chicago slides

ohio slide

more video

Chicago Aquarium was a highlight:

Chicago Aquarium! from LB on Vimeo.
Beebopping at Robyn's in Ohio:

Playing at Robyn's from LB on Vimeo.
Playground around the corner:

Browning Playground from LB on Vimeo.
Goofing around in Ohio:

Playing in Ohio from LB on Vimeo.
There are more believe it or not, but I have a limit on my upload. I will have to add the kite flying from Ohio later since it's a biggie.

vaca tidbits

We had a grrrreat time visiting everyone on our vacation extravaganza (11 days away!) Thanks to everyone!

We talked to my folks last night when we got home, and they asked Aiden when he was coming back to visit and he replied with what could've been his first sorta sentence (other than "bye bye gigi"), by very clearly saying, "I'll be right back!"

We started the trip by tagging along with J on his conference to Chicago where we had a great time visiting some of my best friends. I'm going to steal tidbits from my friend's email since she did such an awesome job explaining our chicago fun:
"we had a great weekend with the brennans! we ate our way through the neighborhoods of chicago. thursday night we went to ed debevic's, the cheesy diner that lauren and i used to frequent on our model UN trips with HB. aiden loved bee-bopping to the music and playing with the paper hats. robyn, lauren and i piled into the photo booth for souvenir photos, just like high school:) friday we went out for deep dish pizza and had dessert at robyn's--a sundae bar! jon was nice enough to share his elmo ball and muppet movie with aiden.

saturday we checked out the farmers market and the butterfly exhibit at the nature museum, then shopped around and lunched on armitage where lauren spotted super cute sock monkeys and a matching night light for baby shank's nursery! last week i also bought super cute monkey-themed crib bedding so the nursery is slowly taking shape. we went to my hood for margie's milkshakes (amazing as usual!) then swung by my place for a quick tour of the new shiny bathroom. that night we had dinner at a hibachi place and then crawled into bed after a day o fun!

sunday we brunched at the bongo room and sadly said goodbye--the weekend flew! luckily lauren will be jet-setting into town again for my shower that ms. robyn is throwing me in june:)"

Then here is more from an email I wrote - look at me saving time and boring the socks off the friends that have already received these emails ;) but the blog roll keeps it for-eva ;)

"Friday was a work day for everyone but Baby AB and I so we were sooo excited that the weather was so nice. We cruised to the Institute of Art which is awesome. Aiden charmed all the security guards as he cruised around looking for as many horses as he could find. Then we found out that they have this awesome touch gallery where there are kiddie exhibits. Then I decided that it was so nice we should take a long walk to the Navy Pier to go the Children's Museum. Unfortunately, even though he'd already had a morning nap, Aiden was so relaxed that he fell asleep on the way there, so we didn't end up visiting the Children's Museum. Instead, I cruised around inside this awesome speciality grocery that Robyn really likes Fox and Obel... they were handing out jelly beans ;) So you can't beat sweet treats and a sunny day.

Since AB was up pretty early and stayed up pretty late (the time change and the excitement (aka. ice cream) really wacked him out), we were out and about pretty early most mornings. We had a great visit to the awesome aquarium before the farmer's market too. It was a really full trip and the city really spoiled us a bit by waiting to snow until after we left. Aiden spoiled us by being so, so good on BOTH flights - even when I was by myself with him on the full flight to Ohio."

