Brantley: 11 months

Brantley,

Well, we started Crawling Bootcamp 2 months ago after your 9-month appointment – after realizing that Daddy and Papa were probably carrying you around too much… who can blame them? – and ever since you’ve showed us that you’re ready to get moving! This month you pulled up from a laying down into a sitting position (6/4) then 2 days later on 6/6 you figured out how to pull yourself to a standing position while holding on to the side your crib. We quickly realized we’d never lowered your crib mattress and you could very easily hurtle yourself over the side of the crib so we made that change and avoided a near-death experience. (Someone told me recently that the first year of a baby’s life is just about keeping them alive. We totally agree.)

This month you attended your first surf competition! The Steel Pier Classic was held at the oceanfront on Memorial Day weekend so we walked down to the beach to see the competition, say hi to friends, and look through all the artwork at the Surf Art Show.

On Memorial Day, we spent the afternoon at the pool with Mimi, Papa, Nanny, and Papa… and of course all of your aunts, uncles, and cousins!

This picture is just an example of those daily reminders that we have a BIG personality on our hands. You are always a happy baby – unless you want our food. Then you just get grumpy but that’s another story. 😉

Now that you’re more comfortable in the pool, we tried out your float and it was a SUCCESS! You could’ve stayed in this thing all day long. At one point, you were laid back in it while I fed you fresh fruit… living like a king.Since Daddy was working at the fire station on Memorial Day, we went to visit him there and eat dinner with the rest of the guys.  Dressed in your red, white, and blue, we couldn’t resist sitting you on the firetruck for a photo op.

This photo might just be my favorite photo of all time… it sums up my whole life.

We have really enjoyed being able to go over to the pool now the weather is getting so hot. Shadow always comes along and explores the backyard, lays in the flower beds under the shade of the trees, and anxiously waits for us to get in the pool so he can jump in, too.

We invited Blair, Ty, and Alexis over and had a great afternoon swimming, splashing, and EATING. Daddy started swim lessons by first getting you used to being under water. We started this when we were in Tampa in April but you did so much better this time around. We count to 3 then dip you down under water and since we’ve been practicing breath-holding for months when we count, you did great holding your breath in the pool!

Always getting handsy with Alexis…

(While this photo is another one of my favorites, Blake was really just trying to get Brantley used to the grass… it’s the little moments that make the best photos!)The little things:

• You are ticklish on the tops of your knees and the bottoms of your feet, just like your Daddy.
• High-fives are your favorite.
• You wake up every once in a while in the middle of the night, search around for your “Shadow blanket”, curl up with it, and fall right back asleep. The only reason we know this is because we’ve watched it on the monitor because otherwise we would never know since you don’t even make a peep when you wake up.
• You love to make spitting noises, soaking your shirt in the process.
• You’ve become a little comedian this month and will do ANYTHING to make us laugh including lifting your arms in the air for a “touchdown!” and shaking your head back and forth when we tell you to “go crazy!”
• Now that you’ve learned how to pull yourself from laying down to sitting up, you frequently sit up in your crib but you’re so tired that you eventually just fall over face first in your lap and fall asleep there.

Happy 11 Months, baby boy.