Anderson turns 2!!

Anderson is now officially two, or "ooh", if you ask him.  He is tall and slim these days.  He has those dimples that I love and those big, bright eyes that first looked up at me two years ago.  He certainly has my heart.  

First, a recap of Anderson's birthday.  Then, a summary of my favorite two-year-old. :)

Celebrating-

We kept things simple this year, and we really tried to focus on what would be fun, comfortable, special to Anderson.  Anderson woke up to a train set from Mommy and Daddy.  It has great potential, but it will need some additional support/ glue/ something so it doesn't drive Anderson (and us) crazy by coming apart all of the time.  He was excited and played with his trains for a little while- eating Cheerios in the playroom as a birthday treat.  

Then, Grandma, Mom, Brady, and I took Anderson to Build-A-Bear at the mall.  He is completely in a "No" phase.  There are many varieties, actually- "No way!", "Oh my, no!", and "Nope," are three of his personal favorites.  So Build-A-Bear was interesting.  Me-"Anderson, do you want this bear?" A- "Nope," Me- "This one?", A- "No way." Me- "Do you want a monkey?" A- "No!"... you get the idea :)  We finally settled on a brown puppy dog, named "Puppy" because he wasn't giving me any ideas, wearing a birthday shirt (which he did pick out) and a hat (to which he said, "Yee Aww", which I took as a "yes.")  Here we are before the dog was all fluffed up.  I look significantly more excited than the birthday boy!

Anderson and Grandma rode the train at the mall, which he loves, while I fed Brady.  We had lunch and then headed home for naps and a little more cleaning for Anderson's birthday dinner.  

We went with a family dinner instead of a big party this year.  It was simple but great, I think.  Our "theme" was "A is for Anderson."  So basically we just had alphabet letters and balloons for decorations- two things he loves. The Ives, Hammitts/ Grays, and Hardens/ Bradleys came for a cookout (in the rain... so a cook-in).  Anderson seemed to love it.  He felt really comfortable around everyone there, and was playing and chatting and happy throughout.  I think everyone was asked to read at least one book (probably twice) to him.  He was in heaven!  He kept saying "Happy birthday" (or his version thereof) throughout the day Wednesday, which made me really happy.  We are looking forward to a bigger party next year for family and friends, but this year's birthday dinner was just right.

Anderson says, "Big!" every time we walk past the giant "2" balloon.

Ryan and I planned the A-Z menu on the long plane ride home from Phoenix.  We got a little bit desperate at the end with our "Z is for zesty salsa."

Anderson wanted to sit and read every book he opened.

We didn't get nearly enough pictures of this cutie.  And he didn't get any cake!   But he was there and cute and sweet and wonderful, of course. :)

Anderson these days- 

I don't have all of the physical stats because we will go to his appointment July 8.  I know he is about 26 and a half pounds, and he seems taller than most of his peers.  He is usually happy and easy-going, but he is also definitely a toddler.  He tends to think that since he knows what he wants, he of course has to have exactly that.  However, any tantrums/ fits last about 10 seconds or less, and then he moves on.  He is still very cuddly and affectionate.  Anderson gives hugs and kisses a lot- especially to Brady and me.  Rather than a special blanket or toy, he loves to twirl hair- his own when he's sleepy, or hair belonging to whomever is holding him. 

Anderson suddenly thinks it is very fun to get himself into all of Brady's seats and toys.  He even pulled Brady's bassinet out into the hallway and climbed in one morning.  Goofball.