J left us to come home to teach and then head to another conference in Vancouver, so we had a nice full week in Ohio with my family. Everybody spoiled Aiden with new toys galore and he was in heaven with a new toy or book in his hand all the time. We got out as much as we could (I was happy that the snow didn't stick around more than about 24 hours). Here are some tidbits:
We hit the mall for the bunny train (3 rides total with mom, lizzy, and gran) and the playzone.
We flew kites 4 times (and even got two new awesome airplane kites).
We checked out the library kids rhyme time program (which rocked).
We visited and loved the local Ohio Gymboree on our international membership.
We got to visit Robyn (A was so excited to see her again!) and her adorable little nephew.
We nibbled some of Auntie Liz's new cookie of the month.
We ate pancakes - willoughby's best and cinnamon chip from Bob's! - and of course, rejuvenated the Breakfast Club with Uncle Billy.
We decorated eggs and Aiden loved marker-ing and sticker-ing them.
We played on the playground with Cassie dog and fan club cousins.
We drove through Eggshelland to see the thousands of enameled eggs laid out on the lawn to form zoo animals.
I shopped around for some fun things to wear at all the fun upcoming showers/work events.
I caught up with an old friend from my space camp days that I hadn't seen in about 13 years.
I got to go to pottery class with my sister and make a wavy bowl with grapes and vines around the inside edge.
I also got to try on bridesmaids dresses for September and they were all adorable.

Photos are coming soon...

I missed my baby boy terribly today when I was back at work! It's so, so nice to spend such a big chunk of QT with my little guy and my family. We miss you and we wish we could "be right back!" Thanks for everything!

vaca videos

Thanks to everyone! More coming soon... but I did manage to upload some videos:

From Chicago:

Chicago: Grooving at Robyn's from LB on Vimeo.

Chicago Art Institute from LB on Vimeo.

Chicago: Eat at Ed's from LB on Vimeo.

Chicago Cloud Gate from LB on Vimeo.

Chicago ETC: Butterflies, Milkshakes, and Play! from LB on Vimeo.

Chicago Fireworks, Brunch Bye Bye from LB on Vimeo.

From Ohio:

Ohio Easter Outings: Train and Eggshelland from LB on Vimeo.

Easter Decorating 2009 from LB on Vimeo.

Ohio PlayZone with PopPop from LB on Vimeo.

happy easter!

easter flash

fall flash

Spring has sprung - But isn't fall nice too?! Can't decide which we like better long falls or long springs?

ohio flashback

We're off visiting and laughing it up, but I'm preposting some flashback photos:

17 months!

