Determined to push buttons

Braydon was so determined to push the buttons on the fridge ice maker that he walked to the laundry room and grabbed the folding stool from next to the dryer. Then he unfolded it and walked it over to the fridge, put it down and climbed on it so he could reach the buttons. Smart and determined little 1 1/2 year old!

4th of July Weekend

It was a REALLY nice weekend in San Diego. 80 degrees and sunshine. We kicked off the weekend with a beach day with good friends on Saturday. We put an EZ up on the beach on Tamarack. Rich & Shelby, TC & Tamsin, Christine & Darrin, Aunt Cristin, Lauren & Jeff, The Younessi's and cute little Ava (2 1/2) and Jessica, Eric and Sophie (Braydon's stroller strides girlfriend, 17 months) all came. Braydon played in the sand with his friends and LOVED running in the waves. He is at home at the beach. He loved dancing to the music and eating chips too. He played so well with the girls.

After the beach we went back to our place and BBqed while Bray and Ava played in the bounce house. It was such a perfect end to a great day!

The next day, Cristin, Craig, Brady and I went to lunch at Casa De Bandini by the Forum shops. A Mariachi Band played "it's a small World" for Bray while he ate his quesadilla. He made the rounds, walking from table to table smiling a huge toothy grin and waving at everyone.

On Monday, the actual 4th of July, we got invited up to Laguna for the day by TC and Tamsin. TC's Godfather owns a beautiful condo on a private beach in Laguna called Laguna Lido. There was a cook there making tacos and a bouncy house that Braydon LOVED. It had a dinosaur in it. Braydon is such a beach dude. He was such a happy guy all day, playing in the sand, throwing balls, and he got to stand on a boogie board in the water with Daddy. At one point I looked over and Braydon was surrounded by a group of college boys swinging a ping pong paddle at a ball and all the guys shouted "Yay!" and would clap when he hit the ball. He was definitely the hit of the party :) We left Laguna at 7pm and Braydon fell asleep on the car ride home so we missed fireworks. It was such a fun weekend!!

Crazy Brady takes over Benihana

We went to Benihana for Braydon's first time last night and he took the place by storm. He began by running out to the water fountain behind the host desk and grabbed rocks and threw them in the water. From there we went to the bar area to wait for our table and he ran around waving to all the staff and climbing all over the couches.

Once we were seated we were served soup and Braydon decided to throw his porcelain spoon onto the Hibachi grill, shattering it all over the place. We had to move the entire table to another grill so they could clean. Once seated at the other grill he seemed to mellow out until he over hand threw his Thomas the train so it skidded across the grill and flew across the room. Holy moley he is crazy! We ended up taking everything away from him and scooting his chair a foot away from the table.

When the Hibachi Grill chef showed up Brady was highly entertained! He clapped and smiled and ate a ton of food along the way. When we left he waved at everyone along the way saying in his high pitched little voice "Buh Bye!"

Braydon & Connor

High Fives!!











Connor Smith (Craig's Godson) came down to visit on Saturday and he and Brady had a blast! We all went to Legoland, it was Connor's first time at an amusement park and he loved it! Braydon is a veteran there so he excitedly showed Connor all his favorite rides and buttons and attractions. We started at Duplo Village and the boys rode the train there, played with the water toys and ran around the playgrounds. Then we went on the Storybook Tale boat ride and Braydon pointed at everything while Connor waved at all the fake lego characters. They loved Mini land, Braydon showed Connor how to push all the buttons and make things happen like music will start playing or characters will move or dance.

After Legoland we went back to the house and the boys jumped around in the bounce house. Connor loves balls. He grabs them and says "Ball" while running around. Braydon showed Connor how he jumps up and down and bounces off the walls of the bounce house. They were really funny together and I can't wait to watch them grow up together :)

1 1/2 Years Old!

I can't believe how quickly my little man is growing up before my eyes! He is such a funny character! I love him more and more each day and can't wait until he gets up every morning so we can cuddle in bed and watch cartoons :)

ACTIVITY: He RUNS around everywhere, he has sooo much energy. We just got him a bounce house which he loves! He runs around and throws himself into the mesh walls and bounces up and down laughing really hard. He throws and kicks balls and hits a ball off a baseball tee with a rubber bat while saying "un, ooo, eee!!" Which means "One, two three!"

