Black Bean Soup.Yummy!

Black Bean Soup. Yummy! from seancook on Vimeo.

Brendan is a mess as he eats black bean soup at Panera Bread.

Brendan's First Haircut, Part 2

Brendan's First Haircut, Part 2 from seancook on Vimeo.

First Haircut,Part 1

Here is the big first haircut. Look how good he was being!


Brendan's First Haircut from seancook on Vimeo.

More of Brendan's Big Day!

More pics of Brendan's big day!

Brendan's First Haircut

Today,Saturday, November 3, 2007, we took Brendan to get his haircut for the first time. Kathy at Reynaldo's Barber Shop on Allen Street cut his hair. He was really good. Afterward, we took him next door to the Animal Kingdom to buy him a toy. He wanted a book instead. We got him "That is not my monster". Then we went to Panera Bread for lunch and he got kind of messy eating black bean soup. Also, today we converted his crib into a bed, so he really did have a big day. Here are some pics.

Cookies with B!

Cookies with B! from seancook on Vimeo.

Brendan and Mommy enjoy some cookies at a street festival in State College.

Happy Halloween!

Brendan was a pirate for Halloween. He went trick-or-treating with his daycare but wasn't much interested in going trick-or-treating with Mommy and Daddy. WE finally got him interested and visited the usual 3 houses where we know people. He kinda got into it after a while.

He's a regular stand-up comedian

I think Brendan made his first joke today. He was giving me a bit of a hard time about taking a bath, lying down on the bed, asking for milk, and faux-sleeping. I said, "Remember how it works? Bath, jammies, milk, night-night?" He replied, "Milk, night-night!" And then he laughed and laughed. So did I. :)

Buckethead

Buckethead from seancook and Vimeo.

Brendan plays with the bucket from his old-school wooden blocks.

Ducks!

Ducks! from seancook and Vimeo.

Brendan feeds the Ducks at Talleyrand Park in Bellefonte and runs around.

Corn on the Cob!

Brendan shows us his mastery of Corn on the Cob



Corn on the cob! from seancook and Vimeo.

Brendan plays 1-2-3 with Daddy and Sam

Brendan plays the 1-2-3 game with Daddy and Sam from seancook and Vimeo.

Brendan plays a game with Daddy and Mr Sam. We say 1-2-3 and then pick him up and let him fly. When he lands, Sam says "boom" and Brendan loves it.

Drivin' the Prius

B Drives the Prius from seancook and Vimeo.

What is a Hero?

This post doesn't have anything to do with Brendan directly, but I've come across a project that provokes a lot of thought in me as the mother of a boy. What is a hero? How do we create an alternative to a culture of violence and force and war? Visit Martin Firrell's site and become part of the dialogue:

Mommy Spins B Around!

Mommy spins B around at the People's Choice Festival from seancook and Vimeo.

Sarah spins B around at the People's Choice Festival. He loves it!

Drivin'Au Naturale

Drivin' Au Naturale from seancook and Vimeo.

Brendan loves to scoot around on his little car. Here, he goes for it straight from the bath, and we get a clip that will embarass him when he's a teenager.

Daddy's Fun Bathtime Game

Daddy's Bathtime Game from seancook and Vimeo.

Brendan just loves to take baths.Here, Daddy plays one of B's favorite bathtime games. Check out the sunburn!

B works and plays in his new "Bee" shirt

July 4th.This is actually Brendan's 3rd outfit of the day,but third time must be the charm.He helped sweep bird seed off the porch (guess who spilled it there?) and then we went to Fun Unleashed, an indoor playground, and he wore us clean out. He conked out early so no fireworks this year.

Riding the Boat. Why Aren't Mommy and Daddy Riding with Me?

He liked it fine until it started moving.

Dancin' at the Carousel!

We took Brendan to Del Grosso's Park.He sure liked to dance at the carousel. He was less thrilled about riding it.

Sunglasses!

Brendan shows off his Cool Sunglasses. He only wears them for 10 seconds or so at any one time.

