Holiday Update

Brody - being his crazy self!

(His bottom eye teeth are finally poking through - making his checks rosy!)

I know - I am awful at keeping this updated! Things have just been crazy since the start of the New Year with Jim traveling during 2 of the last 3 weeks and with Brody on the move it is difficult to find time to sit down and blog.

Grandma Sue started the tradition of Christmas Pajamas this year!

Christmas was so much fun! My parents and brother came on Christmas morning around 10am so Jim and I were able to give Brody his bigger presents when he first woke up (a dinosaur and play kitchen). It took us almost 3 hours to open presents - but it was all worth it! Brody was very dainty - he would rip a small piece of wrapping paper off and hand it to whoever was near him before moving on. He was definitely a spoiled little boy! Due to all the toys and the increasing size, we decided to change our sunroom into his playroom.

Since the last time I wrote Brody has grown in so many ways! He is a pro at walking now and has mastered standing up all on his own. It is just amazing to watch your child transform from a baby that needed everything to a little person with a mission of their own (and in just one year!). Jim and I have quickly learned that one of his favorite things to do is throw things in the trash can. It is pretty funny to watch him - you can tell when a light bulb goes off in his head and he is on his way to throw something away - needless to say we are constantly checking the trash for toys and socks! He is also saying momma and daddy (in the appropriate way), waving goodbye and at times still throwing kisses, pointing at everything he wants, playing phone with anything that resembles one (and we think trying to say hello).

At daycare he is mostly in the toddler room but the teachers in the infant room are having a hard time completely letting him go. They tell me that he is a great child and follows directions well. While they struggle to get the other kids to take care of their blankets after nap, Brody is standing waiting for them to take his. The teachers also said he always notices when the food enters the room and is the alarm to all the other kids to get ready for snack! I am amazed with how fast he catches on to routines and follows our lead.

We missed his 15 month doctor's appointment because he got sent home from DayCare with the flu (although when he got home he didn't act sick at all). So we will hopefully get that rescheduled for this week and we are also going back to the allergist for a followup. He seems to be doing really well, with the exception of a constant runny nose and occasional cough.

He is definitely getting closer to the terrible two age. This week Jim was gone and Brody tested me each night with a tantrum. I cannot wait until he can tell me why he gets so mad - but it starts with crying, then throwing himself on the floor and then about 10 minutes of screaming and twirling in a circle. I have tried picking him up and trying to distract him - neither works! So I resort to ignoring. Then about 10 minutes later he is fine and happy....all I can say is thank goodness Daddy is home!

I do have to say even with all the tantrums - I wouldn't trade him for anything (as you see in the pictures - how couldn't you love this little man!)

Yesterday we celebrated Jim's Birthday with my side of the family. Brody was the center of attention and we had to laugh when he picked up the DVD remote and tried to mimic Grandpa bowling on the Wii.

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a great start to the New Year! My resolution will be to blog on a regular basis!

He is Walking!

Finally Brody is walking! He started last Friday afternoon. He still prefers crawling, but each night he will walk back and forth between Jim and I several times. He also loves to rock on his cow at night (and is getting a little more daring than I like!).

We went and cut down our Christmas Tree last Friday. It didn't take us long at all because it was snowing and only in the mid 20s! It will be a lot easier next year when Brody can walk while looking for a tree.

Super Mom - holding the tree and Brody!

On Saturday Brody went for his 4th haircut. It turned out a little shorter than I expected, but he does look very cute! I couldn't believe how fast it grew this time!


Brody is still spending a lot of time in the Toddler Room at Day Care. He can officially move over there when he is walking the majority of the time. The teachers say that he loves sleeping on the cot and does a great job eating at the table. I can't believe that he is been going there for almost a year now! He really does love to play with all of his friends there.


I only have one more week of work before a 2 week vacation around Christmas and New Years. I am looking forward to getting to spend so much time with Brody!

Last night Brody was showing of his talents!

Happy Thanksgiving

Once again I am back to being the once a month blogger! There have been some rough times since the last time I wrote. A week ago today I had to put one of my best friends to sleep, my cat Chloe. She had been with me for the majority of my 20's and seen me through many ups and downs. I never thought I would really be a "cat person" until I found her. I got her during my senior year at Western Michigan University and she moved with me to Ferris and then back to Kalamazoo and then back to Grand Rapids. She was there for me when Jim was traveling for months at a time, when I became a wife, every morning when I was getting sick during Brody's pregnancy and when I was trying to figure out how to get Brody to sleep through the night. I think she was put here to make sure that I was not alone...and now she knew that I would never be alone again. It all happened really quickly, she was only 8 1/2 years old and ended up going into kidney failure a week ago last Friday. That night I saw her and knew things were bad and by Monday we were at the vet and I was saying goodbye. I think this is one of the hardest things I have ever been through (for those that are not animal people it may be hard to understand - but she really was my baby before Brody). Luckily, I have Brody to keep me smiling and thankful for all that I do have.

This picture reminds me that he still is a baby!

We found out recently that he likes the Doodlebops

He also loves to rock on his cow!!

I can always count on him to smile for the camera!

