Bradley Update

*sorry this post is long. I just haven't written about Bradley in quite a while.
Bradley is doing well. He is 13 months old. He has learned so much lately! It is so fun and joyful to watch your child learn.

He is still not walking. He is getting closer and I know he could do it if he just tried, but he won't. I think we are learning a lot about his personality through this. He has a stubborn streak. Every time we try to get him to stand up and try, he just buckles his knees and whines. I've learned quickly that he will only do it when he is ready and on his own terms. He also seems to be really cautious. He is too nervous to let go when he walks around an entire room holding on to things (must be my child). I'm doing my best to be patient and not compare him to others.

In other ways, he constantly surprises me. He is learning so much in way of talking and social things. He lives for adult attention. I can't go anywhere without him trying to get all the adults around him to smile or talk to him. In fact, when an adult isn't really looking at him, it becomes like a challenge to him to try to get their attention. For example, on one of my flights last month, I sat by a middle age man. He was nice to Bradley, but didn't really pay attention to him. I think it drove Bradley crazy. He kept trying to touch him and lean forward with a big smile to get the man's attention. It made me laugh inside, while on the outside I was just trying to get him to leave the man alone.

He has mastered saying: dada, mama, uh-oh, what is that, hi, Jesus
He is working on saying: bye bye and night night (they both sound like "aye aye"), sock, all done, shoe, and soft (he can actually say it incredibly clear, but he has only ever said it twice -- they were both while holding stuffed animals). He is really good at the "s" sound.

He also learned to fold his arms, which I think is the cutest thing ever. He won't always do it, but most of the time when we say we are going to pray, he will fold his arms. Today I was at Joann's and was waiting in line. The woman in front of me was talking to Bradley. He then folded his arms. At first I was wondering why he did that, but then I realized she was folding her arms and he was copying her. It made me smile and I told her why he was doing that. She got a kick out of it.

He still loves random kitchen things. I took him to Young Womens with me one day and gave him the diaper bag to play with. At one point I looked over and the only things he had pulled out to play with were a spoon, measuring cup, a play spatula, and a small whisk. And there were lots of other toys in there. So funny. He also LOVES stuffed animals. He just hugs and hugs them and gets so excited. We were at Sam's the other day and they have giant stuffed animals. Tommy showed them to him and he went crazy over them. I think we know what he's getting for Christmas.

Bradley is allergic to peanuts. He had a reaction to peanut butter (so sad). He got tested and is allergic to peanuts as well as mildly to almonds and pistachios. We have an appointment with an allergist next week to find out more.

Here are a couple of videos I've taken at lunch the past 2 days. He usually doesn't perform as well for the camera as he does in person, but he did a couple of things in them. And he is just so cute. :)

We love this little boy. He is so much fun and makes us laugh all the time.