Dear Aiden,

It's been a nice refreshing start of spring. It came in like a lion and will hopefully go out like a nice calm lamb. Your favorite part of this month has definitely been getting out in the yard. You hear birds and notice the moon in the middle of the day before we do. My favorite is to yell down at you from the second story window while you are playing outside. You were bumpity-bumping through the grass as Rebecca pulled you in your wagon the first time I did it, and I thought you were going to jump up two stories to get a hug because you were so, so excited to see me. The other day when you and your dad were down there playing, you immediately started playing your little "this is my mom, this is my dad" game. You point and say My Ma, My Da, and sometimes even My Ba (which has become Rebecca's new name)... then you clasp your hands together and giggle as we shake our heads to say yes.
This month you extended on your independent streak. You started walking up and down steps without help. You were super proud of yourself walking down the steps in our living room with no railing. You would sorta bop down them one step at a time and then look back at us with a smile. I'm glad that you know to take it one step at a time.
Your independent mode also led to you not wanting to be held while sitting on our laps including while you play drums. Our solution was to put your chair booster in front of it, so you could be strapped in when you would rail on the drums and reach for more sticks. If you drop a stick you would yelp, sometimes scream, but now you've learned how to "ask nicely" for things. You've discovered that saying puuuhleeeease and pease in the cutest little voice will get you just about anything you want. Sounds like trouble, doesn't it? But gosh darn it, your politeness deserves to be rewarded. You know just when to say it and flash your little impish grin.
You showed glimpses of wanting to help. You started "holding" the dust pan when we swept the floor after you eat (since you insist on letting us know you are done by throwing your discarded food all over the floor and hiding bits in your lap). Most of the time you just smear the dust pan over the food, but at least you're trying to help (ahem, interfere). You also found it really fun to stuff clean diapers in the Diaper Champ and try to flip it back and forth. I think we nipped that in the bud before we lost any diapers.
You thought shoes were really doggone interesting this month. You wanted to try to put them on yourself, on the kitty, on daddy, on the chair leg... Shoes are usually fun to put on you lately because you get so excited. You usually will jump up after you put them on and check to see if they give you a bounce in your step. I'm betting that your new crocs are going to be your favorite summer shoes because of that cushy step. Your list of potential future careers should now include podiatrist since feet get plenty of attention from you. At Gymboree, you find your own shoes on the rack and you enthusiastically reach down to tickle his toes as they sing that song. You catch the tickle bug pretty quickly and those are some of our favorite giggles.
You loved running free whenever you had the chance this month. You wanted to run back and forth while flying kites in DC and this was just enough to help you burn off some steam. You took to walking out of the front door while holding our hands instead of being carried to the car. At Gymboree, you get excited to run after other little kids. There was a little girl wearing an elmo tshirt that didn't know what she had coming the other day. You just wanted to chase her down to tell her how awesome elmo is.
We had lotsa fun talking on the skype to everybody this month. You're so funny now because you knows where the camera is. You offer PopPop your sippy cup to drink. The little straw can sometime geyser a bit, so we're going to need to set aside an empty decoy for you to feed your skype pals. We feel lucky to have this opportunity for you to get to know your family that is far away, and for you to have a good excuse to wear your lucky charm headband hat and try on the cool shamrock shades.
Dad noticed a chipmunk while playing at your new picnic table (which we set up inside right next to the big slider door because we're convinced it will get warm enough for patio furniture eventually and in the meantime, the sun coming through the window is enough to trick us into thinking that this New England spring is mighty chilly so far). He decided that you didn't know what a chipmunk was so he decided to put this little rodent in the mouse category. He said, hey, look at the mouse!" You peeked through the window and when you discovered the little chipmunk your face lit up. You watched and babbled at the mouse until you couldn't help yourself and you banged on the glass and the chipmunk ran away. Then you spent the next half hour insisting that Daddy bring back the mouse... which sounds like different pitches and tones or "Moh, mouse, pease." pease, moh, more. (every once is a while you will spit out a perfectly pronounced version of a word). Days, even weeks later, you will go to that window asking for that "mouse". You will put your arms out, palms up and shrug your shoulders when the chipmunk doesn't appear. I was thinking that we should get you your own mouse, but dad says that I'd have to clean it up after our cats eat it.
Rebecca has started catching what I call parent pride - It must be contagious. She gets wicked excited when you learn something new. I really believe that she works with you well and the one-on-one is the best learning for you right now. She's really reinforced your colors this month and you are getting more consistent at identifying all your colored beads on the twisty wires. You love to color in the bath and you can snap out of any funky mood if given the opportunity to color.

You grew so much taller this month and you suddenly had a big collection of high water pants. It seems like you are in between sizes, so we are back to rolling/cuffing some new pants. I guess we are also in between the seasons, so soon enough the shorts I've been buying for you will venture out of the drawers. We really can't wait for more of those "sunny days"...We're working on "sweeping those clouds away" with all those slightly too long pants...

Love, Mom

me and mom

Oh, mommyhood. Now that spring cleaning is in full effect, I've been sifting through old photos and I honestly can hardly keep myself from welling up with that mommy lump in the throat. That emotion that is hard to explain when you feel happy, proud, worried, and probably a little bit scared of everything you don't know. Then I think of how much I've learned from Aiden and how much being a mommy just fits.
A good friend just had a baby and her twitter feed explains a lot...She exclaims that she "never thought she'd be so happy waking up every three hours during the night!" I totally understand what she means. It's the best feeling to know that other people are enjoying parenthood as much as we are.
I continue to be so, so committed to my little baby even though he continues to transform into an independent little boy more and more every day. If I could hit the pause button every once in a while I would, but mommyhood has one speed which feels like fast forward. I am happy about this most of the time, but I'm just glad that we at least attempt to capture it on film and save it for later. And I'm lucky that someone else occassionally picks up the camera for me ;)

When it comes to a mommy update, it seems like it's been a lot of the same 'ol, same 'ol around here. The weaning report: He pretty much requests it at least three times a day...most of the time for just a short little bit. I decided to stop trying to stop. Why push it really, if he doesn't want to give it up, why should I? I'm ready to be finished, but if he's not ready that's fine. I'm not going to smear vinegar on anything or make it a discipline/control thing. I know that it works for us (even though there are many reports that try to let women off the hook saying that the benefits aren't as plentiful at this stage, there are still valid benefits). I'm just happy that he's such an active, bubbly kid and you can't ask for much more than that...

