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October 26, 2005
Brandon has learned how to open the gate
downstairs. He stands on the foot pedal and bounces until it opens, then he runs
to the bathroom to go pee. I heard him close the lid and I saw that he used the
towel because it was on the sink. The next time, I followed him to see what he
was doing. After he peed (I put a stool there for him), he closed the lid and
leaned on the sink and put soap on his hands, he then turned on the water and rubbed his hands under it. I taught him to first rub them before putting them under the water so he doesn’t wash away the soap. After that, he went twice and didn’t take off his pants! He seems to be
completely potty trained!
When Brandon sleeps, he arranges his stuffed animals on his pillow. There was one time that I walked in and he was on the very edge on the left side of the pillow because
he put so many animals on there!
September 15, 2005
Brandon is talking so much, it's amazing that we were ever concerned about his
speech. He is able to have conversations with you, and speak full sentences! I was amazed when he spoke an 8 word
sentence "Daddy so happy my (I) go poopie in potty?" and that was a while ago!
Recently Brandon loves for me to read him "Go, Dog, Go" by Dr. Seuss and he is
able to read it back to me. I read and show him "2 big dogs going up" and he is able to tell me with the next page:
"1 little dog going down". He's able to tell me "a red dog on a blue tree" and all the different color combinations
they have just from me pointing to it. He might have it memorized, but I do think there is an association with the way
it's worded that he follows. I am just amazed at how much of the book he is able to "read" to me.
He is also doing very well with potty training. We put him in underwear during
the day, sometimes in a pull up if we go outside, and he is very good about going to the potty himself or telling us he has
to go. First we used to give him a present after 5 stickers (when he pooped in the potty) but he was doing so well with
that so we switched to a chart with more spaces. He is so excited and happy to show us what he did.
Brandon is better with Danielle. We still have to watch them, but he is more
careful. He just loves to share toys with her, and kiss and hug her. When I put her on the couch, he wants to
sit next to her. And if she cries, he'll say "I'm sorry", even though he didn't cause it. He loves to say "baby
sister is smiling at me!" Sometimes, when I tell him he's being too rough with her, he says 'but my (I) love her!"
Brandon is much better with the water. This summer he has been going into
pools down the steps on his own. Two days ago in Pennsylvania, he went down 5 steps and the water was up to his chin.
We were amazed that he was so daring.
The most precious thing of all is that now when I tell him I love him, he says
"I love you too, mommy!"
July 17, 2005
Brandon is talking a lot now. He is able to put sentences together that surprise
us. He doesn't always get the grammar right, like when he says "me have it" but it's amazing that he can communicate
very well now. He'll say that he's "sad" when we doesn't want any more food. If he does something he's not supposed
to, he says "mommy no mad!" He loves to say "Look, mommy/daddy" and show us something he is proud of. He recognizes
the letters of the alphabet, and can count to 13 (going up and down the stairs). His favorite numbers are 3 and 10.
Brandon is such the acrobat. Not only does he still love doing summersaults,
but he also does headstands on the couch! He will use his arms to hold up his body like on the parallel bars, and swing.
He loves getting presents. He loves Danielle and always wants to kiss her. If he gets hurt, he wants "baby sister"
to kiss it. He is eating everything we eat now (except we won't give him nuts yet). His favorites are yogurt,
and "dippy" egg. Daddy makes his French toast, and he'll eat cereal (Complete Bran) with milk. He loves pasta
and mommy is always so happy when he happily eats the food she cooks! He still loves his Thomas trains, and is very
happy when he gets a new one for his collection. He knows the names of all of them, and can even point out ones in the
catalog that mommy and daddy never heard of! He's able to put the tracks together, although he needs mommy or daddy's
help to make it into a circle!
He is such a polite boy. He is learning to say "thank you", "please", and
"sorry", and will remind us when we go out that he needs his hat and glasses and to wash his hands, face, and teeth when putting
him to bed. We are so thankful that Brandon isn't jealous of Danielle, but he have to watch out because he wants to
play with her and may hit her or pull her leg, or even try to bite her. We know he's not trying to be malicious and
doesn't realize that he's hurting her, so we have to be so careful when they are together.
Brandon usually goes to sleep around 9pm and wakes up around 7:30am. He will
lay down on the floor next to the door, looking out, or call us. When we come in, he'll immediately say "downstairs!"
or "hungry". But when we let him out, he usually runs into the office and says "watch brandon" because he wants to see
the old videos of him.
April 22, 2005
It's been a long time since I've added anything on here. Brandon is talking
a lot, running, jumping, is a very happy kid and loves to look at babies, which is good since we'll be having one very soon!
