Around the Block in 80 Minutes

One of the benefits of having friends with kids around the same age as your own, is they lend you cool stuff once their kid has grown out of it. Brianne's friend Bradley loaned her his walker. Bradley started walking at 12 months, and here we are at 14 months, and still no walking. Unfortunately, we don't have a lot of floor space in our house for Brianne to roam around in, so we took the walker outdoors for a test drive.

Brianne was so excited to be up on her feet outside, that as soon as she was in the walker, she took off. We actually went all the way around 1 block by our house. By myself, I can walk around the block in about 5 minutes. With Brianne, it took us about 45 minutes. This is because she was fascinated by everything she saw, so she was constantly stopping to check everything out. And I do mean everything... A patch of grass, the yellow reflectors on the street, a squirrel, the neighbor's car. Even the most mundane things are exciting to a one year old. It definitely puts things in perspective!

Brianne walking across the street. Now we just need to teach her how to look both ways!

Contemplating her shadow.

Watching an airplane go by.

Watch Brianne in action.

A Little Miscommunication

Aunt Joan (the nice lady who watches Brianne every day) is great about giving us plenty of notice with things when it comes to Brianne - running low on diapers, needs more milk, etc. This especially applies to when she needs a vacation day (which is very rare). Normally, she sends me a note in addition to telling Marty when she needs something, as Marty has a tendency to forget things. I can't blame him, as he has a lot on his plate, and he's never forgotten to tell me something important in relation to Brianne... until earlier this week.

On Tuesday, Marty had a breakfast meeting, so I worked from home so I could take Brianne to Joan's in the morning. I normally leave the house around 8:30am when I have to drop Brianne off. At 8am, Joan called our house, and when I picked up, she asked me if Marty remembered about today. I promptly said "remember what?"

Joan needed a personal day and couldn't watch Brianne, something Marty had neglected to tell me. And the best part is that she told Marty two weeks ago. So we had to keep Brianne home with us all day, which wasn't a big deal, however, if I had known 2 weeks ago, I may have been able to make alternate arrangements.

Moving forward, Joan will be texting and/or calling me, in addition to telling Marty.

Brianne helping mommy work. She was explaining to Elmo all the selling points of the Allure of the Seas, and why Royal Caribbean is the BEST cruise line EVER!

Little Mother Hubbard

Brianne has discovered the wonder of kitchen cabinets. Specifically the cabinet that contains our tupperware. I don't know why I bother buying toys when a cupboard full of plastic bowls buys an hour of entertainment.

After spending 15 minutes enjoying opening and slamming shut the cabinet door, she went on a mission to discover all the fun goodies inside.


Brianne taking 5 after pulling everything out. Destroying a cabinet is tough work! Poor Cooper saw his dog bowl and thought it was dinner time.

Learning some cooking skills!

Brianne : "The cabinet is empty. My work is done."

Baby's First Democratic Club Meeting

Tonight (September 13), we took Brianne to her very first Democratic club meeting at the Weston Democratic club. We went before the meeting actually started so we could visit with everyone. Also, at 7pm (bed time), Brianne turns into a pumpkin (a small, whiny pumpkin), so we couldn't stay for the whole meeting.

Brianne had a great time visiting with everyone, and crawling all over the floor. Yes, I know, it was probably a bad idea to let her crawl through all the germs, but she just had to run around and chat with everyone. We learned that she is quite the little social butterfly.

Here is Marty trying to hold onto Brianne before we let her crawl around to start her visiting.


Of course, Brianne had to have her donkey with her. It was a Democratic club meeting, after all.


Here is Brianne visiting with one of her new friends.

We managed to catch some of Brianne's socializing on video. Yes, that's her screaming at everyone as she crawls over their feet. I can already tell she will be a political animal, just like daddy. President of her pre-school class room, for sure!

Thank you Weston Democratic Club for letting Brianne share in the fun before your meeting!

Little Lady

This past Sunday, we went to church, so we got a chance to dress Brianne up in one of her many dresses (mommy and daddy still wore shorts and t-shirts - we go to a very casual church). So she was a little overdressed, but any excuse to dress pretty!

Going to church with a one year old is quite an adventure. Even though she was all dressed up, she still wanted to crawl up and down the aisle. We've started sitting in the back row so as not to disturb the other church-goers. But Brianne likes to "sing" (i.e. scream at random), especially when everyone around her is also singing. We wanted to take pictures of her at church, but Brianne was feeling camera shy and cried whenever we put her down. So when we got home, I gave it one last shot, and was rewarded with these great pics!

Our little baby is growing up. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Here is Brianne standing unassisted.


This is our little front yard. It was a mission to stand Brianne up, and walk far enough away to get a picture without her falling over and/or crying.


She only stood for about 2 minutes, and then needed a rest. This picture almost looks like she is giving a thumbs up :o)

I Got a New Way to Walk

The question that makes me cringe is "Is Brianne walking yet, she must be walking by now..." At 13, almost 14 months, Brianne isn't walking unassisted yet. But she is doing everything but. She is pulling up to standing on everything, and can walk (cruise) around it. She can take steps between furniture, and now, she will walk if you hold onto her. Also, she can now stand up without pulling up on something. So she is making baby steps (both literally and figuratively).

Per the pediatrician, she should be walking by her 15 month check up or she has to see a specialist (again with the threats). I have a feeling that one day in the next couple of weeks, she will just stand up and walk down the hall. The irony is, the day she starts walking, we are going to be wishing she would stay in one place.

I Want to Ride my Tricycle

For Brianne's birthday, she got her very first bicycle. She's gone on many bike rides with mommy and daddy, but this is the first time she tried to ride a bike on her own. I think she will have to grow into it, but she definitely has the interest.

Here she is, inspecting all the parts to make sure her bike is in tip top shape.


This picture looks like she is trying to ride it, but really, she was trying to climb off after mommy stuck her on there against her will. I know she will love riding her bike once she gets the hang of it!