There's a 1st for everything..

Brycen meets a 4-legged creature crazier than our cat..

This dog was so scared but at the same time, obsessed with Brycen. He would approach Brycen very slowly, lick his face, then run away. He would slowly approach again, lick his face twice, then run away...all night long. Brycen found it hilarious.

Brycen knows how to relax?

Daddy has taught him well! :)

Big Boy Chair...(I haven't seen these seats in forever)

We went to Triple X (restaurant, featured on the Food Network) and Brycen joined us at the table like a big boy.

First pair of glasses...

Mommy got new glasses...and they look better on Brycen. He must know it because he laughs every time Mommy puts them on.

A Mommy-Daddy ONLY date...

Brycen stayed with his very first non-family member babysitter so we could go out for V-day...he actually did pretty well and we had a blast. Went ice skating and out to eat.

Finally, a distraction that works...

It is too cold to go without a hat but Brycen disagreed and would remove his hat and throw it on the ground, the second we put it on. So...the solution...buy him a pair of mittens. It keeps him warmer AND distracted...even enough to be able to put him in his car seat without him throwing a tantrum. He does manage to pull off his gloves eventually...but by then, he totally forgets about his hat :)

Willingly gets dressed...

Brycen LOVES walks and is more than willing to bundle up if that means we get to go outside.

Daddy gets to carry Brycen in..

Mommy carried all the groceries herself...Daddy had to take a picture to document the rare occasion.

See this shirt on TV in Indiana...

Price is Right winner!

Already wearing Daddy's clothes...

Who needs a snowsuit when you have Daddy's shorts as an option?

SNOW..Daddy was SO excited to take Brycen out in the snow for the first time!!

Brycen did not share the excitement though..

"It's cold and wet...Am I missing the fun part?"

"Can we go in yet?" He never smiled...not even once.

We leave the apartment for something other than food...

We went to the library for story time...and oh, boy...new toys!

Taking matter into his own hands..

Brycen's new way of getting Mommy's attention. "You won't hold me...fine by me, just try walking...I dare ya".

Redecorating...

Helping Mommy cook...and we had a slight explosion.

So so innocent...

"Yes Mommy?"

"Brycen, what are you up to?"-Mommy

"Oh...nothing..." (huge grin)

Fugitive....thief...

Not only did he climb out of his bumbo but he stole Mommy's apple...

And...was quite pleased with himself!

Less Freedom..

As a punishment...he was promoted to the high chair...and of course, loves it...who would've thought?

Reality check..

Mommy realizes that her boy is huge and growing up fast..

Handful!

Let's see...how to sum the most recent Brycen up in a nutshell...

He LOVES eating off the floor...it's like a game to him...he finds the microscopic pieces of food, dirt, yucky stuff and puts it in his mouth and thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread. He can have the BEST hand-eye coordination in the world when he wants to and picks up the SMALLEST things. Can you tell that I'm a bit annoyed at this? Haha...not only do I sweep AND vacuum every day to try to prevent this from happening but since he is all about crawling everywhere now...his little fingers find their way under the couch, the washing machine, the carpets, etc and he puts things in his mouth that I haven't seen in months. It is pretty disgusting...and he LOVES it. He won't eat the delicious, crisp apple that I just cut up for him, or the fruit snacks, or the cheerios...he wants the pieces of dirt, paper, cat hair ball, the fruit snacks that he threw off the table, the now dirty pieces of apple he kindly sent flying through the air...and finds them absolutely delicious! MMMMM...he always says, and that's how I know that I need to check his mouth for new treasures.

Cali (our cat) left a present...

