Friends

Last week Bret and I visited Alanna and G for a few hours. It was super nice out so we took a walk and Alanna got to listen to Bret's temper!! LOL - he wasn't too bad, just sick of sitting in a car seat and then in a stroller. We had a lot of fun. G is so big and he can sit up on his own!! Such a big boy!! This was my favorite picture with the two boys - even though G wouldn't sit still!!! Watch out Alanna, he is ready to move!!!

Belated - Happy 10th months / fall plans

Sorry, Bret - Happy 10 months old!! I've been trying to find our stupid camera since Labor Day. We did the Mackinac Bridge walk and it was awesome! The weather was perfect and the walk went really quickly (kind of to my disappointment). I wanted to walk longer!! Bret did really well, he slept about 3/4 of the way across.

Um, updates:

No new stuff to say about Bret. I'm starting to think about his birthday party (YAY!!!). I can't wait!!! I'm also obsessed with cider mills and getting Bret to see animals and hay rides this fall. Maybe everyone in the Detroit area should go together!!! I think the cider mills north of Detroit are much better than the ones in OH. Blake's anyone?! Let me know which weekends you have available and let's get together!!! Even if you don't have kids, you're welcome to have fun with us!

I'll post again when I can find the stinkin' camera.

Awesome day!

Bret and a polar bear having a stare-down :)

Bret and daddy looking at ducks!

Quack, quack

Bret wanting to touch a Sloth bear...Grrrrr

After moaning and groaning all summer that we don't do anything as a family, we went to the zoo. It was a beautiful day; perfect to be outside.

Bret LOVED it - he kept looking around and pointing at things (indiscriminately) and screaming at times! We went on the safari train ride and he couldn't turn his head fast enough!! LOL

We walked around for a couple of hours until it was past Bret's nap time and then we headed home. I don't know who had more fun, Bret or Jason!! I've learned that the zoo is one place that may never get old no matter how many times you go because you see something new every time.

It was fun and I can't wait to go again!!

Say goodnight to the bad guy

Why does it sometimes seem like things backfire even when you have good intentions?

Jason has a 22 year old cousin who is pregnant with her second kid. Let's call her See, for the sake of this story. See's unmarried, living at home and can barely make ends meet. When See's SIL told me that she was preggers *again* she also told me some other things that weren't the best of news, including not taking a prenatal vitamin. I saw See last week and asked her why she wasn't taking a vitamin and she said that they upset her stomach. That's fair - I'm sure that has happened to a ton of people. But wouldn't common sense tell you that you should try another vitamin? Or at least attempt to find one that doesn't upset your stomach? Nope. I saw her tonight and asked her again about the vitamin and she said 'no'. She's about 18 weeks preggers and doesn't take a vitamin. Yes, I know 100 years ago prenatal vitamins didn't exist and babies were born just fine (some, anyway). However, we live in 2008. It is expected to take a damn vitamin. So, being the critical big mouth that I am, I told her to quit being selfish and take a vitamin. Now Jason is mad at me for saying something.

Yes, I'm critical. I internally criticize a lot, partially because I'm so critical of myself. It's a therapy issue, I know. I give dirty looks to people to smoke with kids in the car and I throw daggers at parents who give a 2 year old soda. So sue me. I don't feel guilty for saying something to See. The consequences (good and bad) of her choices will be forced upon this baby. Just because she's young and ignorant doesn't mean the baby should suffer. That's just my opinion.

9 month check up & sneak peek pics

Bret had his 9 month wellness appointment today. His stats have leveled off a bit. He weighs 19 lbs 7 oz and 27-1/2" long - 50th percentile for both. The DR said that it's not surprising since he started crawling. She said that she worries only when kids drop below the chart (and stay there). If she's not worried, then I guess I'm not either.

