Routine

From early on in Brody's life, we've worked to keep his bedtime routine fairly consistent. Usually, we take him upstairs for pjs, put his sound machine on, read a book, hug and kiss goodnight and lay him down. We've had to switch it up a little over time, like when we stopped bottles & formula and rocking him to sleep, we started reading books. Since he's such a good sleeper, I try not to mess with what works.

Though generally stick to the routine, we're not at all rigid about it. Sometimes he falls asleep in the car if we've been out, every other night we do bath, some nights if he's tired enough, we don't even read a book.

So apparently we weren't being consistent enough for Brody...

He's going through a stage where he's latched onto one book that he has to read before bed EVERY night. No matter what. And there's no playing tricks on this kid, he knows right where the book should be each night and demands that it's read to him.

After several nights of reading the same book over and over, I tried to put it in his closet. He caught me doing it and started crying and pointing at it instantly. Fine, we read it anyway.

Then...last night I thought I'd lucked out. He brought the book to the bathroom but then got distracted by the running water and set it down. He loves baths just about as much as this book! After bathtime, we went to his room, leaving the book behind. He instantly went for the shelf where it belongs. When it wasn't there he looked up at me with a sad face, like where did my book go?! Then, he quickly remembered where he left it, ran out of his room straight to the bathroom door.

So what did we do? We read the book. Why mess with what works?

P.S. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Sara for the "Baseball Counting Book," he loves it, we hate it. :)

Daycare Fun

Yesterday I got the following e-mail from daycare:

"Once again Brody was the only boy in the room. When I was putting 'prettys' in the girls' hair, Brody pulled his own hair and signed 'Please.' He even looked up at where we keep the rubber bands! With the new refined 'please' baby sign and those big blue eyes I couldn't say no..."

She also added that she told him that some football players wear ponytails too! And then said, I hope you don't mind! This type of thing doesn't bother me in the slightest, I think it's cute. With Brody's mohawk the first year of his life, it isn't the first time a teacher put his hair in a ponytail! I laughed, put the picture on my phone and forwarded it to Jason right away.

However...Jason thought Brody should have a hairstyle more like Daddy's...so here's what he looked like this morning...

I do have to say, the styled look does make my heart melt. He looks like such a big kid!

Easter 2011

Easter was great this year and we got to spend a lot of time with family. Of course I always over-book every minute of the holidays which ends up stressing me out, but I'm not sure I'd really have it any other way. I love that we have so much family to enjoy the holidays with.

After early church service, which Brody did pretty well (we sit in the cry-room at church which makes it easier), we headed for a quick visit with at my Nana's house. We don't generally spend Easter with my Mom's side of the family (since we do Thanksgiving with them), but it's been too long since Brody has seen his Great-Grandparents, that I really wanted to make sure we stopped by. Brody played the shy-guy routine the whole time we were there, but since it takes him an hour to warm up to new houses and we left after about an hour and a half, I couldn't expect much more out of him.

Since we were hosting Easter dinner with my Dad's side of the family and Jason's family, it allowed us to get Brody down for a nap before the guests came. As stressful as hosting a holiday dinner for 17 people can be, it easily offsets the stress of lugging Brody from house to house, trying to squeeze in a nap and some sort of normal routine. That, and our family helps out so much with the food and prep for holidays, that I can never really complain!

Dinner seemed to go pretty well and despite the fact that I burned the glaze for the ham & had to make a quick substitute, I think the food turned out great.

The Easter Bunny brought Brody a lawn mower to play with outside and a basket with a few smaller goodies. He seems to like the lawn mower & the bubbles that it makes, but probably loved throwing the plastic eggs more.

When to expand

We get this question all the time. Are you ready for #2?? When are you having another baby!?!

I keep saying, we just had one - leave us alone! Then as 15 months is coming up, I am reminded that I was born when my sister was only 15 months old. 2 babies right now? I don't know how my parents did it. They're amazing.

But I'm more practical about my limitations. I was useless the first three months of my pregnancy falling asleep almost immediately after getting home from work. I know I won't have that luxury next time. Then I imagine myself 9 months pregnant trying to carry a toddler, or waking up in the middle of the night with a newborn, but still getting up early with a toddler. I am quickly reminded that I am just not ready yet.

