Upright

Look who figured out how to stand! Brady's days without a kid sister on his tail are limited. Mallory is a quick study and she will have this walking bit down to a science in no time.

Initiation

Number 12 on the previous list is now "initiated Mallory into the poop club." What exactly is the poop club you ask? Well it's when big brother Brady drops a chocolate submarine in the tub, while little sister is soaking up some suds. We all had to abandon ship as quickly as possible before Brady's sneak attack crept it's way into Mallory's curious paws. Once again I found myself finger raking turds from the murky waters and scrambling to keep anyone from tasting the Tootsie rolls.

Have you missed us?

One of my favorite sayings is "you've got to have a set back to have a comeback." - Mr. T (please use a deep, manly voice and site me as your original cool quote source).

So our blogging has had a technical set back, but here is our comeback baby!

Since it has nearly been a month since my last post I will update you in fast forward motion.

1. Brady still loves Claire

2. Mallory has taken 2 steps

3. Brady is working on a neighbor for his lone front tooth

4. Mallory can go up and down the stairs

5. Brady is heading to Camp Munroe in a week- for a WHOLE week from 9:30-3:30, without me- GASP!!!!

6. Mallory waves hi and bye

7. Brady can swim on his back and float independently

8. Mallory says- Mama, Dada, what's that? and ba for bottle

9. Brady can do a pull up on the rings- seriously! He's sending invites out for his personal gun show. He's big time people- big time!

10. Mallory is signing!

11. Brady calls Mallory De De

End of the World

Finally...a post! With all this hype about the world ending, Brady decided to play it safe and hide out in our state of the art bomb shelter, aka cardboard fort in the basement. It's not rigged with WIFI, so a post on your favorite blog was impossible. Now that it's confirmed that the world did not end Mr. B is back in action. Though if it did indeed implode Brady was ready. He had a strategy that would make Bear Grylls proud. Drop him off in the Sahara or on top of Mt Everest and our boy would have thrived. He would have devoured a Salmon with his bear hands and single front tooth. He has really fine tuned his survival skills. Though I told him that trading his sister for cookies was not an option. He of course argued that without his sugary rounds of goodness the world might as well end.

Mallory is almost 10 months and she is a gross motor monster! She can go up the stairs and has already taken 2 steps. She is fixated on standing up and uses every surface to assist her upright addiction.

Water Conservation

The last 2 days it's been smoke'n hot. It's been awhile since we've seen 90 on the thermometer. Brady gets a bit feisty during the warmer months and demands a cool down session. Typically a selfish and self indulgent run with the hose is against his water conservation policy, but in accordance with the bylaws of such policy, Brady: 1. Used this H2O moment as his bath for the next 3 days 2. Watered the flowers 3. Placed a bucket just out of the camera's view and will use it's contents for tooth brushing and hand washing his delicates.

Brady is an amazing multitasker and has a wonderful compassion for the environment. If I filmed just a bit longer, you would have seen him hug a tree.

Preschool

"Brady exactly 2 years ago. My, how things change."

Its almost time to remove the double "pre" from pre school. I know its only May and our boy won't be hitting the school yard until August, but it all seems to be happening so quickly. Brady has been assigned to Ashland Park Robbins. I'm going to meet his teacher and visit the room very soon. I have heard wonderful things about his teacher so I am optimistic that this will be a good fit for Brady. He will be in a special ed pre-K room with up to 13 kids, 2 paras and 2-3 typical peer models and he will still receive speech, PT and OT through the school system.

Brady has prepared a few questions for my visit: 1. How many of the 13 are girls. 2. Is she aware of his preferred ratio of 2 females per 1 male? 3. When is lunch? 4. Do they serve grapes? 5. Is texting allowed 6. When is spring break?

And finally Brady wanted me to tell his teacher that if she wants to get on his good side, she should have 3 boxes of vanilla cream cookies delivered to his home by May 31st. I had to let him know that typically students are trying to get on the teachers good side, not the other way around. His response "rubbish!" (ever since the Royal Wedding he enjoys throwing in some English slang).

I think Park Robbins is in for a treat next year!

The Grey Plume

Tonight we walked to dinner and dined on some lovely cuisine at Ingredient. It was a beautiful night, the kind of evening when the sun is warm and the breeze is cool. As Jeff always says "great night for camping." On our way home we decided to cruise by The Grey Plume to take a look-see at the menu. We have had our eye on the joint for our anniversary celebration and wanted to get an idea for their spread. After Jeff assessed the entrees and Brady approved the desserts we were on our way. Then as the family train was departing the chef/owner came out and handed Brady the pictured cookies. He was so kind and solidified where we will be toasting our 8th year of marriage.

If the food is half as good as their owner, then we are in for a treat.