Bryce Update

Here's a little update for Brycey!

In a nutshell: he's crazy. :)

I love his craziness. But he is busy busy busy! He didn't even slow down this past week while he had Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease!

I am blown away that he will be two in January. Brennan keeps asking me if Bryce will still be a baby after he turns two. Of course he will still be a baby! He's my baby!

He's appetite changes daily. Some days he eats a tons, but many days he eats barely anything. But all days he loves dip! He loves grapes and pears and apples. And he LOVES milk! He almost always has his sippy cup and snack trap full of Goldfish in his hands.

He's a great sleeper and takes a good nap everyday. Some days he will wake up before 7am, but is pretty content staying in his crib for a little bit. He typically wants nothing to do with snuggling. He likes me to read him a story, sing his song, and put him in bed. Thankfully he is showing no signs of trying to climb out of his crib yet, so I guess I can't call him too crazy.

He mimics everything Brennan does or says. This is especially true in the car. Brennan will clap and Bryce will clap. Brennan will make funny noises and Bryce will make the same ones.

His vocabulary is growing daily. My favorite is when he tries to count. It doesn't sound anything like numbers, but he does it the same every time. When the boys are having a hard time sharing, I will often say, "Count to 10 then let you brother have a turn." For that reason when Brennan has a toy that Bryce wants he will start "counting"! It's super cute. And that counting trick works almost every time FYI.

He loves watching movies and has his spot that he sits on the couch (with his sippy and fish of course). He is obsessed with brushing his teeth right. He loves books and pointing to things on the pages. He loves making messes, but is also good about cleaning up. He's so tough and rarely cries if he falls down. He will rarely leave his shoes on while riding in the car. He loves people and often hugs the other parents when we are waiting to pick Brennan up after school.

He obviously still has his blonde hair and blue eyes. Whenever someone says something about how cute he is, I always tell them there is a reason! I love this crazy cutie so much!

Dear Bryce,

You are 17 months old today! You keep me on my toes for sure with how busy you are, but for the most part you are at a very easy stage right now. You are almost constantly on the go and can now get yourself to standing in the middle of the room, so nothing slows you down anymore. I don't have any official stats, but the last time I weighed you, you were a little over 22 pounds. Still quite a peanut, but I can tell you're gaining weight. You still wear size 3 diapers during the day, but now wear size 4 at night. You wear a mix of 12-18 and 18-24 month clothes.

You babble all the time. You use the syllable "ba" a lot. I think that must be what you way when you're not sure what the correct word is. It gets confusing sometimes because "ba" is what you call your sippy cup and "ball" also sounds very similar. You say several new words now including: please, thank you, uh oh, trash, cheese, fish, hot, and jump. You sign thank you and fish now too.

You now have 11 teeth. You have cut three molars in the last month, but thankfully it's been easy for you. You are still sleeping like a champ! You still usually go to bed around 7pm, but sometimes will talk in your bed for over an hour before falling asleep. Occasionally you'll wake before 7am, but are still pretty content to stay in bed until I come get you. Most days you lay down for a nap between 12:30-1 and sleep about three hours.

Some of your current favorite things include throwing things in trash (thankfully we have a child lock on that cabinet, so you can't do it without help), picking on your big brother by pulling his shirt, playing with the Melissa and Doug Cookies Set, and trying to put shoes on your feet. Oh and the pool. Gosh you are a water baby! I'm so glad I bought a little inflatable pool. If the sun is out, you are in there. You also love the splash pad area at the zoo. I think you'll love our summer vacation to the water park in August! You can show me where your hair is, but don't usually get any of your facial features right. I can't tell if you know your colors yet, but I don't think so. It's so different with you since you're always on the move and at this point Brennan was still immobile.

You understand so much though. I'll ask you to go get me a diaper and you'll go straight to your room. I can ask you to close a drawer you left open and you'll go close it. You have always started to really imitate Brennan a lot. I mainly notice this in the car. If Brennan is making funny sounds, you start making the same ones. If he plays with his lips and makes noise, you do the same.

You do have quite a temper. When you can get something to work you start this crazy grunting sound and get so mad. And if you are told "no" watch out! You are definitely still a Momma's boy. When we are at home you're great about playing independently. You walk from room to room and destroy everything in your bath, but have fun are are typically in a good mood. You get super excited when Daddy gets home from work, but once he's here I CANNOT leave your sight or you freak out. Like full out crying and choking and throwing a fit. It's quite ridiculous. It's hit or miss in the church nursery right now. There have been a few Sundays you haven't cried at all, but most weeks you still get hysterical when I leave. I feel so loved! :)

You are a good eater most of the time. You typically eat your big brother under the table. You love fruit and cheese. You still love any and all desserts. Meal time can be frustrating because you almost always end up throwing food onto the floor. The sensible side of me knows I should just get you down from your highchair then and say that meal time is over, but sometimes I need you to be in that chair for at least 30 minutes so you aren't moving. It gives me a chance to get some things done.

You are such a cutie! You smile and play peek-a-boo with anyone you see when we're out. You aren't always content in the car, but are almost always great in the stroller. You don't typically like me to carry you; you'd rather be down walking. Like always I know I'm leaving stuff out, but it's been a fun month. In my next update you'll be a year and a half! Whoa!

Love you bunches, Brycey!

Love,
Mommy

I did a little photo shoot with Bryce today while Brennan was at school. Like I said, he rarely stops moving, so this was no easy feat. I've included a bunch here, including outtakes. Enjoy!

He started cracking up here. And you can see this one really tall blade of grass that was sticking up. Oh well.

Mom: "Let's take a cute picture on these steps, Bryce."
Bryce: "These would be fun crawl up!"

Dear Bryce,

You are sixteen months old and finally a full-time walker! I guess I can't say finally since it took Brennan much longer than you, but I'm still shocked it took you as long as it did. You aren't great at standing up in the middle of the room, so if you fall down while walking, you'll crawl or walk on your knees to the closest thing you can pull up on and then start walking again. I love you walking right now. You're slow enough that you can't run away from me yet, so it's still super cute.

