Tadpole

We went swimming today for the first time. Yes, I know, most of you out there have a pool in your yard or your neighborhood so this isn't a big deal. However, those of us who are slumming in Durham aren't as lucky. We went to one of the local lakes and this took a lot of coordination.

Beckett was a big fan of the new outfit including the little water shoes. The water and sand, on the other hand, didn't receive such a warm welcome.

After a few minutes in the water together, he seemed to catch on a little bit. I think it is going to take several more visits before it becomes fun. We start baby swim class in a few weeks; hopefully, it will be fun by then.
Unfortunately, the sand didn't make it anywhere close to the fun list. Beckett refuses to walk, sit or play in the sand. He finally did give in and play with the sand, but only if he was safely on the sidewalk.

Springtime

Derek's friend Brian and his daughter Mackenzie visited this weekend. We had a great time hanging out. Today we spent a little bit of time at the Duke Gardens before they had to leave.

Beckett has been walking for a few weeks now, but I think the funniest part of the whole thing is how he gets up from a seated position. He practices baby yoga at school in order to do different things. Who knew the true purpose of downward facing dog ...

Birthday Fun

Sorry for the delay in posting the pics from our small birthday gathering - I did a number to my back last weekend so I haven't been able to do much except lay on the couch.

This is how the day started. You may expect a munchkin to look like this after the party - but, Beckett decided he wasn't going to be able make it through the party without a short snooze. We had to wake him up so he didn't miss his own birthday.


I don't think he really knew what to think of the cake and the decorations. He ate his portion of cake like a civilized being with a fork (with help from his dad, of course). We don't have any of the icing-covered face pictures that one typically has after a first birthday. This may also be because this wasn't his first exposure to icing (thanks to Leah, Derek and the Durham Public Library). He enjoyed opening the presents and playing with all of his friends at the park. We don't have many pics of the play time ... oops.And, thanks to Dana, Mike and Paul he also enjoyed and continues to enjoy his riding bumblebee. Thanks again guys!!
Thanks to all of our family and friends who joined us for the party. It was a perfect day and we all had a great time. And, a special thanks to Gamma, Pap Pap, Aunt Beth and Aunt Kylie for dealing with the travel woes to join us in NC.

Just like everyone says, we can’t believe it has been a year. We have grown along with Beckett over the last 12 months. I can say that we are officially out of the worm phase – and we survived. I am really glad Susan made me start this blog because we can easily relive all the little milestones from the last year. At age one he is, of course, the cutest, smartest, healthiest kid (from one biased parent's point of view) – at 1 he:

• Weighs in at 25 lbs 10oz – 80^th %
• Height = 30 ¾” – 90^th %
• Has 5 teeth – 3 on top, 2 on bottom
• Eats whatever HE wants to – but, not usually what we want him to; if we feed it to him, it comes right out, but if he picks it up off of the table it will usually stay in
• Has been walking for the last month
• Doesn’t say much in English that we can understand, but can tell you what a cat, lion and gorilla say
• Knows twinkle twinkle little star in sign language
• Jack’s Big Music Show is the only way to keep him still (and that only lasts a few minutes)
• Has already had 4 hair cuts and is in desperate need of number 5
• Enjoys, at most, the first 3 pages of a good book
• Gives the best hugs and blows the sweetest kisses

We are looking forward to all of the milestones to come as well as all the moments in between.

Easter Fun

Happy Easter!! Beckett went to his first egg hunt yesterday morning. So, this morning he knew exactly what to do with those colorful plastic eggs he found all over the living room. He checked each egg multiple times to make sure he got every last goldfish from the middle. Yum.

We got Beckett a cute little stuffed chicken as part of his easter basket. His reaction to it is really funny! He is definitely ready for the next family wedding with his rendition of the chicken dance - take a look....

We also went to one of the local parks to enjoy the weather.

Tent and Tunnels

Despite the virus' and bacterias' attempts to keep our little man from having a good time, you can tell from these pictures that he is as happy as usual (mostly). We have had a few tantrums this week and meal times have been a little challenging; but, overall, we are enjoying him as he explores everything.

We picked up a set of nylon tunnels, etc. as an early birthday present recently. He has had the best time with the tent - we haven't been able to take it out of our dining room since we put it up several weeks ago. The tunnel, on the other hand, takes up too much space and scares the dogs. So, it only gets to come out on the rare occasion. But, as you can tell from the video, he enjoys it too - and certainly more than the camera!

Timeout

Well, we had a very big milestone this week. What are you thinking - Crawling? Nope. walking? Nope. Talking? Nope. No, none of the milestones you would be proud to mark in the Baby's Firsts book. It was a milestone I knew we would experience soon enough, but I just didn't realize it was possible before the age of 1. TIMEOUT.