But then, Jason and I will be watching a tv show with an adorable little baby and how quickly I forget about everything else. Babies are just so cute! How easily a cute little smile from a tiny baby can melt your heart...

But...no, we're not ready to expand yet. And no I don't know when we will be (or I should say, when I will be...Jason is probably already there). But we do know that there will be another one, someday.

Working Mom - 1 Year

One year ago today, I returned to work after 12 wonderful weeks of maternity leave. I will be honest, I was happy to return to work and 12 weeks was actually a little longer than I think I needed. Brody was taking 4 hour naps at home and I got a little stir-crazy. With a second child (down the road...) 12 weeks probably won't seem boring when you have an older child to take care of at the same time!

Now, a year later, I am still glad that I work. As hard as it is at times, I do love my job and what I do. I know that Brody is well taken care of at daycare and I know they are much more creative than I would be as a stay at home mom.

There are a lot of challenges to being a working parent. But I think the one thing that makes us working mothers stress out more than our male counterparts, is guilt. I constantly feel guilty that I'm not doing enough for Brody or spending enough time with him. I feel that men can look at this more rationally, where I tend to be more emotional about it. Jason will be the first to tell you that we need time together just the two of us and that we both need to make sure to make time for ourselves as individuals as well. But then I instantly worry that it's taking away from Brody. Especially since I spend so much time away from him at work.

I will also tell you that I am definitely my worst critic. I often feel that I could be a better mother, a better employee and a better wife. Don't even get me started on how I could be a better daughter, friend and sister... That said, Brody is obviously thriving, I was promoted at work and my husband continues to love me. Clearly I'm not failing!

This isn't a blog for reassurance that I'm doing okay, this is just something that I think most mothers struggle with and I'm no exception. The desire to do the best for all of those in our lives with not enough hours in the day to do it.
While I know that one day it will probably get even harder, for now the three of us seem to have a system that works and I love every minute of my life with my favorite two boys.

I know this works somehow

Today Brody was determined to figure out how to put his shoes on. Apparently he didn't like that I took them off and wanted them back on. Hmm, maybe these socks should go on first... Ok, I give up. HELP!

Best Purchase Ever

There are a lot of silly purchases we've made since we found out Brody was on the way. But more often than not, we end up getting something that works out really well.

This past month we bought Brody a play kitchen. Winter seems to be never-ending in Wisconsin this year (though I'm truly hoping the 70 degree forecast for Sunday turns out to be accurate). All of us have been feeling a little stir crazy. So we need something else to play with in the house.

So a few coupons and my employee discount combined, we got this kitchen for steal. And it was worth every penny. Though I have to say, I end up finding pretend food scattered across the house. I found an orange in the bathtub tonight...the same orange that is in the bookshelf in the picture below.

Even tennis balls make their way into the play kitchen somedays. The best part is that I really think it will last for awhile as he gets older.

Go Brewers!

Yesterday was our 2nd Annual Family Trek to Opening Day at Miller Park. Taking a 2+ month old last year, was much different than a 14+ month old this year. But for the second year in a row, I'd say it was pretty sucessful.

Unfortunately, it was FREEZING! I looked back at our pictures from last year, and the sun was shining and we were all wearing short-sleeve shirts. Yesterday, we were bundled up with hats and gloves. That made tailgating a little less fun than normal. But we got there early, attempted to play washers (only one of us could actually score a point), and grilled some brats. Brody loved the food and running around. Unfortunately we were on a slight slope in the parking lot, so when he tried to run downhill he ended up on his face. Not to mention he had a strong desire to run circles around the grill. We spent most of the morning stopping him from hurting himself.

We headed into the game a bit early, even though we actually had seats this year. It was too cold to stay outside any longer. Brody had fun running around the stadium a bit with no one in his way.

Then, the game starts, and Brody passes out...

He slept for about 3o minutes until Jason attempted to move him. Since that was unsucessful, Brody ended up staying awake the rest of the game.

We left after the 7th inning, when Brody started to lose patience. When we left, the Brewers were up 1-0. Unfortunately they ended up losing 2-1 after a couple home-runs in the 8th inning. But if they were winning when I left, do I have to admit that they really lost? Because that's two years in a row they lost the home-opener...

