Bath time fun

Bath time is by far one of the highlights of Lucas' day! He gets excited the minute we walk into the bathroom and turn the water on to get it warm. I usually get him undressed in there to help build up the anticipation, we sing songs, act silly, and all of that fun stuff. Bath time also means play time in front of the mirror. I stand him on the counter and he just giggles and "dances" looking at himself and standing up like a big boy!Once we hit the tub he scrambles for his toys and splashes all over the place. This too is always funny and solicits a laugh :) He even likes it when I rinse his hair and water runs down his face. World, look out when this boy can swim! I usually leave him in there for awhile once we are done just to play some more. Then we say goodbye to the water and listen to it all go bye-bye down the drain. It is by far one of my favorite times of the day too!
These next few pictures were taken last week after we got out of the tub. They are especially posted for Nanny (Todd's grandma) since she got Lucas the duckie robe as a baby shower gift. I have to admit, we registered for it and got it way back when, BUT, this was the first time he wore it!!! :( I think it was the last too -It was a little snug on this big boy at this point!) I will try harder with the next baby, promise Nanny!!! The robe itself was so cute along with the idea of putting him in it- as a new parent to be. But, what it really boils down to as a real parent- is it practical? And considering that, no it isn't. After he has so much fun in the bath, he is ready for lotion, PJ's, cuddle time and his bottle. There is no room in this schedule for the robe unfortunately... But none the less, it is really cute and soft! :)

Check back soon for his big video premiere :)

Another busy (but fun) weekend for the Bryant family

We started our weekend festivities by helping celebrate Hayden Black's 2nd birthday. He is the youngest little boy of our good friends- Erica and Jamie Black. We went to Longwood with Erica and they live in Chester, VA, just south of Richmond. It was a beautiful summer day in VA! Not too hot and the humidity was low, very rare around here in July ;) The festivities were both outside and inside but I do think that Lucas enjoyed the kiddie pool the most! There were lots of little kids there for him to watch, which he always enjoys :) Plus he got to hang out in the shaded pool, shade is VERY important for little WHITE boys like Lucas ;) He scooted all over that thing on his butt, it was hysterical to watch. We ended up a little wet in the process too. He loves to stand up with our help, here he is prior to doing SPLITS. (yes, splits for a little boy, all of you men are hurting now, right?) Unfortunately standing in a slippery pool really isn't conducive to standing for a baby. He wouldn't take no for an answer though!

This was the birthday boy having fun with his big cousins and brother :)Their backyard was full of all kinds of great things for little ones! Lucas also enjoyed his swing break....I think we need to get one of these :)

It ended up putting him to sleep and he went down for an hour + nap, he was a worn out little boy!

Sunday we went up to Stafford to visit with Todd's family. After stopping by to say hello to Grandpa Bryant (Todd's dad) and Uncle Joe; we had a cookout with Ma-Ma (Todd's grandma), Grandma Schleigh (Todd's mom), Uncle Barrett, and Aunt Kristi (Todd's sister and her husband) to celebrate Grandma's birthday this week. Lucas had a great time playing with everyone and we enjoyed the visit. I thought Todd took some pictures on our camera but realized that we didn't! This is a picture of Ma-Ma and Lucas from last week though :) Lucas was worn out from playing and eating- he chowed down on BBQ chicken, green beans, and macaroni and cheese :) so he slept the whole way home that evening.

We were all tuckered out that night from the busy weekend and crashed pretty early. Monday was one of those mornings that when the alarm went off, I really swore it was only Sunday and not time to go back to work yet! I really need more hours in the day/days in the week. I know that many of you feel my pain :)
Hope you had a great birthday Grandma/Mom Schleigh!!!

The kiss :)

Here is the picture I promised of Lucas putting the moves on his girlfriend, Briana. One of his teachers took this a couple of weeks ago and sent it to my cell phone. apparently he does this alot to the girls in his class. Bri seems to be his usual target but we heard about "another woman" last week. He put the moves on little Kendall the other day! :) We would love to have a video of his daily antics. His teachers just laugh and love to tell stories of what he has been up to during the day when we pick him up. It seems we have a bit of a social butterfly in our midst. Look out ladies!!! Better yet, look out mom & dad!!! :)

mirror, mirror on the wall....

Lucas absolutely loves to play in front of the mirror. It has nothing to do with looking at himself, I am not sure if he puts all of that together just yet. I really think he believes it is another baby who is there, right in front of him and ready to play! We have so much fun just standing or sitting him in front of the mirrors around the house and watching him have a blast. It is routine before bath time and also a great way to stall before dinner or when he gets grumpy.

He really loved this full length mirror in our hotel room when we were in Pennsylvania a few weeks ago. I stood him in front of it and he proceeded to smile, giggle, belly laugh, smack, and give his little "friend" (AKA himself) signature Lucas kisses....

