Beach Baby!

As promised here is the proof that Brandon was born with some lowcountry in his blood! I took Brandon to the beach for the first time with his Mimi and his Babcia while visiting Hilton Head. Krzysztof was on his monthly work trip to Indiana, so he unfortunately missed all this excitement. Because it took Brandon several attempts to tolerate even sitting on grass, I was sure that he would be hesitant to crawl on the sand and possibly fearful of the water. Maybe I don't know my son as well as I think I do! Here are some videos:

This video was actually taken 2nd.

Doesn't he look like a baby sea turtle heading for the ocean after hatching? When we put him on the sand, he just took off for the water - with a few breaks to shovel a handful of sand in his mouth here and there as you'll see in this next video.

Everyone I've talked to said their babies ate sand the first time to the beach too, and most of them have turned out just fine. My dad kept calling Brandon a "Sand Lapper," which apparently is a nickname given to South Carolinians.

Here are some other cute pictures of my little beach baby from his first beach day.

Playing with his new sand toys.

SO excited about the water! He laughed when the waves came in and splashed his arms.

He kept trying to put his mouth down on the wet sand...or maybe he was just showing off his yoga child's pose position.

The first day at the beach was so fun that we decided to go back the next day and bring Papa and Biscuit! It was really high tide when we got there so there wasn't nearly as much beach as the day before. Brandon still loved it, but he wasn't quite as excited as the first time.

Thinking he might want to be a surfer one day...

Playing with Papa.

Analyzing the sand.

And we can't forget about Biscuit! What beach dog doesn't need a visor to keep sun out of her eyes?

We can't wait to play at the beach again next time we visit Mimi and Papa!

Hilton Head June 2010

Hey everyone! It's Brandon! I just got home from spending a week and a half at my Mimi and Papa's house on Hilton Head Island. I had so much fun! Let me tell you about it.

Mimi and my cousin Drew put up this swing for me in the back yard on the frame from Mommy's old swing set (they reassured Mommy that it would still hold me...) I love to swing!

I got to meet Mommy's friend Cori for the first time! She loved getting to know me! She is really good at playing with babies.

Notice anything different in this picture? That's Mimi and Papa's dog Biscuit! I wasn't really interested in Biscuit when I was here for Christmas, but now I am! And she is interested in me too! Well, it's actually not me she's interested in (notice how she isn't looking at me?)...it's the attention I'm getting that she really wants. Cori kept trying to get Biscuit out of the picture, but Biscuit would not move and eventually just sat on Cori's lap to make sure we remembered that she was there. Silly dog.

That's my Papa! He was showing me how the piano works. Papa thinks I'm really cute, but I'm pretty sure he would like me better if I didn't squawk. Yep, I still screech and squawk a lot! You should hear how loud I can be! One woman on the plane told Mommy she should get me a singing contract. Sounds like a good idea to me.

This was my first boat ride! I had so much fun on Papa's sailboat! There's that silly dog again, purposely ignoring that I am present, but making sure everyone else knows she's there. Papa loves Biscuit. They sometimes call her Mommy's little sister (apparently Biscuit thinks she's a person), which would make her "Aunt Biscuit" to me. Papa kept reminding Biscuit that she's still #1. I'm going to have to work hard to usurp that title. Maybe if I learn to drive the boat...

The boat was great! There were all sorts of new things to put in my mouth!

Mmmm! Sail lines!

Aren't I cute? Do you like my "Hey Y'all" shirt with the SC flag on it? Cori gave it to me!

Hey! How did Biscuit get my hat?! And what's with that smug expression on her face? She must be relieved that someone is finally taking a picture of her.

Who's that in the window? It's me! Mommy tried to put me to sleep down below in the aft cabin. Did I sleep there? Yeah, right! It was way too exciting to bounce around on the cushions and peak out the little window and try to climb over the barricade made to keep me in the bed.
So, Mommy came up with Plan B:

She put me in my car seat on the floor in the forward cabin. Then she tied some sail ties to the handle and pulled the ties up through the port hole. She laid on the deck in the sun while she pulled on the tie to rock me to sleep. I went right out! What a smart Mommy I have!

Here's one more picture of me and Biscuit, again emphasizing Biscuit's attitude toward me. I loved watching Biscuit, and I really really really wanted to give her a big hug and bury my face in her fur like I do with my blanket and my stuffed animals. I don't know why they won't let me do that! Maybe next time...

Also, on this trip to Hilton Head, I got to go to the beach for the first time! I had so much fun, and there are so many pictures of me from the beach that it needs to be a whole separate post, so look for that one next!

Arizona Trip

KZ, Brandon, and I went to Arizona last week for our friends Paul and Megan's wedding, which was in the Phoenix area. We got down there a day before the rest of our friends, so we were able to drive out of the city a little bit to see some AZ scenery and take a little hike. I know you are thinking "hiking in AZ in June?" but the temperatures were really mild while we were there. It was only in the high 80's and low 90's most of the time - still warm, but very tolerable.

I never tired of looking at all the cactus!

Unfortunately Brandon's awesome hair in this picture is due to a breeze rather than my styling efforts.

I volunteered to carry Brandon during our hike since I don't get as hot at KZ. This is the first walk we've taken with him riding in the Ergo Baby Carrier on my back. He loved it!

Isn't that hat great? Unknown to us, Brandon decided he'd had enough of his hat at the top of our hike, so he disposed of it. We realized he was hatless about 1/2 of the way down the mountain. KZ got a little extra exercise running back up to the top, but the hat was salvaged.