Brendan Gets Messy and Asks for a Bath

Brendan Gets Messy and Asks for a Bath from seancook on Vimeo

Feedin' the Fish!

Brendan feeds fish at Talleyrand Park.






Feedin' the Fish! from seancook on Vimeo

Pinwheels!

Brendan plays with some pinwheels!






Pinwheels! from seancook on Vimeo

Slidin' at the Park

We took Brendan to Bellefonte and played in the park.Here he is seen sliding down the slide while some strange lady talks to us about him.






Slidin'at the Park from seancook on Vimeo

Brendan Tells Us About the Wiggles

Brendan dances and sings and tells us about the Wiggles!






Brendan Tells Us About the Wiggles from seancook on Vimeo

Dancin' with B after the Blue and White Game

Here's a great clip of Brendan dancing!






More Blue-White Dancin'! with Brendan from seancook on Vimeo

Apple Antics

Here is a great little clip of Brendan from Mother's day breakfast, when we had apple pancakes and spiced apples.







Apple antics from paxsarah on Vimeo

Blue-White Game Fun (as interpreted by my daddy.)

I went to the Blue-White Game with Mommy and Daddy. There were lots of people. I got to have a hot dog. I love hot dogs! Then we got to watch a band and I danced around and ran around. It was fun!

What I did on my Spring vacation, by Brendan (as interpreted by his mom)

First, we went to the airport. When the first plane took off, I was mad because my mommy wouldn't let me run around and I didn't want to sit still. We nursed a little bit, and I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, my mommy was carrying me off the plane. Then we had lunch (I love grilled cheese sandwiches!) and I sat in a nice rocking chair and talked to some nice ladies.

The next plane we rode in was bigger and I had my own seat! I loved looking out the window, even before we took off. We watched some Wiggles on the plane and I didn't start to get too impatient until we were almost there.

The last part was easy. Mommy and Daddy got a car and we drove to my Nana and Pop-pop's house. Yay!

My Nana and Pop-pop have the best porch. They call it a lanai, but all I know is it's a great place to play with my toys. Sometimes we eat dinner out there too.

We went to the pool - it's kind of like a big bath, but everybody gets in and I can splash all I want!


After that, my daddy left to go to a conference but everybody kept me entertained so I didn't miss him as much as I might have. I loved mowing my grandparents' driveway and organizing Nana's tees in the golf cart.


We also went to Uncle Donald's Farm. I don't know what all the fuss was about the different kinds of chickens - they all go "cluck cluck" don't they? - but I got to pet the softest bunny ever, and Pop-pop showed me this neat goat. I think I'll go back when I'm a little bigger so I can ride a pony.

The last night at Nana and Pop-pop's, we had spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. I think it may be my favorite food.

The next day, mommy loaded me and the rest of our stuff into the car and we drove on a big road. It was ok for a little while but then I got mad that there was nobody to keep me company and I dropped Elmo and Mickey and I couldn't reach them and it made me cry. It helped a little when mommy sang some Wiggles songs over and over and over [and over and over -ed.] again, but I was really happy when we stopped the car and mommy reappeared. Finally, I helped mommy carry our stuff into a whole new place.

For dinner, mommy put me in my stroller and we went across the street to Ponderosa for dinner. Mommy kept muttering something about "crappy design for pedestrians" but I didn't really understand her - I was really comfortable in my stroller, and it's always fun to watch the cars go by so fast!

The next morning I saw daddy! He talked to me and played with me, but when he went back to his conference, mommy took me to the pool. It was smaller than the pool near Nana and Pop-pop's, but it was just my size! I could stand up in it, but I'm glad that mommy held my hand because walking in the water is really weird. There were fountains and drips and it was a little scary at first but then I got used to it and it was a lot of fun. [Note the lack of photos documenting the mom-alone-with-toddler portion of the trip -ed.]

