At Least He is Honest

More Birthday

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for Bradley's birthday. There was the party on Friday, but even more fun on Saturday. In the morning we went to the Arboretum and checked out the new sculpture named Xanadu. It is kind of like an igloo made of twigs. See below for a video. (It is the longest that I have ever posted - over 3 minutes, so it may take a while to load.) After dinner, we went on a donut run. Sorry, no video of that.

Earning His Keep

Brad has been doing a good job in helping with the indoor chores during winter, like cleaning the countertops and doing the laundry. Now, we finally have him working on some outdoor chores. Last month, he we was in charge of spotting weeds in the yard, which have now been mostly eliminated. Lately he has been helping to water the grass and flowers. Every Monday, he brings in one of the garbage cans.

Piggy Bank - part 2

Since Brad just had a birthday, I figured it was a good time to empty out the piggy bank. I had been filling it up with change for more than a year now. The results were quite disappointing. There was only about $32 in there. This is far short of the record set by my dad.

The Uno is Dos

Brad turned 2 last weekend. There were lots of gifts. He didn't take too kindly to the clothes. They were immediately tossed in mama's direction in favor of opening the next present. Some of his favorites include the coupe (see video), bubble mower (which is already out of bubbles), and the drawing table.

Brookfield Zoo

We headed to the zoo on Saturday. This was our first time to Brookfield and it was pretty nice. I think we barely covered 1/4 of the exhibits. Bradley got to see a baby polar bear and a baby giraffe. He wasn't as excited as I thought he would be about the monkey house. The main reason we went was to go to the grand opening of the toddler section of the Play Zoo. Big mistake. There were hundreds of people in line when we got to that part, so we skipped it. You should have seen the stroller parking outside. It truly was a zoo there.

Process of Elimination

There are two items of note in this picture. Can you identify what they are?

1) The first one is easy. Bradley is using his new booster seat. He had abandoned his baby seat several weeks ago. I guess his rationale is, if you don't sleep in a baby bed, you shouldn't sit in a baby chair.

2) Number two is actually number two. It is tough to tell from this picture, but Bradley has just finished using the potty for the first time. He seemed a little bewildered by the event, but then again, there were three people staring at him (and clapping). Personally, I usually don't like it when people watch me go to the bathroom. For the last few weeks, he would go into the bathroom, pull his pants down, and sit on the potty, but his diapers were still on. But yesterday, things were different. Here is the play by play - Brad signals dirty diaper, Auntie Lisa attempts to validate, the diaper is clean, but there an odor in the air, Lisa puts him on the potty, and a few seconds later, Mr. Hankey makes an appearance, applause ensues.

Gambia Republic Day

Gambians may be celebrating Republic Day, but mommy and daddy were celebrating Bradley Slept Through the Night Day on Tuesday.  For the first time since we moved into the big bed, Bradley didn't wake up in the middle of the night or wake up at 4:45.  He got up at 5:30, but that is close enough to the regular wake up time.  Maybe they had a big party in school that wore him out.  After all, it was both Conch Republic Independence Day and National Beer Day in Germany.

The impact of the irregular sleeping is starting to catch up on daddy.  The last few nights I have fallen asleep while reading bed time stories to Bradley.

Prensa tres para el muchacho

Bradley has figured out how to use the answering machine. He can reach the button for mailbox 3. Go ahead and leave him a message. Be sure to remember to press 3.

Riding the Rails

Bradley went for a ride on the choo choo this weekend. This was actually his second time on the train, but I think he enjoyed this trip more than the last. Plus, this time we got to take his Clinique train case on the train. We were definitely the most fashionable on the train. Brad and dad went down to visit mommy at the office. First, he inspected the shrine. And then, he took care of business.