Christmas Weekend 2011

Brahm was able to spend Christmas Eve with Grandma, Pop Pop, Uncle Glen, Aunt Emily, Aunt Cathy, and cousins: Carson, Caitlyn and Cole.  Here are some picture highlights of our present opening.

Brahm played very well with Baby Cole.  He can't wait until Cole is big enough to roll the ball back!

Brahm woke up to presents Christmas morning!

Grammy and Grandpop came over on Christmas Day.




 

22 Months Old!

On Friday, Brahm and I decided to go Christmas Tree shopping.  Brahm and I packed in the car to a trip to Big Lots to pick out our tree.  We decided to get a small one this year.  Our big one has half the lights out and I didn't want to try and figure out which bulbs and fuses needed to be replaced.  (Jeremy wasn't too thrilled to get it out of the attic anyway).  I asked Brahm if he wanted a green tree or a purple tree.  He choose Purple, but I overruled him this year.  I did let him pick out colored or white lights, and surprisingly he he choose white.  I put it together and decorated it during nap time so he was surprised when he woke up.

He learned how to say "Christmas Tree" right away.  He has started to touch it and pull on the table cloth today, so we'll see how soon it topples over. 

After Church today Brahm was playing with some balls with a 4 year old girl and 6 year old girl.  He looked so big running after them. 

Almost two!

He's learning so many new things.  He knows all of his colors.  He loves using his computer, his purple dino, and watching Wheel of Fortune to learn his letters.  His current favorite letter to say is Q, however he loves hearing the zoo animals after he presses Z.  (He also seems to think that the word Zipper is hilarious).  Brahm will repeat the letter he hears on Wheel of Fortune and frequently, he encourages the contestants to buy vowels, saying A, E, I,  and O.  It is too funny.  The other night I sang the ABC's during bath time, stopping randomly, and he was able to fill in the next letter.  I am working with him on numbers.  He has the concept of "Two" down, I think.  He will tell us he has Two balls and asked Jeremy for two stuffed owls a few weeks ago.  He has memorized that there are eight boats in his number book, but doesn't count along with me yet. I guess he has some time before he has to start preschool. 

Brahm loves to get goodies when he goes potty!  He usually pees on his potty after he wakes up, after his nap, and before his bath.  He makes his accomplishments known, telling us he needs his goodies after he pees.  And don't try to argue with him, he makes sure he gets the tiniest bit out so he can get his goodies.  He makes us laugh every day!

Brahm loves to sing!  He will frequently burst out singing "B-I-B-I-B" ,"E-I-E-I-O"  , or "Grooby A-B [Groovy ABCs].  He loves The Song of the Cebu from Veggie Tales.  Today he sang "BOO!! then said "ACHOO!"  [There is a verse that goes "Achoo moo moo, Achoo, moo, moo Etc].

Brahm has also been doing super at night.  Up until two months ago, I had to rock him to sleep at night, but now we have our routine down so we read a Bible story, sing Jesus Loves Me, pray and then go "night night".  Finally! 

November Update

This November Abraham has been busy with adventures, but his Mom is not good at writing about them. 

Brahm was able to spend time with Grammy and Grandpop early this month while Jeremy and I went on a date to see Owl City in Allentown.  Brahm must have had a great time because he is still talking about Grammy's house.  Just so you know, he watched Doodlebops with Uncle Bay while eating Peas. 

A few Saturdays later, Brahm went to the mall with me and Jennie, my good friend and Brahm's babysitter.  Brahm was super excited to ride on the Elmo Ride, see the puppies and get a ball from the Old Navy ball machine. 

Brahm was able to spend Thanksgiving with Pop Pop, Grandma, Uncle "G/Day ", Emmy, Emmy's boyfriend Jeremy, Cathy, Baby Cole, Carson, Caitlyn, and Cameron.  Emily and Jeremy stayed until Saturday.  Brahm had fun playing with them and was sad when we left them at Grandma's house. 

Brahm was also able to see Cora last Saturday.  Cora tried to teach Brahm how to play tag but he just wanted to run after her, not tag her back. 

Brahm was able to spend a lot of time with his Daddy this month. Jeremy switched from his previous schedule to 7days on 7 days off.  He's enjoying every minute!

Halloween Fun

Every Tuesday, Brahm goes to the Under 2 club at the Bloomsburg Children's Museum.  Brahm loves going each week!  Yesterday, Daddy dressed Brahm in some Halloween attire. 

This shirt even glows in the dark!!

In the paper today, I saw the Columbia Mall was having trick or treating tonight.  I had the following conversation with Jeremy.

Me: Good, you're up!  Want to take Brahm to the Mall to show off his costume?
Jeremy: Okay..This doesn't mean I have to wear my [Cobra Commander] costume does it?
Me (Immediately, in disbelief of his previous comment): No! No! You definitely don't have to wear it.


There were a lot of kids there, so we didn't stand in line for the goodie bags (or go around to get any candy either) but Brahm had fun watching the kids and walking around.  His costume was a hit!

Wonderful Weekend

Brahm had another exciting weekend! Saturday, we took a long drive to see Heather, Justin, and Baby Rose!  Rose was very nice to allow Brahm to play with her ball and read her books.  Brahm had the best time eating cheese crackers and playing with Tahnee. 

