Early Halloween Gifts

Grandma and PawPaw Aldridge sent the boys some early Halloween goodies.

Brady enjoying a glow stick the only way he can!:





Jackson and the pumpkin sticks:




Thanks guys for thinking of the boys and sending such fun holiday treats!

Lazy Sunday?

What did you do all day today? Well, I had the pleasure of steaming, baking and pureeing food! The finished product (minus the peaches I made later that evening):



Brady, I hope you enjoy the carrots, apples, squash and apricots!

Happy 7 Months, Brady

Brady is already 7 months old...this year is flying by! You are still the sweetest little guy.



You continue to grow and do more each month. You now grab everything, I mean everything, around you. Then, immediately put whatever object you have found in your mouth. You can transfer objects from hand to hand. You have 4 milk feedings a day and eat two meals a day and love all of your vegetables (you and Jackson certainly did not get that from mommy!), but don't love the fruit yet! You also love puffs and continue to get better grabbing the puffs and getting them to your mouth. Maybe we should try more finger foods!



You still only have your bottom two teeth, but by some of your behavior recently I suspect more teeth will make an appearance soon! Still no crawling, but I bet it is not too far off.



We just moved you to two naps a day so you would take one at the same time as Jackson. This is great! You still take anywhere from 1.5-2.5 hour naps. And still sleep great at night, generally waking between 7:30-8:00 each morning. We are also trying to wean you from your acid reflux medicine, which is going pretty well s far.

Your Loves:
your brother- Jackson makes you smile and laugh and if he leaves the room it makes you cry. I can't wait to watch your relationship grow! Jackson also takes good care of you. When you cry, he always says "its okay Brady" and then proceeds to look for a toy to shove in your mouth. In his own way, he is trying to take care of you!
Mommy and Daddy: You definitely know who we are and prefer to be with one of us. Although right now you are a true momma's boy and crane your neck if you hear my voice and fuss until I come get you!
Food: you are eating 2 meals a day, breakfast and dinner. You love oatmeal and every vegetable we have given you so far. You have had peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Fruit is another story, but we are working on that.
Soft Toys or Blankets: you love to chew on soft toys or blankets. You like these more than rattles and other hard toys.

Your Hates:
Being left alone: you hate being alone and fuss if you are alone in a room, until someone comes back and joins you.
Fruit: For some crazy reason you are not a fan of fruit. You are beginning to like apples more, but cannot stand pears and only tolerate peaches. Hopefully, this changes soon!

You are our sweet little snuggle bug and we are so thankful you are ours! We love you!

A Day Out With Thomas

The whole family went to the Colorado train museum to see Thomas the Tank Engine. We all had a great time.

Here were are riding Thomas:



Jackson showing off his junior engineer certificate:



Brady slept through the train ride, but Jackson had a good enough time for both of them! There were many activities there. Jackson got a Percy tattoo and played with plenty of miniature trains.

They also had a petting farm where Jackson pet plenty of farm animals:



Brady hung out in the Ergo carrier with Mommy:



Jackson and Dustin in front of Percy:



And then the whole family took a picture with Thomas (but you of course have to buy that one!!). I took one of just the boys! We all had a great time!

Another Day at the Zoo

So, it is no secret that Jackson loves the zoo. It is something the family does all the time. Well, this weekend Jeremy, Dawna and their little girl Reagan were in town--- so guess where we took them!! Of course, Jackson had a blast acting as the Denver Zoo tour guide.

Here are Jeremy and Reagan and Dustin and Jackson checking out the elephants:



Jackson and Daddy riding the carousel:




Here is Jackson with a gorilla (not the best face Jackson has ever made, but I like the picture nonetheless):



Jackson and Reagan taking a break:



Brady just hanging out and having fun:




And Jackson playing the drums:



Another successful zoo adventure!

Friends Visit

Dustin's friend Jeremy is in town staying with us while he takes a class. This weekend his wife Dawna and daughter Reagan came to visit. Jackson, Brady and Reagan have had a good time playing.