This picture doesn't do those justice. When he is in a good mood which seems to be most of the time, if we ask him for kisses he will open his mouth wide and lean in to give us kisses on the cheek. Sometimes they are dry, sometimes they are wet, sometimes he even gives you a little tongue action! It is absolutely adorable and hysterical at the same time. We love kisses!!! :)

Not only do mommy & daddy get them but we hear he has been dishing them out at school to the ladies...Not his teachers, all of the baby girls in his class!!! They even sent a picture as proof to my cell phone last Friday. If I can figure out how to get it to the computer I will post that one on here too ;)

I think we have a social butterfly on our hands! I mean really, what little girl could resist that coming at them? Baldy and all ;) I sure can't!!!

PA trip, part 2

Lucas was excited once his big cousin Justin got there! Uncle John & Karen too ;) Sunday was Jessica's high school graduation party. I remember when she was a little baby ans toddler that I chased all over the place and played with. Needless to say, that was 17 years ago! We are so proud of her and wish her the best of luck!!!

More pictures from the graduation party:

These moments are few and far between now!!!! :) Jean thoroughly enjoyed the cuddle break...

hanging out with great aunt Jean,and Grandpa Sexton

This is Noah and Johanna- they are Lucas' 3rd cousins (maybe it's 4th?). Anyways, they had a great time playing with him, he just loves playing with other kids!
I was trying to get Justin to hold still so Lucas could give him a kiss, but I was not successful. Justin didn't feel like sitting still!

having fun with daddy!

After the party we all went to Great Uncle John's to go swimming! The pool is heated and felt great ;) This was Lucas' first time in a big pool. Todd took him in and he wasn't too sure about it at first.,I think it was just too deep too fast. So he sat on the steps for a few minutes (more like the bathtub that he LOVES) and decided that he really liked it! Noah and Johanna were nice enough to let him borrow their old baby float, he had a blast! He stayed in for probably around 30 minutes and I had to get him out since it was cooling off outside. I think we might need one of these in our yard?!? Maybe one day, we can dream, right???



We had such a great time in Pennsylvania visiting with everyone and were sad when we had to pack up and come back home. It was a fantastic long weekend for us all. We can't wait to go back next summer :)

Yankees for a weekend :)

We traveled north of the Mason-Dixon line this past weekend for an overdue visit with my extended family. Both of my parents are from West Middlesex, PA which is a very small town about 1.5 hours north of Pittsburgh. This is where my aunt Wendy, uncle Bill and their girls- Danielle and Jessica live, along with my great aunts and uncles not to mention lots of extended cousins, etc. It is so great to get to see them all again and catch up since we don't get to do it very often. The last time we were up there or got together was for Mom's funeral last March. It was so great to get to introduce them to Lucas! We also got to see my aunt Jean and uncle Gary whom we have been so lucky to get together with several times a year :) They love Lucas to pieces and spoil him rotten. Plus Grandpa (my dad) and uncle John, Karen, and Justin were there too! Kind of a mini family reunion...



We were nervous about the trip up and back (~8 hours with several stops included) but Lucas did pretty good. He got a little fussy and anxious to break free from his seat but I can't blame him, I felt the same way!!! Don't know that we will take Todd's car again on long trips just to save gas money, there just isn't enough room for all of us and our stuff, even without the doggies :)



After a long trip we went out for a quick bite to eat and Lucas got his first taste of spaghetti, needless to say, he LOVED it!





Think this is his way of telling us to BRING ON the REAL FOOD! We all had a good time laughing at his eating antics... The next day we went to visit with Wendy, Danielle, Jessica, & her boyfriend Seth. Jess has a new little kitten that looks just like one I used to have and they even have the same name "Snickers" ;) Lucas loved her and the feeling was mutual, I have never seen a kitty PLAY with a baby, but she did it! Later that evening we ALL got together for dinner at Quaker State and Lube (GREAT wings, if you are into them :) Needless to say there wasn't much Lucas could dine on here, so he seemed OK with baby food and a few graham crackers...He loved the atmosphere though, all kinds of cool stuff to gaze at and people to play with!

Aunt Wendy, Uncle Bill, Dad, Aunt Jean, and Uncle Gary stuffed after dinner :)

Jess, Seth(Jess' boyfriend), Chris (Dani's fiance), and Dani :)

Lucas playing with Aunt Wendy :) I remember when it was her girls that were this age! I am so old!!! Then we ventured back to Dani and Chris' new little apartment. She had this little rocker there that used to be hers, it fit Lucas like a glove and he enjoyed having his own little seat. He was worn out a crashed each night. We all slept great!

I'll share more pics and stories tomorrow! Hope everyone had a great weekend and is enjoying their summers!!!

9 months already, time sure does fly by!

I had to include these pictures of Lucas and Russell playing last weekend also! They both shared their toys so well, for now at least! We will have to see how that goes about a year down the road.... ;)

Russell had all kinds of fun toys that were new to Lucas. He really seems to like these ride on ones/walk behind, we will have to keep our eyes out for one. Needless to say, mommy was close by in case he toppled over! Now Russell on the other hand, got behind the "car" and high tailed it across the family room! I think Lucas had just as much fun watching him!

