Brandino - The Baby Years

Poor Brandon hasn't had as well a documented babyhood as some of the other kids. Hopefully he will forgive me when he gets older. Even though I haven't been posting very much about him this last year, I have been keeping notes on fun things to remember about him as a baby. Sorry that it's so long, but it's about 8 months worth of fun things to tell. I'll throw in some cute pictures to break it up!

On a "safari" with Emma.

•  He loves to snuggle - sometimes when I am holding him, he will lean his cheek against mine and we will just watch the world together, cheek to cheek. *sigh*
• He is a huge smiler! I don't know if I've seen any baby smile as much as he does. When he's nursing, he will let go for a second to smile up at me and then get right back to business. It just melts my heart.






• He is a big thumb sucker. He loves to hold on to things and rub them while he sucks his thumb. It is usually what is within arm's reach - a blanket, my shirt, or in one strange instance, Mike's ear. : ) Now his favorite is the tag of his little raccoon toy that his Great Aunt Virginia got him. (His daddy used to rub tags too.)



Sucking his thumb holding onto the back of mommy's skirt.

• He started army crawling and sitting up at about 7 1/2 months even though he is tiny and seems way too little to be doing any of those things. At 9 months he started regular crawling about a week before we moved to Utah, just in time to get into all the boxes I was packing. (Perfect timing buddy.)
• When we go grocery shopping, he sits in the cart like a big boy these days. I have to plan an extra 10 minutes when I go because so many people stop to comment on his hair or how tiny he is or how cute he is. Luckily he is a people person and loves the attention. (We still haven't gotten to the stranger danger stage.)



Go BYU!

• He is very determined. When he gets focused on something, he wants to hold it and it is kind of hard to distract him. Watching him chase balls across the room is so entertaining because he never gets frustrated that they are just out of reach, but he also never gives up on getting them until he has them (and usually himself) cornered against a wall or under a chair.
• At about 10 months he learned how to scream. Not just a normal kid scream, but a burst your ear drums, everyone in the room turns to look at him scream. Half the time he isn't even upset, he just wants to be heard. He uses it quite often and we are trying to break him of the habit.                 



He's about to scream!                           

• It's funny how boys and girls are so different, even at such a young age. When he was younger, he would readily give us kisses when we asked. Now instead of leaning in for a kiss, he'll lean in and headbutt us. Sometimes if we are lucky he will follow the headbutt with a real kiss. 



Headbutt!

• I think he looks a lot like Mike. Although he looks a lot like the girls too and everyone says they look like me. But there were a few times when Mike was at work and Brandon and I were sitting quietly together, looking at each other and it made me miss Mike.  
  
• He's a lot of fun and is awfully cute. I think he might be one of the most doted on and most kissed little baby boys in the whole world! We love those big brown eyes and his one dimpled smile!