walker.  3 days short of 14 months old, he (without us enticing him) stood up on his own and started walking.  It’s amazing how much better kids are at doing something when they do it on THEIR terms.  For the past month or so, he would take 2-3 steps anytime he had an audience cheering him on (and only when we stood him up and told him to “walk.”) Well, today he decided he was ready to show us his skills on his own.  Not only did he stand up on his own (from a sitting position and without holding on to anything), but he walked across the room and even turned himself as he was walking to maneuver around things.  Of course when I got the camera out, the little booger wouldn’t continue his performance.  So, Mike and I reverted to our good ole’ faithful form of parenting- Bribery! You can now add “Cookie Monster” to his list of adjectives.  All we needed was the beautiful bright yellow box of Vanilla Wafers to get him moving. He understands many of the words we are saying, ”walk” is one of them and “cookie” is another.  “Mikey, you want a cookie? OK, walk!” He performed perfectly for the video and pictures after that.  If we weren’t in shape before, we will be very soon chasing him around.  He has shown us from day 1 that once he realizes he can REALLY do something well, there is no stopping him.  He is also SO SO smart.  He knows exactly where the vanilla wafers are at- at our house AND Mike’s parents.  He crawls right to the lower cabinet where Grandma keeps them before even saying hello when we go over to Mike’s parents. He knows exactly where he left his “bunny” aka the one thing we need to go and buy two more of in case he looses this one (his new found love), he knows the sound of a phone and says “hello” anytime he hears ANY phone ring and he looks into the sky whenever he hears an airplane.  Those are just the things I can think of right now- YES, I am bragging He has made us so proud today!  There is something so incredibly bittersweet about watching your child walk.  I waited and waited and waited for Braeden to walk (18 months), and when he did it was such an exciting moment.  I wasn’t sure I’d be able to feel as much excitement about the same thing again, but once again, Mikey has proven me wrong.  It is SO exciting.  Especially since he is so much smaller than Braeden was and watching my little guy get around on his own is so heartwarming.  Of course, as with everything new my boys begin doing, it is also a sad reminder that they are growing up and needing Mama less and less- I am not even gonna go there because I am too happy today to cry. Braeden was especially excited. He and Mikey have truly been acting like BOYS lately- wrestling and rolling around together.  Now that Mikey can keep up a little better, it will be interesting to see how they react to one another.  A typical sound in our house- Braeden- “Mikey NO!” “Mikey, you can’t touch that!” Mikey that is my toy, go get your toys!” “Mikey I am trying to play the Wii!” ”Mikey don’t pull that cord out of the TV!” “DADDY!!!!!” Like I said, it has begun!

To summarize everything else that’s new:

-Braeden repeated something to Mike and I that he “overheard” us talking about in the car and when I asked him how he knew what he had just said, he replied, “I am really sneaky and I hear things when you and Daddy talk!”

-Braeden LOVES his Wii more and more and really it is the best “video game” type toy he could have.  He is practicing math on the Star Wars game (you have to have a certain amount of points to buy certain characters, and rather than just tell him if he has enough points, I make him tell ME by having him figure out if the number of points he has is larger or smaller than the amount of points he needs).  He is also learning ALL the fundamentals and rules of baseball (even more than he learned playing this year) from his Back Yard Baseball game.  Speaking of baseball, we had a lot of fun with Braeden this week watching the Home-run Derby and All-Star game on TV.  He is surprising us with all his Major League Baseball knowledge.  Papa would be proud.  Mike and I are just thrilled that he has gotten so into sports on his own. I think he and Roy bonded over baseball talk while he was in FL (Roy is also a Phillies fan and works for the sports section of his local newspaper).

-Braeden was staring at his toothbrush this morning.  He asked me if I bought him a “smaller” toothbrush.  When I told him No and that it was the same one he he’d been using lately, he said, “Hmm, I guess my hands just got bigger!”

-Mikey got stuck  in between the wall and the refrigerator this week.  I will not elaborate much because it was quite traumatic for both Mikey and I.  Especially when I heard him scream, ran to him and could not move him for about ten seconds (each second felt like minutes) and all I could think of was that his brain was being crushed.  By the time Mike came running from the shower wet and naked after he heard me screaming (not sure which was more traumatic- Mikey being stuck or seeing my wet naked husband run through the house I had Mikey in my arms.  Mikey didn’t stop crying for awhile and I couldn’t stop shaking.  So far Mikey is up on his brother 2-1 in “Scare Mommy” moments (think back a couple months to the time we thought he was choking on a cracker or a few years ago when I thought I lost Braeden in the mall).

-Our countdown till vacation is down to 6 days!!!!! This time next week we will be in FL and on VACATION FOR A WEEK!  Can’t wait!  I should have lots of interesting things to write about experiencing Disney World with a 14-month old NEW WALKER!

At least he shares the vanilla wafers.

Have a great week!