You are still wearing size 3 diapers, but could also fit size 4 now. I need to weigh you because I can tell you've gained weight even with your walking. Your face is much fuller and you even have a little belly now. You got a nice haircut a few weeks ago and look like a a big boy now. Your hair is still super light blond and your eyes are still super blue. We still get comments about your eyes wherever we go. You're a lady killer for sure!

To celebrate your sixteen month birthday, you decided to tumble down the entire flight of stairs today. It scared me to death. It was completely Mommy's fault. We went to the Children's Museum this morning and when we got back home the three of us played in the basement for a bit. When it was time to come upstairs to eat lunch, you crawled up the steps first with me right behind you, and Brennan bringing up the rear. All of us are usually so good about closing the basement door; Brennan included, but neither of us closed it. We came into the living room, you went into the kitchen, and the next thing I know I hear you falling down the stairs. I immediately knew what was happening and I started crying and screaming. Thank God you were okay. In fact you were already sitting up when I got down to you. You were crying and had a good bruise over your left eye, but I was able to get you calmed down quickly. I took your pants off and checked out your legs. I went ahead and sat you in your high chair and you started eating and laughing and acting completely normal. Daddy came home from work when I called him to tell him what happened and also checked you out. We got you down and you walked all around. I kept a close eye on you the rest of the day, but I think you're perfectly fine. You're one tough dude!

You're very close to getting some new teeth, but I don't think any new ones have broken through yet, so you're still at eight. Most days you eat very well. You now love those little fruit pouches. I thought you'd make a huge mess with them, but you work them completely on their own. It's also a convenient way to sneak more veggies into your diet, because you aren't too fond of those. You also love dip now. You have been dipping your waffles in syrup for awhile now, but you also like ketchup. At Chili's last night you pointed to the table and said, "dip, dip" until I gave you some ketchup. Then you ate it with your fingers. You love fruit cocktail and still love any form of sweets. And you love milk. You drink lots of milk each day.

You're much more talkative now and have started repeating what others (especially Brennan) say. I won't be able to think of everything you can say, but here are few of your newer words: boo, shoe, maw (which I think means mine), boom, bye bye, go, and dip. You still call your sippy cup your "ba'.

The things you understand amaze me. You might not recognize the letter B yet like Brennan could at your age, but you are smart in different ways. If I tell you to go get me a diaper, you walk right back to your room. When I tell you it's tubby time, you walk right to the bathroom door. And you are extra observant. Just tonight a small ball rolled under the couch. You immediately went over and grabbed one of your toy golf clubs, brought it over to the couch, laid down on your belly and used it to get the ball out. You've seen me do that before, but that was a first for you to try it.

You've also learned how to blow kisses. It's the cutest thing ever. You blew a kiss on Sunday when I picked you up from the nursery and have been doing it a lot since then. You even make the "muah" sound when you do it. You just started doing the "I don't know" arms too. Like when you lose something and you flip your arms up as if to say, "Where'd it go? I don't know." And you love playing peek-a-boo.

Thankfully sleeping is still going very well. You typically sleep from 7ish-7ish. Sometimes you'll wake a little early, but are usually content just playing in your crib until I come get you. So far you've made no attempts to climb out of your crib. You are down to one nap a day. Occasionally if you wake up early, you'll take two, but that's a rarity now. Most days your afternoon nap is a good three hours. Today you didn't nap very well. When I came into your room I could immediately smell your dirty diaper and you were standing in your crib chewing on the rail. Not cool, Bryce!

The past month has been a lot of fun. You are getting less clingy to Mommy and will stay with a  sitter without crying at all. You still cry most weeks when I leave you in the church nursery, but that doesn't last long and then you have lots of fun playing. I love how ticklish you are and I love your open mouth kisses. You're such a sweet little guy and I just can't get enough of you!

Love,

Mommy

I took this 2nd picture today after his fall down the stairs. You might be able to the see the bruise on the side of his head over his left eye. Still smiling though!

Dear Bryce,

You are 15 months old today and it's the first time I have blogged in forever! Right now you are still in size 3 diapers, but I'll probably get size 4 overnight diapers for you once these run out. You currently wear mostly 12-18 months clothes, but even some of your hand-me-down 18 month pajamas are getting a little tight on you. You have a size 5 foot, but still rarely wear shoes and refuse to leave socks on your feet for more than three seconds. You've already had a your 15-month checkup. You were 30.5 inches and 21.1 pounds. You are up to the 7th percentile in weight now instead of the zero! Here's a little of what you've been up to lately.

You are walking more and more, but crawling is still your main mode of getting around. You are quite the speedy crawler and are very adventurous, so I'm fine with you taking your time walking. I think you'll be quite a the wild child once you are a full-time walker. Speaking of being a wild child, Friday night you dove head-first into the bathtub full of water with you pjs on! I had given you a tubby with Brennan like I do most nights and had taken you out to get you dressed. When I'm home alone, I know I have to close the bathroom door if I leave Brennan in the tub for a few minutes because you've come close to diving in there before. This particular night, Daddy was home and I happened to leave the bathroom door open. I hollered down the hall, "Bryce is coming" when you took off crawling once you were dressed, but you were fast enough to get in there and into the tub before Daddy could grab you. Brennan was still in there and you obviously got soaked from head to toe. You were fine, but I can tell you're going to keep us on our toes.

I should probably stop here and make the important announcement that you have finally become a good sleeper! It only took you 14 months to figure it out. You did have a bad night a few nights ago that required me to go in several times to rock you, but other than that you've been sleeping 12-13 hours every night. It makes Mommy happy that I can finally get some good sleep and I'm super happy you are finally getting the sleep I know you need. You no longer get a bottle at bedtime. No more bottles at all and it seems like once I took that baby bottle away, you decided to sleep less like a baby. Some days you take two naps, but you can usually manage with just one now. Occasionally you'll fall asleep in the car in the morning and then it's much harder for you to fall asleep for an afternoon nap.

