Dancing

Brady has started dancing and it is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. He just holds on to a piece of furniture and starts stomping when music comes on. I will try to get it on video to share...

Movie Project

Has it really been over a month since I've posted? I can't believe it but it is true. The summer is flying by and we've been keeping very busy. Since I last posted I turned 30, we went to Pittsburgh for the 4th of July & a friends wedding, I co-hosted a baby shower & an engagement party and I've been working on planning Brady's first birthday party & our trip to Napa next month. Oh, and I've been having fun with Brady.

Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me with this post because I have something super cute to share with you. I was going to hold on to this until Brady's first birthday but I can't wait anymore...

Standing

Brady is all about standing and cruising these days. It took him about a week go from kneeling to pulling up to cruising. I hope he's satisfied with cruising for a little while because I'm not ready for him to start walking!!

Learning how to pull up



The first time he pulled himself up in his crib

Hands down, bath time is Brady's favorite time of day

Weekend in PA - take two

After Memorial Day weekend, we hit the road one more time to visit Brady's old friends Chase and Nolan, and his new friend Bryce! Brady was much more interactive this visit as compared to January, when Chase had the whole coordinated-movement thing down and Brady did not.

On Saturday afternoon we headed into Philly for the CHOP Healthy Children's festival. The weather was perfect and the company was even better.

Two buddies just hanging out at the music table

The fam out in Philly at the music festival

Eating lunch out on the lawn

The Palskys!

After we got back from the festival, Christina & I took the boys for a ride in the wagon to the park. Brady absolutely loved the wagon. I'm afraid that I might look crazy toting Brady around in a wagon on the city street but I may have to get one any way.

Brady and Chase going for a ride

Boys love swings

On Sunday before we headed back to DC we stopped by the 'Berger's place to meet the newest addition to our group. Little Bryce Charles was just over a week old when we got to see him and he is precious!

Where's Bryce?

There's Bryce!

Anti-gravity hair!

Brady's future roommates

** Christina, thanks for letting me poach some of your pictures. You did a great job capturing the wonderful weekend!

Memorial Day

We went to Pittsburgh for Memorial Day weekend and had an absolutely wonderful time with Jim's family. Saturday was the annual Sheriff/Shipe Memorial Day Picnic hosted by Jim's great aunt Betty & his second cousin Patty. There was a lot of family there, including Brady's great grandmother Marge and the newest addition to the extended Shipe family, Sophia, Jim's cousin Emily's daughter. We didn't get any pictures with her, but she is adorable!

The hosts of the party with Brady

Kisses for Mommy

Brady's first encounter with a balloon, apparently they are hysterical

Brady is quite the conversationalist

Brady playing with Amah

Mother's Day

I know this is seriously out of date but I needed to share because I had a wonderful first Mother's Day. It wasn't fancy but it was perfect.

Jim and Brady started the day out by letting me sleep in and then bringing me Starbucks in bed. Yum! After a lazy morning my parents came over for a afternoon of grilling out. My Dad & Jim let my Mom and I sit back and drinking sangria all afternoon as they prepared the entire meal. And, it was so good! (No more excuses for not cooking, Jim!)

Showing off their good work

What's better than ice-cream cake? Ice-cream cake that Jim decorated!

Grandma & Brady

Hugs for Mommy!

Why is Six Afraid of Seven?

Because 7 8 (ate) 9. Seriously, I think it really happened because I don't know where Brady's ninth month has gone. I'm sure several factors such as us moving, Jim being sick, Brady being sick, the hockey playoffs (don't get me started on how long and boring it is) and some traveling has had something to do with it. We were so unorganized this month that we didn't even get a picture for Brady's 9 month birthday! I bought some cupcakes to celebrate but then Jim had to work late that night and then the following night we were out and then those darn cupcakes started to look too good to just sit there so Jim and I ate them. We're bad.

Anyway, I'm very sorry we've neglected that blog lately. On top of all of the aforementioned events of the past month I also lost the cord to download pictures and videos from the camera in the move. Moving sucks and moving with a baby sucks even more. After about a month in the new place we are starting to feel more settled and are enjoying the new place so much. While I loved our old place, I did not love that we faced that back of Whole Foods, which provided us with the sounds of delivery trucks all day and night. Our new place is like a little oasis in the city with some beautiful outdoor spaces and we can actually hear birds chirping.

So, I found the missing cable today and I plan to do a massive download of pictures tonight so over the next few days keep a look out for some new posts. In the meantime, here's a cute picture from Jim's iPhone...

Let's go Pens!

Happy Easter

We had a wonderful first Easter with Brady & my family. My grandparents were visiting from Pittsburgh and it is always so nice for Brady to spend time with these two very special people.

The Easter weekend started out with an egg dying party at our friends Malena & Jameson's apartment...

At first, Brady was a little unsure of the dyed eggs...

Then he decided they looked delicious.

On Easter we went down to my parent's house and had a great brunch at their neighborhood's clubhouse. Then we headed back to their house for Brady to get his Easter present and for Jim & Aunt Kiki to compete in the annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Let's eat!

Let the hunt begin.

Brady's Easter present from Grandma & Grandpap

Cutest little Easter boy, ever!

