Good Times with Grandparents

We came home on Saturday to try and get back on schedule before having to start the work week. Grandma and PawPaw played with Brady:




After baths, Grandma read some books to the boys before bedtime.




Sweet, clean Jackson:


It was great having you guys here. Thanks for everything. I hope we are able to y'all sooner rather than later!

Eating Snow

I missed out on a ton of pictures- but Jackson did sit still long enough for me to get a few of him. Here he is playing and eating snow in Uncle Stacy and Aunt Norah's front yard: (sorry about the glare- it was a bright day!)

Happy 9 Months, Brady!

Seriously...9 months have passed. Before you know it we will be celebrating his twenty-first birthday!

Stats:
Weight: 20 pounds (50%)
Height: 28 inches (50%)
Head: 85%



Brady, you have becomes such a wiggle worm this last month. You were always wiggly, but recently you are on an entirely new level! You now roll all over the place and get on all fours and rock. The other day I also watched you try and pull yourself up on the couch. I am not sure I am ready for you to become active.

You are also sleeping on your belly now- which is so cute (and maybe will round out your head a bit!)

You still eat like a champ and are starting to eat more and more finger foods. You love avocado, green beans and real peas, sweet potatoes and bananas. You love all of your veggies and even enjoyed asparagus and acorn squash! You still nurse 2 times a day and enjoy your bottles.

You got your third tooth this last month and the fourth is close behind. It was not too bad for you (or mommy and daddy!)

You are talking all the time now. You say Dada (that was your first "word"), baba, mama, and yaya. You jabber constantly!

You still love to play with your brother and pretty much laugh at everything he does- which includes him tackling and sitting on you. Your laughing just encourages him! You also love your bath time and are still enjoying books more and more. You love to bounce in your bouncer and eat any toy (or really anything!) you can get in your mouth.



You are still the sweetest, happiest, laid back baby and we enjoy every minute with you! Your smile lights up a room!! We love you little man!

Thanksgiving!

The Aldridges came to Colorado for Thanksgiving this year. We went to visit Uncle Stacy and Aunt Norah in Aspen. We had a great time. Thanks for hosting Thanksgiving and letting the little men terrorize your place.

PawPaw and Brady:




Uncle Brandon, Brady and PawPaw playing:



Uncle Stacy and Brady:



I could not get Jackson to pose with anyone for pictures! Here is he playing a dice game with the family:

Sidewalk Chalk

Today was a nice day with lots of sunshine so we decided to take advantage and play with some sidewalk chalk. Its always a crowd pleaser!

Jackson hard at work (he insisted on making colorful donuts with sprinkles):





Daddy and Brady came out to enjoy a bit of the fun:

Jackson Counting

Jackson counting in Spanish...and other fun party tricks!

One of the Greatest Sounds...

Happy 2.5 Jackson!

Wow- where to even begin. Jackson, you are now 2 1/2 years old. It seems like you have turned into a little boy and it feels like it happened almost overnight. Sometimes, I wish I could stop time, or maybe just slow it down a bit.



You are such a fun little boy, with such a love of life. You are so silly, with such a great personality. You love to make everyone around you laugh. You spend so much time trying to make Brady smile and laugh (and he always laughs and smiles at you...always!). You are curious about everything you encounter. And, you are so smart with a great memory. You take in everything around you and are like a little sponge. After three classes at Park Hill PDO you could count to ten in Spanish and knew what amigos and gracias meant. Just today I asked if you wanted to wear your blue sweater and you looked up and said "yes-blue-azul!"



You now enjoy school and talk about Ms. Nea, Ms. Linda and Ms. Barb. You also love your new nanny Kristy.

Your "terrible twos" have definitely had some terrible moments, but I wouldn't trade them for the world. Because with those moments came 1000 times as many wonderful moments.



Things you love:
- your baby brother, Brady
- books: you love to read and spend much of every day reading books. Your favorites right now are Thomas Breaks a Promise, Thomas and the Fogman, Dinosaur Roar, My Big Book of Animals, My Big Book of Trucks, Trains and Emergency Vehicles, Runaway Bunny, and Guess How Much I Love You.
- Puzzles- you love putting together puzzles and you are so good at doing them. You can put your dinosaur puzzle together all by yourself and are getting really god at the smaller truck puzzles- it is incredible!
- Trains- you LOVE playing with your trains and train table. You always bring some of your trains (generally Thomas and Percy) to bed with you every night.
- Water and swimming- you still love to be in the water and have absolutely no fear. You amaze most of the other people in the water with your skills.
- Daddy- you love to be with your Daddy and do anything he is doing. You guys have so much fun together mowing the lawn, throwing rocks in the river, playing rough...just about anything you do with Daddy is fun. Every morning when I get you you ask where Daddy is and you are always sad when he is at work. On Saturdays when Daddy gets you up sometimes you will say- "no go to work Daddy" it is precious.
- trucks- you still love the trash truck and we go outside to see it every Friday morning.
- Spelling- you have been watching Super Why and now love letters and spelling. You are always carrying around your "super letters" and trying to put them in you "super computer." Plus, you are trying to spell different words. You are Such a smart boy!
-playing with your friends- you have fun with your friends now and can tell me about different friends. You enjoy playing with all of your Paddington friends and Ella and Alex. You also really like Alex's little brother, Hank!



Things you dislike:
- getting your hair washed- you love your bath but hate having your hair washed
- being told "no"
- having to take a nap or go to bed when you are not ready- "but i awake, mommy"
- sitting still for too long
- (you don't have too many consistent hates, but you certainly have plenty of things you don't like at any given moment...)



Things we love about you:
- your beautiful smile and infectious laugh
- the things you say- you come up with some of the funniest things- just the other day your told your daddy "don't throw little boys daddy, throw balls" (Daddy, by the way was watching football and not throwing anything at the moment)
- your sense of adventure
- your compassion- you are always saying "brady its okay" or when Mommy or Daddy are hurt you come up with such concern to give hugs and say "be okay mommy, be okay"
- your hugs and kisses
- listening to you talk when you don't think anyone is listening- just the other day I listened to you saying the ABCs over the monitor when you were supposed to be taking a nap!
- singing songs and reading books to you- and listening to you "read" your favorite parts- You know your Thomas books by heart and can be heard reciting them at any given moment.
- watching you interact and play with Brady
- the cuddles we get, whenever we can get them
- listening to you repeat words we say (lately it is "goodness" or "come on dude")
- realizing that you listen to Mommy and Daddy, but don't always display that with your behavior (for instance you are always saying "don't throw toys, only throw balls", but you are constantly throwing toys)
- Pretty much everything about you!



Jackson, you are the sweetest little man and we are so proud to be your family! We all love you SO, SO much!

Teething Biscuit

Brady has discovered the love of the teething biscuit!