You were sick a few weeks ago with a double-ear infection. It was your second ear infection since turning one. You had never had one prior to that and I'm hoping it's not a new trend. I think you are close to cutting some of your molars, but right now you still have eight teeth. You are a such a good eater. You aren't too fond of veggies, but love fruit, yogurt, mac and cheese, quesadillas, grilled cheese, pizza, lasagna, chicken, ground beef, crackers. And you've already learned to love fruit snacks. You still have such a sweet tooth! You drink a lot of milk each day too.

You are talking more and more each day. You like to repeat a word until we acknowledge what you've said. It'll be hard for me to think of all the new words you've added, but off the top of my head I can think of: up, ba (for your sippy cup), mil (for milk), egg, and some d-word for diaper. My favorite is still when you say "all done". The only new sign you've added is the sign for "milk" and we've been working on thank you for a few days.

You are usually a very sweet and playful boy. You get super cranky when you're hungry and sometimes cry in your car seat now. I don't think you like being strapped down in the car. You are always on the move. You can make a huge mess in a matter of minutes. It's quite impressive. Your happiest time of the day seems to be after supper when your belly is full. You just go room to room playing with different toys and do a great job of entertaining yourself. You love playing with the toys in Brennan's toy box. You have also been enjoying jumping on the mini-trampoline.

You are certainly a Momma's boy. Daddy was hoping for a Daddy's boy with you, but no such luck. You do get super excited when Daddy gets home from work, but you love your Momma. You get super upset if I leave you, but I do feel like that's getting better when I leave you with Daddy. You become hysterical when I leave you in the church nursery, but it doesn't take you long to calm down. You want to be doing what Brennan is doing all the time, which annoys him to no end. You also love Ringo (which annoys me to no end). You give Ringo hugs all the time and crawl all over him. He's so sweet to you.

You are my sweet, blue-eyed, crazy wild boy. I feel like you are going to be so different from your brother and I'm excited to see how your little personality continues to develop. I love your hugs and kisses! Mommy loves you very much!

Love,
Mommy

I know I've shared this picture already, but I haven't uploaded pictures to the computer in such a long time, so this will have to do for now. :)

Dear Bryce,

Today you are 14 months old. Time just keeps ticking right along with no sign of slowing down anytime soon. You are still wearing size 3 diapers, but have started to outgrown many of your 12 month clothes. I tried to put a pair of jeans on you the other day that were just recently too big, but they were already too small. You've definitely had a growth spurt because I can tell you've packed on a few pounds and when you stand up in your crib, your entire head is over the front railing now. You currently have a size 5 foot. Here's what else has been going on!

You decided to take your first steps on February 10th, the day before Brennan's 4th birthday. You took a single step to get to me in the kitchen while I was cooking supper and then after we ate, you took a few steps for Daddy too. After that night, it was over a week before you decided to take anymore steps at all. I certainly wouldn't consider you a walker yet, but you do take a few steps each day. You really need to be encouraged to do it, but have taken as many as five or six in a row now. I am still in disbelief that at 14 months you aren't walking. I'm not rushing it though because you are already into everything and once you take off walking, I know there will be no stopping you.

Sleeping has been so-so during the past month. Most days I still get two good naps out of you. It's so nice because you and Brennan nap at the same time in the afternoons and it gives me some time to get stuff done. (Or take a nap too). I think it's safe to say that you are not a deep sleeper. Even on nights when I don't go in a give you a bottle, you rarely make it through the night without some crying. Somehow we have made it this long with never owning a video monitor and I feel like it's so late to get one now, but I'd really love to have one so I can see what you're doing when you start crying in the middle of the night. I think often you're just trying to soothe yourself back to sleep. You got your eighth tooth recently and I'm sure that disrupted your nighttime sleeping some. You have a little white minky blanket you always sleep with you and often you sleep with a polar bear from Build-a-Bear that we named Snowy Bear. You love to give him hugs.

I have still been giving you a bottle of warm whole milk right before bed and bringing you one when you wake up around 7-8am. However, when you wake from your two naps I have started bringing in a sippy cup of cold milk. You don't guzzle it down like the warm milk, but will carry it around with you for the next hour or so drinking a little here and there. I'm glad you're doing ok with it, because I already feel like you're way too big for a bottle but just haven't pulled the plug on it yet.

I know I need to be working more on new sign language with you because you are so proficient with more, all done, and please. I think you are at an age where you can absorb so much right now. I have been using the signs for help and thank you some this past week, so we will see if you start using those.

The exciting thing is that during the past week and half you have all of a sudden decided to start talking. You have always made lots of noise and grunts, but now you are saying so many more recognizable (at least to Mommy) words. You currently say, "dada, mom mom, dog, woof woof, vroom vroom, ball, all done, ticka ticka (for tickle tickle) & no". You also say something that sounds a lot like "this" when you're pointing to something you want. And you're so funny when you're eating because you constantly say, "mmmmmm".

You're a pretty good eater. You love peaches and pears. You still love pizza and like graham crackers a lot. You ate taco meat the other night and will sometimes eat chicken. You love macaroni and cheese. You have a huge sweet tooth! You devour cookies and cupcakes and if can see either of those sitting out on the kitchen counter, you go ballistic until we give you some.

You certainly enjoyed your cupcake you had during your one-year photo shoot we and done about three weeks ago. Unfortunately, there was a cake accident with the baker the photographer uses, so I just brought a cupcake with us instead, but I think it worked out so well. I cannot wait to see the pictures!

