PA Trip

We spent a week last week in PA because we can. Brooke is about to start pre-school three half days a week (scary) so we will be on more of a strict schedule soon so we were taking advantage of our freedom

We passed the time with bbq's, various playgrounds, the Camden aquarium, stopping in at Mimis work to bring her lunch, a trip to my dads house, shopping at KOP, the pool and of course the new Wegmans (3 times) and Target.

My favorite was the acuarium, but if you ask Brooke her favorite was brining lunch to Mimi at her work. It is pretty funny what makes an impression on a 3yr old. I was awful about taking pictures but I did take a few.

Mani/Pedi

Brooke's first manicure and pedicure! She did awesome with her hands but messed up her toes twice! Of course....she went with purple. Big surprise.

Not Sure What to Say About This

I am not really sure there are words for this picture....Starting a little young maybe? This is why I don't leave them alone together



Don't worry, they were all wearing bikinis. At most he was probably really confused and not sure if it was dinner time or not.........

18 Month Appointment

Today we had Brandon's 18month well visit. We are a few weeks behind because we had to cancel our original because we made a visit to PA and the office has been slammed with well visits.

22lbs 14oz 11th percentile
31" 11th percentile

The highest Brandon has ever been has been in the 20th percentile, but he has been hovering around the 10th percentile for the past year.

All is well, well except for his little "lets swat at everything" problem. Not sure where he picked it up from but we have been implementing "baby timeouts" when he does this. He gets picked up and moved to another room where i lay him down on he back and walk away leaving him there. Who knows if it is working, but it is what we are doing to send a message that the "swatting" behavior is not a good thing.

He is signing more and trying to talk A LOT more in the past few weeks. He tries to repeat just about everything you ask him to. His favorites words as of late are:

Mama
Dada
No
All Done
Hot
No
Please
Truck
No
Drink
Open
No
Help
Cat
Dog or (dog dog)
No
Duck
Uh huh
Yuck
No
Up
Down
No
Off
On
No
In
Out
Beer
Most family names (Mimi, Doc, Papap, Nana, Popop, Kris, Bob, Nani, Duckie, GG, Steve, Manda, sorry Tracy...to hard still!) The rest of the time he speaks mostly Russian...well that is what is sounds like. He can also point to and say nose, ear, mouth, and eye.

He only signs, more, please, all done, thank you, open, blanket and drink which is no where near what Brooke was signing at this age. She probably knew 30 or more signs. Guess it is another second kids thing. Sorry Brandon.

He has taken a few steps backwards when it comes to eating these days. He used to eat tons of fruit and veggies every day, and now we are struggling to get any fruits and veggies down him. We used to go through BJ's containers of fruits weekly and now all he says to me is....ready for it... "NO". So we have been giving him his multi-vitamin more regularly and been giving him fruit and veggie smoothies. Bolthouse Farms has some good one: Blue Goodness, Green Goodness, and Strawberry Banana are what we are having as "treats". The pedi isn't too concerned so neither am I. I still offer all the fruits and veggies first before I bust out other foods in hope that he will start eating them again soon.

18 months. Wow. I was 4 months pregnant with Brandon when Brooke was this age. Can't even imagine that right now. I can't believe he is 18 months all ready. My little man is growing up.

Joys Of Bathing the Kids Together

This is another one of my favorite bath time stories.

I bathe both kids together because it is just easier that way. I usually put Brooke in first because she last longer and that gives her time with out her "little bother" in the tub splashing around with her. Since our tub is deeper by the drain, when it is time for the little man to join her in the tub, she usually takes residence on that side of the tub. Brandon stays on the left side and lately he has taken to standing for a little while before he sits.

Yeah....it is not safe, but second child syndrome, he is not forced to sit like Brooke probably was. If he is happy that way, standing it is.

On this particular night, I saw it coming.

Before I knew it, Brandon was standing to side of Brooke, facing her, and let loose. Peeing right on her shoulder. Screams and tears instantly came from Brooke over the fact that Brandon was peeing on her. I could not help but laugh histerically. It was sooo funny, not only what happened, but both of their reactions. Brandon standing there, looking at Brooke, like "whats her problem", and Brooke, screaming and crying.

Once Brooke finally calmed down enough to talk she looked at me and said, "Mommy it's not nice to pee on other people."

I agree.

Swan-Kaier Wedding

Just some pics....need more from other cameras.

Fort Rickey

While we were in NY for the wedding, we made a stop at the local petting zoo Fort Rickey. We had a lot of fun with the kids feeding animals, holding baby goats and getting splashed by giant catfish..... Well that last one wasn't so fun for Brooke.

While we were feeding the fish, these huge catfish came out of no where to fight for the food. One proceeded to jump out of the water scare the crap out of Brooke and soak her legs. I couldn't help but laugh and try to soothe there as she was screaming.





Missed the catfish...and the splash!

The "Bubbler"

What is a bubbler you may ask? It is what a 3yr year old calls a whirlpool bath tub! Mimi just got her bathroom re-done and Brooke was lucky enough to be one of the first to take a bath....with the jets. At first she was not a fan, but after she realized it made the bubbles go crazy and super high....she was a huge fan.

Pictures next time I promise!

Waxing

We spent the past weekend in Rome, NY for my cousin Will's wedding. Throughout the engagement, they used an old school mustache theme....which was taken into account this past weekend. Always a jokester, at their rehearsal dinner, we all decided to play a little joke on them.

While my uncle was giving a toast to them, we all stuck adhesive mustaches to our faces to surprise them when they turned around to the crowd....including Brooke....

Which ultimately resulted in Brooke's first upper lip waxing.....she was less than thrilled....

The adhesive was pretty strong! Ouch!

So Stinking Cute

When we were on vacation we got HUGE lollypops, but ran out of time to enjoy them while we were still in LBI. I decided to bust them out today. Obviously the kids loved them and I got some great, messy shots. I am in LOVE with the first one of Brandon. I just want to eat him up!!