Has it really only been a week since I’ve written?  I feel like we’ve done more this week with Braeden being home than we did the entire 4 weeks he was gone.  He got home last Saturday afternoon and we have been going non-stop since. AND, I’ve worked every day this week too (long days too, but SO much fun).  Finally tomorrow I am off (work)!  Braeden has tagged along with me everyday.  Not bad when tagging along and “going to work with Mama” means going to the pool 4 times, the movies, the waterpark, Ready- Set- Jump, Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s, and having 2 GREAT kids to play with the whole time!  Even better for Mama to get paid AND be able to have so much fun AND spend time with my little man.  I am so glad that Braeden is home.  I never really realize just how much I miss him (because I always stay so busy), until he is home.  Then, as he is rubbing my arm and giving me kisses, or out of the blue telling me he loves me, or being my little buddy and having a conversation with me in the car at 8 am as I drive to work, or as I watch him be the BEST big brother and little helper, I wonder how in the world I EVER went 4 weeks without him and how I will EVER be able to do it again?!  I’ve said it before and I will say it again, I proudly praise (as every mother is allowed) the precious, sweet, one-of-a-kind little boy that Braeden is.  Oh how I LOVE him so much!

I actually think that he was ready to come home.  He had a great time and is loved and spoiled so much by everyone (thank you, thank you, to all of you), but 4 weeks IS a long time for a kid.  I know Mikey is especially happy to have him home.  BUT, he wasn’t going to go without letting Braeden know just how ticked off he was that he was gone for so long.  When they first saw each other, Mikey stared at Braeden stone-faced for a solid minute, as if saying “how DARE you leave me! I am mad at you!” It was another one of those “moments” for me.  Braeden came running up as Mikey and I walked up to meet them when they got into town.  He was full of energy and excitement. I couldn’t take my eyes off the two and was especially curious to see Mikey’s reaction- which was completely different than I expected.  He continues to play out his little “attitude” and his reaction  suited his personality perfectly.  Of course Nana cried.  After-all, she was meeting Mikey for the first time and couldn’t help but be awestruck watching the boys little reunion.  Mikey decided quickly to get over being mad, and he and Braeden have been enjoying one another and making up for the time they were apart. 

We knew Braeden would be in awe at all the new things Mikey is up to, but actually, so are Mike and I.  He has accomplished so much in the past few weeks.  Here are a few new things he is up to:

-Standing for over a minute without holding on to anything

-Bending down and standing back up (without falling)

-Walking as many as 5 steps un-assisted (usually from Mama to Daddy or vice-versa and with a lot of encouragement)

-Perfers solid finger foods that he can feed himself over pureed baby foods

-Can say Dada, Hello (and when saying it, he ALWAYS puts his hand up to his ear as if talking on the phone), Uh Oh, Ba Ba (Brother), Baby, Mama (only when whining though

-Can climb up a full flight of stairs (crawling) unassisted

-Can get down from the couch feet-first by moving from a sitting position to his belly 

-Can climb on and off his sitting toys 

-Has found and LOVES, his “boy parts.” Maybe this is a topic that I should refrain from blogging about (I mean having it posted for the world to read is far worse than just sharing stories with a future girl friend), but it is so darn cute and funny, that I can’t help it.  No matter what we put into the bath tub for him to play with, his interest always reverts back to his “parts.” We toss in a dinosaur or two and it’s exciting for a minute, but then he is back to his “parts,” during diaper time, he is fascinated with his “parts.” This is the same kid that we can’t keep interested in anything for more than a few seconds, but his “parts” can?  Let’s just hope he grows out of this one too! 

-Is COMPLETELY DONE WITH THE BOTTLE!!!!! Part of me is sad, but mostly I am happy that we finally found a sippy cup that he liked and that weaning him is over.

-Is now sleeping in the room with Braeden.  We have their bunk-beds on order (it will be awhile before Mikey is sleeping in his “big-boy” bed, but the set is still on its way). He also goes right to sleep at night without any fuss (usually by 7pm) and sleeps 12 hours.  There honestl were days when Mike and I thought he would NEVER sleep through the night, never go to sleep without crying and never sleep as long as 12 hours!  So, for you frustrated parents of “difficult” (but wonderfully precious) babies, things DO get better!

And…..in 2 weeks it gets EVEN better! Count down to vacation has begun.  2 weeks tomorrow, we leave for a week of family fun!

I will post some new pictures soon.

Mike, the boys and I wish all of our friends and family a WONDERFUL holiday! 

Mikey is especially happy today!

Sorry there are no pictures of Braeden.  He comes home TOMORROW! Can I get a Woo Hoo?!

Today is a day to celebrate the United States, but we are also celebrating the EXCITING news that one of my oldest and dearest friends found out this week she is expecting TWINS!  Julie, Ed and Abby (their BEAUTIFUL two year old daughter) will welcome a baby BOY (can I get another WOO HOO) and a little girl in November.  The news made my week!  We are SO very excited about the upcoming birthS!