Bradley stories

Mr. B. uses 2 words now. Tonight he called me Dada. I said, "I'm not Dada." He said, "Not Dada?" He also says "more milk." (OF COURSE!) A few times it has sounded like "I want more milk." So I think he is close to some sentences.

He discovered his tongue and is using it to gobble like a turkey today.

Yesterday I gave him a sip of lemonade, so now he calls it "nade."

If I say 1, he says, "2....."

Yesterday we were at the gas station, and the sign said "Friendly Mart." Bradley started saying, "D, Y, A, T," pointing out the letters to me.

17 Months

Yes! I posted this just in time to keep up with my ongoing goal of posting once a month. Once I remember where I put my camera, I might post some pics, too......

Bradley turned into a 2 year old about a month ago. I made a comment just a couple of weeks ago that I love it, because when I tell Bradley to do something, he does it immediately. I guess he heard me say that because it pretty much ended that day. :-) Now when I tell him he needs to obey, he says, "bey...." He loves to give kisses, though, too, so he's still a sweetie amidst the temper tantrums. A lot of times he grabs my cheeks with both hands and kisses me right on the lips. Sometimes when he's going to sleep, he wants me to pat his chest, so he will grab my hand and lift it up and down on his chest so I will pat.

A few stories from the past weeks.... He was going for a walk with Papaw and Yaya. He just had a onesie on, so Mom told me to put some pants on him. I did, but we didn't realize until we were outside, and he fell flat on his face that both of his legs were in the same pants leg. Mom couldn't figure out why something just didn't seem right. ;-)

When he wants up he says, "Uppie. Peas...." (my polite little gentleman)

He knows the first letter of the alphabet is A and the second letter is B. He also can read the letters A, D, O, and B.

He doesn't like potatoes. Xon's dad came to visit this weekend and told me Xon didn't like potatoes when he was little either. I said, "Well, if all this is nature and I just have a little Xon clone on my hands, what in the world am I doing here, then?" Xon assured me there is a little nurture thrown in there, too. ;-)

Dad had quadruple bypass surgery and had to stay in the recliner a good bit of the time. (He still can't lift anything.) So Bradley figured out a way around that nonsense. He would pull the cat carrier over to Dad's chair, stand on top of it, and climb into Dad's lap on his own.

Bradley and I were picking the walnuts outside, and I heard him whispering quietly "Papaw, papaw, papaw, papaw...." I just looked at him for a minute, and he looked at me and giggled. I said, "I caught you talking to yourself, didn't I?" ;-)

He can pretty much repeat any word we say now.

If I ask him a question like, "Do you want some milk," (which I never have to ask b/c he lets me know ANYTIME he wants "milk-a".....) he says, "Dah" very definitely. If I tell him to say yes, he nods his head up and down instead.

He still uses his signs--but in conjunction with words now. He says "daighty" and does the sign for diaper change when he has a dirty diaper. He still sings and loves to read and talk and be outside. He learned how to run.

We are LOVING life here on the farm and take lots of walks and look at the cows. Bradley especially likes to point out the cow "poo poo" to me. He also points out the clouds and the sunshine and the tractor, etc. He has commentary on everything, you know. :-)

Long Overdue Pics

It only took me a couple of minutes to post these thanks to the power of DSL. Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!! BTW, Bradley seems to know the letter "o." He points it out to me when he sees it somewhere.

On the pony at the fair

On Dada's shoulders at the fair

That cow sure is big

Pigs and alpacas and cows, oh my!

Helping Aunt Dawn move into her new place

(When Alex was 6 months old, I bought him an outfit that said, "I like frogs, bugs, and mud." Erich made up a little song about it. When we were at Dawn's this time, we saw a pair of pj's that said the same thing, so we got them for the boys. We couldn't find Lydia's size, unfortunately.)

Robin came to visit in July

Telling Mama to look at the cows

Swingin' my feet on the steps like an ol' country boy

Posing for the camera in my car

Autumn and Greg came to visit in August

15 Months

Well, the little fella is 15 months old now and everything a little boy should be. He walks and talks like a pro and adds new words all the time. Sometimes you can say a word, and he can repeat it immediately, and sometimes it sounds like he said a sentence. The other day, he touched the cord on the tv, and he said, "What is this?" I said, "A cord." He said, "Da?" (That's his word for "what.") I said, "A cord." He seemed satisfied with that.

