First Zoo Trip

Yesterday we ventured to the MN Zoo with the Thompson family. We met there at 9:30, it was pretty chilly to start but it got very nicer as the morning progressed. We walked around for a couple of hours, had lunch and then departed. We bought a family membership so that we could go back as often as we want this summer...we only saw a fraction of the zoo on the first trip but we'll be back in two weeks with the Osendorf family and we'll see more at that time!

Coming from Nebraska, goats are a dime a dozen. People have them on their farms, small children rope and herd goats all the time, they are not something you see at the zoo. Well at the Minnesota Zoo they had all sorts of goats and you could actually go in and pet them...Brody was in heaven. Every time he'd get near one he'd let out a scream and either grab it or try and rub his face in their fur, he LOVED it and watching his reaction was the highlight of the morning!

He also like the BIG "kitty", the leopard was right by the glass pacing back and forth.

Biting

I've heard numerous stories from friends with little ones, once they get past the first couple of teeth and the rest start to come in, they like to bite. Last weekend while in Duluth Jason saw that Brody was getting in two of his top molars and we didn't think much of it...until Monday when we got notification that Brody had bit the same little girl in his class, not once but twice within 30 minutes. I remember the first time I was notified that Brody was bitten I was upset and now we are on the other end! Monday night we did another assessment of Brody's mouth and not only did he have two top molars coming in but 4 other teeth as well, equally 6 teeth. This doesn't make the situation any better but at least it explains the change in his behavior. So last week in total we got 3 nasty grams from daycare about Brody biting other children in his class. It's NO fun to sign off on those notifications...here's to a better week!!

YUM Ketchup

Brody had his first taste of ketchup and french fries last weekend...ketchup was the clear winner!

Duluth Weekend

Jason's company has an incredible home in Duluth right on the water, we are lucky enough to get it two weekends a year, so last weekend we headed up north with the Osendorf's and Zastrow's. The weather was gorgeous, 65 and sunny! Saturday we played outside, grilled out and had great conversation. Sunday we had brunch and then headed back to the cities, while it was a quick trip, it was a great get away!

For some reason Brody did NOT like the texture of the sand and the minute I put him down he shed some big tears!

Then it was all better once Dad rescued him!Playing in the yardWhy would you need to walk when you can do the bear crawl instead??

Brody and his best buddy Landon...

Bath time

14 Months

Brody's new thing is to sit on his Mickey toy backwards and push it backwards...which is fine but he's constantly running into things because he can't see where he's going!

Toddler Tantrums

I was under the impression that tantrums started with the terrible 2's but clearly that is not the case at the Ward house. As you will see below Brody can throw a fit with the best of them...in fact normally he will throw himself onto his tummy and kick his arms and legs fussing. Unfortunately for him they do not get the response he requests so he gets up and continues to play with whatever is closest...currently they are very shortly lived and far between but I anticipate that will change in the future. I wonder, does he get that attitude from his mom or his dad?!?!

Happy Easter!

We had a busy Easter Sunday this year. We went to church with our favorite neighbor friends, the Jacobs and then they came over for brunch after. We had a tasty egg bake, monkey bread and fruit salad, great company and a great meal! (kicking myself as i didn't get pics!!)

Then after Brody woke from his nap we headed over to Chad and Kristy's for a late afternoon lunch/dinner. Holy cow did they have a spread...turkey, potatoes, mac & cheese, cheese rice and bread....YUMMY! After we stuffed ourselves silly we decided to take a walk before dessert so we set out on a pretty little trail in their back yard and walked for 45 minutes (the day was beautiful), then back to the house for blueberry pie and ice cream. Overall, it was a wonderful day spent with special friends who have become our family here in Minnesota!Brody was LOVING Napolean. This was really the only time he sat still so Brody could pet him... Brody is a HUGE fan of gold fish so Chad and Kristy gave him a big container for Easter. I tried to take one out of his hand while snapping this picture, if he could talk he'd be saying "back off, these are all mine!"A couple of the toys in the Easter basket from Uncle Chad and Auntie K, he loved them!

Dying Easter Eggs

I had this great idea to dye Easter eggs with Brody, I mean what 14 month old wouldn't love it...you know with their long attention span and love of design. (LOL) Anyway, I went to Target and decided that the regular dye kits weren't enough so I bought the egg speckler spinner for 3 times the price...which in the end turned out to be nothing more than a bigger mess than we should have had. Nonetheless, Jason and I entertain Brody with egg dying and he watched! Next year, back to basic egg dying and here's to hoping he enjoys it more next year!

Our First Trip To The ER...

I knew eventually we'd make a trip to the ER but hadn't anticipated it would be anytime soon. I got a call from daycare stating that Brody had fallen down and cut open his chin and probably needed stitches. Jason went and got him and I met them at Children's Hospital ER. To make a very long story short, we spent 4 hours in the ER, at hour 3 they came in to numb his chin for stitches, at 3 hrs 45 minutes they came back, reassessed the wound and decided it would be better to let it heal on it's own. So I'm thrilled at the point no stitches needed but livid that we spend 4 hours at the ER for nothing. Jason laughed it up to a test run to the ER for when we really have an emergency, I on the other hand, am still annoyed they made a 14 month old wait 4 hours. Next time we are at the ER, I'm going to be the annoying mother who's at the nurses station every 15 minutes...I'll show them! (LOL)

Nurse check his vitals...he's totally chill at this point.The only time you will see Brody in a purple "dress"...