Watching babies interact and speak their own little language can provide tons of entertainment :) I really think they understand what the other is trying to communicate, we see him do the same thing each day at daycare. This morning when we dropped him off I stayed around and visited with his teachers to hear the funny stories about the babies. While we were talking, Lucas' little girlfriend (or so I call her) was crawling around and crawled right up to him and tried to sit in his lap! It was so funny to see the expression on his face :) They said another little girl did it yesterday....We need to catch that one on tape!

This week has been pretty uneventful for us. Todd has spent most evenings away- playing softball on Monday and picking up the doggies from Grandpa's on Tuesday. Lucas and I have hung out at home getting ready for our trip to PA this weekend. We are leaving tomorrow AM to go visit my family (Mom's side) that lives up there plus the rest of the gang that is in TN is coming too. We don't get to see each other to often so we are really looking forward to the visit. We miss them very much and wish we all lived closer :) We can't wait to introduce Lucas to his other cousins and great aunts and uncles! We will be sure to take lots of pictures and I'm sure we will have funny stories to share...Hopefully he travels well and sleeps good up there. We are going to keep our fingers crossed that we can keep him on his schedule, it worked well last weekend!

As far as Lucas moving around yet... No such luck, guess he is just easy going and perfectly content staying put for now. His teachers keep telling us that he'll do it when we least expect it....The top half of the body has everything down, it is just the bottom that needs to catch on. He is scooting kind of... he'll rotate on his belly and then just roll over and play. It will happen eventually! Until then we will enjoy his undivided attention during playtime because from what I can tell with other babies, once they move, they are determined to do what they want when they want to!

A Great 4th of July Weekend!

We spent the holiday weekend visiting our good friends, the Webbs, in Virginia Beach. This is Lucas' buddy Russell! They are 6 months apart and we all enjoyed watching them together. Russell is a bundle of energy and joy :) He kept us all entertained and Lucas as usual loved watching his antics. Russell loves other babies and wanted to hug Lucas lots, the look on his face was so funny each time Russell leaned over, or came from behind to hug him. It was like he liked him but wasn't sure what the heck was going on! ;) We got down there a little later than expected Friday afternoon due to my absent minded self locking my keys in the car after work that afternoon!!! Todd and Rusty grilled us a fantastic seafood dinner Friday evening, and Wendy made a delicious chocolate cake for dessert. We spent the rest of the night catching up and visiting. We did wander outside to see some of the neighbors fireworks show. I was very nervous getting Lucas to sleep good in the pack and play this weekend. The last time we used it when we were away from home was a nightmare. He was up about every hour and I vowed we weren't going anywhere again!!! But, he did great both nights this weekend, he didn't even wake up once! Thanks Buddy!!!

We had our first beach experience Saturday mid-morning :) He liked playing in the sand/on the beach. Not so much in the water! It was really cold and shocking for me, let alone him! He was OK with it on his feet but when a bigger wave came in and it splashed further up his legs, he was not a happy camper! After that he kept lifting his legs up whenever we would try to stand him back up in the sand.

Hopefully we can try to win him over when we go on our vacation to the outer banks in a few months :) I really think it was the temperature of the water and just the whole new experience! After about an hour the boys had had enough and it was naptime so we packed up and headed back to the house. Todd and Rusty were sweet and volunteered to babysit the sleepyheads and Wendy and I went on a shopping trip! We ventured out to the stores during the monsoon thunderstorms while the guys tried out the pool. Needless to say the little ones didn't make it in the pool since they were napping and then the storms came....We will have to try that adventure another time!

Later that evening we all enjoyed a great dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill (we love that place and we don't have one in Richmond yet) followed by Bruster's ice cream for dessert! Then it was bedtime for everyone. Glad to see that we aren't the only ones who tend to crash after the little one goes down for the night ;) Oh those college days of late nights seems so long ago! ;)

Before we knew it our visit was over and we were headed home. We had to get back for the locksmith to get into the 4-Runner at home ;) We had a fantastic time and wish we could have stayed longer! It was great to get together with good friends again and watch the boys together. I am sure that they will be best buds too, just like their parents! :) All in all we had a great holiday weekend and hope that everyone enjoyed this time with their family and friends!!!

pool party

It is time for a Pool Party!!! :)

Since it was nice Sunday I decided that Lucas needed to try out his new baby pool. Due to his pale complexion we opted to put the pool on the front porch (No doubt that he is a little white boy ;)

He loved the water just like I expected! Just a bigger version of his bathtub...

Perfecting the fine art of splashing...

This requires LOTS of concentration as you can see!

We played for around 30-40 minutes, I was afraid he was going to turn into a little raisin. He played so hard that he needed a nap when we were all done. We are going to visit the Webb family this weekend, weather and smoke permitting, maybe we will get to try out a big kid pool! I can't wait to see what he thinks of that :) He seems to love the water so far! We are really looking forward to getting him and little Russell together. Maybe seeing Russell run all over the place will encourage Lucas to want to move too! So far he prefers playing in one place. He will rotate on his belly to get what he wants. I have seen a LITTLE scooting, but not much...Everyone keeps telling us to enjoy it while it lasts since when he is moving, we will be chasing him around. Guess we better get to babyproofing while we still have the chance!