SPEECH: He talks a lot now. he says "Ca" (Car), "Boa" (Boat), "Mice" (Portuguese for More), "Yes", "Please", "Da", "Mom", "Fish", "Ga" (Dog), "Go" (No), "Bob Bob" (Spongebob), "Shoes", "Choo Choo" for Train. He also says "Bubble" a lot. He will repeat words you say if you ask him to. EAch day he seems to pick up a new word he uses. He also points to all his Body Parts and he'll point to yours as well if you ask him to. He shakes his head no if he doesn't want to do something. He also says 'Buh Bye" all the time.

A CLOWN: He will do anything to get a laugh. If he does something that makes you laugh, he'll laugh along really hard and do it over and over again.

The other day I asked him to bring the Nanny Monica her check and he ran it out to her, waved and said "Buh Bye" then ran over to her purse, gave it to her and said "Buh Bye!" So funny!

BESOS: He gives lots of Besos (kisses), he gives his Daddy a big smooch every night before bed. He also blows kisses, he'll put his hand to his mouth and make a big loud smooch and throw his hand toward you.

He's also figured out how to go through the dog door which is hilarious!

Mimi & Grampy babysit

Craig and I went to New York for Aunt Kim's 40th Birthday so Mimi and Grampy came down to babysit. They had such a great time together! Braydon was such a good boy with them :) They went to Legoland, Kidsville, the beach and the Botanical gardens. Braydon was spoiled!! He loves Mimi and would cuddle her and run to her when he was tired and he loves hanging out with Grampy and watching TV every morning. They became best buds.

Best Buddies

Braydon's first trip to Disneyland!

Yesterday (June 16th, 2011), we took Braydon for his first ever trip to Disneyland. We met Aunt Kim and cousins Jake and Jesse there. He had the best time ever!! We arrived and walked through Downtown Disney to get to the park. He was on sensory overload, looking all over and going "oooo" and pointing at everything. We walked through Main Street Disney and he got super excited over the horse and carriage that passed us. We met Kim and the kids at the Winnie the Pooh ride, his first ride ever :) He LOVED it! He was clapping his hands at the end.

Then we went over to the character meet and greet where he got to meet Winnie the Pooh, Eyore and Tiger. He LOVES characters and we were calling him the Disney Character stalker because every time he saw one he would run over and try to hold their hand and hug them. He gave them big kisses and didn't want to leave them. It was hilarious. He chased Goofy around Toon town, to the point where we had to rip him away.

We went over to Pirate Island on a boat after meeting Winnie. He saw the big Steamboat pass by and couldn't believe his eyes! He tried to chase it down and was waving and saying 'Buh bye". He also loved the ducks on the island. Jesse and Jake walked with him through the caves, he was scared of them at first but them ran into them when he realized there was nothing to be scared of. His favorite were the water falls on the island, he would try and put his hand in them.

After the island, we went on the Jungle Cruise which he loved as well. Before we got on he pointed and said "Boat". He permanently had his finger pointed at the animals.

Then we went over to Toon Town but we went through the castle first. We stopped so Braydon could throw coins into the Wishing Well which he thought was the neatest thing. He got to throw coins in water which made music! Genius!

Toon Town was a perfect place for him. Lots of buttons to push, pianos to play, Characters everywhere, slides and cars to drive! It was heaven for him. We met Mickey and Braydon was starstruck! He loves the Mickey Mouse show, we watch it every morning, so he couldn't believe his eyes when he met him in person!. He says "Mou" for Mickey and kept yelling it out when we were in his house as if calling his name in search of him.

We saw the train that goes around the park and Braydon pointed and said "Choo choo!" so we decided to take a ride on it. He loved it! After we went back to Toon Town and went on the Roger Rabbit ride. Again, he clapped at the end.

At the end of the day we ate at Tortilla Joes in Downtown Disney. Braydon was cracking us all up. At one point he grabbed two tortillas and waved them in the air like pom poms and then shoved them in his mouth. He ate a ton of guacamole and was acting really silly. He loves when he has an audience, he always shows off.

Jesse and Jake were so cute with him. They held his hand the whole time and were so patient going on all the rides with him. They bought him his very first Mickey doll which he cuddled on the car ride home. I'm sure he had dreams of all the fun things he saw for the very first time. I can't wait to go back again with him!