I took him away from Tahnee to take a picture with Rose..this was the result..

Poor kid, he needs his doggy fixes, when he can get them. 


Heather made a delicious dinner for us, Baked Ziti, Meatballs, and Mixed Veggies, with a cookie for dessert, all of Brahm's favorites! 

After we left Heather's we stopped by Jeremy's parents house to see Grandpop.  Uncle Ben came home, so Brahm was able to see him, too. We then stopped by Grammy's work to see her!  She was super glad to show Brahm off to her coworkers.

It was a late night, but lots of fun.

Sunday, Jeremy's parents came up for church and lunch.  For dessert I made these Apple Dumplings from a recipe I got from a HungryGirl email. They were yummy and really easy!

Crazy-Delicious Apple Dumplings

PER SERVING (1/6th of recipe, 1 dumpling): 200 calories, 6.5g fat, 308mg sodium, 36g carbs, 2.5g fiber, 19g sugars, 2.5g protein -- PointsPlus® value 6*

Ingredients:
1 package refrigerated Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough Sheet (or HG Alternative!)
6 small baking apples (preferably Fuji), peeled and cored
2 tbsp. sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 tbsp. brown sugar (not packed)
1/2 tbsp. light whipped butter or light buttery spread (like Brummel & Brown)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a deep 9" X 13" baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

Lay dough sheet on a dry surface with the shorter sides on the left and right. Cut horizontally into 2 evenly sized strips. Cut each strip vertically into 3 evenly sized pieces, for a total of 6 pieces. Gently and evenly stretch or roll out each piece of dough in order to yield slightly larger, square-like pieces.

Place one apple in the center of each piece of dough. Add 1 tsp. dried cranberries to the opening of each apple. Evenly distribute brown sugar and butter among the openings, about 1/4 tsp. of each per apple. Sprinkle apples with cinnamon and nutmeg.

One apple at a time, fold all four corners of the dough up around the apple, until they overlap at the top. Pinch the top and sides of the dough's edges together to seal around the apple. Place the dough-wrapped apples in the baking pan, evenly spaced.

Cover the pan with enough foil to secure at the sides without resting on top of the apples. Bake in the oven for 45 - 50 minutes, until dough is browned and apples are tender.

Allow to cool slightly, and then enjoy!

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

Today, Brahm decided to be a helper.  He wiped down some walls:

And polished some brass:

And...a few hours later he had a tantrum that woke up Daddy, and got an early nap...welcome to the almost twos....

We're Gonna Have a Good Time, Down on the Farm

This weekend, Abraham was able to see the Leatherman side of his extended family.  Because of the busyness of our lives, it's pretty special when all of my siblings get together.  Brahm was able to see Pop Pop, Grandmom, Uncle Steve and his fiancee Jessica, Aunt Cathy, Cousins Carson, Caitlyn, Cameron, and Cole, Uncle Glen, and Aunt Emmy.  Emmy's boyfriend Jeremy was invited, but he couldn't make it because A) He was busy or B) He likes to avoid the Jacobs'.  (The jury is still out).  Why he would want to avoid spending time with his potential future nephew/ring bearer is hard for anyone to fathom. 

Here is a picture of Brahm and Glen eating a snack after the long drive to Grandma's. 

Then Brahm played with his favorite toy at Grandma's:  decorative apples.

These were worth every dime, Pop Pop!

Thank you for my airplane!

After our meal we took some family pictures.

Brahm's newest cousin is in this picture!

The picture of the grandkids was difficult to take...here is the best one.

Lots of pictures

Abraham has been having a blast playing and learning.  His vocabulary is growing by the day.  We have finally entered the "No!" stage, but it hasn't been too bad...yet..

Here are some pictures of Brahm playing and being silly.

Brahm's newest favorite reading seat!

Random Short Brahm stories

Brahm has been cracking me up lately with all of his discoveries.  He's been really picking up words and concepts, it's so fun to see.

Last night he was on my lap, he looks at me with a mischievous grin and grabs my glasses.  I immediately set him down and said "No grabbing Mommy's glasses, that's naughty"  He stands up grins and says "Nonnie, Nonnie, Nonnie"  This morning he repeated the scenario by just saying "Nonnie" as he grabbed my glasses.  Little trouble-maker, he is.

Brahm loves lights.  I had the hall light on and he started walking backwards staring at it.  So I said, "Good Job walking backwards!"  We then played a fun game of "Forwards and Backwards." 

Brahm also loves singing.  He sings songs that include:  The Elmo song (instead of LA, he sings Ma, Ma, Ma), Go! Go! Go! (from Cat in the Hat), Ba, Ba, Ba, BababaRAM (our version of Barbra Ann), and a  tune that he hums.  It's really cute. 

He also still loves Ring Around the Rosey. 

Weekend with Cameron

This weekend, we were able to have our niece Cameron come for a visit.  Her birthday was last week, so we decided to celebrate with some presents and cake!  This morning Cameron and I made her requested cake: Marble with Strawberry icing.

Brahm is usually very possessive with his toys, but he is sharing very well with Cameron this weekend.

This afternoon, we went to Knoebels.

We went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday, Cameron's "favorite restaurant".  Brahm was super lucky and got a double order a broccoli for dinner.  He LOVED it!