The St. Patty's Day Miracle(s)

So just as I wrote about how quickly this first year is going with Braedan in last week's post, a couple days after that he surprised us with two new and exciting "firsts." It all started on Wednesday, St. Patrick's Day. We went on a lunch date to celebrate the occasion, and my little leprechaun had a good time. I think he really enjoyed himself, because he sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time and couldn't get enough of watching the other patrons, especially the manager who was walking around and checking on folks. He kept watching and following her movement as she walked past us, and at one point she said she would take flirting from a cute, little guy like him anytime - I couldn't agree more. The next morning Braedan and I were hanging out with his dad while he got ready for work, and when Braedan opened his mouth I saw something unusual. It looked like the beginnings of a tooth sprouting but I wanted to feel it to be sure before I said something aloud and jinxed the chances. My hunch was right though and that first bottom tooth is finally making its appearance. His dad called it a "St. Patty's Day Miracle" because until now, I was resigned to the fact that Braedan might be close to a year old before we saw his first tooth. I am a little relieved now knowing the rest won't be too far behind. In fact, another bottom one started coming in a couple days ago.

The second big surprise took place on the same day of the tooth miracle. When I went to get him from his morning nap, he was sitting straight up in his crib waiting for me. He has only done this twice and we have yet to witness him actually doing it. I guess a membership to the gym can be attributed to this newfound strength. I signed him up for the Tiny Tykes class at My Gym and once a week for the past three weeks, Braedan has worked on his physical and cognitive development by way of stretching, dancing, crawling, rolling and manipulating all sorts of fun equipment. It is a real joy watching him in this new environment. My little guy is not shy about meeting new people and he is definitely not afraid of trying new activities, not even when it involves perching him high atop a non-flat surface.

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

When I was younger, I always heard adults talk about how fast time flies especially in relation to how fast I was growing and I never understood their astonishment. As a mom now, I completely understand the source of where that sense of shock comes from as I can hardly believe that Braedan turned eight months old on Monday. It seems like it was just yesterday when we first brought him home and his dad was cradling him in his arms giving him a tour of his new home. Now, Braedan is slowly starting to come into his own here at home, exploring (or as we like to say get into everything) by way of his scoot/crawl or zipping to and from in his walker. I am extremely grateful to have the opportunity to spend these early months with him because as the calendar shows, the window of his infancy stage is quickly closing. As they say, "time flies when you're having fun."

So I know the following picture isn't an ideal shot, but I only posted it to show how large his cheeks are. Can you see the roundness of those suckers? I think they have doubled in size in the last month. That's ok by me though, because I think I must kiss and squeeze them about 20 times a day.

And here we are during one of our fun outings together.