Backpack.. Backpack..

I ordered Brayden his very 1st backpack for school from Etsy(which I am addicted to) and I am so happy with how it turned out...

At first he didn't want me to put it on him, so I had to trick him into standing still by giving him some goldfish. Then when I finally got it on him he didn't want to take it off-haha! I just LOVE his little backpack and I think he looks too cute with it on!!

P.S. If you have seen Dora then you know the tune to my blog title...

Getting Dressed

Brayden's new favorite thing to do is get a pair of shorts and have me hold them open, so he can step into them himself. And sometimes he doesn't like to just put on one pair of pants, but several pair at one time. Infact, he will layer shorts on top of pants and then follow that up with a swimsuit if he is able to coax me into it. He also enjoys taking off the pair of shorts he has on and then having me hold them open, so he can step into them and we repeat this about 20 times. He used to try to put his shorts on his head, so I guess this is better - ha! :)

The other day I was putting up laundry in his room right after he woke up, so he was able to get on 4 different layers. Pajama bottoms, pair of pants, another pair of pajama bottoms and then jean shorts. And then he REFUSED to take them off, so he waddled around for half the day like that. I say waddled, because with that many layers on and a diaper he was having a hard time getting around...haha! :)

I wish you could see more than just 2 layers...

Giving him a bottle of water keeps him sitting still for at least 5 minutes ;)

On Thursday we went back to Galveston and had a great time. Well, except for bedtime- sleeping in a hotel with an 18 month old who thinks EVERYTHING and EVERYBODY is a jungle gym is NOT fun. We tossed the idea of staying the night again on Friday before bedtime and about midnight when Brayden was crawling on top of our heads we both agreed that going home Friday would be best- ha! :) We went to the beach on Thursday and then went down to the strand for dinner, ice cream and fudge- yum! Friday we got up and drove around for a bit, so B would actually take a nap and then we went back to the beach for the afternoon. We got him to start saying beach, but it sounds more like profanity than beach- so we will work on that one a little bit later! :)

Speaking of words though he is now saying 'please' ... well 'peeease' really. I of course have to prompt him to say it, but it is precious. His vocabulary is improving so much and he is saying a lot now. He also LOVES to give kisses especially to his baby cousin, Molly. He walks up to her and says 'baby' then kisses her....such a sweet boy! He even gives Elmo, Nemo and his car kisses too- haha!

Kelsey moved to Germany last week and we went to her farewell dinner at Chuy's and Brayden was a mess- oh my! We will not be taking him out to eat anytime soon because it def was not the most enjoyable experience for us! Anyway, we got a web cam so we can skype with Kelsey and B loved it. Well he liked climbing on the desk, pushing random buttons and hanging up on Kelsey!

So now I am in love with skype and I made my parents get an account this evening, so we were able to talk/see each other. I don't know why I didn't do this sooner-love it!!

Well, I only have 2 more weeks left to spend with Brayden before I go back to work and I sure have enjoyed chasing him around this summer....he is a mess, but I love him!

The Beach

This past week we decided to make a day trip to the beach. It was B's 1st time and we had so much fun.

As soon as we got settled B took off straight for the water and had no fear. He LOVED the water, the waves made him giggle and I think he ate about a pound of dirt!:) His most favorite thing to do(aside from eating handfuls of mud) was to lay on his tummy and let the waves crash into his face. He was precious!

The weather turned out PERFECT & there were no tar balls or oil, so that was good! I tried to get a few pics, but decided to quit after a few failed attempts and enjoyed my time with my boys...

Our spot

Making a sand castle...do you see his little butt hanging out..hehe

Helping dad find the hot babes...

Break for a PB & J

B's favorite thing...

Blowing the beach goodbye kisses as we leave...

This was not even 10 minutes after we pulled out of the parking lot...

It was the PERFECT day and as you can see his curls came back!:) I thought they were long gone after we chopped his hair off, but the saltwater brought them back out-ha!

We are planning to go back again before summer ends and this time we want to get a hotel for the night. We really want to spend more time at the beach and do a few other things in Galveston- maybe hit up the aquarium in Moody Gardens- so hopefully it works out for us!

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We also had another great week at Gymboree. They offer 2 open gym times during the week where you can just come and let your little one free play on the equipment and it was so much fun. At open gym on Tuesday, Brayden was walking around and giving out hugs to some of the other kids. It was the sweetest thing and made my heart melt! I have such a sweet boy! :)

Another blog for me..I'm on a roll! :)

I can't think of anything to say about these pictures other than I took them all in 5 minutes. B is constantly changing his mind about what toy he wants to play with or what piece of furniture he wants to climb on and I now fully understand what it means to say toddlers are 'all over the place'...

Back to the toy bucket for the 100th time...

B loves him some Elmo or Melmo as he calls him

Back to the phone...

Brayden is so smart he reads TWO books at one time..

As soon as B realizes I am taking pictures he is all over me in a desperate attempt to claim the camera as his.

I used to clean up his toys once he moved on to something else to play with, but clearly that changes within a matter of seconds and it wore me out. Now we clean once a day at night when he is asleep and at nap time if he has really done damage that morning.

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On Thursday, Lauren sent me a 'groupon' for Gymboree and we totally jumped on it. We got Brayden signed up for the Friday morning class and took him the very next day for his first class. I dragged Bailey along with me thinking that he could follow us around and take pictures...this is what he got...

The climbing tower was literally his favorite thing- go figure!

Yeah...he is a GREAT photographer, isn't he? This is literally one of the 1,000 times Brayden decided to separate from the group and do his own thing, so Bailey finally felt comfortable to take out the camera, hide it in his hand and snap TWO pictures...a shame. Bailey then informed me he was never again going to the class and I am on my own...something about being the only 'man' there...I don't know...I think he is weird.

Brayden had a great time and I am so excited to go back to class next Friday and to go to open gym twice a week for the next month. It's so much nicer to let B run around in air condition than outside in this 100 degree weather.