Most of the time you are a sweet, pretty laid back little dude. You do great at just crawling or cruising around the house and finding things to play with. You really enjoy your red car, music table, and work bench. You like making cars go "vroom" and playing with Brennan's mini-golf clubs. You tend to get whiney at night when it's getting close to bedtime and can pitch a good fit when you're told "no!" You still love bath time and most nights take a tubby with Brennan now. It saves me so much time and sanity only have to give one bath each night instead of two!

As always I'm sure there are more things I'm leaving out. I am excited for this next month because I know you'll keep taking more and more steps on your own. I'm also excited to try and teach you more things. You don't seem to have any interest in learning where your body parts or about the letter B, but I'm sure that time is coming. Thanks for sleeping through the night sometimes and for making me laugh by coming up and tickling me all the time. You are loved so very much!

Love,
Mom Mom

Dear Bryce,

You are 13 months old today. I can't believe a month has already gone by since your first birthday. I don't feel like a lot has changed over the past month, but there are a few things I'd like to remember. You are still wearing mostly 12-18 month clothes and size 3 diapers. Here's what else you've been up to:

The biggest change is that you are finally sleeping! Glory be! Hallelujah! Now that I've actually typed that on the blog, tonight will probably be a rough night, but for the most part you are consistently sleeping through the night. Some mornings you will wake around 6:30 and fuss a little in your bed until I come and get you at 7, but most days you sleep until a little after 7 and it's such a welcomed improvement! Most days you are still taking two naps, but sometimes just an afternoon one.

You now have seven teeth with the eighth one almost ready to pop through. You are a drooling machine and I think the teething gave you a pretty bad diaper rash earlier this week. Thankfully it cleared up quickly. You also have a little bit of a cold, but thankfully it doesn't seem to be affecting your sleep.

Obviously a big part of this last month was our trip to Disney. I know you were way too young to ever remember it, but you had fun. You became quick buddies with your GeeGee and were so content to ride in the stroller for long periods of time at the parks. You even loved meeting the characters and weren't afraid at all. This was already your 3rd round trip on a plane, so you're going to be a traveling pro just like your brother.

You still aren't walking yet, but have started using your push toy to get around. We are encouraging you a take a step every single day, but so far it's just been more like a little foot forward while falling. I know you'll get there and once you do I'll wish you weren't walking everywhere, but I'm excited for this next step. You can crawl and cruise and climb anywhere you want to go for now. It's pretty funny to watch you crawl if someone is chasing after you or says to you, "I'm gonna get you!" because you take off into this stealth speed.

You still don't really say any words. You can say "dada" and "momma" and a few other things here and there, but nothing super consistent. You understand a lot though. When I tell you it's tubby time, you crawl right to the tub. When we ask Ringo if he wants a treat or a bone, you crawl right to the hall closet where we keep them. If you hear the microwave beep, you beeline for the kitchen assuming I'm heating up water for your bottle.

I've been working hard with you on identifying body parts, but the only one you seem to know is penis. Go figure. We did start Tot School after we got back from Disney, so that's been fun. I haven't really been planning out super original activities for you, but just watching you become more interactive with toys is neat. One of the cutest things you do right now is pick up stuffed animals and give them a big huge. Seriously cute!

You are a Momma's boy for sure. You do get super excited to see Daddy when he first gets home from work, but most the time you want to be with Mommy. You are constantly pulling at my pants legs when I am cooking dinner and often end up in your highchair with a snack during that time. Speaking of eating, you have been a pretty good eater lately. The teething thing set you back for a few days, but most the time you eat your big brother under the table. You can eat more than slice of pizza in a sitting. You devoured lasagna the first time I let you have that. And just the other day you ate six Munchkins from Dunkin Donuts in one sitting. I can't believe you're still so scrawny with all you've been eating!

We have your professional one-year pictures coming up next weekend, so I'm super excited about those. I have a feeling that you'll be a full-time walker by my next update too. I also think it's about time to get you a haircut. I don't think I can look at your mullet too much longer. You are a sweet, sweet boy and I love it when you lay your head on my shoulder and snuggle with me. And I especially love it when you sleep through the night, so keep that up please. :)

Love,
Mommy

Much to the disappointment of the 4-5 people who care, I don't think I'm going to keep doing giraffe pictures for Bryce now that he's over a year old. When Brennan was still immobile at this age, they were easy to still do, but not so much with Bryce. So enjoy his one year picture in case you didn't get to see it before and few other iPhone photos of my silly boy.

Dear Bryce,

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Bryce
Happy Birthday to you!

You are one! It's so hard to believe that it's been a full year since you came into this world. The time really has flown by. I thought we had a deal that you weren't going to grow up, but I guess you've broken your promise. You just keep growing and growing. You're still my lil peanut though weighing in at right around 20 pounds I think. We won't see the doctor until the end of next week for your official stats though. You still wear size 3 diapers and I had your foot measured the other day and it's a size 4, but you don't wear shoes yet.

We are having a low-key birthday today and then on Wednesday I'm taking you and your brother down to Disney. Unfortunately Daddy can't make this trip, but we will see GeGe and GaGa there! I know you're pretty young to enjoy Disney, but I love going and I think we will have such a good time. Plus I cannot wait to be in 70+ degree weather instead of sub-zero temperatures. I'm still undecided about doing a party for you when we get back. We will probably do something small to celebrate with a few friends.

You continue to do well with whole milk and take 4 bottles a day. At some point soon I'll start the transition to a sippy cup. You still like the milk to be warm. You occasionally drink a little water from a sippy cup. You are eating all finger/table foods now. You aren't a huge eater, but are starting to try new things. You love yogurt and love graham crackers. You eats lots of Gerber crunchies and puffs. You also love getting to eat Cheerios at church. You like blueberries and pears. And you like corn for a veggie. You like feeding yourself pizza crust and bread. And you love sweets: cookies, doughnuts, cupcakes.