It could have been a warmer day, but it was still a fun one. And needless to say, all of us were in bed early last night.

We survived!

I'm happy to report that our first vacation with a toddler was very sucessful! After a couple in-town stops (including my necessary Starbucks run) we were on the road by 7am. Since we woke up Brody around 5:30, he was sleepy enough to pass out within 10 minutes of the drive. He woke up for the last half an hour of the drive but I sat in the back seat with him and he was happy as a clam. We watched our nephew's basketball team shortly after arriving and like usual, Brody loved watching them play. Unfortunately they lost but the boys played hard! The girls team from their school was still in the tournament, so we came back Saturday night to see them play. And this is when we started to get way off of Brody's normal schedule.

Normal nap time at our house is around 12:30, last weekend, Brody finally got a chance for a nap around 3:30. Then he ate a late snack since he didn't actually get dinner until almost 8pm that night. And if you know Brody, you know that he's usually long in bed by 7pm. I anticipated a major meltdown at some point during dinner. Aside from his sleepy eyes, there was no meltdown and he was amazing.

The next morning we decided to take him in the hotel pool. He hasn't had any pool experience, so I was really excited to see how he'd react. Well....he cried. He loves warm baths so a 75 degree pool was apparently too cold for him. So he was one unhappy kid. We comforted him and tried to get him used to the water without giving up right away. He quickly got used to the water and started having fun. Luckily we had the pool to ourselves so it was fun to play with him.

After we watched another basketball game Sunday morning, we headed back on the road. Since we left after lunch, Brody was able to get his afternoon nap in the car. And so did his mommy!

As for all my concerns, I think they worked out well. And I learned a lot about traveling in the process. We were always able to find relatively healthy meals for Brody despite what we ate. Continental breakfast in the hotel was great and also allowed us to grab fruit for later! I will say I was a little dissapointed in the kids menu at the restaurant we went to Saturday night. There was mostly fried food options or burgers. We went with mac & cheese. Then for side dishes they offered cole slaw or fries. Really?!? No veggies?! So we asked to substitute veggies instead of fries. Not only did we pay extra for the vegetables but were charged for a glass of milk since we asked for that instead of soda. Apparently healthier choices will cost you! But we feel pretty strongly about getting Brody healthy options as much as possible and I'm willing to pay for it.

As for the hotel -- while not completely baby-proof, Brody managed to stay safe and entertained just fine. Though as we're planning our trip to New York in the fall, I'm definitely looking at an apartment style hotel room to give us more space. Not only to give him room to move around but to keep him separated from us when he's sleeping. It's hard for him to fall asleep when he can see us right next to him -- wide awake.

It was a fantastic weekend & I'm so glad that Brody handled all the change and disruptions so well. He truly goes with the flow and it makes it so easy on all of us.

What I Wish for my Son...

This blog is generally about Brody. However, I still like to write about my non-Brody experiences from time to time. Who I am as a person both before and after Brody really shape the type of mother I am. And this past weekend as I was driving home from a really wonderful Friday night, I began dreaming about Brody's future and the types of friends that he will have someday...

Let me start by saying, I have truly amazing, wonderful friends that I never see often enough. Most of them live too far away to see on a regular basis. And even if they lived closer, we are all busy with babies, pets, houses and work. On top of that - I'm awful at staying in touch on the phone. Luckily one of my best friends is pretty good at calling me - otherwise I swear we'd never talk.

So last weekend she invited me to her house for a girls-night. It wasn't all of our girls, but the ones that live close enough to get together. It was perfect. It's great when you get together with the husbands, and children, but every once and awhile you need time with just the ladies.

And what did we do? We sang Karaoke. Yes - it sounds silly - but that is actually what we used to do when we were in high school! (Did I mention I've known these ladies for a very long time?) So we took a trip down memory lane and sang some really good and not-so-good songs.

As I drove home Saturday morning I thought about how lucky I am that no matter how often we get together - they're still the people I can tell anything to or sing stupid songs with and we'll still be friends.

As Brody grows up, I hope he's as lucky as I am to find good friends that stick with you for life.