Mmm...

haha...just kidding! This fake poop was actually a Christmas present from one of Bryce's brothers...a pretty crappy present if you ask me :)

Like I previously mentioned, he has the best hand-eye coordination that I have ever seen when he wants to...he can pick up the smallest specs of things in between his fingers and is able to 99.99% of the time, put them in his mouth...and he is so persistent at it! He will work on one spec until...he gets it. On the other hand, if I give him a handful of cheerios in his high chair...not one makes it in his mouth. He will try once, fail, and then realize that it is so much more fun to throw them. He is also into this new thing that he will beg for something (open his mouth, make ahhhahhhahh noise) that Bryce or I are eating, taste it, then spit it out. He has discovered his tongue and how easy it is to put the food on his tongue, put his tongue outside his mouth, close his mouth and then use his teeth to scrape the food off as he pulls his tongue back in. I discovered this one night when we were coming home from the grocery store. I pulled out fruit snacks to feed him so that it would help distract him from the fact that he was sitting in his car seat (something that he is still not a huge fan of)...so I was tearing off little pieces and putting them in his mouth as I talked to Bryce. Every time I looked back at Brycen, I was shocked by how quickly he ate the fruit snack and wanted more, and I remember telling Bryce, "Man, he loves these!". Well...we got home and I asked Bryce to give Brycen a bath while I put away the groceries. Next thing I know...Bryce brings in a Brycen with a now polka dot onesie that was once white. Brycen had spit out every single fruit snack and it fell between his sweatshirt and onesie perfectly so it was hid from my view. Picky stage? I don't think so...but definitely.. a really weird one!

He loves to touch his tongue...(look at those curls!)

Spit out the piece of Clementine...and discovered how much fun they could be if he squeezed them instead and make a mess!

Bryce commented the other day, "Does Brycen not have any taste buds??" as he retrieved the peel of a clementine from Brycen's mouth...you give a piece of the actual clementine...it comes right out...but he will gladly eat the peel.

Brycen also gets really excited for everything that I do not want him getting into...but it's kind of a blessing in disguise because when I'm trying to get the dinner in the oven and turn my back for one minute...and then I hear Brycen screaming in excitement as he speeds off in a certain direction (he is fast!)...I know it means trouble. Usually chasing after the cat...or picking up the latest piece of hair she just shed and wanting to eat it...or one day...he did this and I looked quickly ahead of him to see what he was going at...I couldn't see anything "off-limits" so I turned back to what I was doing and the next thing I know..Brycen is about to put something red into his mouth. I saw it, quickly thought it was one of my rose bush's rose petals and took it from him right as he was dropping it into his mouth. I grabbed it and looked at it...ahh!! Brycen not only chased after a ladybug, he killed it in the process of picking it up, and wanted to eat it. I hate dead things...any dead things....and was grossed out all day. 99% of the time I try to catch a ladybug, I fail...Brycen HAS skills! haha. One heck of a future athlete!

Besides the fact that he is quite the trouble maker...he is such a happy child...and quite a joy.

Even smiles through the tears...

Yes...he keeps my hands full but it only adds adventure to the day. He continues to love bath time, loves Daddy time, and loves touching everything (especially the things he can't have, of course). If we give him ANYTHING willingly, he doesn't want it. He wants the things he can't have and he knows what things those are...cell phones...the cat...the remote...glue...anything Mommy is working on! haha...etc.

Daddy time...

Bath time...we have to have bubbles in there so that he won't see the plug (or else he will pull it and we could never get any water to stay in the tub)...one problem though...Brycen loves to eat the bubbles!

And...he continues to be an earlier and earlier morning riser! Yay!! (...not) Well..the good thing is that he goes to bed early (7pm) and so I'm able to get more things done at night...but man, if I don't hit the hay early...I surely regret it the next morning. When Brycen wakes up, I attempt to play with him on his floor...which means, I try to catch a few more zzzs as he plays...but he makes sure that my plan fails. He either gets suddenly interested in my lovely eyelids and why they are not working properly and tries to open them himself...or he crawls out into the hall and gets into all sorts of things...such as a hairball that the lovely cat left on the floor during the night (yuck!). The newest thing: he fills his diaper up to the point of explosion so that I have two options: either get up and change him or die from the horrible smell and have to clean up the mess that he gladly gets everywhere as he crawls from room to room and his diaper overfills. :)