He loves Alice and Ghost and plays ball with them. Alice is quite good about letting Brandon have the ball when he says
Alice drop! Usually she won't let anyone get the ball. Ghost lets Brandon climb all over him and looks at us for
help. Alice usually walks away. Brandon has peed in the potty on his own several times whenever he is about to
take a bath. He does it standing up! It's cute how he tries to get close to the potty so he can pee in it.
Othe than that we haven't been pushing him to use the potty. We is out of the crib and even though we have a toddler
car bed set up for him, he prefers to sleep in the guest bed (big bed). We moved his car bed into our room so he can
sleep there with Bob when the baby arrives while Wendy sleeps in Brandon's room with the baby in the bassinet. Brandon
loves the neighborhood kids, especially Matthew, who loves to pull him or push him in his different cars. Brandon lovs
his Elmo car that his friends at Royal Buffet gave him, and uses his legs to push him down our driveway and down the street!
We live on a cul de sac which doesn't have much traffic. Brandon
is saying alot of words now. He can count to 10. His 2 favorite numbers are 3, and 10.
He also knows his colors: blue, red, green, pink, purple and yellow. He
says hungry when he wants to eat, and milk or water when he wants to drink. When he tickles me, he says tickle
tickle tickle while doing it. He can now say 3 words sentences.
Every morning after he wakes up, he says "Brandon, office" because he wants to look at himself in his old videos,
and likes to eat "rice cracker". He is also very good about saying please, like "move please" when he wants us off the
couch so he can jump across it. We're working on the thank yous!
March 3, 2005
Brandon had his first Dentist visit with a Pediatric Dentist. His score was
A+! We were advised to stop using sippy cups (they would actually delay speech) and to use a fluoride toothpaste.
February 12, 2005
We celebrated Brandon's birthday with a small gathering upstate. Brandon
has been saying a lot of words including hello, yes, Gordan, Love (Oliver), I, Love, you, no, Bee for Bertie, and insects,
Ghost, Alice, uh oh, all gone, whoo whoo (train), go, down, up, Mom, dad, Bob, Perce (Percy), Garfu (Garfield), Smurfs, clock,
guck, and quickly adding more words every day. When we sneeze, he says "bless".
February 8, 2004
We celebrated Brandon's first birthday today at Janet (Bob's sister)
and Paul's house. We had 20 people so it was a little overwhelming for Brandon to see all the people there.
We had a sushi platter, vegetable platter, and a 4 foot sub. For dessert we had a Carvel ice cream cake and
Brandon got his own cupcake to totally destroy. It was funny, it took him a while, and he was examining the icing carefully
and got a little on his hand, tried a little in his mouth, but didn't really devour it. I was very happy that he didn't
eat it up. I was so worried about any sugar high or allergies. Almost everyone participated in the Pin the
Tail on the Donkey game. Brandon got lots of wonderful presents and got to meet his other Grandmother for the first
time.
February 1, 2004
Two more teeth cut through the gums for a total
of 4 on top. Brandon is walking everywhere! It is so cute! Today in the store while we were looking at decorations
for his first birthday party, we had to keep running after him because he would take off down the aisle with store items in
hand! He likes to walk all around either with his arms in the air, or holding onto things. We had
to install another gate to section off the kitchen, and first when it wass open, he used to feel insecure so he
would walk to it, then crawl over the gate bottom, then walk again in the kitchen. But Bob helped him across it so now
he will hold on to the gate when crossing it and when he gets over it we clap and say "yay", so now when he goes into the
kitchen, he starts clapping his hands! It's so adorable! He's also now pointing and goes "ooo" or "goo" when he
wants something. It's so neat!
January 5, 2005
It's amazing how fast Brandon is walking now. He can make it
from the Living room into the Kitchen and has learned how to move the plastic gate sectioning off the kitchen. Since
he's never explored the kitchen, he's always going over to that gate and moving it so it's time to buy and install
a locking gate!
December 22, 2003
Brandon took a picture with Santa for the first time. He was not too
pleased and was a little scared of the bearded one. The Monmouth Mall in Eatontown had a very nice looking Santa who
was very sweet and tried to take Brandon when Brandon had his back to him but Brandon was smart enough to turn around when
he heard Santa creeping up behind him!
December 21, 2003
Mommy and Daddy (along with friends) saw Brandon take a few steps
on his own! on separate occasions he took 2 steps and one time took 3. Yippy! The week prior our friend
gasped and yelled out "He walked!" and both Bob and I missed it. Her husband said "oh yeah he's been doing that all
night!" And we said thanks a lot for telling us! So today we officially saw it for ourselves!