Anderson is suddenly saying all sorts of things!  In just the last couple of weeks- and especially the last couple of days- he will repeat lots of things he hears.  Great-Grandma and Grandpa (my dad) have enjoyed teaching Anderson, "Oh my!", which he now LOVES to say.  It has morphed into "Oh dear!" and occasionally, "Oh dear no!".  So dramatic.  He still loves letters and numbers, and he can say most of each.  He says "1,2,3,4,5...8,9,..11" consistently.  Of course, it's his version of each number /Wu/ /Ooh/ /Ree/ for example.  Just the other day he started saying, "How many ___", like "How many ears? One ear, two ear."  He was very proud of that :).  He is putting two words together on a more regular basis: "Red (/re/) Apple". Oh and one of my favorites- during our trip when Anderson was still getting over being sick, I asked him first thing one morning, "How do you feel?" (not expecting an answer) and he said, "Happy."  /appy/

Anderson is getting into trucks and trains more.  He likes to build with Mega Blocks, especially if one of us will sit with him and build with him.  He loves bubbles, and his favorite thing to watch on TV is Bubble Guppies.  He likes playing outside a lot, especially if we take him to the basketball courts behind our house and shoot the ball with him.  Anderson still loves books, and he's started "reading" them quietly.  I'll hear him saying the letters or numbers or colors he sees.  Anderson likes to draw with crayons and markers- but he would love to draw all over himself given the chance.

We gave him a bubble machine for his birthday.  It does have impressive bubbles.  But it is not a happy moment for Anderson when it's time to turn it off and put it away.

One of Daddy and Anderson's best towers

Favorite foods still typically involve cheese, pasta, or bread.  He still loves plain ol canned green beans.  He usually likes bananas, and he's been really into grapes lately.  He loves milk and yogurt.  Of course he hasn't met a dessert he doesn't like.  He also loves french fries.  He is my son, he can't help it.

I love seeing all of the changes in our sweet Anderson.  He is starting to be really helpful.  He'll usually bring me something I ask for, and he will put a book away or clean up toys- sometimes- when I ask him to.  He is more social now than ever, but he is still content to play quietly alone some, too.  He has such a fun sense of humor, and he loves to hide from us.  He is very good at hiding, but I know the secret to finding him.  If you ask if Anderson is ____ (in the kitchen, under the table, outside, whatever...) he faithfully says, "No!" and giggles.  Thank goodness, because I most certainly don't want to lose that boy!  

Apparently he also made a big pile of laundry on my closet floor... really... it never looks like that...

Caught ya!

Can't wait to see what this next year will bring for Anderson.  WE LOVE YOU, SWEET BOY!!

Grandma's Birthday Part 2

Monday, June 17, was Grandma's actual birthday.  The only person in the world I know who might love baseball more than Ryan does, is my grandma.  So she wanted to celebrate her 80th birthday at a Diamondbacks game with as much family as we could gather.  Twenty-five of us went to the game together. It was the perfect temperature- because the field is covered and climate controlled most of the season- and we had "all you can eat seats", so we had a never-ending supply of hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, chips, soda and water.  We loved it.

Grandma opened presents- an iPad from her kids and a photo book from her grand and great-grandkids.

The great-grandkids ready for the game (Mollie had Diamondback hats for all of the little ones- so cute!)

Anderson was fading fast.  He was very comfortable snuggled with Grandma, Grandpa, and Great-grandma.  He never could fall asleep during the game, so Mom and I left with the boys after the fourth inning.  Notice Anderson holding on to Great-Grandma. 

Sisters and the chunky monkey!

We said this should be Brady's Facebook profile pic. :)

Look how cute the two littlest guys are!  It won't be long before these two chubby little brothers won't be able to squeeze into one seat.

However... backing up to Monday morning, Anderson and my mom went out to a playground to play with Liam and Sarah.  My mom said he seemed to feel a little off, so we took his temperature.  Sure enough, he had a fever over 102. :-(  The boys and I stayed in for the day instead of going to the pool.  My mom spent most of the day with us (the guys had gone golfing.)  Anderson really never did rebound to his normal happy, funny self during the trip.  Monday- Wednesday he seemed to feel pretty bad.  And our normally excellent sleeper was suddenly up, uncomfortable, crying, off and on all night.  We tried letting him sleep in bed with us, but he's not used to it, and ended up very restless and seemed uncomfortable, even though he was very happy to be cuddling with Mommy (me too!).  Brady woke up in my parents' room a couple of mornings because I was worried Anderson wasn't letting him get any sleep, either.  Both boys had a pretty deep cough and runny noses.  Tuesday morning I took the boys to a local walk-in/ urgent care clinic.  The very nice doctor said it was just a cruddy virus they probably picked up on the plane.  Tylenol and Motrin for Anderson to try to keep him comfortable.  

