I hope I don't jinx myslef ...

but Bradley has slept through the night for 4 nights in a row now! From 9:45 or 10:00 all the way to 6:45 or 7:00! He's our good little sleeper. But now that I said that he'll probably be up a few times tonight ...

I took Bradley to his 2-week follow up doctor appointment yesterday and Dr. Rommel said his ears look like they're all cleared up - very good news. Hopefully they stay that way and he doesn't get any more ear infections, at least for a while. When we got home from the doctor's office (around 4:00) Bradley napped for over an hour, then played in his jumperoo for a while, and then ate a big bowl of oatmeal. He's getting better and better with the spoon, I think this weekend we're going to try some yummy peas and see how that goes! If anything, it should make for some good pictures!

More Easter Pictures!

Here are a few more Easter pictures!






Bradley's First Easter and an Anniversary!

Bradley experienced his first Easter yesterday! It was a long day for sure, but it was a really fun day. Bradley got his Easter Basket from the Easter Bunny (which included bath toys, baby food and some candy for Mommy and Daddy) and then got more Easter goodies from his grandparents too. We loaded up the car (it looked like we were going away for a few days, not just a few hours) and off the four of us went. We stopped at Yiayia's house first to wish her a Happy Easter; she had a cute bunny for Bradley and he loved it. He smiled a bunch for Yiayia which she got a kick out of. After that we went to my mom's house and took Bradley down to the beach for the first time. We attempted to put on his hat and sunglasses which he was not a huge fan of, so off they went. He really does not like hats, even though they look so cute on him! Luckily it was a bit overcast so we didn't have to worry about taking our little pale, red-headed Irish baby out in the sun. Bradley loves being outside so I'm sure he liked the breeze coming in off the water. We put his feet in the sand for the first time and he seemed pretty indifferent to it, but I think he liked being out there. We took a few pictures and went back to my mom's. Everyone arrived there around 2:30 and we had a great Easter dinner! Bradley sat in his Bumbo watching everyone eat, then I fed him a bowl of oatmeal which he LOVES. He's getting pretty good at eating from the spoon too. This weekend I think we'll try some peas and see if he likes that too. We got home around 7:00 and all of us - Dan, me, Bradley and Millie too - were exhausted. We gave Bradley a bath and bottle, and then he slept from 9:00 all the way to 7:00. It was great!

Easter and beach pictures ...

  

Also, two years ago today Dan and I got married!! These past two years have just flown by, but they have been great and we can't wait to see what the future holds. In honor of our anniversary, here is one of our wedding pictures ...

best buds

Here's Bradley and his best bud, his big sister Millie, as the Easter Bunny getting in the Easter spirit!

it was a long weekend ...

Bradley is still fighting his ear infection, poor little guy. His medicine is definitely working but we can tell his ears still bother him from time to time. Unfortunately the main side effect from the medicine is going strong, as evident by the number of diapers we went through and the number of outfit changes over the weekend. One onesie was lost, it just seemed to make more sense to toss it rather than clean it. But Bradley will be done with his medicine and should be feeling back to normal just in time for Easter!

The attempt at sleeping in the crib overnight did not work out so well. Bradley did great napping in the crib on Saturday, with one nap being a little over an hour long. I thought this meant sleeping in the crib at night would be no problem. Boy, was I wrong! Bradley went to bed a little before 10:00, woke up at 1:00 but I was able to get him back to sleep without picking him up. But then at 3:30 that same trick did not work. At all. I was up with him from 3:30 until around 5:30 when he decided he was hungry. He didn't open his eyes at all for those two hours so I knew he was sleepy, but I think with all the extra room he has in the crib he kept waking himself up. After his 5:30 bottle I put him back down in his Rock 'n Play, figuring it would be better for both baby and mommy to get some much needed sleep. We'll try the crib again this weekend!

Bradley also had his first "solid" food over the weekend! We gave him some rice cereal, which really didn't seem very solid at all but it was a little thicker than his bottles. We strapped him into his high chair and put on a plastic bib (which was very much needed!) and off we went. I had the bowl and spoon, Dan had the camera ready, and Brian was over to experience the whole thing too. Bradley did pretty well here and there, but mostly it ended up all over his face. We tried it again Sunday and he's definitely still figuring out the whole spoon thing. We'll try it again tonight, but we're going to make the rice cereal a little thicker per the advice from Bradley's teacher at school. Once he masters rice cereal we'll try oatmeal, then on to the fun stuff like peas and carrots and pears!

Sunday afternoon we went on a nice family walk - Dan, me, Bradley and Millie. The weather was beautiful and we all had a good time. Bradley has finally grown into his sunglasses! Here he is earlier in the day trying on his shades.

Easter Bunny!!!

