Tales of a Fulltime Mom: Brady 15 Months and Sleeping In

Fifteen months seems to be a big month for my kids. For the girls, particularly Aubree, it meant taking off with their talking (Calleigh was already chugging along by then). For Brady, the big thing was sleeping. Not that he hasn't been a good sleeper. When he goes to bed, he goes right to sleep and doesn't wake up until morning (as long as he's in his own bed, that is). The problem has been that he wakes up so doggone early..around 6:30 and his afternoon nap was topping out at about an hour. Meanwhile, the girls sleep until about 8:00 and they always took really long afternoon naps. I don't know what happened but somehow a miracle occurred because starting a week ago, it was a Friday morning, Brady slept until 8:15. Because of that, the morning nap didn't happen which produced a 2.5 hour afternoon nap. I thought the whole thing was a fluke but no, it's happened every day since then (although a couple of mornings he slept until 7:30 - 7:45). I am in heaven!

I am a little late in posting this but on 9/18, Brady had his 15 month appointment. That was a little late too, as he turned 15 months on the 8th, but his doctor, being one of the few males at the practice, has a very busy schedule. I imagine that we will soon switch doctors to something closer to where we are here. I don't mind the drive for the well visits but it may be a little annoying to go 35 minutes for a sick visit. Of course, we haven't actually had one of those in eons but you never know when that can change. Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised when Brady was up to a whole 19 pounds. He gained almost two full pounds in three months which I thought was pretty good for him. He's still nowhere on the weight chart but he's on a very nice upward curve. At this rate, he shouldn't have a problem hitting the magical 20 pounds by the time we take our big trip to Boston for Christmas (thus being able to face forward in his car seat). Here is a comparison of the kids at 15 months:

Brady Aubree Calleigh
Weight 19 lbs, 0 oz (0th) 20 lbs, 4 oz (10th) 23 lbs, 0 oz (50th)
Height 30.5 inch (25th) 31 inch (50th) 32 1/4 inch (90th)
Head 25th 18.5 inch (75th) 18.75 inch (90th)

So yup, Brady remains the smallest of the three although he's not terribly far behind Aubree. I was looking through some pictures of Aubree at Brady's age now and I was struck by how similar they look. I don't really see it now when I compare them but Aubree at 15 months does look similar.

Aubree - 15 months

Aubree - 15 Months

The other thing happening with Brady is that he's still nursing and it's probably more than he was a few months ago. He found his voice and his hand when it comes to that and will start pawing at my shirt and saying something along the lines of "Boo, Boo" when he wants to nurse. I had reduced to twice a day (first thing and last thing) but now it's happening again at various times as the mood strikes him. Fortunately I'm cool with that.

I remember the days when we first moved into our townhouse from an apartment and Saturday nights would find us at Lowe's or Home Depot. I think my brother used to make fun of me. Well, those days are back except now they're a lot crazier because we have three semi-bored kids in tow. Last Saturday night we were at Winter Garden Village for a quick Lowe's stop and then rolled into Haverty's Furniture to see if anything struck our eye. We found a large entertainment unit that we decided would work so much better in our living room rather than the tiny one holding up our TV. We are usually so indecisive especially about big ticket purchases but this one was pretty quick and they delivered it, and put it together, on Thursday morning. It makes the room look so much better.

Still need to decorate it.

On Sunday we went to our old First Watch to meet Ron and Elaine, swung by the farmer's market at Lake Lily and then off to Lowe's again. Ron and Elaine came with us and then offered to take the girls until later in the day so we could get some stuff done. That was a big help because it's much easier to go in and out of places with just Brady. And in and out we went. You have no idea how much work it is to buy ceiling fans. You finally find one you like (no easy feat) and then it's not in stock. So you end up hitting up three or four different Lowe's. Granted, we were buying five...but still. Duncan installed three of the five on Sunday. He got to the third one and the darn thing wouldn't work. He determined something was wrong with the remote control feature. Of course, the whole thing was put together and hanging from our ceiling so it's not like he was about to disassemble it and take it back. He went back to Lowe's and they gave him a hard time about it but the manager finally opened another fan and gave him the remote. We've spent a boat load of money there recently so it's a good thing we got a little respect! And yes, the fan did work with the new remote. Phew

I can't remember what we did Monday but on Tuesday I decided it was time to check out our new library which is the Winter Garden Branch of the Orange County Library System. It seems nice enough but I'm a little disappointed in the kid's section. At our Casselberry Library, they had blocks and tables with puzzles and crayons to keep toddlers occupied. Here, there was nothing for Brady to do except pull out books and dump them on the floor which is what he did with abandon the second you looked away. Not good. On the plus side, Aubree got her first library card which she was excited about despite her demeanor to the contrary in the picture.

Cheer up Aubree. You're three - - your biggest stress is what bathing suit to wear to the pool.