1st haircut

Tonight was AB's first official haircut (other than mom's at home snips) at Kidz Adventure Cutz, where it's more than just a haircut, it's an adventure. I guess getting a haircut while watching tv and blowing bubbles qualifies as an adventure... although he did really have fun riding that rocking elephant in the waiting area. We asked her to thin it out and clean up the back and avoid a bowl cut as much as possible. Aiden liked the buzzy "tickler" and wanted to help. She buzzed in some little sideburns and cleaned up all around his ears and neckline. She did a nice job making him look just like PopPop.

We had picked out a dvd with Elmo and firemen and it wasn't the best choice. He nearly started crying when he saw Elmo get scared when Hooper's store was on fire, so we fast forwarded quickly to avoid a sad baby. Other than that he did a great job letting them snip away without any fuss. He got to pick out a little car toy at the end.

mother goose

Aiden had his first Mother Goose class at the library this afternoon. He got a seat in this program at the Barrington Library without any problem, but the Seekonk Library has us in their ultra competitive lottery. (We'll see if he gets a seat in that one at the end of the month - I felt like they were going to ask us to write an essay on the benefits of reading to get in or something because they make it seem so exclusive. I'm imagining that it must be pretty darn good.)

The timing of the class he did manage to get a spot in was right around nap time, so we were a little worried we were going to have a sleepy baby. I went along on my lunch hour this week (I miss out on so many of his fun classes, so I was glad I could get away to check it out), but most of the time J will take him. He was bright and peppy as we stepped into the children's area. He got excited about their pet hamster named Happy and this strange book called "When We Married Gary" (which had to be written in the seventies).

Then it was time to go into the tiered step classroom. He stomped around a bit and really was super engaged with the rhyme time, songs, and books that Ms Lisa read. The first book had flaps and they revealed little eggs. Aiden was so excited about it, and he made me a little nervous when he was trying to jump out of my lap  at the book. I think his favorite was when everyone was given a shaker to sing the jingle song. He did settle into the structured routine and I think he'll really get a lot out of it. It will be a good way to break up all the outside play this spring.

easter bunny

Woo, ooh, yay- all expressions of joy as we approached the Easter Bunny. It was nice and empty at the mall, and the bunny waved from the stage and Aiden giggled and yelled buuunnny! Aiden made bunny ears jumping with his fingers. All signs pointed to an excited little boy ready to sit in the bunny's lap. I was relieved as we walked up to see the bunny and she started playing peek-a-boo and Aiden giggled. Then the bunny reached her paw out to touch him and all bets were off. Aiden squealed and jumped out of J's arms into mine. Then, in lieu of creating a really sad baby, we somehow ended up doing a family photo with the bunny. As you can see you have two parents really happy/crazy/manic/desperate (your pick) and one kid mildly interested in the egg shaker the photographer had, but of course not wanting to be thaaat close to the bunny. Then he nicely said bye to the bunny and acted excited again. I think he pretty much just wanted to run around the mall and not really sit in anyone's lap. When we show him the photo, he giggles at the bunny...or maybe he's just laughing at his overly excited parents.

almost there

Can’t beat a little road trip weekend, especially if it includes a visit to Nana and Ikea ;) It was still chilly, but after a nice warm meal at Nana’s where Aiden sat like a big boy in a regular chair (just peeking his little eyes over the table), we headed outside to see the birdies. Although, the cars, caaaars, caaaaaaaars were much, much more interesting. There was a pretty purple crocus popping up, but Aiden didn’t want to sniff it and miss the passing caaars. Next time we visit Nana’s the bird feeder will be flipped and then you know that spring has really sprung. We’re almost there.