I don't mention all of this to discourage any of you from having kids (cough cough..Josh...) but just simply to document and hopefully spread some of the humor that Brycen gives us everyday. We usually have no choice but to laugh at all the things Brycen is capable of these days. He is smart and changes daily. He can pull himself up into the standing position and can stand for a few seconds without assistance. He also loves to hold onto our fingers and take us on a walk (yes...us on a walk) around the apartment. His legs are always ahead wanting to go faster and faster. Another result of Brycen being able to pull himself up to a standing position...if I'm not careful and put Brycen into his crib before he is completely asleep...his eyelids immediately flip open, with a huge grin, he flips over faster than I could say it, goes onto his hands and knees, grabs onto the crib bars...pulls himself up into a standing position and then holds on to the sides as he then continues to jump on his newest discovery...using his crib as a trampoline.

Nothing is out of reach anymore..

I have also seen Brycen pull himself up and literally scare our cat...she likes to sit on the couch...which was previously out-of-his reach but now he will crawl over to the crouch while she is sleeping, pull himself up..and give out the most excited squeal as he realizes that he is sooo close to the cat and she has not moved...she is cornered! Our cat doesn't sleep so much during the day anymore (as long as Brycen is awake)...she watches him very carefully.

Even though the adventures are endless and Brycen gets into things faster than I can pick up...he is still quite adorable and says "Mama and Dada". Brycen loves to wake up in the mornings and say "Dada"...since I am usually already on his floor (I traditionally crash there after his last feeding..I am exhausted)...and he loves to find whoever is not in the room. He crawls into the hallway saying "Dada"...one morning, he couldn't find Dada but he found his shoes and knew they were "Dada's" and played with them as he continued to say Dada. Brycen also loves to cuddle at naptime and bedtime as I rock him to sleep and he still loves to use my arms as his taxi every once in a while. When he is done treasure hunting or he is tired of crawling...he will come find me and tug at my feet and want up and want to see what I'm up to..usually he finds what I am doing boring so he will then wiggle out of my arms and want down but occasionally he stays on until we walk into a new room and he has new stuff to explore. He has discovered the pots and pans lately...so there might have to be some rearranging (the fun is just beginning :))

This is what I see when Brycen crawls over to my legs and wants up..(how can you resist that face?)

One thing Brycen does find fascinating is cooking...as long as I am doing it where he can watch me...and if I talk through what I am doing..he finds it really fascinating and sometimes I can get dinner completely prepared and he will just watch me (sometimes...but usually, I have to try to prep dinner in 15 minutes bunches throughout the day...it doesn't bother me...I just have to plan things out ahead of time). Brycen continues to love his bumbo and he sits on the table as we eat dinner and loves to watch Bryce and I eat and occasionally we give him a bite and drink here and there. Due to all his crawling and recent diet (spitting everything out), his thighs are shrinking in size making it alot easier to wiggle out of the bumbo, so one night...while I was trying to get dishes done...I came up with the perfect solution for him to not wiggle out of his bumbo and fall off of the counter....

needless to say, he highly disapproved and no longer continues to try to get out of his bumbo...unless he is mad but usually he is more than content to sit there while we eat, clean, or cook...15-30 minutes is his limit though. Don't worry, he is always within an arm's reach and we watch him very carefully...but he truly loves it seeing things from above...and I love cooking as he watches me.

Everybody loves Brycen. We took him to a birthday party of one of Bryce's friends. Most of the people there were international and the party turned out to be pretty much everyone on the floor playing with Brycen, they were so fascinated.

Brycen will shoot the biggest grin to whoever looks his way (we have not been to Wal-mart once without at least 5 people stopping us so that they could look/talk with Brycen), he is so happy, and big! He continues to grow...just growing out of 18 month old clothing as a 9 month old.

