Last month, my oldest nephew introduced Brady to the world of bikes. We didn't realize Brady enjoyed sitting on the bike so much, we thought it scared him, and certainly he is too young to be on a toddler bike. Well, we were mistaken. He gets excited every time he sees a bike or anything with wheels - and in our town that is all the time - and more than once he has found himself on one.
Grandpa and Brady, Father's Day 2012
He had the motion down and everything!
Now he thinks he is ready for a big bike
And whatever Brady does, there is someone else who wants a ride too....
My, oh, my this month went quickly! I know its just a number, but 7 months seems so old to me...how did we get closer to their 1st birthday than this day...
Our world changed this month. I am now greeted in the kitchen and bathroom with roaming, curious crawlers. Rooney has mastered crawling and is already moving towards the inevitable walk. It seems crazy to write that in a 7 month update, but I found her two days ago standing, holding on to the bouncy seat. She isn't strong enough to pull herself up on anything, thank god, but the gentle incline of the bouncy seat allowed her to walk her hands right up it and before I knew it she was standing there smiling and so proud of herself. Brady is still working to find his knees, but that doesn't stop him and while it takes a bit longer he still covers the same ground and was the first to greet me in the bathroom, much to my surprise. Check out his army crawl skills...
For months, I anxiously awaited R&B interacting with each other. A few months ago, they started noticing each others presence, laughter and cries, but truthfully it wasn't interaction. Over the past month, they have started having "conversations" with each other and actually playing with each other...well more, one baby steals the other baby's toy and they go round and round stealing the same toy away from each other. It seems in playing, eating and just about everything else they do there is already some serious competition.
Rooney continues to be our little spitfire. She was introduced to lots of new people this month and it seemed everyone called her a "busy body" within minutes of meeting her. She really only sits still when she is cuddled up to me...and Auntie Amy. She is a mama's girl without question and no one else can console her if I'm within sight. However, Tuesday night she made her father so happy he almost cried. When he walked into the apartment from work she looked up and said, "DADA" with a huge smile on her face....while we know when babies are supposed to talk, Lee and I have convinced ourselves she understands that Lee is Dada:) Over the past month, she has become an expert at pulling my hair. She knows just how to grab the small hair on my neck and right around my temple. Ouch. But I forgive her for causing me pain because she usually pulls the hair when she is leaning to give me a big hug and a typically juicy, open mouth kiss!
Rooney continues to be a long, skinny girl, weighing ~16lbs (25 percentile) and 27 inches (75 percentile).
Brady, our happy little cautious guy, seems to have come out of his shell this month. He is such a happy baby...with a bit of a temper (especially when his bottle isn’t ready when he’s ready for it, like at 3:00 in the morning). While he is smiling most of the time and doesn't frequently get mad, watch out when he does. One afternoon, he was taking a nap in this crib and I was feeding his sister on the couch. I heard him start to whimper and I hoped he would self soothe right back to sleep or cry a little and fall asleep or just play in his crib until I was finished...nope he started crying and quickly grew so outraged by being alone in the crib that he hyperventilated on me! Note to self, the cry-it-out method will not be used on him. I prefer breathing over sleeping!
Brady babbles all day and still is such a thinker, it amazes me how he studies things. I can't wait to hear what he is thinking about when he is staring at things. I am afraid we are in for a lot of "WHY" questions from him:) Like his sister, Brady is very affectionate and loves to give hugs and kisses - he even goes so far as to reach around our necks with both arms and grabs us by the ears to pull us in for his own version of juicy, open mouth kisses. And being a typical little boy he finds absolute amusement in burp and fart noises - fake and real - and somehow knows to giggle when he hears them. One item that he sees somewhat frequently that he always finds so fascinating is a glass of red wine. Without fail he drops everything and focuses on the glass...it made us laugh until last weekend when I found him trying to pull bottles of wine off our wine rack. Clearly, we need to do a better job baby proofing!
Brady seems to be on a growth spurt right now, which means he eats all the time and my arms are really sore from the extra weight! He weighs ~17 lbs (25 percentile) and is also 27 inches (75 percentile).
This month both babies tried many new foods. Rooney will eat any food you put in front of her. And makes it known that any food I am trying to eat is fair game for her too. Brady gives us many nasty faces whenever he is introduced to a new food item, but always warms up to it eventually. The only food he liked for the first time was the potato from the inside of a samosa! He was all smiles and clearly it was not a new flavor to him....thank you Mrs. R for introducing him extra early to Indian spices.
We left R&B overnight for the very first time. We enjoyed our night away and were relaxed knowing that Big Cousin Ben was babysitting with the help of Aunty Amy, Pupu and Uncle D.
Grandma & Grandpa with their grandkids
We went to Wisconsin to introduce the babies to my side of the family and many friends. I love the above picture. The happiest grandparents around and five grandkids that are expressing their annoyance with the posed pic.
R&B meeting my favorite nurse. B is a pediatric nurse that took care of me both times I had chemo. She drove to PDC just to see my little munchkins.
Rooney meeting Cousin J for the first time.
Did someone say boat ride?? Rooney doesn't just ride, she drives the boat!
