what we look like now

Man oh man! Looking over my pitiful number of photos from the last month, I'm realizing one of the biggest benefits of actually blogging is that it keeps me snapping pics! It's kinda like with Facebook statuses. During the times in my life where I've actually put up FB statuses, it makes me keenly aware in my everyday life of what would be a good status. "Ooh I gotta go post on

Facebook that I just saw 2 squirrels collide!" Definitely kinda retarded, BUT the cool thing is that it keeps me NOTICING!!!

Likewise, when I am blogging regularly(ish), thinking "oh, I could blog about this" makes me get out the camera, and stop to APPRECIATE what has been done around the house, or what our family's gotten the opportunity to do. It's so easy to get caught up in "cool, this is done, now what's next" and not stop to appreciate and rest in work or reflect on the blessings God

's brought. After God created the world, He stopped and took a Sabbath. So here's to real and metaphorical Sabbaths!

NOW, on to a bit of catch-up.

Here is Brody the Boy. It's so fun to see what a total BOY he is now. He burps and farts--and then LAUGHS at himself. We are 100% POSITIVE he does it on purpose sometimes!!! His idea of fun with toys is seeing how hard he can throw them--at the gym kidcare, I always know Brody's at the toy bucket when I see legos and MyLittlePonys flying through the air. He is completely OBSESSED with balls. They are his all-time favorite toy, and whenever we walk by anything that remotely looks like a ball, he starts yelling, "BALL! BALL! BALL!"

Interestingly, despite what the above photo seems to indicate, he is terrified of messes. Anytime he spills a couple drops of milk on the floor, he points to the puddle and makes distraught noises. Or if there is a wrinkle in a rug, he obsessively tries to fix it. He also loves to clean things up. I like this trait!!

Another fun thing is his (limited) repertoire of animal noises. Basically it seems to be domestic furry animal say "woofwoof!" and wild furry animals say "RAAAWR!" He's also working on "hooohooo" and "meow."

My friend Kathryn took some pics of us for Christmas cards (just ordered them last night!), so here are a couple updated family pics! I didn't put in the one we are using, so that way it can be a little bit of a surprise or something. :P

I was also going to include our wonderful Thanksgiving in Eugene, Oregon, but I think I will save that for another time--Ellis needs to take the computer to work!

Brody at 15 Months

When I was pregnant with Brody, I was (sort of) keeping a journal and thinking if he turned out to be a girl, he would read and reread my thoughts about him and treasure his baby journal, yada yada yada. Good thing God gave me a BOY who will NOT care, because I think a girl would be very disappointed in me. So hopefully by the time I have a girl, I will have upped my game.

In an attempt to work on it, here is a 15.5 month update on what is going on with the Bear, which is what he probably thinks his name is.

(the only recentish pic on the computer right now)

Biggest milestone recently: WALKING, woohoo! As seen in the previous post, Brody was inspired to work hard over Labor Day weekend, and now walks everywhere! He also loves to walk backward--and he totally thinks he's cool when he does it.

Also, he loves to feed himself, which means he NEVER re-wears the same outfits two days in a row anymore, or even PJs. And his favorite food just happens to be yogurt, so it's REALLY messy! This morning I gave him oatmeal, thinking it was a better choice since it was more substantial and wouldn't slide right off the spoon onto him. BUT he decided it was substantial enough to be a finger food. He also really cracked me up with his toast this morning: he broke it in pieces, sucked all the jam off, and then stacked his toast pieces in his empty oatmeal bowl and stuck the spoon straight up in it like a flag. That MUST be the Eifert in him cause there's no way a Littlejohn baby would clean up after himself!

He loves to read books and sing to himself--we love listening to him in his carseat! And I think the ball has now replaced the play piano as his favorite toy. He still loves music and especially rap though!

This is SUCH a fun stage, cause he is becoming an interactive little KID now. It's so fun to see him COMMUNICATE!!! Here are his words that I can think of:

Mama and Dada--do those even count? :)

Yogurt

Uh oh

Hi

Thank you

Up--his favorite!

All done

Juice

Bottle

and then Light--it's not perfectly consistent, but it's a Littlejohn tradition, so it's exciting!

He's turning out to be super social--he LOVES going to the gym KidCare with me and playing with all the kids! And nothing beats Logos volleyball games, where he gets to bask in the attention of junior high girls!

Lastly, here is a breakdown of his top 3 favorite people at 15 months:

1) Aunt Emily--no contest

2) Dad

3) Mom

At least I'm in the top 3! :)

Brodster on the Move

The Pudster has a reputation of not performing for the camera, but Labor Day weekend, he decided to show off his brand new skills to the fam! We had to bribe him with footballs and soccer balls, but here's Brody walking!

Brody hits Fort Wayne

I totally need to put up pics, too, I know. But for some reason posting videos takes it out of me--cause they take SOOOO long to load. There's actually one more video from the Chicago/Fort Wayne trip, in Chicago, but it REALLY takes forever to load. So I'll just include it in the next Brody post, which should be soon, cause he's been doing so much fun stuff lately!

What a boy.