Being a trooper through this long winter...

For one or two days...he absolutely LOVED the camera and would put on this really cheesy smile for it...at least he always looked at the camera.....

These were for Grandma Shields' birthday-Jan. 20th!

Now..I can barely get him to look my way unless I trick him into it...

Either way...he is ADORABLE!

Merry Chistmas X2!

Brycen not only had one Christmas but two! First, we made a stop in Salt Lake City to spend 10 days with my family. Brycen did wonderful on the plane, he played pick-a-boo with the guy sitting next to us for the first hour and then crashed for the rest of it :) The joys of flying at night.

Brycen wanted to let my family know that he arrived and filled the house with beautiful aromas...and thus, needed a bath. Brycen is sporting a hair-do done by Daddy in this picture.

In SLC, it was soo lovely to have in-house babysitters that fought over who could hold Brycen next :) It felt so good to have so much help! And Bryce and I were able to go out a few times together without Brycen, the first time since he was born.

We were able to attend the temple TOGETHER (yes!), go to Music and the Spoken Word with Mike and Jenn, go SKIING twice (snowboarding for Bryce), and go to Savior of the World with the family (thanks to Aunt Stef and Lizzy who watched Brycen). Man, we were so spoiled.

Music and the Spoken Word with Mike and Jenn

SLC made sure to give us very healthy air our first weekend there

It cleared up later in the week though.

The ski/snowboarding group. We got my dad to come out with us--the first time in 25 years! It was cold!!

Not only did we have wonderful babysitters, but I think one of the best things about being home is not having to cook :) I loved having my meals prepared for me and my mom was the best and made fruit smoothies for Bryce and I every morning!! It was heaven..even when we woke up late (Brycen had some trouble adjusting and some nights were LONG), there were fruit smoothies ready for us in the freezer. Since we came back to Indiana...well our freezer doesn't work in quite the same way...and we are going through fruit smoothie withdrawals! Even though my mom did the bulk of the cooking, I tried to help out by doing alot of the dishes and helping make some the side dishes--it was so wonderful to not have to do all of it :D

Eating a carrot..

We also got to see lots of family while we were in the area; Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents on both sides. The Walker side held a Christmas party that we were able to attend and Brycen got to open his very first Christmas present. The Shields side held a few family dinners where we loved seeing everyone we could. Aunt Kelly was also very generous to give us the next size of boys clothing for Brycen :)

Opening his first gift.

Visiting with Great-Grandma Cryst and Shields Christmas Eve night

One of the new outfits from Great Aunt Kelly, picture taken by Aunt Jenn :)

Christmas was wonderful with lots of family, love, presents, swimming (on Christmas Eve) and sledding!

Brycen opening his Christmas Eve present

Christmas Morning

Our Christmas pajamas

Opening a gift from Uncle Isaiah!

At Cousins-Zachary's- Christmas Afternoon (to go sledding). Samantha made this hat, it was too small for her so she gave it to Brycen

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Second, we went to Portland, OR for 8 days.

Home Sweet Home

Every one of Bryce's siblings (he is one of 7) were able to come except for Quinn who is on a mission. There were lots of people, so crazy, but so fun!

Playing some Twister!

They held their Christmas on New Year's Eve so that everyone could come; complete with a delicious dinner, nativity, and family talent show!

At dinner..

Our cute little reindeer..

Brycen was a shepherd for the Nativity skit

With his sheep

Bryce's talent..

Brycen loves it!

Brycen crawled for everyone to see!

I hola hooped-still undefeated! Any takers?

Some of the nieces and nephews' talent..

Brycen went to bed around 9 but then woke up right before midnight to celebrate his first New Years!

He was trying to make sense of the dancing chaos of the other kids..