Hello Mississippi River! We are in trouble with this little busy body!!
It's OK Brady, I have this all under control.
Brady just hold on to me and it will all be OK
Grandpa and his only granddaughter
Grandpa has his hands full! Please excuse the windblown hair.
Six months ago today our little ones made their much anticipated arrival! The last six months have been truly amazing...everyday is an adventure with R&B.
Rooney's personality continues to develop and keep us on our toes. She is full of energy and seems to have an opinion about most things. She is the most particular baby I have ever met. We now find her up on all fours rocking back and forth trying to get to things, but she hasn't quite figured out how to move forward any way except to take a leap and fall on her face. She gets back up and does it over and over again, despite me trying to convince her otherwise. She is most definitely full of fun and I can only imagine the trouble she will convince her brother to get into in the future. Lee and I are completely smitten by her and she knows exactly how to work us already!
Brady continues to be our cautious, happy, wise guy. Over the past month, he has picked up a new past time - flirting! He smiles at anyone and everyone and loves being the center of attention! The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, as he clearly gets his skills from his father. He has finally realized that playing should be done during the daylight hours. He still wakes for a bottle once during the night, but at least he goes right back to sleep after it. Lee also discovered that our once early riser can be easily convinced to go back to sleep, if he is cuddled up next to his daddy in bed. Brady seems to be a little behind Rooney in hitting milestones, but he doesn't just accomplish things, rather he masters them.
Over the past month both babies have started eating solids, so far we have tried oatmeal, rice, barley, carrots, peas, parsnips, sweet potatoes and avocado. Brady was the first to start solids and really took to the cereal. But once we introduced veggies he was no longer a fan of food and stopped eating solids all together. One day I put both babies in their bumbos and began feeding Rooney and wouldn't you know it, Brady ate like a champ. He always makes a bad face when he tries new foods...and has even choked, puked and cried due to the taste, but we now know he will eat anything as long as Rooney is eating next to him. It's clear that he eats the food only to make sure that Rooney doesn't get it. He often reaches for the spoon when its heading towards her mouth instead of his. Brady is the messiest eater I have ever seen. He keeps his hands in his mouth when he eats and then typically wipes them full of food all over his face, hair and body. Thus far, parsnips seem to be his favorite food.
Rooney loves every bit of food we've put near her mouth and usually makes a sound similar to the word YUM with every bite. She is such a neat eater we could probably feed her without a bib.
Now on to the fun part of the post...
This is both babies go to move to tell us they are tired or scared.
Our big girl
I love watching them play together
Just chillin' in the grass
The Jumperoo - Brady's new favorite toy
I walked into the room and found this...love it!
The family in front of the White House
Rooney getting ready to crawl
Brady loving hanging out with Courtney, Bryan and his soon to arrive buddy, Baby D.
We just got back from a great weekend in Connecticut visiting family and while a little late, I felt the need to put an update up for R&B's 5 month birthday. This month was filled with many changes...some good and some not so good.
Our little ones are officially on the move. They both are rolling fools, which is exciting for them, but I can no longer put them down and expect them to be in the same place when I turn around. I know this is only the beginning, but it took a couple of days to get use to the mobility. Brady has some sort of fascination with whatever hides under the couch because he can frequently be found "stuck" with a limb under it. It's pretty funny to watch them try to scoot - they're only successful with their heads, which are luckily still too heavy, resting on the ground, butt high in the air and pushing with their feet.
Brady, previously known as our super sleeper, has decided that the hours between 2AM and 7AM are prime playing times. UGH. He started taking a bottle in the middle of the night again :( I started him on rice cereal and it seems to shorten the "nightly play time" but we would love to get him back to his all night marathon sleep. Any suggestions???
This month Rooney's appetite really took off. She has always eaten small amounts frequently. At their four month doctor's appointment, I was explaining to the doctor that I can never get her to eat more than 4 oz/120 ml at a serving. We walked out of the office and she decided she needed to eat before we got home and for the very first time ate 5 oz/150ml. I swear she understood my conversation with the doctor and off she went. She is now eating as much as Brady, if not more and even threw back 7 oz/210 ml in one serving last week.
Rooney periodically sleeps through the night, which makes us very happy. Since becoming efficient with her rolling over, she, not surprisingly, has decided that sleeping on her stomach is comfortable. It scares me and I usually roll her back over a few times a night. If only she would understand that sleeping on her back is best!
Rooney started singing herself to sleep..ok, really its more of a groan. It is so stinking cute!! I laugh every time. The great thing about it, we now know that when the groaning starts our girl is ready for bed.
The babies are so fun to watch interact with each other. They talk and laugh at each other and seem to usually enjoy being around each other. While they obviously aren't using "real" words, their talking seems to be more deliberate and Lee and I enjoy thinking that some of their sounds are actual words...we know, and are excited, that they soon enough will be.
Enjoying each other's company :)
Rooney keeping Brady in his place :)
We love tummy time now
Eating rice for the first time
Rooney's new favorite contraption...the jumperoo.
R&B's first "babysitter"....our lovely 6 year old, Irish neighbor