We took Bradley to see the Easter Bunny this morning! We made sure to get there early so we wouldn't have to wait in a long line for a few reasons, mainly to avoid any possible crying fits and the less time in line, the less likely it is that Bradley spits up all over his outfit. Bradley wore a Polo romper (so cute) that he received as a gift a couple weeks ago - it's size 6 months but we were kind of worried it wouldn't fit him today. It barely snapped around his chunky thighs, but it fit! It might be the first and last time he gets to wear it, so we're glad we captured it on film since he's growing so fast.

Here is our little man with the Easter Bunny!

a little comparison

Just for fun, here are Bradley's 1-4 month pictures. They were all taken in his Rock 'n Play so you can see how much bigger he is in now than he was a few months ago. Don't think he'll fit in it much longer!

4 month pictures

Besides going to the doctor (ear infection is still not cleared up, but we got some good medicine for it), Bradley had a great 4 month birthday! His teachers at school said he played with new toys and practiced sitting up, and had some good tummy time too. When Dan and I picked him up he was hanging out with three other baby boys and it was just so cute. Bradley was on his tummy, another boy was laying on his back and the two other baby boys were sitting up, and they were all looking at eachother. Too cute! Dan asked how old the sitting up baby boys were because we noticed they looked to be about the same size as Bradley. One was 6 months old and the other was 7 months old. Bradley weighed in at 16 pounds at the doctor's office, and Dr. Klein said he would have thought Bradley was 6 months instead of 4. Our little chunky monkey is getting so big!

We captured some good 4 month birthday shots, and just in time because not two minutes after I took the last one Bradley spit up all over his onesie and sticker. Good timing! Here are his birthday pictures, and some more from the past few days.

Today ... and one year ago today

Bradley is four months old today!! Hard to believe it's already been four months, yet hard to believe he's only been here four months. I can't imagine life without my little monkey! And one year ago today we found out little Bradley was on the way. I remember that excitement like it was yesterday. What a great year it's been ...  : )

Here's a picture of Bradley last night, laughing after playing with a new toy. Such a sweet little guy! Official four month pictures to come soon ...

Woohoo!

Bradley slept through the night!! For the past few weeks he has been waking up right around 4:00 a.m. for a bottle, but last night he slept from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 this morning. I knew he could do it again! Hopefully he keeps sleeping like this once we transition him to his crib ... On another note, over the weekend he started making a new noise. It's like a cross between a growl and a roar. Pretty funny, and Bradley thinks it's hilarious. It's his new favorite thing to do. We'll try to capture this new noise on film over the weekend.

Smiles

Here are a few pictures we took last night that just make us smile  : )

Catching Up!

To say a lot has happened since my last post would be an understatement! Between the new house and getting everything ready for the baby there wasn't much time for anything else. But on to the good stuff ...
Bradley George Jandernal made his grand entrance on Monday, December 13th, coming in at 7 lbs, 4 oz and 20 1/4 inches long! Reddish hair and beautiful blue eyes ... He is just perfect in every way and we are so blessed to have him. I was in labor for eight hours and everything went well, especially after the epidural! He's almost four months old now which is so hard to believe, time goes by so quickly. The first few weeks were tough but once we got past the first three weeks it got a little easier. Then Dan had to go back to work and I'll admit I was a little terrified of being on my own with Bradley but it didn't take very long to fall into a routine. I was home with him for three months and it was great. I was dreading my return to work and while the first few days were hard it didn't take much time at all to fall back into the work routine. Bradley is in daycare and so far that has worked out well. Dan drops him off in the mornings and I pick him up in the afternoons. There are a few other babies there right around Bradley's age so I'm certain he's made some little buddies at school to play with.
Bradley is at a really fun age now - he smiles and laughs and makes funny sounds and has such a great little personality. One of the best parts of the day for me are the mornings because he's always in a great mood and his face just lights up and he has a huge smile for Mommy and Daddy when he wakes up! Bradley just had his four-month doctor appointment (a week and a half early) and he weighs 14 lbs, 13 oz. He's a little chunky baby! He's outgrown most of his 3 month clothes so we're on to 6 month clothes now. We got the green light to start him on solids so we'll be trying out rice cereal first and then on to the fun stuff. And he hit a big milestone over the weekend - he rolled over! He went from stomach to back all by himself, and he's so close to going from back to stomach. This means it's almost time for Dan and I to baby-proof the house, I have a feeling that once Bradley can move around there will be no stopping him. I have about a million pictures of our little guy, but here are a few of my favorites ...










And here's one from Christmas when he was just two weeks old, it's hard to believe he was so little!


Oh, and I just had to add that Millie is a great big sister! She's been looking out for her little brother and has been pretty protective of Bradley since we brought him home. Bradley is just starting to notice Millie, soon enough they'll be playing together!