Some of the words he knows are:

Hi, Mama, Dada, Yaya, Papaw, shoe, bowl, ear, hot, no, baby, down, nose, milk, bubble, cow sound, horse sound, cat sound, monkey sound, sheep sound, siren sound, banana, awwww, yeah, balloon, around, ha ha ha, bee, elbow, diaper, wipe, ball, owww, woah, lion sound, bear sound, eye, Casey, rooster sound (my personal fave), clock, and a few others. I think there are about 40 that he uses regularly. And even if he isn't talking in English at a particular moment, you can bet he is talking in Bradley language. He likes to talk pretty much all the time.

I was cleaning the other day, and he was sitting with his pillow on his lap. It has "Bradley" embroidered on it. He kept saying, "E, e, e, e, e, e," so I looked up at what he was doing. I said, "Where is the e?" He pointed to the e in his name. I'm sure it was a fluke, but it was cute anyway. He really likes his alphabet and reading, reading, reading!

He is constantly standing on the table and climbing everything. He plays the piano and sings. He draws on his chalkboard. He loves anything with a steering wheel, like tractors, bulldozers, cars, etc., and has figured out how to drive the little plastic car I got at Big Lots. He is just a laid back, curious fella who enjoys learning about life. He has started the temper/separation anxiety stage now (his pediatrician was thrilled to hear it--literally), but I still think God couldn't have blessed us with a better youngun' to break us into parenting. ;-) Love him!

Recent Pics

My little cuties

Playing with a stick in the park

Chillin' on the boat. This is the first time we've gone on the boat since Bradley was 8 weeks old. He didn't like it at all then, but he LOVED it this time! He loved splashing in the water, and he even tried to hold his breath and put his face in the water. He must be a fish like his Auntie Dawn!

I love the look on B's face here.

Playin' in the sprinkler

The fam, with our recent addition of Lydia

Bradley found someone close to his size to play with!

We've conquered walking and moved on to climbing!

At the amusement park

At the amusement park

I wanted to take some pics of Bradley at the local amusement park, but he fell asleep in the stroller before I did... He had fun, though!

Bradley chowing down on his birthday cake

I made this cake for B's birthday. It's banana, of course. His favorite!

12 Months

The little guy is 1 year old!!!! As my sister said, if we made it through the first year with our sanity and marriage intact, then we're doing pretty well. ;-) Actually, Bradley is very easy to take care of right now. He is full of joy, he can entertain himself, he is a good snuggler, he sleeps well, and he eats well. He can find something interesting anywhere, so I don't necessarily have to bring toys along. He just explores. What more could I ask for? I am extremely blessed.

We had his latest checkup at the Dr. today. She said he is extremely healthy and well beyond where he needs to be verbally. He is his Dada's son, after all. ;-) He can do these signs: dog, nurse, sleep, creek, and up. He says these words: mama, dada, no, not, hot, moo, meow, nana (banana), the monkey sound, and the horse sound. He also says "ta ta" when I ask how the clock goes (tick tock). Sometimes he will say hi. Tonight Xon asked him if we should put him in his nighttime diaper, and he said, "Noooooo." :-) He knows where his ear is, hair, his belly, hand, foot, and he knows some things on me like my nose and cheeks. He is starting to get a little whiny when he doesn't get what he wants, but his pediatrician says she is thrilled to hear it. That's exactly what he's supposed to be doing right now.

He walks really well now. I haven't seen him crawl in a while. He waves and kisses. He really likes the plug outlets, so I have to watch out for that. He loves to pick out books to read and hand them to me. We probably read 15 books a day, because we read some before both of his naps and then at bedtime. Sometimes it will be really quiet in the house, and I will look at him, and he's just flipping through a book. He especially likes books that make him do something, like touch, or make sounds, etc. He knows what certain books are by their covers. He can follow commands.

Alex called me on the phone other day and said, "Where Baby Bradley, Aunt Katie?" I gave Bradley the phone, and Bradley said, "Hah" (his southern version of hi). Bradley also LOVES to play with the phone. He puts it up to his ear and talks. He also does that if he hears a phone ring or if he sees a phone on tv, etc. Mom says this is because I talk to Dawn on the phone too much!

We try to sing a few songs with the piano every day. I'm hoping to take him to a Kindermusik class in June. They have a new Sign and Sing class, which I think Bradley would LOVE.

Pics to be posted soon.

Pics From the Past Month

Bradley playing with my cousin

Splishy splashy

Watching the horse racing