The Wilders and Greenes visit

December 26th Grandma & Grandpa Wilder and the whole Greene family came to visit to celebrate a late Christmas, Grampy's 63rd birthday and Brady's 1st birthday. We had the best time! On Sunday we went to Brigantine and got their famous fish tacos (Kim and Rick's favorite). On Monday we went to Legoland and Sealife. Braydon loved Legoland! We went on this huge jungle gym thing and he had a blast! His favorite was going through the tunnels. He also loved pushing the buttons in the Legoland Mini USA and watching how it made things happen. And of course Sealife is is favorite! On Wednesday for Grampy's birthday we went to the San Diego Wild Animal park which Braydon got a kick out of as well. On the safari tour he talked REALLY loudly, yelling "BLAH, BLAH, GA, GA!" every time our tour guide would talk. I think Braydon thought he was giving the tour. We opened lots of Christmas presents and Braydon got very spoiled with all the toys and books he got. He loved playing with his cousins Jake and Jesse, they were so good with him!

Christmas with the Schwarz's

We spend Christmas weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Schwarz's house with Great Grandma Irene, Aunt Cristin, Great Aunt Sandra and 2nd cousin Cody, Jennifer and Scott. We had a great time! On Christmas Eve Craig, Brady and I went to church and then we had a delicious dinner. On Christmas morning we woke up to an incredible breakfast Aunt Cristin made and opened presents. Brady got a rocking horse and tons of toys and clothes. The Purnells came over later on and we had a huge Prime Rib dinner. Braydon loved playing with the new puppy Roscoe (who's only 5 months old) and Monty. His favorite game was to crawl into Roscoe's crate with him and open and close the door. He'd also run around the room with one of the puppies toys and they would chase after him trying to get it from him.

Brady and Santa Clause

Braydon met Santa for the first time on Christmas Eve with Grandma and Grandpa Schwarz and Craig and I. We went to the Brea mall where we stood in line for an hour and a half to meet him. Braydon had a great time in line playing with all the Christmas decorations along the way but his meeting with Santa didn't go over as well. He was horrified of the man! As soon as I let him go to sit with santa he lost it. He was crying so hard, tears streaming down his little cheeks. I don't know what it is about kids with Santa! It's not like Braydon is afraid of strangers, he loves people! He will walk up to anybody and play with them. I guess we will give it another try next year, eventually he's got to warm up to him :)

Braydon is 1 today!

I can't believe it's already been a year! I feel so blessed to have such an amazing son. He is better than anything I could have asked for. He is sweet, funny, mellow, loving and perfect in every way. He has brought new meaning to mine and Craig's life.

Today we started off the day watching cartoons and drinking a bottle, then we went to Stroller Strides with Mommy. He got lots of extra attention there because it was his birthday. Everyone sang him "Happy Birthday" and he got to play with his friends. After that we went home and took a nap to get ready for the best part of the day...the Sea Life Aquarium at Legoland with Mommy and Daddy! It's the first time we have ever taken him to anything like that and he had the time of his LIFE! He ran around banging on the glass, pointing at fish saying "Blah, blah!" and "grrrring" at each fish as they passed by. His favorite was when he got to touch the starfish, after that he would get frustrated that he couldn't physically touch the fish behind the glass. He loves people too, he would run after the other little kids and grab at them. When he gets really excited he'll dance, which he did often at the aquarium. After the Aquarium we went to Casa De Bandini and ate some Mexican food, Braydon ate rice and threw it all over the place. Then we went shopping around and played around in Brookstone where he was the most popular guy. All the employees crowded around him and played with him. He was throwing these glowing balls around, of course we ended up buying him one :) At the end of the day we took a bath and were SO tired that he went to sleep an hour earlier than usual.

Braydon's 1st Birthday Party

We threw a party for Braydon on Saturday, December 18th to celebrate him turning one. It was such a fun time! A lot of great friends and family turned out. And a few of Braydon's friends as well :) He was playing DJ for a while outside. It was so funny! He would stand next to the stereo with one hand on it and bounce up and down (his way of dancing). He just loves to dance, it cracks me up! He also rode his car around with Kingston and ate his very first cake! I think he had a great time and we did too!

A Dancing Machine

Braydon LOVES to dance! He is hilarious! He'll get in this squatting position and bounces up and down while waving his arm in the air (we call that his fist pumps). If he's really into the song both arms will fly in the air and usually he'll get so much momentum he'll fall on his bum :) Even when a commercial comes on with any kind of music in it, he'll stop what he's doing to dance. If there's a live band around? He'll run over and put himself center stage and dance, dance dance! The band loves it and usually the crowd is pretty entertained as well.

Picking out Braydon's 1st Christmas tree

We went to the Christmas tree farm last night and Braydon got to pick out his very first Christmas tree. He is a fast and curious walker! He didn't want either of us to hold him or even assist him walking, he just wanted to run around and grab sticks and put his hand in the Christmas tree water bowls. We got a 7-8 foot tree and are trying to figure out the best spot in the house to put it. I love how the house smells like pine :) Can't wait to have my little helper assist me in decorating it!

11 Months old already!

My little man is 11 months old already. He is the funniest little guy ever! He is walking and slightly running everywhere. He has such a lighthearted personality, laughing and playing all the time. He's got 6 little teeth that show when he scrunches his face at you. He'll do that when he doesn't get his way, he'll snort at you and scrunch his face, it's so cute! He LOVES to eat, I call him a goldfish-aholic because he can't get enough of those cheddar goldfish. When I walk over to the jar he'll laugh and get all excited. Him and Monty beg for food together. If I have something he wants a bite of he'll walk over, open his mouth wide (dropping the pacifier) and try and get me to feed it to him. He loves to play chase. Even if I'm not chasing him, he'll act like I'm trying to get him and shriek with delight. He's REALLY funny with Monty now. Whenever he sees him he'll yell "Ga!" and chase after him. In the mornings he'll walk over to his cage where he's sleeping, lean down and bite him on the head. Then he'll crawl into the cage where Monty is, and Monty will try to escape under the bed. Then Braydon will follow him under the bed to harass him some more.

He's really playful and gets really excited when Daddy comes around because he likes to wrestle him. He copies his Dad all the time, if Craig is fixing something, Braydon will get right in there with him and take the wrench from him. He also copies how his Dad plays with Monty, he will lay stomach down next to Monty and tuck his head down into him to get him to play with him.

He has a major personality and will voice whether he wants something or not. He runs around and laughs. He's a tough little dude too, he will fall or hurt himself and all he'll do is grunt and make a scrunchy face. We love him so much! He makes every day that much better!