Keepin' it real on the kitchen floor

After a good long while of playing basketball, Andy is often found lying on one of Brady's soccer balls on the kitchen floor. This particular night Brady decided to join him and I got this gem. Just love it!

Gearin' up for baseball season

Like his daddy, Brady is gearing up for baseball season. Football season just ended and I found Brady decked in head to toe Brewer gear playing with his ball, bat and glove, and of course reading his Brewer book. When I asked him if he was ready for baseball season, Brady ran and got his singing Brewer ball. Giggles sang out along with "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." Is his a daddy's boy or what?!

Little Reader

Brady still loves to read. This is a typical site lately. He wants to read on his own and tells himself the stories. We are amazed at how much of the real story he remembers.

18 Month Pictures and Stats

Our boy is getting so big! As of his 18 month check-up he weighs 23lbs. 13 oz. and is 34.06 inches tall! I can't believe that he has grown 3 inches since he was 1! We recently headed in for pictures again. I was thrilled to get several great ones. It is definitely getting more challenging now that all he wants to do is run and play. We were proud of him for doing such a great job!

We had to take pictures with his balls this time because that is his toy of choice lately. This first one cracks me up!

Baby's First Photos

Today was ultrasound day! We were so excited to go and see our baby! The great news is that everything is excellent and baby is growing perfectly. I've posted a couple of photos from our appointment.

Baby's face - looking at you (top)

Baby's profile (#2)

Baby's foot (#3)

And yes, we did find out. It's a BOY! There is no mistaking it. Yea! We have everything we need and can use it all again. A huge plus. Now, we have to start discussing names. This is such a challenge for me! Andy is so excited...another boy to play baseball!

For Ellen...

Last week I posted a picture of Brady doing his paint with water. Our good friend Ellen got a kick out of this and told us that he was really reading the newspaper and I just plopped the wet picture in front of him for a photo. Ha, ha. Not kidding, we did not pose this picture. The very next day, Brady climbed up on the chair, took the paper off the table, sat down with it and proceeded to "read" it to himself. We just had to laugh. So Ellen, this one is for you!

Random Candids

What a proud daddy Brady has! Andy was very excited to see Brady playing with his baseball glove this past weekend. Though he is not too skilled with it yet, he is playing with it all the time.

Sitting in the "big boy chairs" in the kitchen is one of Brady's favorite new spots. He is of course climbing everywhere, so getting up and down on his own is not a problem anymore.

This weekend was a busy one for us on Saturday. Brady had his 18 month pictures taken (those are to come!) and then we ran a bunch of errands. After making his way through his first Sam's Club grazing, Brady came home and literally crashed.

Tickling Brady is one of my favorite things to do. I have had conferences this week, so I have not gotten to see him much in the evenings. Monday night when I got home he just wanted me to hold him. I got to tickling him and when I would quit he would say, "More, more!" I just loved this picture.

Snow Day!

Today I have a snow day! Well, no snow, but school was closed because it is beyond freezing cold outside. This morning when I got my phone call (5:15), it was -22 for temp and -40 with the wind! Though I hate the cold, I am loving being home with Brady today. We have done lots of fun things this morning. We made soup and bread for lunch. Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa Schwartzhoff joined us. We have also colored, played catch, read books, done a bit of cleaning up, and Brady's favorite, painted. For Christmas Brady got several paint with water books. He thought this was great fun today!

This is why we paint with water. Brady is still learning that we do not eat the paint brush!

My helper...cleaning the floors with the Swiffer is one of his favorite jobs.

Adventures in eating

Messes are not my thing and Brady is doing a great job of testing out my patience lately. We are working hard to have Brady feed himself with a spoon and this is a very messy process. Last night I fixed spaghetti. This was the only moment I smiled - when he had a face full. The rest of the meal was spent flinging noodles with the spoon. Dinner had to be taken away more than once and mommy was not too happy by the end of the meal. Ah, adventures in eating...

Little Drummer Boy

Forget the "real" toys. Brady's recent favorite at home has been the empty laundry basket and a couple of spoons. This makes the perfect drum for him and he is content to play with it for a good long while once he has it all set up. He drags the basket around the house and announces for all the hear, "Drum! Drum!" This of course is followed by him playing a tune.

Taking a little break from playing.