Monday, April 30, 2012

Life As Brady {3 years, 4 months}

When I wrote the "Day in the Life" post for the TAT link up a few weeks ago, it made me realize that we haven't been keeping a very good record of Brady's "everyday life". Thankfully we recorded his major milestones on this blog along the way, but once he rolled over, crawled, walked, talked, etc... we stopped making so many entries about what it is he likes to do/say/eat/play. So, every few months I'll do something like this to give you a glimpse into what life with Brady is like. If you want to know what it's reaaaaaallllly like, I'd be happy to drop him off at your house for a few days so you can see first hand :)


Stats:
Height-- 38"
Weight-- approx. 30 lbs.
Clothing Size-- 2T pants, 3T tops (definitely on the smaller side)

Activities:
- Brady goes to school 2 mornings a week from 8:30-11:30a. Then he stays on for "lunch bunch" from 11:30a-1p where he eats his lunch and plays with the kids from all the other classes who also stay for lunch bunch.

- He was taking gymnastics once a week, but that is over now and we look forward to swim lessons at the YMCA and soccer (by himself!) this summer. We are also going to look into a t-ball team for him join as well.

An quick interview with Brady revealed these answers to the following questions--

Brady, what is your favorite...

    •    Food-- chicken fingers
    •    Friend-- Lyla & Leo
    •    Teacher-- Teacher Rebecca & Miss Louise
    •    Friend at school-- Johnty & Lucas
    •    Animal-- kikachu bird
    •    Book-- Curious George
    •    Song-- Caterpillar, caterpillar creeping away, you'll be a butterfly one fine day. But first you      have to hang in a "J", then butterfly, butterfly fly away.
    •    Toy-- Excavator truck
    •    Show/Movie-- SuperWhy/Beauty and the Beast
    •    Stuffed Animal-- Chester (a doggie) & King Kong (gorilla pillow pet)
    •    Sport to Play-- Baseball (hitting the ball with a bat)

What do you like to play?
Snuggle. Tag games. All kinds of games.

What is your favorite thing to do with Mommy?
Projects & puzzles.

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?
Build forts & chase him.

What makes you happy?
When I read books.

What makes you sad?
When people talk bad.

What are you most excited to do your baby brother?
Push him in the swing very slowly. Feed him milk in a bottle.

What do you like to call your baby brother?
Fitzgibbon, or Fitz.

Things you might hear Brady say these days...


- He ABUSES the word "apparently". To make it worse, he hold things in his fingers (like a pencil or a fork) like a cigarette and repeats the word over and over. I have NO idea where he got this from, but you can tell it makes him feel like a "grown up". So bizarre.

- "Can you put me on a show??" Yes, the boy likes his TV.

- "Where's my bag of toys?" Brady likes to carry around a zip lock bag full of random toys every time we leave the house. My "mom friends" think he's a hoarder.

- "Wanna snuggle?"

- "Can I have a snack?"

Other important details...

- He loves to smell his blankies (aka, his "polka dotties") and sleeps with one hand tucked inside a  corner where the satin border is coming loose.

- He loves to ride on his Strider balance bike (and is getting very good!), but is still trying to get the hang of his scooter. We'll probably get him a bike with training wheels this summer.

- He has become quite find of Tinley lately (lots of kisses and snuggles!) and likes to call him "Tinna Rinawee" (don't ask).

- He loves super heros (especially Batman & The Flash) and "all things fighting" (wrestling, ninjas, swords, pirates, etc.) Oh, and talking in jibberish. It drives Mom crazy!!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

A Night at the Park

The White Sox were just in town to play the Oakland A's and we made a last minute decision to attend Tuesday night's game. Too bad they lost (not that we stayed that long). It's funny that Brady's been to 3 White Sox games in his life and 2 have been in Oakland!

We got there early so we could watch batting practice and get close to the players. It was so weird to not have Ozzie there. Unfortunately, we left without a ball or an autograph this time, but Brady still had a blast-- right up until the food supply ran out in the 5th inning, then he demanded that we go home. I have a feeling it won't be too long until he's begging us to stay!







Tuesday, April 17, 2012

TAT Link Up- A Day In The Life

This week's Toddle Along Tuesday topic is "A Day in the Life" and I thought it was perfect timing, because I have been meaning to do more snapshots of what life with Brady is like on this blog. We chronicled so much of his activity in his first year of life, but once he hit all his major milestones, we just stopped celebrating all the little stuff that makes watching him grow so exciting.

I write a lot of stuff down in his baby book, but I am literally running out of room, and what better place to do it than here?! Because I'll never remember the cute phrases he said, the books he read, or the "hot toy" of the moment 5,10, 15 years from now, no matter how hard I try!

So here's what a Day in the Life of Brady is like, at approx. 3 years and 4 months...

Brady wakes up on his own between 7-7:30am and calls for Daddy. We're lucky in the fact that he actually stays in bed 'til someone comes and gets him, even though he is not in a crib anymore. He only wants his Daddy (which Mom can't complain about now... love me some sleep!) If I try to go in and get him, I usually am told, "NO, not YOU!! Go get Dad." A lovely way to be greeted in the morning, is it not?!

Because Brady is not a "morning person" (I wonder where he gets it?!), he takes some time to warm up to the day. This is usually done by watching a little bit of TV with a small cup of milk.

Breakfast is generally one of the following-- pancakes, oatmeal/oat bran, bagel & cream cheese or yogurt & granola. B is not a big cereal with milk fan, though he'll eat dry cereal with a cup of milk. Brady loves ALL fruits, so we will alternate between berries, bananas, grapefruit, kiwis and whatever else is left from the market.

After breakfast, Daddy heads off to work and Mom and Brady start their day together. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays we usually spend mid-mornings at the YMCA. Tuesdays & Thursdays Brady goes to school at Montecito from 9a-1p. We recently started taking him to "lunch bunch" at school and he absolutely loves it, mostly because he gets to play with the boys in the older classes. His favorite school buddies are Lyla (of course), Johnty and Lucas.

We like to spend time in the late morning having playdates with Brady's two best friends Lyla and Leo. We meet at parks and have picnics, go to fun places like the Children's Zoo in Palo Alto or Happy Hallow, or just play in each other's backyards (though we do NOT like sharing our toys very much). We also pass the time going to gymnastics, out for Jamba Juice, or hanging at the mall.

For lunch we typically alternate between peanut butter & jelly, grilled cheese, and bagels with cream cheese. Brady does not like deli meat with makes it hard to eat on the go (why won't he just eat a ham & cheese sandwich??), though he LOVES provolone cheese. Asks for it (almost) every day.

Naps are 50/50 these days. Brady has always been a good sleeper, so if I can get him to actually fall asleep, he'll generally nap for about 2-3 hours (around 2pm-4ish). But some days he just lays in his bed and plays with the 300 stuffed animals in there and refuses to calm down enough to catch some Zs... Boo.

Afternoons are tough. If he naps then he usually wakes up just before I'm ready to start making dinner, so we don't have much time to go anywhere or do anything. He'll watch a little TV (again, slow to wake up), then come into the kitchen to sit at his craft table and color while I finish up cooking. He loves writing in his notebook and actually has a really good grip on his pencil. We practice shapes and letters, and while he doesn't have quite enough control yet, he is starting to get good at tracing and can color inside the lines (in large spaces, of course). I think it's only a matter of time before we get a letter or two under our belts.

Matt works late two nights a week, which means Brady and I are on our own for dinner. We'll typically go out for "date night" one of these nights-- Brady's favorite hot spots are Pizza My Heart and Armadillo Willy's (bbq). The other nights, we are able to eat as a family and it's definitely my favorite part of the day. Brady loves to tell Daddy all about his day; he usually doesn't stop talking!

After dinner it's time for more play. Thankfully the weather is warming up because Brady loves to play a wide variety of sports-- soccer, baseball, golf, lacrosse & football. He is getting really good at baseball and can actually hit a ball when Matt pitches it to him. It's amazing!!

We start the bath/bed routine around 7:30pm and it can take about an hour (45 mins if Mommy's doing it!) Brady still loves being read to, so he gets 2 or 3 books in his rocking chair, a story from Daddy and a song from Mommy in bed. He'll call us a couple of times to come up and check on a stuffed animal or to blow his nose, and I swear he has to go "pee pee" about a handful of times before he finally settles down to sleep... sometimes not until 9:30pm (gasp!)

Then we wake up and do it all again! A Day in the Life of Brady.