Waiting room

Finally by Thursday morning, Anderson seemed to be feeling better.  He got to play with Tyra, Michael, and Colton before they all headed off.  He loved all three of them.  He very happily called "T-T" by name.  He decided Michael was very good at reading, and asked him to read "My Friend Is Sad" and "Little Blue Truck" over and over.  And he thought Colton was hilarious.

Coco :)

Snacking and reading with Great-Grandma... starting to feel better!

Brady making faces with Uncle Mike

Here are a couple of random but cute bathtime pictures from the trip...

TIGHT squeeze!

Jacuzzi tub

Wednesday we had dinner with my Uncle Jon and Aunt Lori.  Anderson did his best, but dinner did not go all that well.  Ryan and I ended up taking turns in the van with Anderson; he was coughing and sick and was much more comfortable in the van.  Then Thursday we got up and went to a tour of the Cardinal's stadium.  I think Ryan liked the tour, which was good, because I certainly do love Ryan.  And I will suffer through even the most boring tour by the most boring tour guide on Earth for him, as I proved Thursday (my mom, Anderson, and Brady obviously love Ryan enough to do the same!)

Brady couldn't take it anymore- he fell asleep.  Come to think of it, Anderson fell asleep (in my arms) about 45-minutes into the tour.

It takes about an hour and a half to roll the actual field into the stadium before every game.  This is the only stadium that rolls their grass in and out, which was kinda cool.

My dad and Grandma Bonda picked us up, and we went to lunch.  After lunch, we headed over to my Grandma Bonda's house for some visiting.  She really enjoyed the extra time with her great grandsons.

Anderson loves his grandpa (and look- Hawaiian shirt day!)

Three generations

That evening, my parents met my Uncle Jim and Aunt Terri for dinner.  Ryan, the boys, Grandma, Mike and Trudi (by now the only family still at the resort) played and ordered dinner at the pool.  The resort (The Sheraton Desert Oasis, for anyone who wants to go to Phoenix) had the best food.  Their barbeque sandwich rocked my world, and Anderson and I shared a yummy flat bread pizza Thursday night.  Anyways, it was a really nice way to finish the trip.

Anderson loved the splash zone!

Brady is such a happy guy- note to self: be better at getting smiley pictures.

Brady and Great-Grandma

Nothing like poolside snuggles

Friday we spent allll day travelling.

Anderson fueled up for the big travelling day with his own (small) (decaffeinated) vanilla Frappaccino.  He loved it.  

The flight was fine- with the time change, we left around 2:30 and landed around 10:00.  Then we had to get to our cars (Park N Fly) and drive home from Baltimore.  Traffic on I-95 was ridiculous!  Because of construction, we were stuck- at a stand still- on 95 for an hour and a half.  No moving.  People out of their cars.  Me whining and borderline freaking out.  Brady screaming... then Anderson crying... then Brady screaming some more.  Finally we pulled into our driveway around 3:00am.  If this wasn't crazy enough, Ryan was waking up the next morning to be at the church by 6:00 for another Saints softball event.  The boys and I, on the other hand, slept in until 11:15 (Brady did wake up to eat around 8:00.)  We had such a fun trip, but were all very happy to be HOME! :)

Celebrating Grandma's 80th Birthday Part 1

This past week the four of us, plus my Mom and Dad and Lauren, flew to Phoenix to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday.  The trip had all of the makings of the perfect vacation- and it really was wonderful- but we had some ups and downs!

