He's Walking!

Or at least that's what my day home provider called to tell me on Friday. She said he just turned from the couch and walked to the toy box like he'd done it a million times before. I asked if he was shaking and awkward and she no, he walked with a lot of confidence.

So I spent the rest of the day telling everyone Brandon was walking only to come home and find that he would not walk for me. In fact he wouldn't walk for me on Saturday either. I'm trying to remain cool but I really want to see him walk! What a big boy he's getting to be and I just want to share in this success with him. I don't have anything else to say - I just hope I'm there the next time he takes an un-aided step :)

Here's some pics with his walker. Soon he won't be needing it anymore.

14 Months Old Today!

A new year and another month older. Brandon weighs about 22 lbs and you know, I'm really not sure how long he is. The Dr. told me just a week or so ago but I've totally forgotten. Is that strange? I used to be obsessed with this kind of stuff. Hmmm . . . anyways my little guy is just getting over an ear infection. This is the second ear infection he's had. His first one was in October. The good news is that it doesn't seem to be getting him down. He's in great spirits and continues to play, eat and sleep well.

He recently started drinking milk again. Jamie and I gave him his last bottle on Christmas day. Afterwards we began offering him milk in a sippy cup. This did not sit well with Brandon and he went on a "milk strike" for about 10 days. Jamie and I were starting to panic about what we were going to do when one morning he decided to drink from a sippy. We're trying to act cool like we don't care but secretly we're super proud of him!

Brandon is a very social boy and so he's doing really well at the day home. He likes going to Linda's and he spends the day playing with the girls (he's the only boy there). Apparently none of their girly ways have rubbed off on him as we're told he likes to play with the cars and trucks the most.

Being a social butterfly means that one of his favouite things to do is go to the play centre at the mall. The centre is an enclosed area with a soft floor and lots of interesting things to climb on and slide down. Brandon squeals with delight when he can see we're headed for the centre. He gets so excited once we're inside that he dances and claps his hands. He can hardly contain himself as he crawls over to other children and starts following them around. He's still not walking yet but he watches the other kids running and I can see that he wants to run too.

Brandon has added a few more words to his repertoire. His latest word is "hockey" but he's also been saying "nez" and "cheese".

I paused to think today about where am at - 14 months after giving birth. I can't say exactly when it happened but I returned to pre-pregnancy weight. I also gained feeling back in my feet. I began sleeping through the nights and eating hot meals (this never seemed to happen while breast feeding). Lately I can read books and I even sometimes go out at night with friends. As Brandon gets older, I find myself returning to a life similar to the one I had before him only now, it's so much sweeter :)

Busy Baby

Can I still call Brandon a baby? Technically speaking he became a "toddler" the moment he turned one but still I can't help myself. He can't walk and he only says a couple of words but boy he sure is "busy". When I consider this, I think to myself " isn't that the vey definition of a toddler?"

Toddler or baby aside, one thing I can't argue is Brandon is on the go - all of the time. From the minute he gets up in the morning until he goes to bed at night, all he wants to do is explore.

For someone who doesn't walk, he's very good at getting around. Not only can he crawl and pull himself to standing, he can also climb . . . and open drawers . . . and open cupboards. This means the two most commonly asked questions in our house are "Where is Brandon?" and "What is he doing?" (in that order) And you probably won't be surprised at what he's up to:

1. pressing buttons on anything he can find

2. flushing the toilet

3. taking all the paper off the toilet paper roll

4. emptying the water bottle

5. removing items from any drawer or cupboard he can open

6. re-progemming the phone and or TV

7. etc, etc, etc

Gone are the days when I could leave my baby alone for 5 minutes and trust he would be still be there when I got back. I guess when you find yourself chasing after your little one because he somehow found your cell phone and it looks like he's about to throw it into the toilet, you just have to admit it - you've got yourself a toddler :)