Giving Kisses

The other night I was giving Brantley his bottle before bed.  We were rocking, he was eating, I was singing (he’s the only person who likes my singing or can’t complain about it), and I was soaking my time up with him.  He tried to offer some of his bottle to me and I turned my head away and said “I don’t want that, you drink it.”  He would crack up and do it again.  Until he eventually popped me in the eye with it. 

Rewind to about an hour prior.  He was sitting in his high chair watching cartoons and eating a snack while I got dinner ready.  I would walk in there and sneak a kiss every now and then (while he’d bat me away).  Every time I steal a kiss I say “kiss”.  So that hopefully when I say it in the future he will start to give me some.  (I’m determined to get a little sweetness out of him even though I recognize that he is a tough little independent dude.)

So after popping me in the eye with his bottle, I sat with my eyes closed while he faced me in my lap and we rocked.  And all of the sudden I felt these little lips go over mine.  I peeked my eyes open and he’d kiss me, back away, smile, and kiss me again.  It was adorable!  Completely made my heart melt.  

Learning New Things

So while we were on vacation this past week Brantley learned a lot of new things.  I’m putting them in list order because he’s so smart I need to create lists to keep up with all the new things he has learned. :)

1.    He is pointing at everything.  It is so amazing to be able to watch your child learn or acknowledge something new and want to make sure you see it to.  I love that he’ll look at whatever has caught his attention, look at us, and then point to it to make sure we are “in on it”, too. 

2.    He is talking on the phone.  It doesn’t necessarily have to be a real phone.  Sometime he uses empty boxes, the TV remote, his hand, or the spoon he’s eating with.  Whatever is nearby.  He has a play cell phone that he has had for months and not paid much attention to.  But now it is glued to his ear.

 

3.    He is perfecting his “touchdown” stance.  He’s becoming pretty regular about it when we yell “TOUCHDOWN” – his hands go straight up the air, he grins, and then claps for himself.

4.    He is using a spoon and fork (the fork is a rounded edge kid’s fork not the real deal).  I get the food on the fork for him, hand it to him, he puts in his mouth and then chews on the fork until I take it back from him to put more on.  Hasn’t learned that he can do that himself yet, but he gets so proud of himself for just getting in to his mouth. 

Our Summer Beach Trip

We went to the beach this past week for Brantley’s first official beach trip.  I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous that it would be more work than relaxation.  I based that feeling off of a lake trip we took with the munchkin for the 4^th of July.  Which I came home from exhausted.  But this trip could not have been more perfect!

We left early in the morning (around 5am) last Wednesday.  I figured I’d just transport Brantley from the crib to his car seat, stick the pacifier in his mouth, and he’d go right back to sleep.  But he was just as excited as we were and wide awake.  We drove to Columbus and stopped at Waffle House to eat breakfast.  The boy can down a waffle!  Once we got back on the road it was about time for him to take his morning nap.  So most of the trip down he was either asleep or it was too early in the morning to be grumpy about anything.  After his morning nap we entertained him with a Clifford the Big Red Dog DVD, Baby Einstein, and some goldfish.  We arrived at our condo around 11 am and had the whole day to play. 

Most of our days were spent at the beach or the pool.  The first couple of days we went to the pool.  On Friday and Saturday we went to the beach and it was perfect.  Brantley would wake up in the morning; we’d have breakfast, get his sunscreen and bathing suit on, and head out.  He’d play for a little bit and then be ready for his morning nap, which he’d take on me in my beach chair underneath the tent we borrowed from Anna and Josh.  He never takes naps anywhere other than his crib (or car seat) and he does not like to be held when he is putting himself to sleep so I was a little worried about how it would work.  But he did great and since I haven’t had him asleep on my chest since he was about four months old, I enjoyed that time with him a lot! 

He would wake up about an hour and fifteen minutes later (after I finished High Five and a few chapters of The Help) and be ready to play some more.  There were afternoon showers almost every afternoon.  So we would pack up and head back to the condo, let Brantley take his afternoon nap, watch a little T.V., take our showers and start getting ready for dinner.

We stayed in Seacrest Beach which is about 20 miles from Panama City, Florida.  It is right next door to another cute little community called Rosemary Beach.  I felt like we were on the set of a movie.  It was such a cute town.  Everyone rode their bikes or walked everywhere.  The buildings (businesses, condos, homes, etc.) were all in really cute beach-type colors.  People were so friendly.  It was very family oriented.  The beaches were clean.  I could not say enough good things about it.  I really hope to make it our yearly beach spot.   

The ride home went just as smooth.  He napped, we stopped and ate lunch so he could stretch out a little bit and get out of his car seat, watched some Baby Einstein, ate some goldfish and animal crackers, and now that he’s learned how to “talk on the phone” – that entertained him a good bit. 

I really enjoyed our time as a family.  Craig and I were talking about some of our vacations over the years and how awesome they have been.  But having Brantley just makes vacations now even more fun.  He is so easy going and flexible.  He’s just as happy tagging along and spending time with us as we are with him.

 

Brantley: 11 Months

At 11 Months old, Brantley...

• Weighs.... (will edit this when I weigh him this week).
• Still wearing size 4 diapers.
• Still taking a morning nap from 9:30 to 11 and afternoon nap from 2:30 to 4:15 or 4:30.  You sleep anywhere from 7 pm to 8 am.
• I think I've figured out what word you have been saying over and over that I did not recognize.  I think you are saying "look".  Only because I'm realizing how much I say it to you.
• You've also added "truck" and "ma ma" (which comes out bababababa, but I know it's mama) to your vocabulary.
• You LOVE the Black Eyed Peas song "Boom Boom Pow".  When I start seeing it you grin and have recently started bouncing up and down and dancing.
• You are walking with the help of your push walker.  You walk between furniture but can only get a couple steps in before falling when you walk towards us.  I have a feeling it will happen in the next month.
• You've learned "touchdown".  When we say it to you your hands go up over your head.  Daddy is really happy about this one!  Just in time for football season.
• You are wearing 12 to 18 month clothing.
• You are pretty much done with baby food.  I've stopped buying it for the most part and you are eating what we eat. 
•   You are working on teeth seven and eight.  They are now starting to come in one after the other.

I can't believe we only have one more month of these onesies.  I'll probably try to continue the monthly update through your second birthday but our photoshoots are getting a little exhausting. You absolutely hate to sit still. 

Wordless Wednesday: Serious About Reading