We took Braden and Carson to see their second ever movie at a theater on Sunday. If you recall, their first movie was an IMAX film about the space shuttle, which we watched at Kennedy Space Center last November.

This time around, we saw the 10 a.m. matinee of “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2.” Of course, Braden enjoyed it, along with all the candy and soda he consumed. Carson did well for the first hour or so eating popcorn and candy and drinking tons of soda. However, for the final half-hour, he walked around the aisles, but at least he was within arm’s length of our seats.

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Carson’s breakfast habits have changed. He doesn’t like Multigrain Cheerios anymore, often electing to eat Ritz Crackers or something else. He also doesn’t like sitting in his high chair at breakfast time, preferring to sit with Braden in the living room and watch TV.

Speaking of Ritz, it’s funny to see Carson hold onto a stack of crackers (sometimes other things like Wheat Thins) for hours, eating one every now and then. He’ll play, watch TV and move about all while holding onto the crackers. He’ll even move the crackers to his other hand when he needs to free up that hand.

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Carson certainly knows the word “no” now. For example, as he’s coming down the stairs, if we try to help him, he’ll yell “no!”

Journal going out, talking

It’s been hard to see how many new teeth Braden has, as he hates it when we prod around his mouth. Brian counted eight on the top row (four new), and there appears to be about the same in the bottom row. At least with some molars, Braden is finding it easier to chew.

Braden can now say “bow wow,” and he’ll also respond with those words when you ask him what sound a dog makes. He can also say “darn it,” along with slapping his hands on his thighs, which he learned from his great uncle Chuck. It’s so cute to see him wind up as he gets ready to say it and act it out.

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Braden used to love bananas–in fact, he ate one every day at breakfast–but now he dislikes them. So basically he’s eating around 2-3 bowls’ worth of cereal in the mornings, it seems. On the flip side, Braden now likes strawberries, which he wouldn’t eat before. We don’t understand why his tastes have changed.

These toddler biscuit/cookies we found are his new favorite food. He will open the pantry door and point at them, often stomping his feet, until you feed him one. And he still likes ketchup, to the point that we will put it on various foods just so he’ll eat them.

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We did end up taking Braden to two Concerts on the Square this year. The first time he ended up playing with Brian’s former supervisor from DPI and his wife. They (fortunately) enjoyed his company.

The second time we were able to keep him from wandering as much, but in both cases we left at the half. We missed last year in which he fell asleep during the concert.

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Last update: Braden can sort of jump. After watching Brian do it a few months ago, he tried to imitate it but couldn’t get his feet off the ground (but he got the arm gestures down). Now he can sort of get one or both feet in the air (about 1 cm tops). It’s really adorable when he tries.

Journal going out, new skills, talking, teething

While Braden is still not talking, he can say a few words and does understand what we’re saying some of the time. Besides “uh-oh,” he yells “up!” when he wants you to pick him up or lift up to a place he can’t climb. Note: he can’t quite make the “p” sound, so it’s really more of “uh!”

We have heard him say “dog” (closer to “Doug”), and we think he knows he’s referring to us when he says “mama” and “dada.” In addition, you can ask him to point out his eyes, nose, tongue and bellybutton. Plus, you can ask him in both Mandarin and English to blow you a kiss. It’s super cute!

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We took Braden to the Mallards baseball game the other day. We’ll post a video soon of him acting shy around the dog mascot named Bonehead. Unlike the first game in which Brian took Braden, who only sat in the seats for one out, this time Braden made it through a whole inning before wanting freedom. He went all over the ballpark!

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We’re trying to figure out if we can take Braden to Concerts on the Square. Last year we were able to rock him to sleep, but he was much younger then and couldn’t run. This year may prove to be more difficult.

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This picture is priceless! We took Braden to a UW softball game, and every time Bucky Badger walked by, Braden would stare and point. Check out the photo album to see pictures of Braden stare at him, like this one. Absolutely adorable!

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Right before our very eyes, Braden is now consistently walking instead of crawling to get to where he wants to go. We are just amazed at the ability for babies to learn skills that aren’t taught.  We were in a shallow (half-foot) pool this past weekend, and it was fun to watch Braden “wade” through the water.

Fortunately, Braden has not yet developed the ability to run. THAT will be immense trouble for us when he does!

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Kristin took Braden to the zoo the other day. Braden seemed to really enjoy it, as he was fascinated by the animals and kept pointing at them (while grunting).

Speaking of pointing, Braden is getting a lot bossier now. When he wants something, he will point and either grunt or say “da.” If he doesn’t get what he wants (e.g. the TV remote), he’ll sometimes sit or lie on the ground and throw a short, mini-fit.

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Braden is really starting to understand words. One example is that he understands his name, so if you say it, he’ll look at you. Another example that Kristin discovered is that she asked him to bring her a book, and he walked across the living room to his play area to retrieve one for her.

Brian likes to say “where’s the banana?” (Braden’s favorite breakfast food), and Braden will point to the kitchen and grunt.

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Following on the previous topic of food, we’ve noticed Braden is eating less and less now (no longer the bottomless pit of yesteryear). We figure this is going to start to be a problem at restaurants soon. Previously, Braden ate before, during and after we ate. But now, he’s full by the middle of our meal, and then he becomes antsy (meaning he wants to run around).

We figure we will have to go out more frequently now before we can’t for a couple of years.

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What a difference a year makes. At the end of 2008, we were eagerly awaiting Braden’s arrival. Now, he’s almost 11 months old!

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Braden is standing a lot more frequently now without having to lean against anything. We think most of the time he does it inadvertantly, but there are a few occasions where it seems he is purposely trying to stand by himself.

Another cute thing Braden is doing is now when he lies down, he put his hands behind his head like he is relaxing. We’re just waiting for him to cross his legs …

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Braden’s first Christmas went well. We thought he would tear through the wrapping of his presents, but he was surprisingly uninterested in opening anything. He is, however, enjoying his gifts.

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We took Braden to the UW basketball game on Thursday. Fortunately, he was a good boy, not crying or being overly squirmy. He fell asleep with about 4 min. left in the game, then slept the entire walk back to the car. Braden had not been to a sporting event since the Brewers game that Brian took him to back in the summer.

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This past weekend we went to Kristin’s friend’s wedding in Milwaukee and left Braden with Kristin’s parents overnight. That meant we were both free for the first time, though Kristin still had to get up in the middle of the night to pump. Still, it was nice to get a full-night’s rest.

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We celebrated our sixth anniversary on Sunday. It was a year ago that we began telling people we were pregnant. What a difference a year makes!

We had dinner at the Tornado Steakhouse this year. Braden fussed most of the time as he usually does when we go out to eat, so he had to sit in our laps once again.

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We took Braden to Art Fair on the Square twice over the weekend (all three of us went Saturday morning before we left for the wedding, and just Brian and Braden on Sunday while Kristin worked). He slept the second time.

Uncategorized anniversary, going out

Last week Braden ventured out quite a bit.

• On Sunday he went to Schwoegler’s bowling alley for Brian’s bowling banquet
• On Tuesday he went to Brian’s meeting at Vilas Hall on campus
• On Thursday he went to Brian’s volleyball game at Willy St. Pub & Grill
• On Friday he went to the zoo with Kristin and her sister Marcie during the day and to the UW softball game with Brian at night
• On Saturday he went to the Farmers’ market with Brian and Kristin and again to the UW softball game

Obviously we are getting braver and braver to take him out!

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