Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt

Our neighborhood does an egg hunt every year and each year it keeps getting bigger.  This year we had to move over to the park because we had outgrown the backyards.  This year Luke knew what the egg hunt was all about and could hardly wait.  When we got there the field was covered in eggs and candy and you think this is going to take the kids forever to find all these goodies.  Just the opposite...you say go and the hunt is over in no less than five minutes.  

I couldn't even get one pic of the boys because they were in constant motion and kids were running everywhere.  Brody didn't quite understand and was just happy finding the little pieces of candy that were scattered.  When we would show him an egg Luke would run over and snag it for Brody's basket.  He didn't understand that we wanted Brody to find them himself.  

Once the hunt was over the boys finally settled down and went through their baskets.  These were about the only pics I was able to get because after that Luke was off to play with his friends and Brody was scrounging on everybody's plates for food.  Being an awesome mom I finally just handed Brody a donut and then he was content.  After his breakfast he was happy just to sit and chew on his packaged candy.  

We love this Easter tradition and are so grateful we have fun neighbors to enjoy it with!

Twelve Months

Does his little smile get any cheesier than this?!?!  I love and hate this pic because this is totally our silly Brody but he looks so big in this picture.  Where has my baby gone?  On my babies' first birthdays I always look back at the last year and can't imagine where the time has gone.  I miss my little babies and want to start the year all over again.  Well, maybe with Brody I'll start at month three when he finally stopped crying!  That being said, I still love this stage and his little personality.  He is so much fun and I can't get enough of him.  Mr. Brody definitely has a temper on him and he knows what he wants.  He can also be quite the little charmer when he is in trouble.  If you get after Brody and tell him no he'll look at you with the sweetest little smile and bury his head on his shoulder.  It's as if he's reminding you that you're really not that mad and he can do what he wants!  I love to see how well him and Luke already play together and how much fun they have.  His favorite game to play is hide-and-go-seek with Luke.  Although, Luke finds us pretty easy because Brody just laughs the entire time we're hiding.  He is also an outside boy and had started pointing and saying outside.  Words cannot express my love for this little boy and I am so excited for the opportunity I have as his mother to continue to watch him learn and grow.  I love you Brody and you are the sweetest little baby around!

-Takes two naps a day

-Naps for 2 - 2 1/2 hours

-Sleeps 12 hours a night

-Loves his binky and can't be without it

-Says "outside"

-Loves big boy toys...whatever Luke is playing with

-Insists on feeding himself and doesn't like food cut up

-Can go up and down the stairs

-Walks and runs all over the place

-Is very cautious and nervous

-In size 4 diapers

-Wears 12-18 month clothes

-Weighs 21 pounds

-30 inches long

-Loves to cuddle

  

Walking

Brody has been able to take steps since he was ten months old, but he is one cautious little baby.  It took him an entire month to decide that he wasn't going to die walking.  He finally prefers walking over crawling and has a blast with it.  One thing that he loves now is chasing Luke around.  Luke will run and hide and Brody will go find him and then they laugh hysterically when Brody finds him!  

His walk still isn't perfect but it sure is adorable.  He has to stop and readjust himself every few steps and you won't catch him walking without is little arms out for stabilization.  Uncle Phil calls it his Frankenstein walk.  My favorite is that he points wherever he wants to go.  I can't get enough of this little bug and I am so sad that my baby is growing up.  Love this guy!  

Eleven Months

It is seriously near impossible to get a pic of this little guy anymore.  I was only able to snap one pic of him this time.  By the time I would lay him down and grab the camera he had either crawled away or ripped his sticker off.  It's a good thing we only have one more pic to take!  Mr. Brody has definitely come to life and is all over the place.  Even though he is busy he is still a cautious little guy.  He has been taking steps on his own for a month now but gets so nervous.  When he starts walking and gets nervous he'll stop, and slowly lower himself to the ground and crawl.  I just love him and cannot get enough of little Brody.  He is the happiest, cuddleist baby around and we love him!!!

