Dr. Tim

Braden had his first official visit to the dentist! He did awesome. He loved it actually. And they loved him! He even got an x-ray! They confirmed that he'll need some orthodontia at some point, but no worries with his space... just gives him some extra character!

The waiting room was great and he loved checking out the Nemo fish.

Chillin' in the hygentist's office.

He liked Beth.

And Dr. Tim. Who is great and I highly recommend.

Ready for x-ray.

An afternoon at the park!

Fun with Grammy!

He does like to suck his thumb!

Nanny Leah took the boys to a pumpkin patch for a fun outing!

Butterflies!

We got passes to the Desert Botanical Gardens and the butterfly exhibit. We got to go in a little area where there were hundreds of monarch butterflies. It was a fun little outing, but we were glad it was free because we decided it wouldn't have been worth the cost of admission. We went to our favorite lunch spot, Postino's, after for an early lunch. We're glad that Grammy is here for a couple of week visit!

Braden and Hunter checking out the butterfly!

Up close and personal.

Getting a little lesson on native soil.

Smelling the flowers with Grammy!

Pics

Trip to the Zoo.

Enjoying some cha-la-kit milk at Boo at the Zoo!

Checking out the fish.

Loving the swing.

At the park with Cammy. 2 big boys on the swings now!

Mom

I forgot to mention that Braden has decided to start calling me Mom these days... "look at this, Mom," "hi, Mom," "what's that sound, Mom." What happened to Mommy and Momma! I still get those every once in awhile, but he seems to like saying Mom. After the first couple I said "hi Brade" back to him. He looked at me and said "en." Guess it's only ok for him! He wore his "winter" jammies for the first time last night. So cute. His feet are almost too big for these 3Ts!

Hunter had a good doctor's visit. His 6 month (really 6.5) stats are below. He got his bottom 2 teeth a couple of weeks ago with no problem. Hope all his teething goes as easily! He's had sweet potatoes, butternut squash, bananas and pears. He seems to like the squash best so far. He's trying to quit nursing, but I'm doing everything I can to prevent that!

6 month:

Length - 29" (>100%)

Weight - 22lbs (95%)

Head - 18" (90%)

Braden... lately.

Braden is fun. Braden is challenging. Braden is smart. Braden is precious. Braden is a handful. Braden is stubborn. Braden is a cutie-pie, snuggle bug. Braden will always be my baby.

Oh this boy, he can elicit the full range of emotions in a short time frame. And I love the fact that he is who he is. Some of his latest:

• "I don't want to eat onions. I don't like to cry."
• "I found a dirty M&M" upon finding one on the floor in the pantry.
• He loves watching You Tube. I went to see what he was doing in his play room and he was sitting at his computer watching How We Build This - Garbage Truck! Yes, he's figured out how to use the mouse and How We Build This videos are some of his favorite! He also likes Caillou - who I think is whiny and annoying! We've had to put a password on his computer... I don't think this should be the case with a 2 year old!
• Anthony put one of his magnetic letters out of reach after Braden threw it. A little while later Braden said "Don't throw away letter F, Daddy." Yes, it was letter F!
• I asked him if his favorite word is "no." He said "yes."
• He thinks that "I don't like this" and "I don't want to" are magic phrases.
• He still loves to snuggle, momentarily at least, and loves his bear and bubbas.
• He enjoys his long hair and has no interest in getting it cut.
• He'd wear his Hawaiian turtle shirt everyday if he could.
• His favorite books are Richard Scarry's Busy Town ones - the same my brother and I read as kids.
• He loves Grape Nuts and will eat them every morning. He loves breakfast actually and wakes up so excited for it.
• Don't we love when we find the things that make him say "do it again" over and over again!
• He is very process oriented. He always talks through situations. Whenever he mentions an action of any kind, he has to add "like this" after and either explain or show me what it means. So this includes "throw it like this," "fall down like this," "hit like this," with the associated actions. When he's not sure the action, he just says the word - "don't be rude like this - rude."
• He likes to go through lists. I'll ask him something and he'll say "maybe this, maybe this, maybe this..." It usually starts out with actual things, but eventually it includes anything he sees around him.
• He loves his cars and trucks.
• And most importantly, he loves his mommy, daddy and baby Hunter and we love him!

I often have to remind myself that he is only 2.

Hats and Open Windows

It's cooled off enough for us to have open windows! Morning and night we're enjoying the cool air. And hats are becoming a necessity for the kids as we no longer have to hide away from the sun!


We decided to start with sweet potatoes. His response... they were okay.

Trying out his hat.

Checking out the Halloween costumes at Fancy Fry's.

Braden does love his little brother. His new favorite thing is tackling him and saying "here we go!" In fact, that seems to be a favorite phrase in general. He takes off somewhere and says "here we go."

Playing with the big bowl of nuts at Fancy Fry's. Fancy Fry's is our newly remodeled grocery store and has become a family outing... it's a fun place)!

It's Zoo time again, although it's not as close and convenient as at our old house! This time Braden actually feed the giraffe at the Zoo!


The whole family actually fed the giraffe! Her name was Charlie and she was very nice with great eyelashes! You can see that Hunter didn't take his eyes off of her. We have such a cool Zoo!

Braden thought the squirrel was pretty cool and wasn't afraid at all.

Nanny Leah got him this cool hat on their visit to the Train Park. It's the first hat he's worn since he's had a choice on wearing a hat!

He found the orangutans and I think they've become his favorite. They are pretty cool.

Although the elephants are always fun.

He and Daddy just missed the ice cream truck one afternoon. As he was heading outside and the truck was turning the corner he said "Where is that ice cream truck going?" And then he said "Come back, ice cream truck!" about 20 times. Daddy shared some of his ice cream with him instead.

We've been enjoying apples lately... especially the awesome Honey Crisps that taste like caramel apples and it gave me an urge to make an apple pie. Never done it before! As Anthony ate his second piece of the day, he said "this is really good" with some degree of shock in his voice. At least I'm starting to get some use out of the double convection ovens in our new house!

We had an awesome rainy day the other day. Hunter really enjoys the swing. Braden did get a bit freaked out by an unexpected crash of thunder. Sent him running inside. Remember, we don't get thunderstorms very often here!

Hunter loves playing the drums. Anthony calls him bam-bam. He does like to bang anything and everything!

Laughing

He is truly the sweetest little guy I've ever met.

Thanks for the cute shirt, Aunt Lindsay!

The start of baby food making!! Just in time for Fall veggies! Hunter is so interested in food that this can't be postponed much longer. Haven't decided if we're starting with sweet potatoes or butternut squash... hummmmm.

6 months

Six months have passed so quickly. Hunter continues to be a pure joy. He doesn't go to the Dr until the 13th, so we'll really have his 6 1/2 month stats! It's still hot here, unfortunately, so we haven't really been outside too much yet. We're hoping this coming week is the real end of the summer! Our dear nanny, Sarah, got a job as a Child Life Specialist. We knew it was coming, but were hoping it wouldn't happen so soon. She has been a true blessing in so many ways. Nanny Leah starts on Monday and we are looking forward to this next phase with the boys. I think she is going to be wonderful!

Hunter loves watching the propeller go on the airplane.

We're hoping Hunter will love books as much as Braden... even though he's had them read to him a lot less than Braden did by this point in his life!

We went to Josh Comb's birthday party last night. I haven't missed one in 9 years (10 really since I also saw him in the hospital on his real birthday!). It's fun to have dear friends you get to share life with.

Of course Braden was most interested in the birthday cake. He did very good waiting even though he asked about it many times. Josh even let him blow out one candle! Braden loved hanging out with the older kids!