We also went to a party at one of the Walker's family friend's house where I inherited my first sewing machine (I'm so excited!) and we went to Bryce's brother (Richard's) house for a parent-pizza night out. Everyone else left their kids at the Grandparents (Bryce's parents) except for us. Brycen came along for the party because it was a 45 minute ride both ways, we would be gone for a quite a few hours, and he won't take a bottle. He also was teething and feeling a bit under the weather and when he is like that, he only wants me or Bryce. Bryce's parents had their hands full with 11 other kids so we decided to spare them a screaming one (even though they were more than willing).

Brycen had a ball with us as we played Balderdash (picking a definition out of the dictionary while one person goes out of the room, one person is in charge of giving the right definition while everyone else give their own definition and the person that comes back to the room has to decide which person gave the right definition), Bryce's siblings are pretty good at making up pretty crazy defiintions and making them sound reasonable (sometimes)! We also played Apples to Apples and had lots of healthy food. Pizza, ice cream, candy, oreos, yummy..

Family Picture

Bryce was also able to go snowboarding with his brothers, everyone went swimming, and we were able to go on a date to Burgerville (so yummy!) while Grandma watched Brycen.

Brycen curled with Grandma

And went swimming with everyone (in the same pool Bryce did when he was younger)

Snowboarding on Mount Hood

Bryce asked a stranger to take a picture of the group...either the stranger didn't like Bryce or they were very unobservant...or they just suck at taking pictures..or they hate snowboarders... because...that snowboard in the far bottom right corner of the picture belongs to Bryce...he wanted to be in the picture since he was part of the GROUP. oh well. haha

I think the best thing that came out of the trip to Oregon for Brycen was that he overcame his fear of kids! There were lots of them and he did just fine! He was even the aggressive, in your face one, sometimes. haha.

"Hi, my name is Brycen, do you mind if I bite you?" I'm not sure if Brycen sees everyone as his teething toy or what but he sure acted like it.

"Mommy, he just kicked me in the face...gotcha!" (Brycen with 5 month old cousin, Evans)

With Grandma and Evans

"Hey Mom! We need one of these!" He loved being able to walk around.

We really, really enjoyed the mild winter Portland was currently experiencing (never needed more than a light sweater or jacket) and it made it very hard to come back to the 0 degree weather in Indiana. I have been to Oregon several times and I know it rains 90% of the year but it never rained while I was there until this trip. They also got a few inches of snow (very rare) and it lead to the highway turning into a parking lot, lots of fun for the 3 family members flying in that night! Bryce's dad left for work (in Portland) at 7am that morning and didn't return home until 1am.

Since Bryce is one of the youngest siblings in his family, we are not the first to have a child like on my side of the family, everyone had their own children to deal with so we didn't have quite as many willing hands to hold Brycen all day but it was good to see how much the other children have grown, to see the one that was born in July for the first time (and be there for his blessing!), and to get a few minutes of relief here and there as people took their turns getting to know Brycen.

Sunday of Evans' Baby Blessing

The entire group

We took a 6am flight home though and I don't think we will ever do that again! We woke up at 3 (Brycen getting 5 hours of sleep when he is used to getting 10+) and were exhausted all day. The nice thing about it though was that one of Bryce's brothers (Joe and his family) were on the same first flight so we got to ride with them, we got back to Indiana at a decent hour, and because Brycen was so exhausted--he slept like a newborn again...slept the entire day...through both airplane trips and car trip home from the airport. It was also very hard to adjust between the 3 hour difference between Portland and Indiana time zones but we are back home, back on schedule, and it was totally worth it!

Back home in our HOT apartment...can you tell by what Brycen is wearing compared to what he wore in all the other pictures?

Our cat is having alittle tougher time adjusting though. I don't know if she will ever forgive us for leaving her alone for 3 weeks. She is in need of almost constant petting and she keeps a close watch on us in fear that we may disappear again and never come back. She has joined Bryce and I on our bed at night and seems to do pretty well with that and we prefer it (as opposed to her meowing all night). If she meows, she gets kicked off the bed and she learns quickly:)