The Natural

Brandon is a very expressive baby. When he sees something he likes - he smiles or laughs, waves his arms up and down, squeals his delight and sometimes his whole body will shake from shear excitement. Brandon will do all these things when he sees his daddy.

I think it's safe to say that Brandon has always enjoyed the company of his father. I remember being in the hospital, right after Brandon was born, listening to the nurses comment on how well Brandon responded to his daddy's voice. If he was fussing, all Jamie had to do was talk to him and he would calm down.

I'm always impressed with how great Jamie is with Brandon. He shows Brandon more patience, gentleness and kindness than I've ever seen him display before. He plays with Brandon, soothes him, feeds him, changes him, bathes him, reads to him and overall is the best partner in parenting that I could hope for. I love how being such a great dad just comes naturally to him.

This post is for you Jamie. Thanks for being such a wonderful father to Brandon. He will grow up a better man for having you in his life. We hope you have a wonderful day today because you deserve it! Happy 1st Father's Day. Brandon and I love you very much :)

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

We did it! Brandon and I completed 4 weeks at our American Sign Language course for babies. It sure was fun. We learned all kinds of useful signs like "play", "bath", "milk", "eat" and "more". We learned the alphabet and we the learned signs for the animals we see at the zoo. We learned the signs for different foods and colours. We sang songs and we made new friends. Overall, it was a really great experience :)

One thing all the moms wanted to know was "when will my baby sign back to me?" The instructor says it varies but a lot of babies begin signing around 10 months. She added that signing will help them with vocabulary and literacy once they start speaking. She also said that a lot of kids will continue to sign long after they can talk, especially if they're shy.

Attached is a picture of Brandon making the sign for "play" (yah right! you have to use your imagination a bit) and he often makes the sign for "milk" ;) His all time favourite is the "5 little ducks" song but hanging out with his new friends in class was pretty fun too.

On a completely other note - Brandon slept through the night for the first time! He went down at 8PM and didn't wake up until 7AM. Jamie and I both checked on him in the night, just to make sure he was OK :) My fingers are crossed that he can keep this up!

Seven Months Old Today!

Is he really seven months old today? It seems like just yesterday I held him in my arms and gazed at his beautiful face for the first time. It feels like only days have gone by since I nursed him every two hours and diligently marked down on a piece of paper how many wet/dirty diapers he had in a day. But here he is - and what a difference seven months makes! Brandon is now sitting upright on his own, feeding himself crackers, holding his own bottle and working to recover toys or items that he's dropped. Every day his personality emerges a little more and every day he gets a little bit stronger.

He's eating everything from bananas to steak now (pureed of course). He has a very good appetite and almost always finishes his lunch and dinner. He's also sleeping really well with only one wake up in the night and two good naps in the day.

A really happy baby, Brandon is amused by almost everything. His favourites include the cats (loves to grab them whenever he can), his daddy (truly the best toy around!), bath time, the jumperoo and chewing on his own toes :) His dislikes are few but he still hates getting his PJ's put on at night.

Brandon keeps a fairly busy schedule. We have playgroups on Monday and Friday. We have signing class on Wednesday and swimming lessons on Saturday. In between those activities, Brandon helps Mommy with the grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning (mostly as a supervisor). Our days are busy and they go fast. I sometimes think about my upcoming return to work and wonder how I'll go 8-10 hours a day without seeing my little boy.

On a different note, I thought I'd mention that Brandon is almost completely weaned now. I started the process a few weeks ago and we're down to only one nursing per day (he still gets formula in a bottle). I miss the extra snuggle time with my baby but I marvel at how he continues to excel in his growth and seek out his own independence. I suppose that's how it will be from now on so I guess I'd better get used to it :)