I mentioned in your last update that you finally had some nights where you slept 12 hours. Things got a little hairy around Christmas with being off schedule, but for the most part you are sleeping through the night now. Most nights you will fuss a little on and off from bedtime until 10pm. Nothing I even have to go into your room for, just little cries here and there. You've been waking around 6:30. I am hoping you start stretching that until 7 because I haven't been coming into your room until then to get you up. Most days you take two good naps a day.

You are still great in your car seat. It's funny because as soon as we put you in there, you rip your socks off your feet immediately. I'm talking stealth-like speed. You will not wear socks in the car. You are also great in the stroller. I haven't been using the Ergo much recently since you're getting bigger and more fidgety. You love bath time and are less crazy in there now than you used to be. Most of the time you sit nicely in the tub splashing, but sometimes you do prefer standing.

You are still a super fast cruiser, but haven't taken any independent steps yet. I'm fine with that. I thought you were going to be a super early walker, so I'm happy you're still not there yet. You can stand independently (sometimes) for about 3 seconds. You have made a change from army crawler to almost 100% crawling on all fours finally. Often you sit up on your knees instead of on your bottom when you're playing.

You are much better at playing independently now. You will crawl or cruise right over to what you want to play with and don't need Mommy right there. You enjoy playing with the workbench, your new Pocoyo train track, and Brennan's bucket of tools. You also like Mommy's iPhone and know how to turn it on already. You also love the baby Jesus from the Little People's nativity and the baby Jesus magnet from the fridge.

We haven't worked on anymore signs yet. I need to be working on them more. You do "all done" pretty consistently still and sometimes use "more" and "please". You still don't have many truly recognizable words. You babble all the time and do so very loudly; especially at restaurants. I'm excited for more words to come!

You seems smart to me even though you're not talking. You pull shoes out of Brennan's shoe bucket and try to put them on his feet. You know at restaurants I always have snacks for you in the diaper bag. You know how to use a brush and how to "talk" on the phone.

You aren't the snuggliest of babies, but lately you've been wanting to cuddle more and I love it. You give good hugs and great sloppy kisses. You love to play with (pull) Mommy's hair when you're taking your bottle.

I know I forgot to mention last month that you have six teeth. And I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff this month too. Like I said, time just flies by so fast and you're changing so much. I love you very very much!

Bryce back at 11 months

Bryce today at 1 year old! I'll get a giraffe picture later today, but this one will have to do for now!

Dear Bryce

You are 11 months old today. A mere one month from turning 1. Wow! That's so hard to believe. You currently wear mostly 12-18 month clothes and are still in size 3 diapers. I'm not really sure what size foot you have because I only have one pair of soft soled shoes that you've worn a handful of times. Here's what you've been up to during the last month.

Today is a big day because I am officially done breastfeeding. We didn't make it quite to a year, but I'm happy with 11 months. I've been exclusively pumping for a over a month now, so I'm glad that is over. You have easily transitioned to whole milk mixed with breast milk in a bottle. With Brennan I went straight to a sippy cup, but I haven't pushed that with you. You drink your milk well from a bottle and since you were on the small side at 9 months it was important to me that you be getting plenty of milk. You have definitely put on some weight over the past two months, but I don't have official stats.

Last month I mentioned you were starting to sleep better. That didn't last long. But at the beginning of this week I decided it was getting ridiculous that you were approaching 11 months and still getting a bottle every single night. Monday night when you started crying, I turned the sound machine app on my phone to drown you out. I usually can't sleep while you cry, but I was able to sleep through it and you fell back to sleep. You made it until a little after 6am that day, took a bottle then, and then ending up sleeping until I woke you at 9. The next night you cried out again and I just let you cry. You fell back to sleep and I woke you at 8 to take Brennan to school. The following night you didn't cry once and slept all the way until 7. It was your first 12-hour sleep and it was glorious. Last night you did wake a little after 5am. I let you cry a bit, but decided to give you a bottle and you fell back to sleep until I woke you after 8 for school. So, sleeping seems to be getting much better. Finally.

You aren't walking yet. I don't think you'll be doing it before your first birthday, but I could be wrong. You are cursing pro! You still do army crawling, but it's very fast. You pull up on everything and also like to be on your knees exploring things at that level. You can now get yourself to a seated position something Brennan still couldn't do at 15 months.

You can now sign "please" along with your other signs of "more" and "all done". I haven't tried to teach you any others. You babble all the time. You say "dada" and just recently started saying "mama" a lot more. You try to say "duck" and "quack" and I think you've said "baba" for your bottle a few times. I also feel like you have a word you try to say when you're referring to Brennan. One of my favorite things happens if you wake up from afternoon nap. You and I will be playing and as soon as your hear Brennan say, "Mommy, I'm ready to wake up," you take off at a full speed army crawl to his bedroom door babbling like crazy. You are so in love with him!

You aren't too crazy with your climbing yet. You do love to crawl onto the top of the subwoofer. In fact, you broke a cord from the back just the other day. You can also crawl all the way up the entire staircase. You are trying super hard to do a forward somersault. It's very cute. You love to play in Brennan's room. You like to pull toys out of his toy box, but your favorite activity is pulling all his books off his bookshelf.

You've been trying lots of new foods. You have never been a huge fan of purees so you've been eating mostly table foods now. You love crackers and puffs. You are also a fan of corn and love yogurt. You aren't interested in any meats yet.

You are such a cute and sweet little guy. I just love when your Daddy or I pick you up and you snuggle right in a for hug. More than anything this month I am thankful for your safety since you were with me when I hit a deer. I pray that is the first and last car accident you ever experience. As usual I'm excited to see what the next month holds. It could be a big one if you start walking! Whatever it holds, I'm sure it'll be exciting!

Lots of love,

Mommy

Bryce back at 10 months...

Bryce today at 11 months...

Dear Bryce,

You are 10 months old. My mind is sort of blown by that fact. And the fact that you'll be one in just two short months. With Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I have a feeling these next months will fly by even faster than normal. You certainly keep me on my toes. You're a busy, busy guy and are cute as a button. Here's what you have been up to lately. It's been a big month!