After a nice visit, we headed down the road to Ikea. J generally thinks we spend hundreds of dollars and get nothing, but this time we spent less and he even remarked that it seemed like we really got some good stuff. The had all these “last chance” sales and we hopped on them. Poor J had to wait in a ridiculous line to get the absolute last pair of legs for this new book table for Aiden’s room, since they were the last legs east of the Mississippi. The legs will complete a new low bookshelf for Aiden's room to store his growing massive collection of books. Aiden and I beebopped around the store and he made friends with little kids that shared puppets, shovels, and rocking chairs with him. Then we all enjoyed some meatballs…mmm, yum. We also came home with another nice table and chairs for our patio area. I’m really looking forward to some grilling this year. We're almost there.

ick bread

I've found a new hobby. It's called experimenting with bread. Aiden's been going through a streak this week where he doesn't really want to eat much offered to him besides yogurt and cheese. Tonight it was lentils and apricot applesauce that hit the random ick list. I also had two over ripe bananas waiting to make bread. I decided to make my own recipe with the castoff items Aiden declared were ick. It is amazingly yummy in the tummy. I'm going to call it Ick Bread, not to be mistaken with icky bread.

Ick Bread.
1 1/2 cup black lentils (already cooked)
1/3ish cup milk
3/4 cup apricot applesauce
2 ripe bananas
6 tablespoons melted butter (bc that is what I had)
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar (I thought I didn't have quite enough sweetapplesauce to assure that it wouldn't be icky)
1/2 teas soda, powder, salt (teaspoon-ish - i just sprinkle them in because this is a random experiment)

Puree lentils with milk until pretty broken up. Mix apricot applesauce in with the butter, and add the sugar. Add in lentil puree, egg, and mashed up banana (I keep it chunky because I like the little moist chunks in the bread). Mix together flour, soda, powder, and salt. Combine both wet and dry. Spray pan and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

J says it's a little bit earthy, but I think he says that only because he knows there are so many lentils in there.

Aiden says it's "moooreh, puhlease" - Mmm, yum.

super cool

Bumkins Suessational SuperBibs - First off, no one told me how ridiculously awesome the fabric on these bibs is! It is truly the best - Easy to wash off and quick to dry. I have to admit I bought them because they were Dr. Suess, and now I'm hooked on the bumkin brand.

Solar powered disco - My parents found this at some little museum shop and it turns the whole room into a disco party. Aiden loves to dance and he loves the cat's attention. Both of which this solar powered rotating crystal creates the perfect atmosphere. For about four hours a day it spins powered by the direct sun, and as the cat chases it around Aiden giggles. And if we add music everybody is dancing. Get your own here: http://www.kikkerlandshop.com/solar.html
We were happy to find the Radian 80 Supercool fabric car seat on sale during our car seat check last month. This is an awesome ride for Aiden and it is really highly rated for safety. He can still ride backwards comfortably because the seat is wide enough, and the installer convinced us that it was safer - I think her direct line was that it is five times safer to ride rear facing in a car seat. Five times safer than what, I don't know. But we were just happy she was the one strapping it down. The highlight of this seat is that the seat folds into the back so that you can carry it flat as a backpack. It will be a joy to travel with (if I can convince J to ever agree to unhook it). (http://www.skjp.com/products/Radian/80/)

In other good news, there will be no more meeting-with-crazy-doctors-that-overreact-to-small-problems and make you crazy by telling you you might need surgery down under... no more of that doctor, and we found another opinion that gave me some tips that should improve the situation. Phew, I think that is the most super cool item of the month.

good luck charm

Happy St. Patty's Day! From little Leprechaiden:

weeeee!

We spent this weekend enjoying the warming sun. The original plan on Saturday was to visit this Maple Sugaring Thanksgiving celebration, but it turns out it was cancelled... which we only discovered as we were sitting in the empty area waiting for our friends to arrive. We made the best of it and ended up having a nice time with our friends despite the change of plans. We drove to the first playground we could find and all three of the kids ran free for a while. J checked out all the equipment first - and I think a direct quote about the sliding bar was that it was the most fun he'd had in six weeks. The playground was right next to a library that had a preschool room (with a door to block out Aiden's loud talking -boooksss!). There was a little wooden boat to sit in and read... which Aiden quickly learned how to jump in and out of in order to load up with more booooks. We had a nice lunch in Wickford Village after feeding the ducks their lunch in the little inlet. Then we took full advantage of the Creatoyvity train table fun. Aiden was a pretty tired guy after all that excitement.