Family shot

Extended family shot

8 Month Birthday

Eight months. How in the world did we get here already? The months are flying by so quickly now and everything seems to blur together; it seems like yesterday that we were bringing Brady home from the hospital. It's so strange to see Brady everyday and not notice, on a day-to-day basis, how much he's changed over the last 250 days. But, the last month has ushered in several new things like swimming, crawling (well, almost), and a new grunting sound that he likes to belt out randomly. Brady also got to see a lot his extended family again (and Ken for the first time!) for a Shipe-filled weekend. Overall, a pretty great month!

Candles... oooohhhh, candles.

The little guy playing in his room.

Note: teething biscuits are very messy.

Mr. Adorable.

Hanging out on the bed with his favorite toy.

Brady in all his pseudo-crawling glory.

Thanks for a great month, Brady!

Love, Daddy

The Cherry Blossoms

The cherry blossoms are kind of a big deal around here which translates to lots of tourists and traffic. Jim and I went to see them on a Saturday last year and it was ridiculously crowded. The blossoms were beautiful BUT all of the enjoyment was sucked out since we felt like herded cattle.

This year was much better because my mom and her friend Lois came up on a Thursday afternoon. And while there were some crowded areas there were also some very peaceful moments. The blossoms were at their peak and they were beautiful.

Brady loved seeing the petals falling. When the wind blew it looked like snow

Mommy & Brady

Grandma & Brady with the Jefferson Memorial in the background

Lois, Mommy, Brady & Grandma

Laughy Boy

The boy just loves to laugh...

Jumping is Tiring

I was in the other room and noticed that Brady was being unusually quiet in his jumper. I assumed he was just intently studying the parrot or gecko (which he has been known to do) but no, he had passed out.

I've worked hard to get him on a good nap schedule and I guess it has worked because he fell asleep within a minute or two of his nap time. He barely woke up when I picked him up to put him in his crib.

All Smiles

Watch Out, Michael Phelps

We took Brady to his first swim lesson this past weekend, hoping that if we start early, he won't turn out to be a terrible swimmer like me and Suzi. And if he happens to win 11 gold medals at the Olympics, then that would be cool too. Things got off to a slightly rocky start, Brady was a little unsure of the water and was stuck in a sitting position for the first 10 minutes or so. It was cute, but not very good form. Luckily, a rousing series of sing-a-long songs relaxed him and he started enjoying the water. He started kicking, splashing water (mostly in his own face) and having lots of fun. It was great -- we can't wait for next Saturday!

Brady in the water

Getting a little more used to the water

Brady starting to kick and splash

House Swap

I love living in the city. I love being able to walk out the door of our apartment and having our grocery store around the block, the coffee shop on the corner, etc. But, I have to admit there are times that I long to have a house in the suburbs with a yard, extra space and a much coveted guest bedroom. I hate that when friends or family want to visit we have nothing more to offer other than an air mattress set up in the very unprivate family room. I know that sometime we'll make the leap but for now I'll settle on finding a loophole.

Last weekend Jim's mother, brother, his fiance, sister, her boyfriend and a close family friend all traveled down for a visit and I figured out a way to make it work... we swapped houses with my parents. We Shipes took over my parents' three bedroom house 30 miles south of DC while my parents spent a weekend up in the city hitting up fabulous restaurants and visiting museums. It was perfect! We played a lot of Wii and Brady got some good quality time with his Amah and Aunts and Uncles.

Brady and Amah

Playing with Amah

Family shot (minus Adrienne & Jennifer who had to leave early)

7 Months

I know I'm really behind on this month's birthday post but we've been busy around here. Where is the time going? How could my little boy possibly be 7 months old (actually 7 1/2 now)? Not only is Brady getting bigger everyday, he's also becoming such a little person.

Happy seven months, Brady!

His likes and dislikes are becoming more apparent. He wants to get into everything, especially anything that Jim and I show interest in. His top picks are our cell phones, computers & remote controllers. He also loves his books and is starting to really show preferences to his favorite toys. While the little guy hasn't started crawling yet he's working his way up to it. He rolls around everywhere and can turn on a dime. Occasionally he'll push his stomach off of the floor but it's only for a split second.

Rolling around half naked in the crib = good times

Someday I'll stop posting pictures of Brady on the swing but for
now I can't stop. He's too cute.

Smiley boy.

Another big milestone is that he babbles all of the time. He mostly says "da da da da" but will sometimes throw in a "ga ga", "ba ba" or "la la". Sadly no ma ma yet but I know that will come with time. No pressure little guy. He also went through a short phase of blowing raspberries. It was around for about a week and he stopped doing it just as abruptly as he started, but it sure was cute while it lasted.

Jumping and blowing raspberries

Brady has also become quite an eater. He wasn't a fan of it at first (see: here) but now he loves it. I've given him apples, pears, sweet potatoes, mango, peaches, peas, avocado & butternut squash. So far his favorites are sweet potatoes, mango and peaches. I can't blame him, those are some of my favorites as well.

Pears... yummy!

The Aquarium

Last Saturday we took a quick drive up to the Baltimore Aquarium. I tried taking Brady to the zoo a few weeks ago and he was less than impressed with the animals lazily laying around on the ground, but we were hopeful that the quick little fish would capture his attention more. We were right because he was absolutely fascinated by everything at the aquarium.

There was a group of these bubble filled lighted tubes and
Brady loved watching the bubbles float up.

Fish!

The rainforest room

Penguins!

Lunch time at the cafe