Race, Dedication, Cider, and Sleep!

It hasn't been that long since I last posted, but a lot has happened (as you can see from the random title)! We've had a jam packed couple of weeks here in Kansas.

Brandon got to meet his Cioci (aunt) Kalina and Wujek (uncle) Stefan for the first time, and he got to spend some quality time with his Babcia and Dzadza. Babcia and Dzadza babysat Brandon twice so we could go out, and I think they are now realizing how much better it is to be a Grandparent than a parent. They get to give the fussy baby back at the end of the evening! Krzysztof and I aren't convinced that Brandon was really fussy for them, though. Whenever we left and returned, he was very content. They tell us he was fussy and occasionally quite difficult. Not this little angel. :-)

One of the most exciting things that happened is the Zaryczny family race! Krzysztof, his brother Stefan, and his dad ran the half marathon in Kansas City and his sister Kalina ran the full marathon. They all ran the half marathon last year in Chicago. This was Kalina's first full marathon. Krzysztof came in 8th for his age bracket. It must be the shoes. He used to tell his parents when he was little that he wanted to get some fast shoes so he could run faster.

Here we are after KZ got back while we waited for the others. Brandon was very proud of his daddy. Here are all the runners, somehow managing to remain upright and smile. Kalina got an aluminum blanket because she ran the whole marathon. KZ's dad tried to get one after his run (it was pretty cold out) and he was rejected. I guess they don't care if you are cold if you only ran 13 miles. We had planned to have a little mini Oktoberfest at home that day after the run. I don't know what we were thinking. KZ's mom and I were the only ones in a festive mood. The only time the other 4 left the couch was to go to the table for dinner, and I'm pretty sure they would have preferred TV trays. Dinner was good, though. We had fresh kielbasa that Stefan brought from the Polish market in Detroit, sauerkraut with onions and mushrooms, and German potato salad.

Last Sunday we had Brandon's baby dedication at our church. This is our pastor Nathan who did the dedication.
And here is the Zaryczny clan.

Stefan and his girlfriend gave Brandon this onsie. It says, "I'm a little pierogi," which is one of our more unique nicknames for him. His other Polish nicknames are "Brandopolski" coined by his Dzadza and "Brandonek" courtesy of his Cioci.

Now that it's getting colder out, it takes a lot longer to get ready to go places! I can't even imagine what it will be like when we go out in January. This is Brandon all cozy in his BundleMe before a walk. I remember thinking it was inconvenient having to grab my own coat, hat, etc. before leaving the house in past years.

Why do some of the best pictures of Brandon's smile come out grainy and dark? You get the idea of how cute he is, though, right?

We love it when he makes this face. He often says "ooo" (he says it quick, like he's saying the word "who). He is definitely getting more vocal. We are not going to be able to keep him in church with us much longer, not because he cries, but because he talks through the whole thing!

We went to the Cider Mill on Saturday! It was always a fall tradition for us to go to the cider mill in Michigan each fall, so we were excited to find that they have them here in Kansas. We opted to go to Dunn's Cider Mill, which is smaller and closer than the more popular place. They cider there was great, and the doughnuts were pretty darn good too! It was a perfect fall day.

The apples of my eye. :-)

While at the cider mill Brandon got hungry, so we decided to use the opportunity for another installment in his bottle training, which he has been undergoing for the past week and a half. Brandon decided a few weeks ago that he will no longer tolerate bottles and wants the real thing all the time (even though the milk is the same). That just wasn't going to do for our lifestyle as we want to be able to give him a bottle when we are on the go, and we want someone else to be able to feed him every once in a while! (Note to new or expectant parents: give your baby their first bottle within the first 4 weeks of life, and continue to give one at least every other day so he or she comes to realize early on that bottles are a necessary part of life.) Last week we started giving him a bottle once everyday. The first 3 days were pretty rough with him fighting the bottle for hours, refusing to eat. Each day since then has been easier and easier, and now he takes one most of the time from me and KZ without complaint. He did complain for his Babcia and Dzadza, though. We'll keep working on it...

This picture could have turned out better, but at least you can see his face.

Brandon loves to be held up in the air and thrown up and down. That is when we get some of the biggest smiles.

So, what about sleep you ask? Well we've all 3 been getting a lot of it lately! This past week Brandon has been sleeping anywhere from 10-12.5 hours straight without waking to eat! He's been eating very frequently during his waking hours, so I think he might be in a growth spurt. I hope the long sleeping will continue, though! We feel very fortunate to have a good sleeper (for the time being anyway).