December 10, 2003
This has been a big week of firsts!
On the 4th, mommy saw Brandon stand up on his own without any help from
leaning or pushing on anything except his legs! On the 8th, Brandon clapped his hands on his own repeatedly. On the
9th, he pushed his toy walker and walked behind it and on the 10th he climbed the stairs with some coaxing from mommy
with daddy behind to catch him in case he fell! Brandon loves eating Cheerios now and will drink water from a sippy
cup!
October 23 - 26, 2003
We're
back from our trip to Washington! When we first boarded the plane, I heard the guy in front of us say to his wife "there's
a kid in back of us" which of course made me more nervous about Brandon bothering the passengers but Brandon was quite wonderful
on the flights! Luckily his ears didn't bother him. On the way up, we had him in his car seat and base but realized
that the buckle was getting in the way, so upon landing we just hooked him up in the car seat as Bob sat in coach during the
takeoff and landings. There was so much room because we flew in first class (due to upgrading using points. Can you believe
that the coach fare was around $300 but the first class ticket would have cost $2,900? Do people actually pay that? Yikes!).
Brandon did start fussing when the plane started moving and I gave him the Pedialyte I had prepared with the nipple since
I did not want to take him out of the car seat and he ended up chewing on the nipple. Once they flashed the seatbelt sign,
I took him out and breastfed him. By the time Bob joined us, he was happy and full. Brandon did get to nap during the
flight which was 6 hours to Washington from NJ but I was awake the whole time. I was just grateful that Brandon was happy.
We arrived in Washington at around midnight EST and luckily our luggage were the first ones out and we proceeded to get our
rental car. Brandon's West Coast relatives (Bob's eldest brother's family) loved him and couldn't get enough of him!
He was quite the center of attention! We had a hotel room with a living room space which was great because Bob could sleep
while Brandon and I played, and later on I was able to take a nap at the in laws. They had the Disney channel and I discovered
The Wiggles. At first I thought these guys were very silly, but Brandon loved them and I have to admit that I was looking
forward to watching them each morning! The time difference didn't seem to bother Brandon, though both nights that we
went out for dinner, Brandon slept which he hasn't done in a long time during a meal! He was probably exhausted from the fun
filled days! During the nights though he woke up more often than at home and I worrying about the other guests came out quite
often to comfort and feed him. The last night I ended up bringing him into bed with us.
Brandon
got some new neat toys from his cousins and had fun playing with them though his cousins weren't giving him much time to be
by himself! They all wanted to play with him directly. I didn't get to be away from him too much because he would start looking
for me and crying. Sigh. No vacation for mommy! Coming back, we checked the car base and unfortunately couldn't
upgrade my ticket to first class so Bob sat in back (wasn't he sweet?) because it seemed that the flight was full. Luckily
the guy next to me was very nice and wasn't bothered. Since it was a day flight, Brandon was a little more fussy as he wanted
to be able to move around and for some reason they had the seatbelt sign on practically the whole flight! Maybe they forgot
about it! The flight attendant even offered to hold Brandon while I ate but I didn't want to bother her. I guess I could
have took her up on it but was afraid that he'd start crying and getting upset which would bother the other passengers. Anyway,
it was great surviving the first flight and I'm so happy I don't have to stress about it anymore!
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May 23-25, 2003
Brandon hit a new record sleeping 8.5 hours on the 23rd, then slept
8 hrs on the 24th and 7.5 hours on the 25th! Of course he's still waking up around 6-7am which is too early for mommy!
She puts him in the office on the bouncer and he plays with the toys, watches the Baby Einstein DVD on the computer monitor,
and likes to put his hands in his mouth! Brandon is also grabbing at the toys and other things like mommy's hair or
clothes, or various items on the changing table while his diaper is being changed! |
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May 18 - 19, 2003
Brandon slept for 6.75 hours on 5/18 and the next day held his
head high for quite a long time after putting him on his stomach! Later on in the night he slept for almost 7.5 hours!
Wendy has been sick and wore a mask when feeding Brandon and when close to him. When she smiles with the mask on, he
smiles back, which shows that he must get a clue from the eyes that someone is smiling at him! Isn't that interesting?
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May 12, 2003
Brandon is 3 months old! Today was a busy day for Brandon.