He woke up this morning and was ready for more fun. I took him cruising to our little park down the street while daddy got some work done. Then all three of us went to this park that we'd been to with friends before Aiden was born. It's full of old Little Tikes and it really resembles a ride on/climb on toy graveyard. They have really nice slides and swings too. Aiden just couldn't get enough weeee-ing in to one visit, so we headed down the street to a park near my work that I hope I can meet up with Aiden at over lunch hours this summer. I think his highlight there was the sandbox where this nice little girl shared her shovel with him. It made for a nice complete tucker-em-out sorta day... so thanks to Aiden falling asleep early, here are the fun weeeees he probably dreamt about...


let's call this one weeee! from LB on Vimeo.

zoo part two

Zoo giggles part two:

Zoo giggles part two from LB on Vimeo.

pi day!

Hey Auntie Liz and other fun people that like Pi Day! - Have a happy one.
One Year Ago:

lucky charm baking

Getting ready for that lucky day by making some crust clover cookies:

national zoo

Here is part one of the video extravaganza (just under 10 minutes total) from the National Zoo. We had such a great time seeing the cousins giggle at each other - good idea Matt and Jess! - Definitely a highlight of our trip for Aiden (even though he slept right through the hippos and the lions! - oh well, next time - he did get to see the orangutans climbing over the high wires right above our path!):

Zoo: Monkey Mania! from LB on Vimeo.

Part two coming soon (as soon as I can get the upload to cooperate).

DC/VA/MD photos

At Mary Washington:
On the National Mall:
At the National Zoo:
Visit this link for more photos from our trip: http://flickr.com/gp/brennans/0E8178

first laptop!

Woaaah (as Aiden likes to say), what a great treat to come home to from our little mini vacation. Aiden's Great Aunt sent him his first laptop! It even welcomes him by name. He can't rip the keys off like he can on mommy's laptop, but he sure does like tiptapping them! I think his favorite is making it light up and play music so that he can dance to it. And, of course, turning it on and off again...and again...and again. Thanks so much!

cousins!

Here's one made especially for the Brennan clan (grandparents will like it especially I think). We so enjoyed seeing (and celebrating!) with J's brother and his family - Thanks! We also had a nice visit to the National Zoo with them - That video coming soon. These cousins love to tickle, giggle, and dance!

One esp for the Brennan Grandparents ;) from LB on Vimeo.

trip videos!

We had such a great time seeing everyone! Huge thanks to my folks for cruising all around with us and being so easy going. More soon...

Shark Kite! from LB on Vimeo.

Big Man on Campus Visit from LB on Vimeo.

Sleepy Man at the Museums from LB on Vimeo.

We had a chance to visit the twins. They showed us their swings at the park (boo, mom forgot the camera) and their cool book that plays good dance music. S didn't care too much for A's grooves, but turns out she just wanted to groove with him. Thanks for sharing your books and toys. Great to see you guys!

first children's museum

Aiden's first visit to the Children's Museum in Providence (Daddy was nice enough to tape bits for mommy):

go basket go

Beebopping in the the basket is one of Aiden's favorite games. He could probably go back and forth while we all giggle for hours. He sure likes sayin goooo!

chicken in the window

dress up

Aiden's dress up bin (mostly a bunch of clearance costumes and some shirts) is a hit. He is getting more comfortable learning how to put his arms in the sleeves himself and can step in and out of the pant legs. He also loves to giggle and pretend. I promise that he is the gentlest kung fu fighter I know. Did you know that Kung Fu fighters really love to run back and forth so that they go to sleep really easily? Bonus.

We're off to MD/DC/VA for a little getaway! Be back soon. Hopefully with plenty of photos.

snow storm helper

Aiden has mastered the snow suit waddling. Now we just need to teach him how to shovel.