We took Brody out to experience sledding today. We had taken him out the last time it snowed to feel it but we hadn't gotten enough to go sledding until today. After getting him in all of his layers we ended up only being outside for about 5 minutes! At least I got some pictures out of it!

First time touching snow

Not sure that he liked the cold!

Brody has moved up to the next classroom at Day Care - this means that he is now sleeping on a cot for nap time! I couldn't believe it when they told me he would sleep on it. He is also with older kids who are all walking - I am hoping that this convinces him that walking is something he wants to do. Jim and I know that he is capable - He has actually stood numerous times on his own and taken at least 8-10 steps in a row...he just seems to prefer crawling. Hopefully by the next post I will have a video of him walking on his own. Right now he just teases us by pushing his walker and train around the living room. He is very interested in copying us now - below is a video of him following dad's lead while in the bathtub.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I will try to get on here and post before Christmas!

Happy Halloween

We had an eventful week. We started out last week with a visit to the local apple orchard. On Friday we planned to go and visit but due the rain we were unable to make it. Luckily on Sunday it stopped raining long enough for us to go and see all they had to offer. Brody had a great time looking at the animals, riding in the enchanted pumpkin and picking apples. Then we celebrated Halloween! The original plan was for Brody to be a puppy - I had bought the costume about 2 months ago. On Friday we attempted to put him in his costume around 4:30pm and found out that the tag does not always reflect the actual size that will fit in the costume! It was way to small!!!! Knowing that I was starting to lose it Jim drove us into Greenville to attempt to find a costume one hour before Trick or Treating. We tried three stores and found 1 costume that fit and was acceptable to me! So instead of a puppy we had a little Tigger! Brody turned out really cute and he loved riding around to the neighbors in his car!

Brody picking his first apple

It ended up being a lot colder than we thought - luckily we had a hat in the car and an extra blanket for Brody

I thought Brody looked so cute in his hat and jacket!

Our first family ride in the enchanted pumpkin!

We thought it would be fun to take his picture in front of this sign every year

Couldn't resist putting the nittany lion hat on him!

All ready for trick or treating!

Yesterday Brody went for his 1 year visit to the doctor. He is doing really well except that his head continues to grow. So we will try to reschedule the MRI just to make sure that nothing is wrong. It is highly unlikely because he is developing well but we would hate to miss something when we have the ability to find out. He is about 22 lbs and 30 inches long - pretty much staying in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height.

Getting better at self feeding with a utensil (but look at this hands!!!)

I'm ONE!

Sorry for the delay in updating everyone on what happened at the allergist. My parents came on Wednesday night so that they could assist at the 4 HOUR visit to the allergist! Jim left for Pennsylvania that morning so we were on our own! At the beginning of the visit the doctor was already prepping me for getting rid of my cats (which for those of you who know me will know that would be impossible! They were my babies before Brody). I tried to not focus on that as we began the testing on Brody - he was such a CHAMP! He barely cried as they did about 15 spot tests on his back and then had to lay on me for another 10 minutes so his skin had time to react to the allergen...to my surprise they all came back NEGATIVE! They wanted to be sure about the cat and dust allergy so they then had to give him a TB like test where they injected the allergens right under his skin - he once again was very brave! These also came back negative so the doctor made the conclusion that the majority of his symptoms are caused by Asthma - which is likely due to the RSV he had back in April. I was relieved to have some answers and that we changed his regimen a lot which made me feel like we were doing something to make him better. He is now on two inhalers (using a spacer, which decreases our treatments from 20 minutes to about 2 minutes!), singulair (for asthma/allergies) and zyrtec as needed. The doctor said that although he did not react to any of the allergens he could still have some mild allergies and that during his time of distress the zyrtec may still help him. I think that he is actually getting better...it is a little hard to tell because this is also prime cold season so he has a slight cough but he no longer makes noises while he is breathing. I think we may finally be on to something!!!

While Jim was gone for the weekend Brody and I went to visit my friend Barb and her family. Brody had a great time playing with all of their toys and interacting with Skylar (3) and Sydney (6 months). It was nice to get to catch up with her.

Brody enjoyed the DVD player on our 3 hour ride to Barb's House

We thought we would torment Jim with a picture on Saturday before the game!

Big Sister Skylar

This is Sydney - isn't she so cute?? Maybe she will be our future daughter-in-law!

Barb gave Brody a drum set for his birthday and it was a hit!!

Since Brody has turned one it seems like he is already starting to enter the terrible twos! He has started having a definite mind of his own and thinks that it is very unfair if he cannot do what he wants to do. On Sunday I took some pictures of him during his off moments so that Jim could see the joyful time I had as a single parent! Just when you think you can't take any more he goes and does something really cute or comes and gives you a hug and your heart just melts and you realize things are just not that bad!

On Tuesday night Brody was in the kitchen helping me....make a mess!
Brody fell at Daycare this week and ended up with this big bruise on his cheek! I am sure there are many more of these to come!

Birthday Pictures Continued

This was Brody's present from Grandma and Grandpa - he loves it!!!

Brody enjoyed his birthday cupcake!

Grandpa and Neal babysat a few weekends ago and sent these pictures...

Then nap time...