Eleven Month Birthday

A little summary of the month:

* exploring more of the kitchen & dining room

* bobs head back and forth - dancing 

* loves to open & close doors or drawers

* really quick with the army crawl

* first babysitting experience with Uncle Jon & Ashley 

* sitting up on his own from his belly (5/30)

* pulling himself up onto things

* up on all fours, but not crawling yet

* loves to point at different things

* brand new swingset built by daddy

* first trip out on a sailboat - The Bagheera

* tried gelato - Chocolate & Strawberry dairy free

* cheered mom & Mimi on in their Mother's day race

* first trip to the Children's Museum in Portland 

* first trip to Smiling Hills farm (and was pooped on by the calf)

* always going to play with the dog bowls

* went to Peaks Island to celebrate Great Grandma's birthday

* playing with cousin Eva

* he loves to take his diaper cover off

* 19 lbs, 2 oz

Mother's Day 5K

Before the race

Slugger & his Mom

My mom and I successfully completed the Seadogs Mother's Day 5k race in Portland!  The main goal for both of us was to run the entire race, which we both accomplished!  As a result our times were much better than the first race we did (in September) and we felt much better after this race.  It was also helpful to have Jon, Mike & Braden along the route to cheer us on.  They were able to make it to two different locations.  

The great thing about this particular race was that they had photographers in different locations, so we enjoyed searching through the photos!  I had fun celebrating my first Mother's day by accomplishing this goal with my mom.  We spent the rest of the day hanging out at home enjoying some lunch, playing games & taking Braden on a wagon ride.  Now, I just need to get back out there and keep up the running routine.  I might just have to sign up for another race to keep up the motivation...

The starting line - the two of us together!

Mile 2

The finish line

My Finish line video @ 5:30

Mom's Finish Line video @ 2:00

Sharon's Mile 2 video @ 14:33

Mom's Mile 2 video @ 4:21

Ten Month Birthday

A little summary of the month:

* loves to eat solid foods - mostly shoves as much as he can in his mouth

* working on brushing his teeth

* he now has seven teeth: front R 4/6, front L 4/23 and bottom L 5/3

* he reaches his arms up when being picked up

* he said his first word "dog" and recognizes dogs other than Sage (although goats, pigs & cows at the farm were also called "dog").
* will walk with someone holding his hands

* he loves to pull his socks off, especially when in the car

* more babbling -  thhh and tsss sounds

* he has slowly started the army/commando crawl

* will hide his face behind blankets, clothes to play peekaboo

* he loves to swing himself in the jumper

* celebrated his first Easter in Scarborough, although he slept through the egg hunt

* he is now out of his infant car seat

* first to the beach for the first time & played in the sand

* went to Peaks Island for the day with daddy & Sage 4/18

*  18 lbs, 9 oz

Nine Month Birthday

I seriously feel like I was just posting about Braden's 1/2 birthday and now we are on to 3/4.  His first birthday is right around the corner...

A little summary of the month:

* eating more finger foods on his own - broccoli, blueberry pancakes, eggs, haddock, turkey/chicken, puffs

* preferred mode of transportation - to log roll everywhere!

* will sometimes push off the carpet using his feet to get an out of reach toy

* went on a swing for the first time 3/20

* survived his first cold - mostly just a stuffy, runny nose

* went underwater at swim class for the first time

* more babbling - r and daddadaa sounds

* recognizes and turns in response to his name

* celebrated his first St. Patrick's day and Palm Sunday

* makes funny faces and enjoys peekaboo

* drinks from a sippy cup & can bring it to his mouth

* fourth tooth broke through - left incisor 4/2

* starting to kick more in swim class & learned to splash

* has a cute little dance move where he bobs up and down while sitting
* first babysitting experience with Grandma, Grandpa & Uncle Phil so mom & dad could go out

* more difficult to get him to sit still for his monthly photo shoot (as you can see in some of the pictures)

*  18 lbs, 1 oz (13%), 30.5 inches (97%)

Eight Month Birthday

First of all, I think this is my all time favorite monthly onesie photo.  Anyway, I am really behind on this blog post - because I will be writing the nine month post right after this.  It is a good thing I wrote some of these things down!

A little summary of the month:

* eats three solid food meals a day

* continue to breastfeed successfully

* started to move arms & legs when on his belly - thinking about crawling?

* uses the pincer grip - cheerios, puffs & dried fruits

* celebrated first Valentine's Day - fun playdate

* visited Aunt Jane's new apartment

* first Superbowl - Go Patriots

* started listening to rain sounds when sleeping at night

* started participating in a sign language class 

* says no to particular foods by turning his head

* first top tooth broke through - right incisor Feb. 23rd

* started participating in a swim class 

* first Ash Wednesday 

* 17 lbs, 2 oz, 29.5 inches

Videos: Food

A few videos of Braden's experiences learning to eat.  

First time with solid foods:

Trying a little Baby Led Weaning:

It is important to eat veggies too:

He will feed himself - SOMETIMES:

His favorite thing to feed himself:

It has been so much fun experiencing different foods with Braden, watching his reactions to new foods (good & bad) and helping him master new skills! 

Videos: Fun Sounds

Had some time to upload and go through a few of the videos we have taken of Braden.  I intended to post them on the blog every once in a while, but that certainly didn't happen.  So, I am going to write up a few posts of my favorite videos.  The first one is a combination of some of my favorite videos of Braden's noises, babbles and giggles.