Thanks to Mama G at Growing Up Geeky for suggesting this. I look forward to doing something like this on the blog every month!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Easter 2012

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday, despite being thousands of miles away from our families. We started off the day with a small Easter egg hunt in the family room, after Brady ransacked his Easter basket (for a run down of everything that was inside, watch this ridiculous video I made!) and devoured several bunny marshmallows, 2 mini Kit Kat bars and a Reese's peanut butter cup.

After he was all hopped up on sugar, we went for brunch at the Kirkpatrick's where Brady, Leo & Lyla had another egg hunt in their backyard. Competition was fierce, but everybody got a decent load of candy and there was only one almost fist fight. Next year, we might be in trouble...

I tried to get crafty with a batch of Rice Krispies Treats this year-- making large egg-shaped treats filled with M&Ms, small "bird's nests" with green coconut and Robin's Eggs, and smaller egg-shaped treats mixed with peanut butter and dipped in chocolate. I "created" the last idea myself and was amazed that no one else had thought of this before (ie., there were no pins yet on Pinterest). Then I made them... Great in theory, but not so appealing in practice. Let's just say they looked like something the Easter Bunny would... leave behind. Oops! But they tasted good, so I guess that's all that really matters. Guess which ones they are...

Luckily, we got a break in the sucky NorCal Spring weather and enjoyed our time outside for great food and better company. I took a ton of photos, which you can pour though here. But here is a small taste...

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and we look forward to celebrating with our "family" here again next year!

Monday, April 9, 2012

52:14

52:14
our family needs a makeover!

It's obviously haircut time in the Eatherton household!!
Not sure much more needs to be said.

While Brady certainly does look like a charmer with
this "puffy" do, it's time for a trim.
And Dad?! Well, I'm not sure what it is he's trying to
accomplish with this look, but it is NOT working.

Now- to be fair to the boys,
Mom could use a makeover too
(and more than just a haircut, that's for sure!)
But because I'm the author of this here post,
I reserve the right to not embarrass myself with
my own "before" photo.

More to come soon...

Thursday, April 5, 2012

TAT Link Up- Favorite Photo Contest

Thankfully this week's Toddle Along Tuesday link up is open 'til Friday, because it's now become Toddle Along Thursday (for me, at least...) Mama G is hosting a "Favorite Photo Contest" this week and I immediately knew which photo I wanted to enter. I have taken some wonderful pictures over the last 3 years, so I might find something *better* if I went digging. But when it comes to my *favorite* photo, it's this one... hand's down.



Anyone who's been following us on the blog for awhile will certainly remember this shot. I honestly don't know what I love most about it. That it was one of the first 20 pictures I took with my new DSLR back in January 2010, that Brady is as bald a pool ball (and was until he was well past 18 months!), or that there were so many great captions that came after I posted this picture originally...

"Buy high, sell low!"

"Tell your people to call my people!"

"I was gonna call sweetie, really..."

I can't help but smile every time I look at this picture. It's my husband's Sykpe profile pic, so I get to see it pretty often too!

So there you have it, that's my Favorite Photo. I'm submitting it at Growing Up Geeky now... wish me luck!

52:11-13 (Cheating!)

I am beating myself up for falling so behind on Project 52, but I'm bound & determined to get on track. And if I have to cheat to do it... so be it. As I mentioned before, the major reason I've fallen behind on these posts is simply because I haven't been taking that many pictures lately. This makes me sad on so many levels, but I've managed to pull a few pics together to create a collage for the last 3 weeks, that all (sort of) come together. Ok, not really... that's why it's cheating.

52:11 - 52:13
our family likes to... indulge
Whether it's food or play, our family likes to indulge in
simple pleasures and go "all in".

One candy? Nope, better make it two.
Police cars that go round and round... borrrring.
Shoot me up in the sky on the bouncy Froggy ride.
Catapult me across the gym on a rope? You betcha.

Matt & I are "thrill seekers", so I'm happy that Brady
shares our interest in trying new things.
Life is an adventure and it's no fun to sit on the sidelines.
Do I see a family bungee jump in our future?!

Interested in learning more about Project 52? Visit styleberryBLOG for more information. Shawna just had a new baby boy and her photos are amazing!! And check out these great blogs that I follow, also participating in Project 52-- What We're Saying...,Blossoms & Vintage, It's A Graham Life and Quiet Footsteps.

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