Another pretty view from our drive.

Here we are at the wedding. It was held at this beautiful country club, and the weather was absolutely perfect.

How would you like to take your wedding pictures right there?

Here are most of our friends from Michigan at the wedding: Bryan, Brandon, Andy, Erica, KZ, V, Sarah, Blain, Erica, and Trevor.

The couple 2nd from the right (Blain and Sarah) also have a baby who is 6 weeks younger than Brandon. We had a babysitter come to the wedding location and babysit both boys in an empty room. It worked out perfectly. Both babies went to sleep easily in pack 'n' plays.

The other baby is named Trevor. Here are some pictures of the boys meeting and playing together for the first time:

This is their first meeting, which didn't last too long because it was naptime for Brandon, and he started doing this:

SQUAWKING! This is what he looks like mid squawk. Have I mentioned that I don't have a quiet baby? He's pretty talented at screaming at the top of his lungs when he is bored, or doesn't like something. This is part of the reason why my later flight from AZ to SC was so terrible. He doesn't like to be held or sit still, and everyone on the plane knew it.

This is later that same day. We brought a pop tube as a present for Trevor since Brandon loves his so much, but Brandon was not really happy about Trevor having it. Brandon kept stealing it (much like he did with his little buddy Lucy in the previous blog post), making poor Trevor just whimper pitifully. Trevor is quite a bit bigger than Brandon, so we kept warning Brandon that Trevor is going to remember this and retaliate one day...

Standing practice with the daddies.

Can you see the pained expression on my face? I'm holding over 40 lbs. of baby! God bless the mothers of twins!

Here is Brandon holding Brandon.

We took the babies down to the hotel pool together. See Brandon checking out Trevor's float?

Brandon has his own float, and he had the best time in it! He loved the water! It was a night and day change from the fearful and hesitant baby we took to our neighborhood pool a few weeks ago.

He splashed with his arms constantly. I don't know where he gets all that energy!

We decided to see if he likes Trevor's float:

As soon as we put him in it, he leaned back and got this relaxed look on his face like "ahhhhh, this is the life!" Then he proceeded to cross his feet. He laid like that for several minutes! It was so funny. Needless to say, he took a really long nap that afternoon.

Brandon vs. Lucy

My friend Rachel has a little girl named Lucy who is the same age as Brandon. Lucy came over to play a couple weeks ago, and I got some entertaining videos of them playing together. It's so funny to watch babies this age try to play because they have no idea how to share or how to be gentle. If you have a couple minutes, check them out. There's definitely some action. Here's the run down:

BRANDON vs. LUCY: TAKE 1
In this first match, see the babies as they attempt to share a singing tractor. Who will come out on top?

Score: Brandon: 0 Lucy: 1

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BRANDON vs. LUCY: TAKE 2
Will Brandon be able to come back from his first embarrassing loss?



Score: Brandon: 1 Lucy: 1

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BRANDON vs. LUCY: TAKE 3
It's neck and neck folks! See Brandon try to use his piercing vocals to get a leg up in this match. (Bonus: they both are playing with Brandon's very favorite toy)



Score: Brandon: 1 Lucy: 1

Well, it all ended peacefully with a tied score. Thanks for supporting your local babies, and be sure to check out the rematch coming soon to a blog near you.

A Quick Update

I apologize that my mommy has been such a slacker with posting pictures of me on this blog lately! Here are a few things we've been up to lately:

My Mimi and my aunt Kiki came to visit me a few weekends ago. Here I am at Country Club Plaza with aunt Kiki and Mommy. I had a great weekend hanging out with the girls!

One of my favorite things to do is play with a laundry basket full of clean clothes and diapers! But I like to ride in the basket even more! I don't know how much longer Mommy is going to be able to carry me up the stairs like this, though, since I'm becoming such a big boy!

Last weekend I went to the pool for the first time!

There is a really great baby pool next to the big pool in our neighborhood, so that is what I got in. I didn't know what to think of all that cold water at first...and I didn't want to be in my float. Who knows if that thing will actually hold me anyway! I was okay about being in the water if I could hold on to Mommy or Daddy. After a few minutes I figured out how to make big splashes with my hands, and some other kids shared their pool toys with me, so I had a pretty good time. I'll try it again sometime soon!

We've been hanging out in our yard a lot since it has been so warm outside! I like to play with my toys on a blanket or swing in my swing. I am fascinated by watching Mommy and Daddy play this bag game. They finally let me climb on it.

That's all for now! More pictures to come later!

Stairmaster

Our little monkey is getting really fast at climbing the stairs! We are impressed with his skills as we've only let him do it about 5 times so far.

Now, you may be thinking that he could use a little time on the stairmaster with the size of his behind in this video, but that is all diaper! Our little man is still the long lean machine! A voluptuous bum is one of the cons of going the cloth diaper route.

Cute Pictures Playing Outside

Here are some cute pictures of me playing outside on Sunday!

I surprised Mommy and Daddy by climbing up 2 steps on this ladder! I can also climb stairs. I love to climb! You better watch out when I get a little bigger!

Mmmm...this feels good on my teeth!

Speaking of teeth, you can call me Bucky if you want to.

I love my new tractor we got at a garage sale! $3 is kind of a lot for a garage sale toy, but Daddy really liked the pig. Plus, all the animals and farmer make noises and sing!

My super-cute-4-tooth smile!

Dad, why are you making me take this picture? You know I'm too young to swing on this swing! Put me in my swing!

Look at me! I'm on the big slide! Whoa, it's a long way down!

See you soon!