You are currently wearing size 3 diapers and mostly 9 month or 12 month clothes. At your nine-month check-up you only weighed 16 pounds 7 ounces. That put you in the zero percentile. Zero! The doctor wasn't worried about it at all; you're just an active, little guy. You were in the 40th percentile for length.

A little after that appointment, you started biting me while nursing. You wouldn't do it very hard, but it was certainly uncomfortable for me and you'd just laugh every single time. I realized you were cutting your top two teeth and assumed that was part of the reason for biting. You still weren't sleeping through the night at that point either. In fact we had several pretty bad nights right after you turned nine months where you were up twice a night still. The combination of your low weight, biting, and not sleeping through the night led me to buy some formula. (It took me three trips to the store to actually buy that expensive stuff!!) So for about two weeks now I've been pumping during the day and bottle feeding you breast milk mixed with formula. You've loved it! You've taken to the formula like a champ and I know you're getting more now since I'm topping off what I pump. I think it's helped you gain some weight and the best part is you're sleeping better! Several times you've made it all the way until after 5:30am before waking. I'll run in and nurse you on one side (you don't bite me when you're sleepy and nursing) and then you'll go back to sleep until 8am somedays. I feel like a new woman since I am FINALLY getting some sleep!

You babble like crazy now. You say "Dada" a lot and do seem to associate it with your Daddy. You say "baba" and "yaya" often, but I don't think they mean anything. You have said, "ma'" a few times. You try to say, "quack quack" too.

You still love clapping your hands. You are an expert pointer now. It's super cute. You give high fives and wave hi. You give me kisses when I ask for them. You make this cute scrunchy face now and love to stick out your tongue. You pull up on anything and everything now and will transition from one object to another while standing. You still get around by army crawling, but it's a super fast army crawl. You can also climb up steps now. Daddy just installed a baby gate at the bottom of the basement steps last night. You will also put your arms up to say "so big" when I ask how big you are.

This has been a fun month. I can say that now that you've been sleeping better. You seem to learn something new every single day. Brennan got excited because he's been trying to teach you to put balls into this giraffe toy and just the other day you figured it out. I love watching you figure stuff out like that. I also love watching Brennan and you become friends. You want to be right with him.

You're still taking two good naps each day and easily put yourself to sleep. I still use the Ergo, but you're getting pretty active in it. Thankfully you're still great in your car seat and stroller, so going out with you is usually very easy.

Your Papaw just left today and enjoyed visiting with us so much. It was especially nice that you've been taking a bottle because he was able to feed you. It's great that you've gotten to spend time with all your grandparents recently.

So many people keep telling me that you're going to be walking before long. I'm hoping they're wrong. You aren't steady on your feet at all, so I hope we still have a while. Momma's not ready for you to be walking. I already feel like I can't turn my back on you for more than a few seconds and when you start walking I think you'll keep me even busier. I am excited to see what this next has in store though. I'm excited for you to try more table foods now that you have four teeth. I'm excited for you start using more words and to introduce more signs to you. And most of all I'm excited to sleep!

You're a sweet boy and I love you so very much!

Love,
Momma

Bryce back at 9 months...

Today at 10 months. This was the best I could get. He was all over the place.

All.over.the.place.

Dear Bryce,

You're growing up my little Brycey. You are now 9 months old! I didn't get around to writing your update yesterday, so technically you're nine months and one day old. Momma is still trying to get back into the swing of things after a fantastic week in Florida with family. I miss having all those extra hands around to help! You'll see the doctor on Wednesday for your official stats, but I can tell you're still a little peanut. You're always on the move so my guess is that you'll stay thin. I did have to bust out the 12 months jammies once we got back home because the 9 month ones were just way too short. You are still wearing size 3 diapers.

Momma is one tired lady because you still aren't sleeping through the night. You had some pretty good nights right before we left for our trip and made it from 7pm-4:30 or 5:30am before waking to eat, but then sleeping in the room with us on vacation seemed to get you all out of sorts again. Since we've been back home you've been up twice each night. One day you'll sleep through the night, right?

You now have two teeth. They came in the day after you turned eight months. You are also pulling yourself to standing now and getting much faster at doing it. Just the other day you pulled yourself up on me while I was sitting on the floor, began climbing up me to get up onto the couch, pulled yourself to standing using Daddy who was sitting on the couch, then tried to climb over the back of the couch. You haven't pulled yourself up in your crib yet, so now worries about you climbing out of that yet thankfully. I saw a blog a few weeks ago about setting up a crawling obstacle course for a baby. You'd love something like that. You crawl over/into anything and everything. Once you get yourself to standing you have even cruised a few steps holding onto the table or the exersaucer. It's just so different from Brennan and neat to watch you do those things.

You have started using some sign language already. You can sign "more" and "all done", but don't do it super consistently. You have also learned to clap your hands on command or when someone says, "Yay!" I'd love to be inside that little head of yours because I can tell you are just learning so much at this age. You are babbling a lot more and putting some consonants and vowels together. I haven't heard any recognizable word, but I think you'll say your first word soon with all the "talking" you've been doing lately.

You were such a good boy on our trip to Florida. You did great on the plane and loved meeting your GeGe and GaGa for the first time. You're a Momma's boy for sure, but it was sweet to see you reach out to be held by them. You loved playing on the beach and crawling in the sand. You still mainly use an army crawl to get around, but every once in a while you'll get up on all fours and move a little that way. You still love to be in the Ergo and I use it often when we're out and about. I played mini golf several times in Florida with you strapped to my chest and you never made a peep.

Those blue eyes of yours still get comments every single time we are out. You are such a sweet natured baby when we are out and you're very photogenic. At home you can get a little cranky. You are usually good about playing with toys in the living room as long as I'm in the room too. But if Momma walks away you're not happy at all. You just cry and crawl until you can find me.

