Thurs., Sept. 24 (26 Weeks Even)

Saturday: Brady discovers his hair! He pulled on it down so he could see it and made a funny face like, "what IS that!? i have some of that stuff too!?" Saturday night, Mark and I went out on our first date (and brady spent his first night with a babysitter - nanny chelsea) since he was born. We had dinner at mantra (restaurant downtown) and then walked over to see a movie (the informant). we hadn't seen a movie since "the curious case of Benjamin Button" at the end of the pregnancy. it was a long (not to mention expensive) night but we had a lot of fun. mark drove chelsea home (to simmons college) when we got home - around 11:45pm. long night! we were tired the next morning but it was well worth it. brady was good but got up around 11pm. chelsea fed him 5oz and he fell back asleep. other than that, a quiet night at home for brady and chelsea.

Sunday: I bought a dragon costume for Brady's first Halloween. It ended up being too small so we decided to take it back. BUT before taking it back, we just had to get some pictures! We had already purchased a Superman costume (used) at Little Lords and Ladies when we were down in VA last. So we had Brady try that one on too. We're still undecided on "the one". Hmm...

Monday: Brady had green beans for the first time on monday (NOT a fan). There's a video of it on YouTube (see top of blog page).

Tuesday: loves Mom singing "the hokey pokey" (hand motions and turning around are mandatory). favorite songs are definitely "itsty bitsty spider" (still soothes him instantly) and "the hokey pokey". over the past few weeks but even more so recently, he has been reaching out for me to pick him up when he sees me or i walk by. once i come home from work, he doesn't allow me to leave his sight. he starts to cry if i go into the next room without him. giant smiles when he sees me walk through the door. totally awesome. over the past week or so, he started sleeping with a "lovey" (his taggie blanket). we put it in his crib when he sleeps and let him hold it while he's nursing.

Wednesday: exhibited critical thinking. sat on floor holding a ring in his right hand. his musical cube was in front of his right side and had another ring on top of it. he looked at his left hand (which was empty), then at his right, then at the ring sitting on top of the cube. he did it again and then transferred the ring in his right hand to his left...then happily picked up the other ring with his right. seemed very pleased with himself (this is from mark). slept through the night the past two nights in a row... we will never, ever again skimp on "sleep training". i was letting him fall asleep in my arms and carefully putting him in bed (this was after weeks of successful sleep training). i think i got lazy and/or just loved watching him fall asleep on me. back to sleep training - we put him to bed wide awake. he now puts himself to sleep (less than a minute of crying, if that...and generally just a little fussiness if anything). when he wakes up in the morning (usually around 5-5:30am since he has been going to bed at 7-7:30pm), he plays in his crib on his own...grabs his taggie blanket and just talks to himself for a while until mom and dad start to stir. giant smiles when we go to pick up up in the morning. he throws his arms around me and buries his head in my neck... so cute. Brady's also a HUGE fan of back rubs. he'll fall asleep if you rub his back long enough. just like mommy.

Thursday... trying desperately to crawl. when i walked in the door tonight, brady gave me a HUGE grin. i said hello to him and then walked into the bathroom to wash my hands and change my clothes. as soon as i left the room, brady started crying. it had been a long day - a long week really - and i was feeling kind of bummed that i haven't been able to spend a lot of time with him over the past few days. so when he started crying when i walked away, i was *this close* to crying right along with him. so we snuggled and played until bedtime. bath (in the sink for the first time - i.e. the "spa baby" tub was sitting in the sink) time...singing and then snuggles. out by 7:30pm. these days, he reaches out with both arms when he sees me come home. he reaches out for me when i ask him, "do you want mama?" i am so in love with this little boy.