Wednesday morning Jennifer came over with Evan and Kaleb (bigger boys were at school). I needed her to give me some decorating advice particularly in the Jack & Jill bathroom. I absolutely HATE the combination of the granite countertop, cabinets, and floor tile. It doesn't match and I refuse to believe I would have picked it. Unfortunately, I don't have a way to prove that I didn't. We were so incredibly rushed in making those selections that we didn't think to take pictures of what we picked at the design center. I have no recollection of what we chose but I can't believe this was it. Part of me thinks that after we picked it, they told us they couldn't change the tile after all so it just ended up being the granite we picked with the old tile and thus, it doesn't go together. The one thing I think I will do is ask our sales consultant to make sure that the granite that is there is really the one on our homeowner's transaction summary. Anyway, it's proving to be a real pain in the neck in trying to choose a theme or a color because the granite and tile are such different colors. It's driving me nuts.

Wednesday evening was Investiture at Adventurer's. I really didn't want Brady to have to sit through some long program (like it was last year) so Duncan met us at CVS on his way home from work so I could hand Brady off. As it turned out, we were supposed to be there at 6:00 and not 6:30 (oops) and it was only going until 7:00. Oh well. Calleigh is an Eager Beaver this year and Aubree thinks she's a Little Lamb because she inherited Calleigh's old shirt. Not till next year, Aubs.

Post program snack with the Evan, Blake, and Braelyn.

Yesterday morning Elaine came and picked the girls up to take them to "Charming Charlie's" at the Florida Mall. She had gone to one in Little Rock while visiting Angela and had mentioned how much the girls would like it. It's a store that carries accessories like purses, hair stuff, etc. Stuff right up the girls' alley, for sure. Calleigh kept asking to go there so yesterday was the big day. Meanwhile, Brady and I stuck around the house waiting for Haverty's to come. Luckily, they have a thing on-line where you can follow where the delivery truck is. I noted it was in Clermont so I figured we had time to make a Walgreen's run. Due to craziness that is called moving, I haven't been to the pharmacies in ages. I'm back on that horse. It's amazing because you go into the store, which is still pretty new and shiny, and there is literally one other person shopping in there. It's so quiet. I could take my sweet time at the register going through my coupons. Totally stress free shopping. Now they just need to build a CVS across the street and we'd be all set. I had to make sure I went this week because Duncan's favorite toothpaste was on sale. About a month ago, he came home and waved a tube of it in my face and said "Don't judge me but I had to have it." Yup, paid like $4 for it whereas when it's on sale, it's $0.99. It makes you feel a little sick inside, really. Not to mention that I had like 12 other tubes of toothpaste in the cabinet but he had to have that one. Make sure you let him know how nice his teeth look next time you see him because that's $4 toothpaste he's brushing with.

Aubree under more stress, despite sporting a new hat, on the way back from Charming Charlie's.

This morning was yard sales and I must say that it's nice to have a lot of household needs now because it really broadens the amount of things you can get at a yard sale. Whereas I'm usually just looking for kid's stuff, now I'm looking for a whole bunch of stuff for my house. This morning I got two trash cans for a total of $5, a brand new shower curtain liner ($1), two pieces of art, and some other odds and ends. It was a good day.

Stopped at a playground on the way back from yard sales.

Almost every day this week we saw the Isidro's. It's so nice to have them close by and we can stop at each other's house whenever the mood strikes. Since our upstairs is pretty empty, the kids basically have free reign up there and can run around to their hearts' content. Love it!

Brady gets the attention of four ladies while Kohlden lingers in the background.

Finally, in other news, my retirement date is set. Well, not the exact date but the date in general. I enjoy my work and goodness knows how nice it has been to be able to still work for the hospital from the comfort of my own couch but I knew eventually it would come to an end. Calleigh will be starting home school next year so my time will become even more stretched. My friend and old co-worker already knows a lot about my job and I've been waiting for her to have a baby so she could take over. It's happening! She's having her baby in March so I plan to hand over the reins to her some time in May or June (or whenever she's ready). I will be sad but on the other hand, it will be nice to have more time for things at home. My fifteen years at the hospital will be on June 22 so we'll see if I make it to that. Geesh. That means I graduated from college fifteen years ago. Yikes!

I really need to try harder at remembering things the girls have said but here are a few quotes from them.

Me: "Did you wear your life jacket while you were at the pool?"
Aubree: "Yes, but not right away. I slipped a little and I thought I was going to drown and then someone would have to do the mover on me."
Me: "Oh, you mean the Heimlich Maneuver?"

Calleigh, rambling on about Adam and Eve: "So, when Adam and Even sinned, that's why nobody could live in heaven any more. I guess that's good because I think everyone needed a break so we could live on this earth. We would get bored of living in heaven this whole time because we are going to live there FOREVER."
Me: "Trust me. You will not get bored living in heaven."

Have a Happy Sabbath everyone!