First Steps

On Friday, March 26, Briley took her first steps! We were in Kindermusik playing maracas while listening to a song called "Hop Up, My Baby". On the word "up" we were holding our maracas up over our heads. I was impressed that Briley was holding her maracas up at just the right time in the song!
Then, she decided to crawl to the middle of the circle, stand up, and start walking. She took about 3 steps, fell, got back up, took 3 more, fell again, got back up and took 3 or 4 more steps! I started yelling over the music "she's walking, she's never done that before"! Mrs. G stopped the music and we all started clapping and cheering for her. I was trying my best not to cry!
She has been standing alone for several weeks now, so I was just waiting for those steps to come! She hasn't walked too much since then. She did walk from the coffee table to the back windows when Bae was keeping her on Sunday.
But, she's also had an ear infection and a high fever this weekend, so I think that slowed the walking process. She will be all over the place before we know it!
The picture at the top and the one below were from later Friday afternoon. We have not been able to catch her walking on video yet. I will post that as soon as we can catch it!


Here are a few pictures from the Egg Hunt at church Sunday.

10 months old!

It's hard to believe we will be celebrating Briley's first birthday soon! The past year has flown by! Briley is such a sweet baby. She is a mommy's girl right now. She squeezes me so tight when someone else tries to hold her!
Although she still hasn't said her first word, she has learned a few new "tricks" in the past month. She does the sign for "more" and even signs it when daddy says "mas". Britt is doing a great job teaching these kids Spanish! She also copies some sounds that we make, like "meow". She makes her voice really high!
She is also standing alone for several seconds. I'm really surprised that she's not walking yet. I'm hoping she will be by Easter, but we'll see.
Briley has already given up baby food. She won't let me feed her with a spoon at all! It's all finger foods for her. She thinks she's so big!
The girl loves to climb on things and crawl under things (like the bed!). She's very adventurous!
She really is a good baby, as long as she stays on her nap and bedtime schedule!

Bathtub Fun!

Here's my wild girl in action! She was pulling up on the side of the tub, then letting go with both hands, balancing for a second or two, then plopping down on her bottom! I was so nervous that she was about to bust her chin on the side of the tub. But, I had to call Britt to bring the camera! This was the first time she has balanced like that!

9 Months Old!

Her stats: 29 inches (90 %), 20 lbs. 8 oz. (75 %). She is definitely slowing down on her weight gain with all her aerobic exercise. She is now affectionately called "Wild Woman"! She is crawling really fast all over the house now. She is also a climber, and doesn't seem to be the least bit cautious!
She is generally a happy baby as long as she stays on her schedule. She also prefers to stay home. She's still not a big fan of her car seat, especially at night!

Her normal schedule these days is:
7:30- wake up and have a bottle, then baby food/finger foods for breakfast. She very much prefers finger foods over baby food.
9:00- nap
10:30 or 11:00-wake up and have another bottle
12:00-lunchtime
1:30-2:00-bottle and nap (long nap!)
4:30-wake up and have another bottle
6:00-dinner
6:30-bath, bottle, read books, bedtime.

She sleeps all night! Yea!

Snow Day!

Briley and Maddox saw their first snow on February 12, 2010! It was the first time Britt and I had seen snow in about 10 years, too!
Schools were closed and Britt stayed home from work for a little over 1/2 the day!

We waited all morning for the snow to arrive. At one point, Maddox got down on his knees and prayed "God, please let it snow in Mobile, Amen".

It was beautiful when it finally came. It snowed pretty steadily (with a little rain mixed in) for a little over an hour, then off and on for another hour or so. It stuck on the grass for just a little while.
What a rare treat!

Maddox was disappointed that he couldn't build a snowman. Some Mobilians drove a few miles north to let their kids play in the snow. The northern parts of the county got 2-4 inches! We probably would have done that if Briley had been a little older.
Maddox was also not feeling very well. When we got inside, I realized he had a fever.

What a year it has been so far! Bama won the national championship, the Saints won the superbowl, and it snowed in Mobile!

All Boy

Britt found a video of a shuttle launch on youtube. Maddox has been playing this game day and night ever since!

Potty Training Update

I just responded to a "potty training advice" request from a friend on facebook. I thought I would post my "tips" here so I could remember them when Briley's time comes. Potty training Maddox has been the biggest challenge of parenting, so far. I'm sure we will look back and laugh one day, but not anytime soon! He is 3 1/2 years old today. He's 99% pee-pee trained (when he's awake. We haven't tackled the nap/nighttime yet) and probably about 75% poo-poo trained. He was 22 months old the first time he peed in the potty. It's been a LONG road!
Here are some things I have learned in this process:
#1-pull-ups don't work
#2 you must realize that you can't MAKE a child pee or poo on the potty. They can hold it a LONG time!
#3 NEVER, NEVER freak out or be negative in any way when a child poops in his underwear, even when the child has pooped in the potty several times and you know he is pooping in his underwear on purpose. This often leads to holding the poop which can lead to severe constipation. It turns into a viscious cycle. Fiber Gummies are our friend!
#4 treats and promises of trips to Chuck E Cheese do not work
#5 Never judge someone for having a 3 year old that's not potty trained!!