Tot School - 14 . 5 Months

Back again with another week of Tot School! Check it out, B's Tot School was actually done in regular clothes and not in pajamas!

If you know someone who is expecting a baby and are looking to buy something for them, let me recommend some kind of play mat! Brennan loved his when he was a baby. He'd just lay on his back and hit the animals hanging down or look in the mirror. We'd also use it for him tummy time. Now at almost 15 months he STILL loves it. It has always been stored under his crib and he knows that, so when he wants to play with it, he just points under the crib.

He can turn the music on and off by himself now.

Finding the giraffe! This boy knows his giraffes for sure!

We also worked on stacking this week. These blocks might be a little small for him. He is able to do it, but only likes to stack one more on top of what I have already built and is then ready to knock it all down.

He is also holding onto a picture of his future wife, Adah.

I really want to get him these.

We miss you, Adah!

Brennan giving Adah kisses.

Pointing to Adah.

We have used these nesting strainers before for Tot School, but pulled them out again this week. It loves nesting them, but did not want to stack them at all.

I wanted Brennan to work on transferring with a spoon. He wasn't too into it. I think it was a little too hard for him.

He was excited to try!

He wouldn't/couldn't use the spoon to pick up the balls, but would put the balls
in the spoon himself. 

Then he'd transfer it to the other bowl.

Here are some of B's current favorite books; all have flaps he can flip!

Our big news is that Brennan is down to only one nap/day. I am shocked! He has always LOVED naptime and I thought he'd hold onto that morning nap for a lot longer. He had been playing quietly in his crib during morning nap instead of sleeping, so I decided to try just one nap last week and he's been doing well.  It's an adjustment for me, but we are trying to get out of the house in the morning. Then by the time we get back, it's lunchtime, and then he goes down for a nap at 12. I am excited to start doing more playdates in the morning now!

Make sure you head over to Carisa's blog to see more Tot School ideas!

Friday's Fab Five

Happy Fabulous Friday!

1. The biggest news of the day is....

...I overcame my fear of birds! What in the world did you think the news was?!?! Well, at least I am on the path to overcoming that fear. Brennan and I met some friends at the aquarium today. They have a newly open exhibit called Birds of the Outback. Aquarium members get into the exhibit for free during the month of May. I have been contemplating going in there and today I did it! It was SO scary! They give you a feeding stick and as soon as I walked in there (I was holding Brennan also) the birds were all over me! Their little claws hurt when they land on your hand! Some of the birds were really pretty. I especially liked the little blue ones in the picture above because they were sweet and matched my shirt! Brennan really liked the birds, but didn't like it when they landed on him. Thankfully that only happened twice. They were really only interested in me since I had the food stick. Even though it was frightening and I did flinch several times as birds flew by my head, I am super glad I went there!

Krysti's son, Sam, checking out the birds.

Birds of the Outback exhibit!

2. Check out this adorable guy!

He picked up on that really quickly. When I first tried to teach him, he kept pointing to his nose, but then yesterday he started pointing to his heart (or at least close to it). I have so many good memories of Sunday school, VBS, and children's church choirs from when I was a kid and I pray Brennan will have great memories like that too!

3. We are singing a new song with the praise team this Sunday! I always get excited when add new songs to our repertoire! 

4. Here is something fabulously funny. One of Brennan's new favorite things to do is to be pushed in the stroller. He has ALWAYS loved the stroller and enjoyed going for walks. He and I will play in the basement sometimes and occasionally the stroller is in the basement instead of in the car. He will point to the stroller and grunt meaning he wants to go get in and then he just wants to be pushed around the basement! It is too funny! We will just go around and around and around the basement couch. It seems really boring to me, but he just leans back and enjoys the ride. It makes me happy that it keeps him entertained and I guess it gets me a little bit of exercise!

5. Sunday is Mother's Day! Happy Mother's Day to all you Mommies out there! Here is a pic from last year's Mother's Day! I will update after Sunday with a new picture!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Just Because

Just because I think our smiley boy is so cute, I thought I'd share some pics!

Tot School - 14 . 5 Months

Sorry we have been MIA from Tot School the past two weeks! Papaw was here visiting one week and the week before that, I was just a slacker! Even this post is just sort of a hodge-podge of random activities we've done.

I cut a small hole in the lid of an empty Puffs container and gave B some straws. I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to get the straws in, but after I helped him a couple of times, he had it down!

The wheels are turning as he tries to figure it out.

Now he's got it!

He liked pushing them down until they disappeared.

This lets you see the size of the hole in the lid.

He got SO excited when we counted the straws!

Who needs fancy, expensive toys?!? An empty diaper box and some balls provide plenty of entertainment!

We did some water play again. Now that's it is finally getting warmer, the next time we do this, it'll happen outside!

He's a piggy bank expert now!

He also likes his Leapfrog drum a lot. My favorite is when the voice says, "Press the star button to hear a song" and B immediately searches for, finds, and presses it!

We have also been working on pointing to facial features. He will point to everything on someone else, and is finally starting to point to things on his own face.

Where's Brennan's nose? 

Where's Brennan's mouth?

Brennan got an Aquadoodle for Easter. He's not too sure what to do with it yet, but I think it's a lot of fun!

We have also made several trips to our local aquarium. Brennan gets so excited each time we go!

And here are just a few shots showing that it is finally getting warmer! I think this was the first time Brennan touched grass! He really liked sitting in it and playing with it, but wasn't a fan of trying to "walk" on it with bare feet.

Head on over to Carisa's blog to check out what other kiddos are doing in Tot School!

Friday's Fab Five

Sorry I missed last Friday's Fab Five! Here are some fabulous things that have been happening around here:

1. The sun is shining! It rained pretty hard last night, but today it is a gorgeous day! I can't believe I haven't been out to enjoy it yet. After B wakes up from his nap, we will definitely be going for a walk!

2. I shared some pictures from Brennan's first visit to the aquarium. We have already been back to the aquarium three more times since then! It's so cute, because I'll ask him if he wants to go see the fish and he'll start signing "fish". He gets so excited as soon as we enter the aquarium. In fact, he literally starts shaking with excitement! It's the best! Two of the times we've been there when the beluga whales are doing training, so that part is exciting for me! I am so happy we live so close to such a cool place! Here are a few pics I shared on facebook, but haven't shared on the blog.

3. A while back Kyle and I tried this recipe for pizza quesadillas. They were pretty good. I knew I wanted to try them with B. Today I fixed cheese quesadillas for lunch and they were a hit! Super easy and not that creative, but it's always nice to find a new option for lunch. It is also nice when B and I can eat the same thing!

4. Check out my Easter present from my Momma! Switch flops! I LOVE them! Four pairs of shoes in one! I remember hearing about them on some talk show a while back because I remembered it was a really young girl who created them. Thanks, Momma!

5. Tomorrow I am hanging out with some pretty cool chicks! I am excited for my girls' night out with Kathryn and Val! Also very thankful for a hubby who is staying home with the little guy so Mommy can get a night out!

Hope you have a fabulous weekend!

And a few more pics just to make the family happy:

This is what B does if you ask him, "What does a pig say?"

Captivated by "The Wiggles".

Vroom! Vroom!

A Visit with Papaw

Kyle's dad was here visiting last week. I did a horrible job of taking pictures during his trip, but thought I'd share a few that I did capture.
Brennan loved being tickled by Papaw. Papaw would sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and change it at the end and say, "is gonna get your belly!" Brennan thought it was the best thing ever! As soon as Papaw started singing that song, Brennan would start smiling.
We love you, Papaw!