Daycare Days

Brennan has started daycare along with some filled days with a professional babysitter. Our good friend's Mom, Cathi, is kind enough to help us during these three weeks Brennan has to wait for his daycare spot. Brennan loves Cathi, she is a retired teacher who is already grooming him to be a genius. Tuesdays Brennan has been to daycare. HE LOVES IT! He plays with all the kids, while they all protect him and bring him toys. All the other kids are at the mature age of 2-4, so they like to show Brennan the 'ropes'. He loves daycare so much that he can't fall asleep for his second nap. He just laughs and plays in the crib while the others sleep. But, somehow he comes home happy and ready for round 3 with Mom and Dad!

3/4 of a year Birthday

That's 9 months for you NON-mathematicians! Brennan is loving being mobile. He is so happy crawling everywhere. He has discovered his favorite drawer, the baking drawer, where he pulls out sprinkles, muffin trays and cookie cutters. He is working on standing on his own. He can stand on his own for about 30 seconds. Also, he is working on 'mama', he already can say 'dada'....but he really has no idea what those sounds mean! However, one night Daddy showed him the moon and ever since then he says 'oon...oon' every time we take him into the bathroom to see the moon in the skylight!

Spoiler Alert!!!

Don't we all love our Aunts! Always spoiling us too much love, kisses, hugs and..oh yes, presents! Well Auntie KK is attempting to beat all 'spoiling' records by giving Brennan as many loud, obnoxious and large toys as she can...oh, and don't forget all the lovin' too!!

Thanksgiving Week

Brennan is sure getting used to these car trips! He does great and loves to stare out the window. The only time he gets fussy is on the last leg of the trip usually around Chemult, OR (45 min. outside of Bend). It is like he knows we are almost there, Mom even feels the same way when we are that close!

The week started out with a special trip to Lafayette to visit the Ledermans and the soon-to-be Zadans. This included Brennan's second meeting of his buddy Nate, Danielle and Mike's son. Brennan had a blast playing with Nate's toys before he ever will! On our way back from the Bay Area we grabbed Auntie KK who had the opportunity to spend the week in Sacramento with her FAVORITE nephew, and of course...the rest of the family! Brennan was a super trooper shopping and having a photo shoot (he was the star) at the local Picture People on Tuesday. He put on quite the show. We were thinking he might have a future as a male model, but were reminded that he may not make it over the 5'10" mark! So much for that idea ;)

The holiday was spend with the Martins and, and of course, a ton of food displayed perfectly! Oh yes, and the table setting was gorgeous too (shout out to Mom). On Friday we traveled up to Yreka where we enjoyed Christmas tree hunting (with everyone else) and a big family dinner where Brennan entertained the crowed.

What a fabulous week....

Swimming With Daddy!

I'm a BIG boy now - 8 months old!

Brennan turned 8 months old, November 10th. He has had quite the month developmentally. He is crawling, pulling up on things and getting into everything. He just discovered how to open doors. He is so mesmerized by the door opening and closing that he doesn't even care what is inside of it...YET! We have taken persuasions and baby-proofed EVERYTHING. Well, everything that WE can think of, Brennan will probably find other hazards we will have to deal with. Also, he got his two front bottom teeth and loves to show them off with his smiles. He just tried a few Cheerio type snacks and had a very curious face while tasting them. In the end, I think he liked them. He loves carrot, green bean, pea, sweet potato, butternut squash, applesauce, pear, and banana purees. He also babbles sounds like 'dadada', 'blahblahblah', and even likes to make 'motor boat' noises while spitting lots of slobber. He can clap, give semi-hifives and is working on waiving, right now it is kind of a random arm jerk. He loves BB and Shellby. Surprisingly, BB is more tolerant than Shellby, but Shellby is coming around. She has been a little confused by all of this change, AND a little desperate for our attention. We also discovered Brennan has a pretty good immune system, when he managed not to get the flu his Dad had or the cold Mom had. Daycare days are around the corner, the true test of immunity will come then!

The best of all is seeing Brennan's little personality come out. He is quite the charmer. If you say 'no' he looks at you and smiles with a very devious look, then giggles away. When I come home from work he starts bouncing like a little bean, while smiling and clapping. Brennan loves his Dad, just the sound of his voice makes him smile.

Trip to Pumpkin Patch

We couldn't wait to take Brennan to our favorite Pumpkin Patch, not sure if he was as thrilled!

Happy 1st Halloween

Brennan had a very ORANGE dinner to celebrate his 1st Halloween! He had Butternut Squash and carrots,yum-o!

Pumpkin Carving

Brennan was quite the helper carving pumpkins! he was VERY curious. The pumpkin's smile has two bottom teeth, just like Brennan ;)

Little Lion

Brennan was one ferocious lion for Halloween. Friday night we had our annual Halloween Party. Brennan had a few friends in attendance. He partied until 9:00!!! Then was OUT for the rest of the night. Halloween day, Brennan went around town in his Halloween costume and waited, that night, for ONE Trick-or-Treater!

Brennan Crawling

Monday, October 12 (7 months old), Brennan took his first crawling 'steps' to Mom in the bedroom. That night Brennan surprised us when his little face was poking over the railing of the crib, after pulling himself onto his knees! Needless to day, we lowered the crib. By Friday, Brennan was jetting all over. Here is a video of him on Friday....

