Brodyphant

One of the nicknames I have received over the years is Janellephant. Brad really likes this name but has shortened it to Jphant. Now we have Brodyphant.

A friend gave us this elephant costume. Brody has only worn it a few times mainly to see if it actually fits. It is never talked about and sits in a small part of our closet.

The other morning I was getting him ready for the day and he said "I want to wear my elephant costume." We had no plans to go anywhere for the day so I thought it would be fine to let him wear it. And I honestly thought he would want to take it off very soon. I'm still not sure what inspired him to want to wear it.

We did end up driving to Grandma Shari's work and he wore the elephant costume. He wore it all day until we changed into his pajamas. He hasn't asked to wear it since.



As you can see it doesn't really fit him which is part of the reason it has never been a Halloween costume.



This is a sad (or mad) elephant because he was done with having his picture taken.

Brody & the Dentist

We finally made Brody's first dental appointment. I was going to take him to a pediatric dentist but finally decided to take him to my dentist and good family friend, Dr. Craig. He now has another dentist working there, Dr. Gilbreath. This is the dentist that Brody saw.

I LOVE going there for a number of reasons but mostly because they are so friendly and absolutely love seeing any member of our family.

I talked a little bit about going to the dentist beforehand but didn't want to put any sort of fear or anxiousness into Brody's mind. He didn't seem scared or worried in any way. (He has read about Lowly the Worm -from Richard Scarry - going to the dentist, so I think this helped)

But of course he woke up that morning a little fussier than normal and didn't have a great night of sleep (a little unusual for him). We went to Lil' Kickers before the dentist so my parents were able to take Colt. It was just Brody and I which definitely made it easier.

When we first got there Brody enjoyed playing with all their toys. Even though it's not a dental office specifically for children there were definitely more than enough toys to keep him happy for hours.

The dental hygienist brought Brody back to his chair. He didn't want to sit in it at first but finally warmed up to the idea. The hygienist asked if she could look in his mouth and he said "No, thank you."

I knew he wasn't going to be super cooperative. Their main goal was for Brody to have a pleasant experience and they did a great job making sure it was enjoyable for him.

Here he is with his sunglasses so the bright light doesn't bother his eyes. He thought this was really cool.



Despite his resistance to having his teeth checked he did a great job for Dr. Gilbreath. He opened his teeth and let him take a look.

Brody thought Dr. Gilbreath's glasses were very funny and couldn't stop smiling at him.



His dental visit ended with a toy from the treasure box. I'm glad we left there with a positive experience.

Baby Practice

My friend came over to visit with her two daughters. Her oldest just turned 2 and her youngest is 5 months. Both Brody and Colt loved looking at her and wanted to touch her face. We had some good practice about being gentle and not touching her face. Brody also got in some holding time.

It's a little nice knowing that Brody will be a little more capable of helping when our next one arrives. He can at least get a burp rag for me if I need one.

Brody and baby Charlee. (look at all that hair..no wonder they wanted to touch it)

Colt's Soccer Videos

The other day we went to Lil' Kickers for one of Brody's make up sessions. Since an adult has to be with Brody I have to go with Brad or find someone to watch Colt. Papa Bob, Grandma Shari and Gunner joined us at Arena Sports. While Brody was in his class, Colt & Gunner played some of their own soccer on the little field. Here are a few videos.



He's just carrying the ball in this one.

Oh boy! Playdoh!

I have a love/hate relationship with playdoh. I wasn't really like this before but it bothers me when the colors mix and it seems like more work than reward when letting the boys play with it. When it was just Brody I stuck him in his high chair and everything was contained. Unfortunately I can't do that with both of the boys. We recently received two new playdoh toys from the Barnett Family which encouraged me to let the boys have a little fun with the playdoh.

It certainly is an activity that I need to be sitting right next to them doing. Colt will eat it, they will fight over it, or it just becomes a huge mess. If I'm right there then I can hopefully intercept before things get too hectic.

Despite my selfishness, the boys LOVE playing with playdoh. They are usually content for 20 - 30 minutes before we have to clean it up and put it away (mostly because I have lost my patience).

The playdoh contraption in the middle is one of our new toys. It makes playdoh sprinkles...which is a lot of tiny little beads of playdoh which equals a nice mess if I walk away for a minute. It's Colt's favorite playdoh toy.




The classic playdoh toy you see in the middle of this picture is from Uncle Jim and Aunt Nicole. This is Brody's favorite and he is getting better everyday at pushing the playdoh through.

17 months

Colt at 17 months.

Upside down Colt




Brody trying to get into the picture.

Dot Markers

Aunt Jenny (& Uncle John, George & Wesley) gave the boys a box of crafts for Christmas. In this collection of fun stuff were a box of dot markers. They are great and it's been easy to get both of the boys to play with them. (Most of our "craft" projects are a little challenging with both of them because usually Colt just wants to eat everything.) Colt's favorite part of the Dot markers is putting the lids on and taking them off. It works for me because at least they are both doing an activity together.

In this video I ask the boys what they are doing. It's so cute!