I asked her questions about finger foods since Bret seems to be pretty bored with pureed stuff. Since he technically only has two teeth (his tops haven't come all the way through yet), he really can't chew anything like cut up fruit, cooked veggies, etc - plus the puke factor. His DR said it's ok to give him Nutrigrain bars and stuff like that. Basically anything soft that he can mush up in his mouth. He's gained 2 lbs since his last appointment so I know he's not starving! LOL :)

Tara posted pics of Bret on her blog today so I want to share them with you, too!! I can't wait to see them all. These pics total capture Bret's personality - shy, inquisitive, determined and loving. Enjoy!

Inherited traits

When I was pregnant I remember thinking
"what is he/she going to be like? Is he/she going to be laid back like Jason or stubborn and hard-headed like me?" Well I'm starting to get an idea of what the answers to my questions are -

Bret picks his nose like I do (hey, I like to breathe!!), he is pretty stubborn and is very inquisitive. Unfortunately, he has inherited a trait that I was hoping he wouldn't; my pukiness. When I was little (like 5-8 years old), I would always seem to puke. If I didn't like something I ate, if I ate too much, if my spoon or fork hit the inside of my mouth just the wrong way. I don't know....but I was a puker. Bret has inherited my sensitive puke trait. Jason was feeding him dinner last night and Bret was eating great until I gave him some apple. I cut it up pretty small since his front teeth haven't come all the way through yet. Bret didn't seem to get that he had to chew it, then swallow it like his Cheerios. Maybe it was the texture that wigged him out. He kept chewing and chewing and chewing. Finally Jason was like 'ok it's been like 10 minutes and he still hasn't swallowed the apple. I'm getting it out of his mouth before he chokes.' Just as he said that, Bret starts the cat-hurling-a-hairball-noise and pukes. YUCK.

A few nights before, I was feeding him and I put just a little bit too much on the spoon and he puked. Then some time before that, I gave Bret 2 Cheerios to eat (and put the rest out of his reach). He grabbed the 2 I gave him then banged his hand on the high chair tray (which moved the Cheerios) and grabbed THREE more, shoved them into his mouth and then didn't know what to do with a mouthful of food, so he puked. NICE. I give him credit for figuring out how to get the Cheerios to move, but seriously, why puke?! LOL :) Bret has inherited picky eating from Jason. The only vegetable Jason will eat is corn and it has to be either on the cob or kernel. He'll puke if it's cream of corn. Yes, he'll eat other vegetables but very sparingly. Bret is getting to be the same way. Meals are taking FOREVER to get through. I don't think he likes his high chair because for the past week, he whines whenever I put him in it. I think he's in the in-between stage - he doesn't want pureed foods anymore but he doesn't have enough teeth to really chew anything (I tried giving him ground up turkey and chicken, with no luck). He WANTS to eat what we're eating but kind of can't. I tried making some food a little chunkier so that the texture is different but - he doesn't like it and pukes. UGHHH it can be frustrating at times.

I swear, I'm afraid now of all the bad things I've done when I was younger because I have a feeling that they will come back to haunt me pretty soon!

Say cheeeeeeese

Bret had his 9-month pictures taken this morning. A friend of ours is a "lifestyle" photographer, that means no posing involved, which I like a lot. We set up a few things in the living room for Bret to play with and stand on so that his pictures could be taken. We changed his outfit and took him outside but he really doesn't like grass too much. Funny, because he did at first and not so much now!! He lasted about 5 - 10 minutes on the grass and was totally done. Didn't even want his toes touching the stuff!

I can not wait to see what she took of him!! I'll post a few when I get the proofs next week :)

In other news - Bret has mastered climbing the stairs. I for sure didn't think he could do it on his own when one day I was going potty (gotta love the baby terms now that we're parents) and by the time I got out, he was already up 6 or 7 steps. I had a tiny heart attack and then praised him for a great job. My fearless boy. He says 'ma-ma' but mostly when he's upset/crying/tired. It's really super cute. I love hearing him say it. LOL

Other than that, not too much going on.