You still nurse four times during the day and then once or twice at night. You love pureed fruits, but don't really like veggies. You would feed yourself Puffs and Cheerios all day long if I'd let you. You love chewing on things like straws, soda bottles, and your little squishy baby toothbrush. No sense in buying you actual toys, you just like the things already laying around the house.

You certainly aren't the world's easiest baby, but I think you just might be the cutest. I am loving this age and seeing your little personality start to develop. I love that you and Brennan have started playing (wrestling) together some and can't wait to see that friendship grow. I love you so very very much and can't believe that in just three short months we will be celebrating your first birthday!

Love,

Mommy

Bryce back at 8 months

Bryce today at 9 months and one day old. I mean he seriously makes getting these pictures the easiest thing in the world. And I think he looks so big in this one!

Dear Bryce,

My crazy little Brycey you are eight months old today! It's been quite awhile since we've called you "Baby Bryce". Now we usually say Brycey, Brycey-Brucey, or Brycey Britches, and Daddy calls you Bugaboo. We try to throw in a plain ole Bryce now and then too! :) I haven't weighed you recently, but I can tell you are growing. You're still long and thin. You wear mostly 6-9 month clothes and are in size 3 diapers now.

I'm still nursing and that's going really well. You typically nurse four times during the day and STILL wake up once in the middle of the night to eat. I'm so used to waking up one time now, that it doesn't even phase me anymore. You usually wake up somewhere between 2:30-4am and I've tried letting your cry it out, but eating is what puts you back to sleep. I know one night (maybe in the near future???) you'll start sleeping through the night. You are also doing pretty well eating solid foods. You love your rice cereal and most fruits, but aren't big on veggies right now. You have gotten really good at feeding yourself puffs now and also like "drinking" from your sippy cup. It seems like you're growing up so fast doing all those things already!

The biggest changes over the past month are that you can now sit unassisted indefinitely and you started army crawling. The crawling thing is completely new to us because Brennan never did it. You still aren't up on all fours, but you can move quick. You are all over the place exploring with the bathroom being one of your favorite go-to spots. You can transition from sitting to crawling too. You haven't pulled yourself up to standing yet, but are very close. We went ahead and lowered your crib the other night just to be safe.

It seems like you always want to be on the move now. You don't like your exersaucer very much anymore. Thankfully you'll still let us put you in your bouncy seat sometimes with "Praise Baby" on TV because sometimes I just need a way to keep you still for a little bit! Up until this past month, you've been sitting in your high chair with no straps or tray on it. That definitely doesn't work anymore! I have to have the tray on there to contain you! You are also a wild one in the bathtub. It's so hard for me to control you in there even in your little inflatable duck tubby. You are constantly flipping over onto your stomach or trying to put your face in the water.

The last few days I have felt like you're showing some signs of separation anxiety already! I'm so not ready for that stage to begin. You have been crying when I walk out of a room, but if I come back and pick you up, you immediately stop crying. You don't have any teeth yet, so I'm hoping some of your fussiness is because some teeth are getting ready to come in. In fact you're crying in your crib right now as I type this when you should be napping! Grrr!

Sometimes you can be pretty grumpy at home, but thankfully you are almost always an angel when we are out. You love the Ergo and rarely make a peep when in it. You are still great in your car seat too, so it makes it easy to take you places. You moved up to the convertible car seat like a big boy!

I'm excited to see what this next month holds. Will you pull yourself to standing? Will you start climbing the basement stairs? Maybe even a first word or first sign will happen? Whatever it holds, it'll be great (and super frustrating at times). You are such a cute, smiley baby and I love how different you are from your brother! You are very special and I love you so very very much!

Love,

Mommy

Bryce last month at 7 months old

Bryce today at 8 months old. He's a pro a these pics now!

Dear Bryce,

You are seven months old now my wild little man! You are definitely getting bigger, but at your six month check-up you weighed 15 pounds 6 ounces, which only put you in the 20th percentile. You were 40th percentile for length. You are currently wearing mostly 6-9 month clothes. The clothes I already packed away because they were too small are now officially gone. We sold them to a friend, so that means there's a a very very good chance you'll be my last baby. You're crazy enough to make that seem ok though. :) You still wear size 2 diapers during the day and size 3 at night.

You are still nursing. I'm hopeful to make it to a year with you, but you eat so quickly most times now I sometimes wonder if you're getting enough. You still get solids twice a day. Somedays you act really hungry and eat everything up I give you and other days you seem to care less. I don't really push it. If you don't act interested then I just get you down. I think I'm much more relaxed with you than I was with your brother. You did enjoy eating the squeezy pouch foods a few times when I tried those. You're showing a lot more interest in using a sippy cup, so we are going to try to be more consistent about using that this next month.

Let's talk sleep. Or lack there of! :) Knock on wood, the past two nights have been better. I stopped using your sleep sack three nights ago because after a month of being in that thing your sleep wasn't getting any better. You seem to be a belly sleeper. Last night you were only up once at 3am and then up for the day around 6:40 (which is too early, but at least I only got up once in the middle of the night). I am so hopeful that more sleep will come soon. I know this time will soon seem like a distant memory, but some days are ROUGH! You typically take two naps each day. You have been taking an excellent morning nap, but the afternoon one usually isn't as long. You can get pretty cranky at night because if you only nap until 3:00 or so, you end up awake for 4 hours before bed and you get super tired. You also seem to be pooping almost every single morning and I think that's waking you up early.

Still no crawling. I thought you'd be an early crawler, but honestly I'm not sure when you'll do it because you get around really well rolling and turning on your belly. You can move fast and get to anything you want. You are already drawn to the electronics in the living room. You also have several toys you like now including ABC blocks, the workbench, and bowling pins. You're in the living room playing with the blocks right now as I type this. You are supposed to be napping. Oh well. You roll so quickly and sometimes I just need you to be still for a few minutes. Right after you turned 6 months you and Brennan received a package in the mail and the box was the perfect size little "bed" for you. It was super shallow and I put a blanket in it and in you went. You would just lay on your back and play and couldn't roll around. It was nice. For about two weeks until you figured out how to roll out of that too. :)

Your rolling makes diaper changes nearly impossible. I rarely use your changing table anymore because you are all over the place. You HAVE  to have something in your hands in order for me to have any chance of getting a new diaper on. Even then it's a big challenge. I often call you crazy because I just feel like you don't want to stop moving. I think that's what you aren't proficient at sitting up yet. You can do it for just a few seconds, but always want to arch your back and lay back down so you can get to rolling again. I think once you've mastered sitting up that will make my job easier. I can dream, right?

You like books now. You get so excited at bedtime when I grab your bedtime book "Welcome to the World". You just start making these excited almost snorting sounds. You also like the Little Einstein ABC books Brennan always loved. Your favorite thing to chew on is a spout I took out of one of your sippy cups. You still like Sopie too and also like the little star teething cloth we have.

You have moved up to taking baths in the duck tubby now. You are constantly rolling onto your belly during bath time too. You can hold your own bottle if you get one. You took a bottle three nights in a row when Daddy put you to bed while Mommy and Brennan were at VBS. We also took the car seat adapter off the double stroller, so you ride in that like a big boy now. We just installed Brennan's new car seat, so you're about to move into the convertible seat! You have also learned to shake your head "no". I can't believe that's one of the first things you've learned. I'm afraid it mean you're gonna be trouble! :) You like to fly up in the air and will just laugh every time we do that. Ringo also makes you laugh.

I call you wild and crazy, but you are a good baby. You cry when you're tired, but even then it's not a full out cry. You do this cute little sound that sounds like Chewbacca from Star Wars. You put yourself to sleep for naps and bedtime. If you do wake in the middle of the night, you simply eat and go right back to sleep. You are great about playing independently on the floor or in your exersaucer. You are such a handsome little dude too. You still have your blue eyes that get comments wherever we go. I'm excited to see what the next month holds because I know soon you'll be interacting a lot more with Brennan and I can't wait to see what that's like.

Love you wild guy!

Love,
Momma

Bryce back at 6 months

Today at 7 months. It was such a fun "photo shoot". He was so happy!

Shaking his head "no!"

Dear Bryce,

Wowza! You're 6 months old! Half a year! You are just such a cute little dude and unless you're sleepy, you are almost always happy. I weighed you this morning and you're currently 15 pounds 1.5 ounces. You'll see the doctor in a little over and week for your official stats. I just packed away more clothes you have outgrown. Makes me a little sad because it might be the last time I ever use those. You wear mostly 6 month clothes and are in size 2 diapers.

You're still nursing and doing great with that, but you are much more active while eating and like to smack me around with your free hand. You are getting solids at least 2 times each day. You devour rice cereal and like most fruits (not peaches) and like veggies that aren't green. You like helping Mommy with the spoon. Just yesterday I was trying to feed you peas and you'd grab the spoon and make sure it didn't make it to your mouth. Then I switched to apples and you'd grab the spoon and jam it in your mouth so fast. You know what you like! You have also had some practice with a sippy cup, but you mainly just like chewing on the spout. You've taken several bottles during the past month, so Mommy has been able to leave you with a friend even during your feeding times.

In your 5 month update, I mentioned how horrendous your sleep had been. Thankfully right after you turned 5 months, it drastically improved again. You weren't quite sleeping through the night but were making it from 7pm-5am and would eat a little and go right back to sleep until 7:30am usually. You were still getting swaddled too. Well double-swaddled actually because you kept squirming out of one swaddle and waking up, so I used two. However, while we were vacationing in Vermont, you rolled over while swaddle two different times and we figured we better stop swaddling. Since then sleep has been pretty bad again. Most night you're up three times each night right. Blah! Naps are hit or miss since we stopped swaddling you. You're now using a sleep sack. I don't even think it's having your arms free that is keeping you awake, but the fact that you're so darn active. You roll all around your bed and hit your head pretty hard sometimes. Hopefully sleep will start to improve again soon.

You were fantastic during our trip to Vermont. You did great with the traveling and sleeping in the pack-n-play. You got to go swimming for the first time while we were there. It was a nice little getaway for us! While we were there you discovered your feet and now play with them all the time. It's given you something to do with your hands other than put them in your mouth, so that's nice. You also learned how to blow raspberries, but so far you don't do it nearly as much as your brother did during meal time.

You've been rolling for several months now and are extremely fast. You have better control over your directionality now and will intentionally roll to get a "toy" you want; often paper that you'll eat. You can turn easily while on your stomach and will still pull your knees up and lunge forward some, but no crawling yet. We bought at exersaucer at a local consignment store and you love it! It's nice that I can put you in that now when I need to keep you from rolling. You are also pretty good about playing in your crib if I need to you confined for a little bit.

You can do a tripod sit alone for a few seconds sometimes, but certainly aren't proficient at it yet. You do try to sit yourself up when you're in your whale tubby though. I have had to start putting that tub in the big tub because you splash so much in the water. You love bath time just like Brennan always has.

You still don't take a binky, but like to play with them. You can put them in your mouth on your own and will chew on it, but won't leave it there and suck on it. You chew on anything you can find, including your brother's hands and just as of this morning your feet. No teeth yet though.

You really are such a good baby. You have the biggest smile and those blue eyes still get comments from strangers everywhere we go. You continue to love your brother and your eyes go straight to him if I say, "Where's Brennan?" He loves you most of the time too! :)

I can't believe in just six short months you'll be one! Time is flying by and even though I'm one tired Momma, I'm trying to savor every second of it; especially if you're my last baby!

Love ya bunches and bunches!

Love,
Mommy

Brennan back at 5 months

Brennan today at 6 months and looking much less babyish. :(