Most importantly, we got to be with a lot of my Bradley family to celebrate Grandma.  And we all stayed safe and sound.  And we're home now. :)

Our trip started Friday, June 14.  This was also my last day of school, so it was a whirlwind!  Once Dad and I had brought one more load of "stuff" home from my classroom, we pretty much grabbed Sadie and the boys and headed to the Dude Ranch, then to Baltimore.  On the way to Baltimore, we stopped in Alexandria, VA to see Lauren and Kyle's new apartment.  It is beautiful and perfect for the two of them.  You cannot tell they just moved in at all; can't wait to go back and spend more time with them in DC.

After staying the night in Baltimore (Ryan drove in after midnight to join us- Saints basketball event after work Friday), we caught a direct flight to Phoenix Saturday around noon.   I cannot imagine flying with the two boys just Ryan and I- let alone by myself!  Our ratio of 5 adults to 2 babies seemed about right. 

The boys did really well on the plane- very minimal fussing, but not a lot of sleeping, either.  Mom and Lauren kept Anderson entertained for the majority of the trip.  Ryan and I had Brady so that I could feed him as needed.  We traded boys during the flight for a while, too.  

It took us most of the day to get to Phoenix, get two rental cars, and get all 10 pieces of luggage to the resort in Scottsdale.  The resort was beautiful; Ryan and I would love to take the boys back when they are older (9 and 10 maybe?) so we can enjoy the resort but do some hiking/ sightseeing in the area, too.

Courtyard 

I could barely notice the beautiful resort at first, however, because Brady had reached a whole new level of tired/ stressed-out.  He was SCREAMING once we got to the resort.  Quite the first impression for meeting so many of his relatives!

After feeding and swaddling Brady, we were fit to socialize.  There is a three hour time change, so it was about 10 pm by now for all of us east coasters.  Anderson and Liam had fun playing together; Liam can suddenly talk like a kindergartener!  When we got there, Liam said "Put him down" so he could play with Anderson.  Ha :)  The boys ran around the Cassons' rooms for a while.  Then we all ordered pizza and visited some before we crashed for the night.

They had fun getting in and out of the fancy tub.  Also they were fascinated by the glass enclosed time-machine looking shower.  They would touch the glass, and then reach through the opening... amazed.  Ha :)

The next morning was Sunday, Father's Day, and probably my favorite day of the trip.  Everyone was WELL (more on that to come!), and we spent lots of time with family.  Most of the day we spent at the pool.  Also, most of our Harden relatives came to the resort to see us and meet the boys for the first time.  Great Grandma Bonda got to meet her only two great-grandchildren (for now) :).  It was such a fun day, and both of my boys really enjoyed the pool.

Chris, Colin, Sarah, and Liam playing in the pool

Liam shared his awesome sports car with Anderson- who loved it!

Auntie Lauren :)

(L to R) Mollie, Jim, Terri, Grandma, Grandma Bonda, Dad, Lori, Brady, Mom
Chillin in the shade

After we got cleaned up, we took some Father's Day and family photos:

Great Grandma with the boys :)

Greatly anticipated cuddles!

We love Grandma.

The boys on Father's Day.  Love. Love. Love.

That night the grandparents stayed home after bedtime, and all of us cousins headed out to a 9:00 movie (midnight for us).  We saw Man of Steel- and the first half was pretty good.  All I know about the second half is that it was very loud and kept waking me up.  Ha.  Lauren and I made our best attempt, but Diet Coke was no match for jet lag.

Speaking of... it's after midnight back in VA now... I'm going to sleep.  More to come soon :)

Duet

Brady got to try out the piano seat/ spin/ thing this afternoon.  He seemed to really like it.  No laughing- or smiling, really- but he was very alert and content the whole time he was in it.  

Anderson's love for his old piano seat (I don't know what to call it) was suddenly rekindled.  At first he was so cute playing with it with Brady.  Then he decided he wanted in the seat instead of his brother.  This was the first time I felt like my two boys had to really share something-  which was a learning experience for all 3 of us.  One time out was involved, but over all we were able to take turns pretty well.  

I wouldn't put Anderson in the seat because I told him it was for babies.  But he got himself into it and was happy as could be.  He was very cute squeezed into the little seat.  Hopefully he'll get over it soon.  Brady will be happy to have it all to himself.  :)