When I arrived at daycare yesterday to pick up our little angel, he was in Timeout. According to his teacher, he had been cruising all over the room pulling down everyone's art work and then eating the tape off of the back. Every time he was told "no" he laughed and proceeded to the next piece of art even faster than before. When I arrived, he looked at me with a face that said, "Just wait, this is only the beginning."

This picture was taken yesterday at school. Can't you see the rascaliness in his facial expression here? His friend Jack is smiling and looking like he wants to be best pals with Beckett. But, my child is saying, "Hurry up with this nonsense; I have some trouble to make around here."

We got our note today about starting to transition to the next class room. I hope they are ready and they know what they are getting themselves into. They are going to earn that arm and a leg we are paying in tuition with our child!

p.s. the person hiding behind the boys is not me - it is their teacher. I know it is hard to believe, but there are other people who enjoy having their picture taken less than I do.

Here are a few pictures from the last couple of weeks - and although they are all in the same outfit they aren't from the same day (I just like the sweater!!) The first two are from Baeden's birthday party at the Little Gym. Beckett's first experience with gymnastic equipment...

Yes, his cheeks match the ball. We must have had carrots for lunch.
These two are from the house - outside and in. Nothing special, just a fun day with mom and dad.

Cruise Control

Since our last update we have met a few milestones -

1. We are in various stages of growing the 4 front teeth: Top right and bottom left are about 1/2 way in, bottom right and top left are still sprouting. Ouch. It was not fun for anyone to acquire all 4 teeth at the same time.

2. Still no interest in traditional crawling. Beckett does not believe in following the conventional ways of doing things. He has, however, developed his own version - one leg in the air the other paddling along the ground all the while dragging his belly along with the palms of his hands. This is where you all say a picture is worth a 1000 words; sorry, I can't oblige today, but maybe next time.

3. He is cruising along whenever anyone will help him up to a stand. See picture above. This is probably why the progress on #2 is slow. He is ready to move and crawling is not sufficient.

4. And, he is certainly his parents' child - Beckett has not stopped talking in weeks. His vocabulary consists of bye-bye, mama, dada, growls and basic gibberish. But, he certainly believes that we should understand him.



5. We had our 9-month appointment this week. Due to his recent ear infection and winter cold, he dropped a few ounces from our last visit. He weighed in at about 23 1/2 pounds and 29 1/2 inches. Still in the 98% in everything.

Family Pics

Here is a sneak peek at the family pics I mentioned in the previous post. Despite the family drama that always ensues when you get any group of opinionated Brackens (and those who actually chose to spend their lives with us) together, we managed to get some darn cute pics. Just wait, the professional ones are even better...

December

December has been a crazy, busy month for the Brown clan. I know it has been a long time since the last update; I'll try to provide a lot of pictures to make up for it.

First, a big congratulations to Derek for graduating from NC State with his Electrical Engineering degree!! It has been a long time coming, but it is well deserved. He was able to take a few short breaths over the last few weeks, but now is dedicating his time to looking for the perfect job. We are keeping our fingers crossed that the engineering field isn't too adversely affected by the economy....

Our friends Mike, Dana and Paul made the trip down from Michigan to join us for the graduation ceremonies. (Thanks again guys!!) It was a great visit. Paul and Beckett became fast friends (again).

While they were here we made a visit to Northgate mall to see Santa and take our first carousel ride. Yes, I know it isn't the best mall, but it certainly the closest and least crowded - there wasn't even a line for Santa.

Because we had to wait so long for the carousel attendant to return from his "smoke" break, he gave us a free balloon. This turned out to be the best toy Beckett got all Christmas, he is still playing with it.



Gamma and Pap Pap came for graduation as well. They were smart and brought the presents with them so that we didn't have to carry them back from TX with us and our heavy bags. So, we were able to celebrate a little early. To Pap Pap's enjoyment, Beckett took plenty of time to examine and play with each present. He definitely didn't get that from his mom.


After graduation, we all traveled to TX for Christmas. Despite all of the travel issues with the airlines, Beckett was perfect on the plane rides as well as during our 8 hour delay on the way home. We had a good time visiting with everyone including Beckett's cousins Hayden and Zachary. We also were able to fit in a quick visit with Brian and Dawn. Congratulations again to them for their marriage. We also got Bracken family photos during our trip. Stay tuned for some super-cute photos of our little man.

And, I guess I'll throw in the 8-month update as well...we are still a little behind on all of our gross motor skill progress. We aren't crawling or pulling up yet, but we are rolling all over the place. Remember we have a whopping 24 pounds to haul around. We did get our first tooth bud earlier this month, but it still hasn't come all the way in. The best thing that has happened is that Beckett has perfected a new funny face that he uses to make people laugh. See what you think: