Ian is a busy toddler and baby brahm is a...

Hi All,

Baby Brahm 2 Update: Its a Boy!

Baby Boy Brahm #2!

Awww - waving hello!

10 toes!

We had our 18 week anatomy scan today - Little One was going crazy moving around during the entire time - I think he made the ultrasound tech's job difficult - especially getting a good shot of his arms and legs - but it was exciting for David and I to see the little guy moving around.  I started to feel this little guy moving way sooner than I did with Ian.  I felt the first few 'flutters' around 13-14 weeks, and the first little kicks around 16 weeks.  I'm now feeling a couple kicks (or head butts) most days now.  I'm looking forward to even stronger kicks coming up in the next few weeks!

Ian seemed to take the news that he was going to have a little brother with indifference - but did get kind of excited when I showed him the ultrasound pictures and explained that the baby in the pictures was his little brother.  He also tried to 'high five' the little hand in the ultrasound - which was pretty adorable.

Ian's had a pretty eventful past two months - he has his second Halloween, he took his first plane trip and visited California, and got to see his Aunts Julie and Hayley again.

He was a little more into Halloween this year than last year.   He helped me carve the pumpkins again - which he thought was pretty fun, except that I tried to get him to help me pull out the pumpkins guts, he said "yuck!" and wouldn't even touch them.  He thought the faces were pretty neat while we were carving them but when I lit them up as a preview he wouldn't go near them.

Ian checking out the pumpkins.

Removing the pumpkin top.

All carved!

Ian went out as a duck for Halloween this year - which we thought was appropriate since his first words were "quack quack".  He was a pretty cute duck!

Ian dressed up for Halloween

Going trick-or-treating

With grandma

With Uncle Gary

Playing with Matthewsaurus

Showing off his tail.

Trying out some of his Halloween treats.

We also took Ian on his first plane trip - to Palm Springs, California for a week long family vacation.  Ian did about as well as we could have expected in the airports and on the plane rides.  We brought his iPad and a few new toys for the trip - which pretty much did the trick of keeping him entertained.  He did end up getting sick just as we were landing in Palm Springs, but that may have been because he had drank a lot of a pretty sugary drink during the flight - way sweeter than the watered down juice we normally give him.  He adjusted really well to being in a new place - except for the 4-hour time change (3 hours + daylight savings).  He never really adjusted to the new time, so Dave and I took turns getting up with him at 3:30-4:30 in the morning.  He loved the pool at the rental house and spent hours in there daily.  It was stair entry - which let him be a little more independent in the water.  He learned to blow bubbles and dunk under up to his eyes - pretty good for 19 months!

We took Ian to the zoo on our second day in Palm Springs - he seemed to enjoy it for the most part, except finding some of the animals pretty scary.  

Ian liked the animals that didn't move.

These guys also look pretty safe.

We also took a trip to Joshua Tree National Park where we did some hiking and climbing.  Ian really enjoyed some the the (shorter) trails and tried to scale several on the rock formations.

Ian and Daddy - rock climbers!

The whole group on the rock!

Ian and Daddy at the lookout.

We also took Ian to the Children's museum of the dessert.  He LOVED it.  There were some really great activities there for him - including a magnetic wall, fossil dig, 'supermarket', and lots more.  It was great to just watch him run around and enjoy all the activities.

Digging for dinosaur bones - and marking down his discoveries

Ian and Daddy on a motorcycle.

We took the tram to the highest peak around Palm Springs - it made for a fantastic view.

Here we are at the top!

Ian's favorite discovery

We missed the London Santa Claus parade while we were away in Palm Springs - so we took a day trip to Kitchener-Waterloo for their Santa parade.  Ian had a pretty good time - and so did Mommy!

Ian and Mommy at the Santa Parade.

Ian and Daddy at the parade.

Ian dancing to the music.

We became a little more concerned about Ian becoming a big brother when Matthew came back to London for a visit.  They did not get along as well as I hoped - both seemed to be pretty possessive over toys.  But they did seem to get used to each other and got along a little better by the end of the weekend.  I'm hoping Ian will be happy being Mommy's little helper with his little brother - he already seems inclined to help out around the house.  David jokes that Ian already does more chores than he does.

Ian and Matthew sharing Ian's chair.

Ian - vacuuming the living room. 

Aunt Hayley and Aunt Julie are both back in London for a few weeks so Ian has been busy getting to know them again. 

Ian walking in Aunt Julie's shoes.

Aunt Hayley, Aunt Julie and I took Ian to Victoria Park to see the lights and go skating.  He really had a lot of fun playing on the Christmas train and 'skating' around the rink.

Ian at Victoria Park

Ian on the Candy Cane Train

Ringing the bell.

Just like Dinosaur Train!

Riding the Reindeer

Ian and Santa

Ian skating with Aunt Julie

Spinning in circles.

Aunt Hayley and Ian skating

We are all looking forward to visiting Auburn this weekend and for Christmas coming up just a few days.  Ian is gearing up to be completely spoiled!

Love Amanda