Yummers

Mom learned her lesson, homemade food is just not as good as Gerber! After many tries, we finally realized that Mom's home cooking was just not cutting it. Once we tried Gerber, Brennan ate it up ;)

PeekaBoo

First attempts at 'rockin'

This is one of Brennan's first attempts at 'rocking', he had many cheerleaders in Yreka!

7 Months Old

Brennan is 7 months old today! He has changed so much this month. First of all, Brennan has been 'rocking' on all fours for the last 2 1/2 weeks, and is really getting close to crawling. Also, he finally starting, liking, and eating baby foods! Babbling and growling are some of Brennan's favorite noises. he like to 'talk' during our conversations, he hasn't quite learned how rude it is to interrupt. This week he got his first tooth on the bottom. Luckily, we have gotten away with him waking once at night in pain, and besides that he has not been fussy...whew. We'll be anticipating the next 19! Today, on his birthday he began mimicking Gigi (Grandma Gail) and I clapping. He puts his hands together, smiles, and tries (sometimes missing) slapping them together. We'll see what the next month holds for Brennan William...

Picture of Brennan making his birthday cake, which he had none of!

more new friends....

Brennan has met so many of his friends. He has so much fun with them all! He loved hanging out with his Cool Cousin Cade a couple weeks ago. Then, he hung out with his buddy Cameron, son of Jen and Brendon Becker in Novato. Most recently, he met his future ball playing buddy, Nate (Born October 2, 2009), son of Danielle and Mike Lederman (he is adorable!!).

*Brennan acted very displeased when he was put near his friend Nate, as you can tell in the picture, Brennan later explained to me that he was simply jealous of his friend's full head of hair!

New Friend

Brennan is in love with the cat, BB. Anytime he hears her, Brennan lights up. He is about to crawl, and I would not be surprised if he crawls to BB!

Horsey Rides

Grandpa gave Brennan his first Horsey Ride...he LOVED it!

Back to Work...

Work started two weeks ago. CJ and I both went back to work for our District work week, while Gigi and Popo watched Brennan. Then the next week, first week with students, I went to work and CJ started his Paternity Leave. He is staying home with Brennan all the way through Thanksgiving Break! It has been hard to leaving Brennan ALL day, especially when I have to be in class ALL weekend for my Masters. I hope I get used to this....

Rockin' Out

Brennan has been to two concerts in the last week! Brett Dennen on Monday and Jason Aldean on Thursday night (the cheap seats that night). He loves rockin' out to the music. He even likes staying out late!

Yummo-O....not really!

Brennan had his first experience with real food! I made homemade butternut squash...reviews were not good. We tried giving it for a few days, and then switched to Sweet Potatoes...still no good. We will keep trying until he likes it.

I'm 6th months

Brennan turned 6 months on September 10! He is soo much fun, smiling, giggling, and playing with us. He JUST learned how to sit up, he ate his first puree and is very engaging.

We celebrated by having a dinner of Filet Mignon, Brennan watched us eat it, then we went and watched a country concert from the cheap seats!

More Adventures of Sophie....

Sophie just got back from another adventure! She just went to Clear Lake, Sahalee Falls and Eugene as we traveled along the McKenzie River.

What the.....

Giggles

Silly Daddy!

Adventures of Sophie

Sophie is Brennan's favorite toy, one of the first toys he 'played' with. She goes everywhere with us. Sophie even sit next to Brennan in his car-seat on travels. She has been many places...Great Grandma's and Great Grandpa's in Dos Palos & Nordy's (of course)!

5 Months Old

Brennan William is now 5 months old. Wow, he is so different!! He does a lot of things with intent: smiles, giggles, cries, grabs, converses, plays etc. He also interacts with others, especially is 'girlfriend' Charlie (same age). They smile and touch each other's faces, it is so cute to see. Believe it or not, he IS getting bigger! He is finally in 3-6 month clothes, what a BIG boy ;)

This has been a BIG traveling month, most of our time has been spent on vacation. See next blog.....

CUTE....

My First Teenage Babysitter

Brennan had his first teenage babysitter on Sunday, July 19th from 3:30 - 7:00. She is a trusted teen, named Ellis. She is the daughter of a good friend of mine at Bear Creek. She did an AMAZING job, and Brennan was VERY happy. Toughest part was figuring out what was appropriate pay...we decided on $7/hour. Hope that is the going rate!!

Splish Splash I was I Takin' a Bath....

Our little peanut!

Brennan just went to his 4 month - 'well baby' - check-up. We always new Brennan was a small baby, especially when the nurse asked us if we were there for our 2 month check-up! But, we found out Brennan comes in at the 5th percentile in weight and height, and the 50th for head size...smarty! Good news is that he stays in his clothes longer than most babies :) The doctor also noted that Brennan is very personable for his age. Dr. B even said, "looks like you have a flirt on your hands"! Hmmmm, wonder where he got that....DAD!

Brennan is really grabbing for objects now and hanging on. Looks like I will have to hang up some of that jewelry. He is also rolling all over, sitting in his 'Bumbo' support chair, and starting to show signs of early crawling (tucking knees, etc.). Recently he slept 7-8 hours for 4 days strait, but just went back to 5 hours, DARN!

My New Toy!!

Brennan with Great Papa and Great Grandma