Has it really been a month?

Wow! I can't believe it has been a month since my last post. Well, needless to say we are keeping busy. Brendan is passing developmental milestones at a mile a minute it seems like. He is now 7 1/2 months old. He got two bottom middle teeth a couple weeks ago and they are like lil' razor blades. He explores everything he sees and hears, mostly with hands and mouth. His communication has improved and I also noticed he may be testing boundaries to see the reaction he receives.

On New Years eve, I cut my hair short after being so tired of it being pulled on like a rope- and I needed a change. Brendan will grab anything within reach with pinpoint accuracy. He has also got the index finger/thumb grab down too. He is able to feed himself and we encouage him to try.

Brendan is eating solids twice a day now since his 6 month check up. He had rice cereal or oatmeal and a fruit or vegetable each meal. His favorites so far are sweet potatoes, applesauce, bananas, and carrots. After exhausting all of the organic baby food we could try, I decided to make my own for him. We met with a Green mom's group at a Farmer's Market and purchased local organic produce. I cooked it, pureed it, and froze it. He has mango, avocado, carrots, and squash. It took a while, but as I get better it will go faster I'm sure. On the right is him in is high chair for the first time. Thanks Aunt Pat!

He can feed himself, and has learned to drink from a sippy cup, regular cup, and straw this month. He likes to blow bubbles through a straw and watch. We can't help but laugh- we used to do it too!

Over the last month Brendan has been my business partner and we have shown a lot of homes to prospective buyers. He has also attended business meetings, the most notable one was about 40 agents from my brokerage. He was so well behaved and also very well-received. I decided with my real estate career really taking off that clients will just have to accept that I will sometimes have Brendan with me. If they don't like it, then they can do business with the competition. (and boy is there a lot of it! Realtors are a dime a dozen.)My family is my inspiration for my Green Real Estate career and I'm going to build my reputation as family orientated. The only downside is, boy is he heavy!! I'm thinking he's around 22 lbs. and more in a car seat.

He loves to jump and his favorite place is in his jumparoo. This things is so loud when he jumps. You can't hear anything else but the jumping. It is awesome and you cannot help but smile and laugh as he goes to town playing.

During this month he also learned to sit up on his own and maintain a balance. He tries to pull himself up from laying but isn't quite there yet.

His language has also improved. I have been signing with him things like: food, more, all done, book, baby, and milk. He doesn't sign back but I feel we are able to communicate in many other ways. His baby talk is especially charming and cute!

On the right is a trip to the park. I'd like to get him a swing for the tree at home too. We like to go outdoors often and he has recently been interested in leaves. He pulled some off of a low hanging tree branch and carried them all the way home and for some time after too. They went in the mouth, but he didn't eat them.

Yes, it has been a while!

Life sure is keeping us on our toes these days. Our little guy is now five months old. We have had an awesome month this month, starting with Lou's birthday. We went bowling with Sue, Lou, and Patrice and I tried to throw him a surprise party. I say tried because he heard all of the details over the baby monitor the morning of the party.

Brendan is getting so big and heavy. (We are so proud.) At some point this month Daddy put on a 3 month outfit on him and we actually had to cut him out of it! Brendan was screaming and it was way too tight. Lou was ready to me to protest, but I got out the scissors. Poor kid! It was pretty funny though.

He is rolling around, grabbing stuff like crazy, and able to sit and stand with help in case he topples over. We've got a semi-routine down these days and everybody seems to be happy. The weather here has been warm and we like to go out with the Pack and Play and sit under the big tree out in front and play. Brendan does this cute little 'hi' when he sees people now too.

I think my favorite time with him is in the morning. He is all cuddly and talkative. Always happy too. It is complete goodness and I can't get enough.

We started some solids here and there. So far only organic oatmeal cereal and a banana. I don't think he's really actually ate much, more tasting, making a mess, and feeling the texture. We will keep trying though.

Everything goes in the mouth now and drool is all over the place. We still don't have any teeth yet. I recently went and got him some more teething toys to chew on and he seems to like them, although he doesn't discriminate. He will put anything in his mouth- I cringe when it is something with germs! (I am a total germ-a-phobe!)

Friday Brendan came with me to teach kids about going Green. We went to dinner with the Rotiers Sat. and Brendan and 1 year old Addison were holding hands. It was adorable. Tonight we went to the Phoenix Suns game and he was proudly strapped to Daddy's chest most of the night. They were so sweet walking around together. He had on an I love Daddy outfit too.

I will try to get some pictures up soon. Daddy got a new operating system and loading photos onto the computer is now quite a challenge.

So big!

My baby is growing so quickly. I feel like I blinked and he's huge. Maybe it is the big boy diapers (no more newborn ones) I put him in today for the first time, or the clothes he grown out of. Today he just really seemed to have grown overnight. His car seat is snug where the belt is for his shoulders and his head that barely fit into the swing headrest seems to fit perfectly. The photo on the right was June 27 and the one on the left was today. He is wearing his 3 month clothes now too. My baby is growing up and I want him small forever!

Aside from his body growing, so is his personality. I sincerely enjoy spending my time with him. I have full conversations with him and encourage his responses. I'm hoping my constant communication will help his language development. We have so much fun together. He is read to almost everyday. We go on lots of walks with Reese, and we also have tummy time daily. He usually doesn't like tummy time, but the doctor says we have to put him on his tummy for 5 min per day to strengthen his neck muscles. His favorite place to nap is in his swing and he especially likes to look out the windows, at lights, and fans. He also has been eyeballing the monkey on the wall in his nursery. As you can see from the previous post he also enjoys bath time- after all he was in liquid for the first 9 months!

One quick funny story for the week. I was on the phone with a support staff person from realtor.org and I was burping Brendan on my shoulder. Out of nowhere he let one rip and it was so loud and I mean loud. The best way to describe it would be a wet, scary, grown man fart. I was mortified and the man on the phone didn't say a word. At least he couldn't smell it! I got off the phone quickly before he did it again. It was unbelievable!