Zoo 2012

Last weekend we took Brayden & Lilly (who really could have cared less) to the zoo!  Matt's parents, brother, and sister-in-law meet us there for a full day of fun.  The weather was perfect...upper 70s, low humidity, and a light breeze.  Because the weather was so nice, the animals were all out and pretty active too which was really nice!  We had a great time together!

Giraffes up close

Brayden, Aunt Dana, and Uncle John looking at something...

Elephants

Brayden and Daddy looking at the elephants

Lilly and Mommy near the rhinos

Rhino up close

Brayden and Nana looking at the lemurs...they were very active

Gorillas.  This was a gorilla family and the daddy was holding the tail of the baby to keep it from getting away.  Dana and I decided that kids need tails for a while too, to use as a leash.  It was so funny because the baby was running all over the place and the daddy kept a good, firm grip on its tail!

More gorillas

Crazy bird...dived across LOTS of people's heads and landed in this tree.  There were lots of signs that said this bird would bite as well.  Great!

BIG alligator

Sammy the Seal (we read that book a lot and Brayden thought it was cool to see Sammy in person)

Lilly chillin' with her glasses while riding in the Baby K'Tan carrier.  She finally passed out with me carrying her!

A month of Lilly in pictures

Blueberries are SO yummy!

Lilly finally figured out how to sit up :)

Sitting in the stroller I used to ride in as a little girl and wearing my dress.

Brayden and Lilly

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Cutie pie with her big flower!

All bundled up for the March of Dimes walk...it was COLD this year to start the walk!

Riding on my bouncy horse

Just chillin

Lilly's favorite mode of transportation for a while was rolling all over the house...she got really fast at it!

First time swinging

The cutest little bunny around!

New Deck!!

When we bought this house almost 2 years ago, we knew that we wanted to replace the existing deck one day. Well, we decided that now was the time and they just finished the project earlier this week!  The company that did the work was great to work with, did a great job, and did what they said for the price they said.  We are VERY happy with the results and can't wait to spend time out on the deck this summer grilling out, playing and eating!  Enjoy the before and after photos :)

Old deck wood rot

Old deck from below

Old deck and where the new section of deck is going to go

Old deck GONE!

Framing for the new deck

Completed new deck!!

New deck!!  It is HUGE!

Brayden's 1st dentist visit

Brayden had his 1st visit to the dentist last week and did AMAZING!!  I couldn't believe how incredibly well he did!!   We talked about going to the dentist all the week before and read the Bearenstein Bears Visit the Dentist book several times so I think it really helped.

First of all, normally, Brayden is VERY shy and reserved around new people and places.  He had been with me 2 other times just to watch but I still expected him to be his normal quite, shy self.  Nope!  When we walked in the office, he was super talkative and friendly with all of the staff right off the bat.
 
 Matt met us there because I also had an appointment.  I thought they were going to do Brayden and then do my cleaning, but when we got there, they wanted to do our cleanings at the same time so I didn't get to watch, but I could hear everything that was going on across the hall. 

Talking with Ms Harriet (who knows what about!)

According to Matt, he climbed up in the chair, did exactly what they asked, when they asked, answered all of their questions and just totally rocked the entire appointment!  I am SO PROUD of how well he did!

Update on Brayden

I haven't done an update on Brayden in a while so I will start with him.

He is so funny most of the time these days!  Brayden says the silliest things and acts so funny when he wants but can be VERY focused and serious other times.  He also knows exactly what he wants and is going to be a great boss one day if he continues the way he is now.  For example, Matt and Brayden were playing with his tool bench at my parents house last weekend and Brayden told Matt "Take the hammer and nail this here, then take the screwdriver and take this screw out and then use this wrench to pull this nail out".  He knew exactly what he wanted his daddy to do.

Being safe while working with his "power tools"

Brayden recently completed another round of swim lessons and is really starting to "get it".  He starts the next set of swim lessons in just a few weeks.  I think after this next round, he will graduate to the next level!

A few weekends ago, I let him try a new fun, but messy "craft" while I was making baby food.  Baking soda, vinegar, and a medicine dropper.  I put food coloring in the vinegar and the put baking soda in a bowl (then later into a muffin pan) and let him drop the colored vinegar into the baking soda.  He really enjoyed watching the fizz for about 30 minutes!

 A few weeks ago we went to my best childhood friend son's 3rd birthday party at the Durham Science Museum.  Brayden had a great time at the party, riding the train, and seeing the dinosaurs!  Happy Birthday Wesley!

Matt and Brayden recently enjoyed watching an Eric Clapton concert on TV together.  I have a photo of Matt and Brayden watching the Allman Brothers together when Brayden was just a few weeks old so I had to get this one too.  

Mother's day weekend we went to another birthday party for a friend's son's 1st birthday.  The party was kite themed and each of the older kids got a small kite.  Brayden had a blast running around at my parents house flying his kite.  It got pretty far up in the air a few of the times!

Brayden knows all of his letter sounds and can write most letters (uppercase) now.  I think he knows his numbers but the kid is super stubborn and doesn't like to show off his skills on demand, but I occasionally catch him reading a number in a book etc, so I think he really does know them now.  He is also quite a little artist when it comes to drawing cars/trucks.  Most days I bring home 4-5 pages with cars, trucks, and letters on them!

He is very active and still enjoys sports.  He recently completed a soccer class at school.  We are hoping to enroll him is another sport activity later this summer.

He is still small for his age, weighing only about 28-29lbs, but he is growing taller every day!
As of mid-February Brayden is completly potty trained as well!!!  I think those are the main updates from Brayden for now...