I had so much fun that I didn't feel like napping for very long, so mommy took me to Disney World. At least, I think it was Disney World, since I got to ride a merry-go-round, and there was lots of Mickey stuff. [It was Downtown Disney, but let's not get too specific -ed.] It was really hot and I was tired for a long time but I didn't feel like sleeping, and then I got to play with Legos and eat part of mom's sandwich. After all that, I was so sleepy I fell asleep in the car on the way back to the hotel.

The next day, mommy and daddy and I all got cleaned up and I could tell we were going someplace special. We went to have breakfast with Mickey Mouse and all of his friends! I saw Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, and Pluto, and they all said hi to me and they were so nice!

We watched the train go through the building we were in - mommy and daddy called it a monorail. I rode in something like it at the airport, but this was much cooler.


I fell asleep in the car, but I didn't want to keep sleeping so I woke up when we got back to the hotel. Mommy kept asking if I wanted to take a nap, but obviously I didn't or I would have stayed asleep. Silly mommy! Mommy took me for a walk and I showed her some ceiling fans that weren't on but I don't think she understood because she didn't turn them on for me. I can't wait until I can talk and tell her these things.

The next day, I learned a new word - curbside check-in. Mommy and Daddy seemed to really like it. [I cannot stress enough how worth the $2 per bag it was -ed.] I rode on a couple more airplanes, and then we were home!

Brendan Loves the Wiggles!

This morning, Brendan handed me the remote to the DVD player, and looked toward the television. I asked what he wanted and he said "Wiggle."

He just loves the Wiggles. We have two wiggles videos and he can't get enough of them. He likes to dance to the hot potato, cold spaghetti, mashed banana song. We have danced to that in the grocery store and at the mall, as well as many times at home in front of the TV.

I love the Wiggles, too!

Thank You!

Brendan's newest word is "thank you." He just really started saying it this weekend. It's really cute. He really says something closer to "Tay-too" but every day it seems more and more like "thank you." Sometimes, he grins when he says it.

I Love My BabyBoy!

Lately, Brendan and a lot of the kids at his daycare blow kisses and go "mmmaaa." Last Thursday, one of the little girls blew me a kiss as I was leaving after dropping Brendan off. It was really cute.

For the last week or so, Brendan has been going "mmmaaa" without the accompanying hand gesture. So he makes the kiss-blowing sound without a lot of fanfare. It is really cute.

Sigh.

When we come home in the evening, Brendan goes straight for his high chair - he even climbs up into it (which is a little scary - he's such a little climber!). He used to be inconsolable until he got some mama milk, but now that can wait until after dinner. Sigh.

Of course, this often means that I am nowhere near having dinner ready when he's in his chair ready to eat. Tonight, that was fine, since I brought hoagies home. Brendan really loved his hoagie, when I took off the meat and cheese and didn't add any of the extras. (In other words, he really liked the roll.) Does that make me a bad mom? He had some milk, and he may have eaten a few of the leftover black beans I got out for him.

He doesn't nurse nearly as often as he used to. He still does, and when he wants it he still really wants it, but it's a little bittersweet to see him not needing me as much. I just have to keep reminding myself that he just doesn't need me as much in that particular way, and that he still needs me for *lots* of other things.

Otto's Brewpub

We took Brendan to Otto's Brewpub tonight as we had dinner with our friends Brian and Michelle. It was a great night and he had a good time. We always seen Jen, one of the waitress/hostess people and she always likes to talk to Brendan, because she has a baby about his age. It's always good to go to Otto's. Their food and beer are great, and Brendan really likes the special attention he gets when we go there. We had a good time. :)

Lovin' the Legos!

This is a picture of Brendan playing at the Playground outside the Lego store in Downtown Disney. He had a great time,

A few of my favorite things

Brendan can tell me that a cow says "Moo." (Or maybe it's "Boo.") He also thinks it's hilarious that a snake says "Hisssssssss" and a bee says "Bzzzzzzzzzzz." Especially the bee. He's walking like crazy and shakes his head all the time while laughing at us. He is obsessed with ceiling fans and with his stories (iMovie slideshows) on the computer.

He really is a fantastic little person.