It's the little things

As I've written before, I was never surprised at how good of a father Jason or how much he'd interact with Brody. If you know him well enough, you know he's just one of those guys. He cares about other people, even if it comes in the form of teasing or a little harassment.

However...every once and while I'll sit back and watch him interact with Brody and it melts my heart. And reminds me once again, how lucky I am to have them. The two of them are adorable. Below are pictures from last weekend when it was actually warm enough to be outside. I won't digress to complain about the snow on the ground this morning.

First Hotel Stay

In Brody's 14 months of life, he's never stayed in a hotel room. We've taken two actual family vacations. One we stayed at a friend's house and the other was at a family vacation home. Though both prior vacations brought their own complications...

1st vacation: trip to MN to visit friends. We went to a Friday night Brewers vs. Twins game. How would Brody handle the late night? Would he sleep through well at someone else's house? At 4 months old - he handled it perfectly.

2nd vacation: annual trip to MI with family. He had just started solid foods, so I was worried about working in his eating schedule with the busyness of a vacation. I also wasn't sure how he would handle the beach & Lake Michigan. Of course - he did a great job. Not without a few hiccups along the way - but it was a great trip.

Now we're off again, to not only stay in a hotel room - but stay in one with a TODDLER! Scary thought right? Hotel rooms aren't baby-proofed. They aren't entertaining to a 1 year old. Not to mention he'll probably be staying up much later than normal...so hopefully he isn't cranky!

Then there is the complication of what to feed him all weekend. We're going to Indiana to see our nephew's middle school basketball team play in a national championship tournament. So we'll be at basketball games, grabbing food in between and possibly eating fast food on the road? So obviously I'll be packing lots of food/snacks to take along. (And no, you don't have to tell me I worry too much...that I already know.)

With every phase of his life comes new challenges. But I keep thinking...#2 will be much easier because we'll know what we're doing, right?

Score!

For those of you who know my husband, you know he LOVES baseball. He played baseball from a young age through high school. He helps coach his nephew's little league team when he has time. He's also a die-hard Milwaukee Brewers fan.

Despite this strong influence, Brody has decided to work on his soccer skills...

Our Milk Drinker

As previously posted, we've had a lot of issues with dairy. What I'm not sure I mentioned, is that I had a similar allergy when I was a baby. So I did fully expect that Brody would grow out of it, as I did. So when it wasn't a quick shift at a year - I was a little dissapointed.

After a month of very, very, slowly introducing whole milk (by mixing it with soy formula), he was finally able to drink an entire cup of milk. Now, several weeks later and he's doing such a great job of drinking his milk. He's even drinking more at each meal than when we were mixing it (not surprising -- I'm sure the formula/milk combo tasted awful!)

The number one thing that Brody continues to teach me everyday, is patience. We're very lucky to have an overall healthy, sweet, smart, adorable little man. The rest is just details...

Updates

It's been over a month since I've blogged. So obviously my resolution to blog more often is failing. As for my other three resolutions, I'm 1 for 3. Organizing - I'm made good strides here: updated fridge calendar, coupon organizer, place to put bills and even organized my pictures on our computer.

As for the other two, I haven't lost any weight and a promotion at work in early January hasn't been helping my ability to be home more often. But it's early in the year and at least I'm trying to make an effort on working less & living in the moment more - I swear!

As for our adorable little toddler...

Brody continues to change in front of our eyes everyday. I think I say this about every stage, but I'm really loving all the new skills he's learning.

He's up to using 4 baby-signs to communciate with us (more, all-done, eat and please/help). The last one just recently and he's using the sign "please" but seems to use it mostly when he wants help with something. He understands the sign "drink" but doesn't use it. We, however, use it with or without the word and he understands what we want him to do.

He also understands us really well. We ask for a hug or a kiss and he's happy to share them with us (by far my favorite skill - even though his kisses are a bit sloppy :) ). We ask him where his doggies are and he'll point right to them. He knows the word "no" but cleverly ignores it when he wants to (how young they start!)

Brody's favorite activities these days are: playing catch with his doggies (although he does get upset when they run off with the ball and don't come back), playing with shape-sorters, dancing and playing with blocks. He giggles constantly and I can't get enough of it.