Visit from Grandma

Grandma Savino came to visit in July to help Dustin and I out while I attended a two week trial skills training. I forgot to post pictures since this was such a crazy time. But, we really appreciated all the help and the boys enjoyed hanging out with grandma...especially Brady- it took me about a week to get him to fall asleep with out lots of rocking and cuddles (seriously he was being spoiled)!!

Thanks for all the help- we all really appreciated it!!

Self Sufficient

Brady is working on some new skills:

Modeling New Clothes

Brady modeling his new bulldozer shirt:




Jackson and his excavator:



Sorry this is blurry. Also, he spilled water- he did not have an accident!

Sidenote: Jackson had on Brady's bulldozer for a while, but I failed to get a picture of that!

Thanks again Megan- the clothes are really cute!!

Hook 'Em

Once again, it is mommy's favorite time of the year. Introducing our newest little longhorn:





Our older longhorn refused to put on the jersey and take pictures. This made Daddy proud!!

Just Having Fun

Just a day of fun in Denver...

Jackson Stories Part II

September 2, 2009: We started a PDO program one day a week with Jackson. We were playing on the playground and there was an old school gray metal trash can- Jackson walked up and lifted the top:

me: thats yucky jackson- don't touch trash
jackson: i'm looking for oscar the grouch!

September 5, 2009- My mom was in town visiting-

grancy: jackson are you a big boy
jackson: (after thinking for a second) i'm a child

Jackson still wears a diaper at night. One morning I was changing his diaper:
me: jackson poopoo is disgusting- it needs to go in the potty
jackson: no- poopoo is a little bit funny.

jackson walking around with a pair of binoculars on his chest-
me: jackson what are you doing
jackson: making milk for brady
(hmm- maybe should stop pumping in front of him!)

Proof that Jackson listens to us even though he does not always act that way:

talking to Daddy: "don't throw clothes daddy, only throw balls"
talking to Reagan (14 month old) who was yelling in the car: "we yell outside Reagan, not inside"
using the bathroom: "don't peepee on the seat and don't make a mess"

whenever Brady fusses Jackson will bring him a toy and say' "its okay Brady- don't cry" and hand him the toy.

the other day he was pushing around his grcoery cart with a stuffed elephant inside and he was saying over and over again: "i'm walking him back to sleep" (just like we used to do when Brady was little!)

And now the little man has gotten smart- every time he ha to go to timeout on the stairs after about 30 seconds of sitting there he ALWAYS says: "um, mommy, I need to go peepee"

playing with the phone:
me: jackson who are you talking to?
Jackson: Poppy (Grandpa Savino)
me: oh what is he doing?
Jackson: he's eating pasta

First Day of School

Jackson had his first day of Paddington. He looks like such a big boy and I love his little backpack.

Here we are getting ready to leave.




Here we are at school, playing with toys and hanging out with Shane and Ian:




After these pictures I left and many tears ensued. Jackson had a bit of a tough first day of school. After many tears though he did have fun. Jackson has had a crazy couple of weeks with a new nanny and two new schools (Paddington and Park Hill PDO). But, he is doing great and enjoys school with fewer tears every day! He is growing up too fast!

Taste of Colorado

We went to the Taste of Colorado this afternoon. It is a fun festival with lots of good food to sample and fun rides for the kiddos. The crowds were crazy. And, I only got a couple of pictures of Jackson riding rides because I stood in line for 15 minutes for some funnel cake!! It was well worth the wait!

Jackson and Dustin rode this whale ride once and then Jackson wanted to go by himself. He loved it and throughout the ride he would raise up his arms if the other riders did. So cute!!

Grancy Visits

My mom came to visit the boys this weekend. I did not get many pictures of her with boys. But, they had a lot of fun hanging out with Grancy. She watched Brady while Jackson and I had our own little playdate, read many books with Jackson and even babysat so Dustin and I could enjoy a kid free evening!

Thanks for coming to visit. We all had a lot of fun!!

Cutie Pie

He is seriously too cute!




This is Jackson's hat and it is not even that big on Brady! This kid has one big head!!

Bath Time

We got Brady a bath seat so it would be easier to bathe the boys at the same time. Brady loves taking bath with Jackson. Brady pretty much loves any time spent watching Jackson!!




And Brady enjoying chewing on Thomas: