If You Build It, He Will Come...

I think most people are familiar with this famous quote from Field of Dreams. In Bradley's world, a more appropriate quote is "If you build it, he will come...and knock it down." Brad has quite an appetite for destruction. This was is full effect yesterday when we went to visit Jimmy. The play kitchen was knocked over and two of three train sets were damaged more than once. Surprisingly enough, one of the train sets went untouched.

At home, he will knock down Lego towers and stacks of cups and he tears apart his little racetrack.

The Great Communicator

Bradley finally started using sign language this week. Finally! We have been trying to teach him for nearly a year. Yesterday, he gave us the sign for milk. A couple of days ago he gave us the sign for "all done", sort of.

He has been able to read signs for a few weeks. Without saying a word, I can point to the ceiling and Bradley will start heading for the stairs.

Now, if only I can get Bradley to exclusively use sign language. He did some communicating the old fashion way this morning at 4:40. He cried for about 5 seconds and then quieted down. Good for him, but I couldn't fall back asleep.

Happy Blogoversary!

It has been one year since I started the blog. I doubt they make greeting cards for such an occasion, so I won't be disappointed if I don't get any cards. (They make cards for every other occasion, why not this one?) Anywho, I have had a lot of fun doing this over the last year and I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog as much as I have had in writing it.

For a blast from the past check out this link, which shows the posts from one year ago. Several of the entries were back dated so they appear more than a year old.

The Graduate

Starting this week, Bradley has been promoted to the toddler room. He spent almost all of last week as a guest visitor in the room. As far as I can tell, there is no organized graduation ceremony.

Tummy Kisses

Bradley finally got even for all the times we have blown on his tummy. On Saturday, he started blowing on mommy's tummy.

Farm Report

Farmer Bradley says that your crops should be knee high by the Fouth of July. Looks like we are going to have a bumper crop of Bradley this year.

Taste of Chicago

An annual family tradition continued this year as we all went to the Taste of Chicago. Unlike last year, Bradley actually sampled a few items. He had chicken satay, sesame beef, and cheesy garlic bread. He was not interested in the goat, plantains, Italian ice, cucumber salad, or corn. Brad sure is a lot bigger than last year. Compare these two pictures. He was only 8 weeks old in the picture on the right.


Today was also Bradley's first train ride. He was very well-behaved on the train. We also stopped by mommy's office to see everyone. Bradley had lots of fun playing with the office doors.

Uno, Dos, Tres

After our bike ride on Sunday, Bradley went for his first dip in the hot tub. He loved it, of course. He even learned to count to three. Click here for a video (8mb).

Bike Trip

Mommy, daddy, Bradley, grandma, grandpa, Lisa, and Chris all went for a fun bike ride at the Dunes on Sunday. We started at the visitor center and then biked down Lake Shore Drive in Beverly Shores and went all the way to Mount Baldy. After a break we started to head back just as a rain storm started. Bradley stayed nice and dry inside his Burley trailer, while the rest of us got wet. We were all drenched in sweat before the storm, so it was actually a little bit of a relief.

Favorite Words

Bradley says "dada" a lot and he is using it correctly, not just spewing syllables. Next, I need to teach him how to say "number 1".

He also says "oh" as in "uh-oh". He learned that from Jake at the father's day party. At, first he would say the word all the time. Now he uses it correctly, like when he drops his food off the table.