Mother's Day

I had a really nice first Mother's Day today. This morning Stu, Brandon, my parents, Stu's mom, and I went to pick out flowers to plant and some hanging baskets of flowers and tomatoes. I put Brandon in the baby bjorn and he loved looking at all of the flowers. Early this afternoon we went to brunch at Branches. We were there last year when I was pregnant with Brandon and his sister and we loved it so much that last year we said we would be back this year with the babies. We followed through and brought Brandon. At first he sat in the high chair and seemed to like it but he quickly wanted out and wanted to be held so I ate with him on my lap and he was also passed to some of his grandparents and Stu. He was really well behaved. It was his first time in a restaurant at all so he didn't do too bad considering. He was also really tired even though I had made the reservations for after his nap. He didn't take as long of a nap as he usually does before brunch. He fell asleep in my arms towards the end of brunch. Thank you Stu and Brandon for making my first mother's day as a mom so enjoyable.

Trying So Hard To Crawl

Brandon has been trying so hard to crawl. He has figured out that if he puts his legs under him he can push with his legs and move. I think once he figures out the arm part of it he will take off. Brandon and I went to Stroller Strides this morning for the first time. It was quite a workout. It is in Wall and if it is nice is outdoors but if it rains it is indoors. We started off walking on a path and every so often would stop and do different things (ab work, arm and leg work with a band, running/ skipping between strollers, squats, etc. Then we would walk again and then stop and do something else. They meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for an hour so we will be going to that 3 days a week. Brandon also went to the supermarket with me for the first time. I had him in the baby bjorn while I pushed the cart and he loved looking around. I think he is really enjoying seeing that there is more to this world than doctor's offices and the walls in our house.

Professional Pictures

I brought Brandon to Kiddie Kandids at Babies R' Us today to get his pictures professionally taken for the first time. I was a little nervous at how he would be since it was his first outing other than to the zoo last week and also because the baby before him was hysterical crying. I didn't know if he would be the same way when I put him down to get his pictures taken. He did great. He didn't cry at all and he smiled so nicely for the guy who was taking his pictures. I am so happy with how the pictures turned out. The guy who took his pictures was great with him. He really worked at getting him to smile before taking his picture each time.

10 Months Actual/ 7 Months Adjusted

Brandon is 10 months old today. I really don't know where the time has gone. The past 10 months have really flown by. It is hard to believe in 2 months from today we will be celebrating Brandon's first birthday already. He has definitely come a long way in the past 10 months.

He is now sitting on his own and has figured out that he can roll to get where he wants to go. Any time he is put down on the floor on his back (or stomach) he takes off with his rolling. It is pretty funny. He tries to army crawl but still just stays in one place wiggling. I don't think it will be too much longer before he figures it out. He can also support himself if he holds onto something to stand but I have to stay right next to him because he likes to take his hands off of what he is holding and then he starts to fall over. He still has no teeth but still appears to be teething. For some reason his teeth are taking their time pushing through.

He is currently eating stage 2 baby food and is doing really well with it. He eats the entire 4 ounce jar the majority of the time as well as 2 tablespoons of barley. I just started him on three meals today since the two meals a day don't seem to be cutting it. We will see how he does.

I am not sure how much he weighs and how long he is. His next pediatrician appointment is in a little over 2 weeks so I will find out then. He hasn't been to the pediatrician since mid-February. He was weighed at the beginning of April though at the developmental clinic and measured so I know he has been doing well still with his weight gain. He has slowed down the last few months and is gaining 1 1/2 pounds a month. He is wearing 6-9 month/ 6-12 month/ and 9 month clothes depending on the brand and they are fitting him well.

He still is not a great sleeper. He goes down for the night after his 7:00 bottle and tends to wake up 2-3 times on the average a night. Most of the time he just needs me to settle him back down but he is still waking up for one bottle a night. Until the beginning of April he was waking up for two bottles a night so at least that has improved. For a little while I thought he may be ready to give up the bottle that he is still waking up for since he was only drinking on the average 2 ounces but the past few nights he has taken the whole bottle again. Maybe he is going through a growth spurt. He is usually up for the day between 5:45 am- 6:15 am. He does take 3 naps a day but he seems to need that many since he is up so early. The first one is usually a cat nap.

He is finally allowed out since RSV season is now done. However, now with the swine flu I am still being careful. For now I am going to take him places during the week in the day when it is not too crowded and try to avoid crowded places on the weekends.

For the most part Brandon is a very happy baby. He only cries when he is tired usually. His new thing is when he is playing and sitting by himself he turns his body to me, puts his hands on my legs, and wants to sit on my lap and play. He loves when Stu comes home from work and gives him the biggest smiles. Brandon also LOVES Hershey. He tries to pet him whenever he can and gives Hersey huge smiles.

Standing Daredevil

Brandon can stand holding onto things. However, he keeps removing his hands and trying to stand on his own which leads to him toppling over.

Some Black and White Pictures

I have had my camera for over 3 years and I just realized accidentally at the zoo a few days ago that it takes pictures in black and white if I want. I played around last night during bath time and today to try to get some black and white pictures of Brandon.

Philadelphia Zoo

We took Brandon to the Philadelphia Zoo yesterday. My mom came along for the trip.I am not sure he really saw the animals but he had a great time looking at the people walking by and just being outside, in a different location than our house. Stu had an eye doctor appointment in Philly after the zoo so my mom and I walked around on the street. Brandon was fascinated with everything that he saw when we were walking.