First he went to a funeral and Mass with Bob for Bob's friend, Kevin Sherlock. Then we visited Juilliard to introduce
Brandon to all of Wendy's friends and even Mr. Stessin, Wendy's piano teacher. Then Brandon got to hear his mother perform
her song at her BMI Musical Theater Workshop and meet her friends there. Dinner was spent at Dan Tempura House, one
of Wendy's favorite restaurant, with Oliver, Farren and their son, Emerson Lee Ionita, who is 5 days older than Brandon!
This is the youngest baby he's met so far! Bob felt very domestic as he and Oliver pushed strollers down the streets
of Manhattan! When Brandon came home he was very tired from all the excitement and slept for 6.25 hours, yay Brandon!
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May 11, 2003
Wendy's first mother's day! Brandon gave her a card with his
handprint on it and a kit to make a mold of his hand! We took Bob's mother out to lunch with his younger sister.
Aunt Janet visited for a while. Brandon gave his Grandma a big balloon! |
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April 26, 2003
Brandon went to his first birthday party for his friend, Joey's first
birthday. Barney made a special appearance and as you can see from this picture, Brandon was quite intrigued!
However, when the time came to pose with the celebrity, Brandon was all worn out and went to sleep! |
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April 20, 2003
Brandon set a new record of 6.5 hours between feedings! Mommy woke
up and saw how long had passed and had to rush in to see if he was breathing! The next day he went for 5.25 hours but
the next day, alas, it was back to every 3 hours. Well there is hope! | April 14, 2003
The nurse was shocked that Brandon had grown 2.5 inches. She says she never
saw any baby at that age grow so much. Mommy's milk must be doing him good!
March 19, 2003
Went to cardiologist. Good news! Brandon is doing great! The cardiologist
explained to Bob that a murmer is an extra sound that is heard because of any disruption of the bloodflow. The
sound that our pediatrician was completely normal. The babies lungs are not used inside the womb, so the blood creates
a murmer in newborns as it tries to get into the lungs using the small, previously unused, passageway. The murmer sound
will naturally go away as the lungs and passageway grow along with Brandon :)
March 17, 2003
1 month appointment. Had to take another blood test to check white blood
cell count because of pale lips. Doctor wants to check a murmer. Says she isn't concerned but wants to be
careful.
February 20, 2003
Brandon gained 12 oz! Circumcision looks great. Bellybutton cord healing
nicely!
February 16, 2003
Came in to check on weight and do assessment. Doc gave Pedialite to rehydrate
Brandon. Told us if the breast milk doesn't come in by tomorrow, must give some formula. Luckily, later that day
breast milk came in.
Firsts:
Visitors at hospital: Mom, Aunt Janet, Great Aunt Michele, Uncle
Alex, Aunt Sam, Aunt Janet's friend Sue
Phone call:
Uncle Jim
Bath: February
16, 2003
Sprinkling of mommy: February 18, 2003
Restaurant visit: February 22, 2003
Sprinkling of daddy: March 1, 2003
Miscellaneous:
Cord came off: February 20, 2003
| Doctor's visits: |
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| Date: |
Weight: |
Length: |
Head Circumference |
| August 28, 2005 |
|
34 in (5%) |
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| February 17, 2005 |
22 lbs 12 oz (3%) |
32 in (5%) |
48 cm |
| August 23, 2004 |
20 lbs 2 oz (<3%) |
30.75 in (5%) |
47 cm |
| May 18, 2004 |
18 lbs 12 oz (<3%) |
29.25 in (5%) |
47 cm |
| February 9, 2004 |
17 lbs 6 oz (<3%) |
28 in (5%) |
45.1 cm |
| October 31, 2003 |
15 lbs 14 oz (3%) |
27 in (25%) |
44.7 cm (50%) |
| August 25, 2003 |
15 lbs (10%) |
26.5 in (50%) |
43.8 cm (35%) |
| July 28, 2003 |
14 lbs 8 oz (17%) |
25.5 in (50%) |
43 cm (25%) |
| June 30, 2003 |
14 lbs 2 oz (37%) |
24.5 in (40%) |
41.4 cm (25-50%) |
| May 22, 2003 |
13 lbs (50%) |
23.5 in (40%) |
40 cm (25%) |
| April 14, 2003 |
10 lbs 14 oz (25%) |
22.5 in (40%) |
37.4 cm (10%) |
| March 17, 2003 |
8 lbs 6 oz (25%) |
20 in (10%) |
36.5 cm (25%) |
| February 20, 2003 |
6 lbs 4 oz |
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| February 16, 2003 |
5 lbs 8 oz |
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| February 14, 2003 |
5 lbs 6 oz |
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| February 12, 2003 |
5 lbs 14.5 oz |
19 inches |
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