-Wears size 3 diapers

-In size 12 month clothes

-Cannot live without his binky

-Transitioning over to whole milk

-Eats just about anything

-Crawls or walks wherever he wants to go

-Loves to climb up on objects

-Favorite show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

-Enjoys patty cake and round and round the garden

-Says dada and mama for everything

-Gets excited when he sees daddy and brother wrestling

-Started mommy tot swimming lessons

-Points at everything he wants
-Takes two 1-2 hour naps a day

Snow Day

If you know Luke you wouldn't doubt that he is a tough kid!  However, when it comes to the snow Luke has always been a bit of a wimp.  Last winter we tried to take him skiing and he cried the entire time about how cold he was and how much he hates his winter clothes.  Every time Mark goes out to shovel Luke is sure he wants to join.  He asks me to get him dressed and then the complaining starts.  Snow clothes are not Luke's friend.  Even if I am able to get him dressed and outside he generally only lasts a few minutes.  

Last Sunday Luke asked Mark if he wanted to play in the snow.  We were shocked and didn't dare say no.  He then decided that he wanted to go sledding.  Mark was not happy to find out that we didn't have a sled or tube to our name.  Why would I buy that stuff when Luke doesn't even like to go outside in the winter.  The manly Mark came to the rescue and told Luke he would build him a sled.  I think building a sled was a pretty strong term for what Mark did.  He went out to the garage, found a tupperware lid, drilled two holes in it, and tied a rope to it.  Mark referred to it as Luke's Great Depression sled but Luke couldn't have been happier. 

This was just about the easiest sledding event you could have thought of.  Not only did Daddy whip out a sled in five minutes but we didn't even have to go in search of a sledding hill.  Daddy just packed down the snow on the back steps.  It was just he right size and Luke could use the side of the stairs to walkup!  

Little Brody woke up from his nap and could hear all of the fun going on outside.  He was sure he needed to be out there.  I bundled up my little snow bear and sent him outside.  Brody is so content and happy when he is outside.  This little snow bear was happy just to sit in the snow and eat it!  Sometimes it's the spontaneous activities that turnout to be the most exciting and memorable!      

Sock Lover

It is an understatement to say that Brody loves his binky.  The bink only comes out of the mouth for two reasons...to eat and drink or to chew on socks.  Brods has become obsessed with socks.  Luke refers to him as our little puppy.  He will either take his socks off or find random socks around the house.  Then walk around the house with them hanging out of his mouth.  

It amazes me how he finds them.  I try to keep them picked up but he finds them in Luke's room, the laundry baskets, mudroom, etc.  The part that kills me is when you take them away from him.  I know he loves them, but it grosses me out sometimes and I just have to steal them.  Watch out though, he gets so offended and throws the biggest fit until he gets them back.  I guess for his birthday we can skip the toys and stock up on socks!  

Discovery Gateway

It has been a long cold winter and the boys really needed an outing.  We decided to head to Discovery Gateway to get our wiggles out.  I was really excited to see how Brody would react since this was the first time he was mobile at a museum.  I know these pictures look like we had a day full of laughter and smiles, but that's not the true story.  

Luke had a rough start to his day at the museum.  Usually, Luke is the only one we are trying to entertain so in the past he got to run to whatever exhibit he chose.  Today I kept trying to tell him that either Brody wasn't ready to move on or we had to go in order.  He was not one bit happy with this change and protested profusely.  The last straw for Luke was when Brody was playing in the baby area and he was ready to move on.  This resulted in a major temper tantrum and informing me that I was the worst mommy and he was so mad that we had this dumb baby.  

I told Luke that we were leaving and marched him out to the elevators.  By now he was in a complete tizzy and his asthma was out of control.  He was screaming at me that he couldn't breath and he didn't know how to stop crying and coughing.  After a good ten minutes of a timeout on the stairs Luke had calmed himself and was ready to play and follow the rules.

The rest of our visit was wonderful and the boys thoroughly enjoyed themselves.  Luke participated in the art project and did some cool salt paintings.  Brody loved that he could crawl everywhere and play with all of the toys.  His favorite area was the farm area because he could pick all of the vegetables "growing in the ground" and chew on them...yuck!  Luke's favorite exhibit was the construction...not shocking.  We need to have more outings to endure the rest of this winter because we had definitely been cooped up too long!