This next one was at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo, which was the BEST zoo I have ever been to. Too bad there aren't ducks here in Moscow, cause Brode LOVES them. He also was way into the fish--we were in the aquarium for like half an hour. My fav part of this video is Brody's sound effects, haha.

new Bear videos

I'm pretty much the worst video poster in the world. But it's half Brody's fault because he is not a performer--as soon as I get the camera out, anything cool he was doing immediately stops. I'm guessing he's gonna be like his daddy--I don't think Ellis ever posed for a picture until we got together and we would take pictures and I would be like, "why aren't you smiling? this is a terrible picture!" Now you would never know--now he even smiled for his driver's license!

But anyway, I think until Brody learns that it is just a common courtesy to perform for the camera, that everybody will just have to be content with footage of him just hanging out. :)

Brody LOVES music and dancing, and my dad's favorite thing this summer has been playing old songs for him like the Beegees and the Rolling Stones and then watching the Brode dance.

Dancing and bouncing with aunts and uncles.

Then and now

Then

June 11, 2010

NowJune 11, 2011

Pre-birthday Brody movie marathon

Brody will be one tomorrow. Maybe I should be jumping up and down, but it's actually really bittersweet. I know the next steps will be just as fun and exciting as this past year has been, but it's so much fun now, I want this to last forever! Anyway, it happened so fast, and so now I'm scrambling to catch up on these old vids before we get a bunch of fresh new 1-year-old footage! So hope you enjoy these vids of our best buddy ever!

This one was one night in mid April--so 10 months. Playing with Dad before bed.

In this one, we had an early birthday party for Brody in VA Beach with our friends there, and he went CRAZY over the wrapping paper!

This is how Brody spent his time during Ellis' graduation ceremony.

And last, Brody loves swimming almost as much as he loves music and dancing. When we first put him in the pool a few weeks before this, he went nuts, paddling around like a wind-up toy. I tried to get that on video here, but by the time I pulled out the camera, he was kind of tuckered.

new Brody pics!

Doing some Brody catch up this week--with videos and now some newer photos. yay!

Even though Brody's FAVORITE "toys" are things like cell phones and electrical cords, water bottles, and thermoses, there are still a few actual toys that will hold his attention!

He totally digs his activity table. He's really grown into too--when he first got it, his standing stamina wasn't was it is now, and after a while I would hear a panicked whimper and look to see him with his legs so straddled that he couldn't stand.

He also loves this car/walker converter he's borrowing from a friend right now. He loves using it both as a car and a walker--though sometimes he pushes the walker faster than he can actually walk and does a faceplant.

Apparently pens are also a new favorite

Proof that he does indeed smile

And of course, one of the best toys EVER, the mirror!

some Brody vids

I've been TERRIBLY remiss in posting footage of Brody....so here are a few to catch you up.

He's still not doing the classic crawl, but he manages to get into everything pretty quickly by doing what looks like the breaststroke on land, or like he's doing the worm over and over again. We're hoping maybe this means he's inherited Ellis' dancing genes?



And then we have a couple of OLD vids back from our trip out West at the end of Jan/beg of Feb.

Here are Brody and Auntie Bettye playing the piano!


And then finally, nothing makes Brody laugh like being hit somehow.

Nine Months

What does a nine-monther do all day long?

He tears through the DVDs (GREAT new fav toy--cause they can't be ruined by drool)

He loves reading books

He eats real food (well, kind of real. mostly pureed, a few chunks of things, and he's loving discovering the world of Cheerios)

And last, but not least, he throws fits. (My favorite tempers are the ones he throws when he wants so badly to crawl into the kitchen but KNOWS he's not allowed)

the Brody face

(oops, didn't really want this to turn into a "baby blog," but all my last several posts have been baby!)

Just thought everyone deserved to see the sniff. :)

Brody's 7 months!

So I've been terrible at updating my fam about Brody here. I know you're going to see him in just a few days (SO EXCITED!!!), but here's a little sneak peek of what he's been up to.

5 months--he became a champion kisser. Unlike his daddy, he's not scared of a little PDA. Brody kisses ALL THE TIME. Due to my lazy nail-cutting habits, though, his kisses can be pretty painful events. He grabs generous handfuls of face flesh and pulls your face toward him in a pinching fashion and then drools copiously. I'm sure you can't wait to experience it. (It's totally worth the pain, though--we LOVE Brody kisses!)

Thanksgiving weekend was a big one for him--he discovered his ears and army crawled for the first time. He's still not crawling in the classic sense, but he's gotten pretty proficient at the worm--it gets him where he wants to go. It's really funny!

6 months--we changed our minds on who we thought his personality took after. He had been stoic and chill and quiet (like Daddy) all along, and then 6 months hit and he started jabbering all day long, smiling, and demanding attention (like Mommy).


7 months/the current state of things:

He's loving echoing back sounds at different pitches, and doing the worm, and standing--ALL THE TIME. I think I need to get him one of those standing toys so he can stand and play with the toys on top. Right now we're doing that with the couch and coffee table, but they're a little tall.

Also, THANKFULLY he has his dad's sense of rhythm. Whenever he listens to music, he bobs and kicks his feet to the beat. I'm hopeful this means he'll be able to dance like Ellis and not like me.

His eyes are still blue. We're hoping if they've stayed blue this long, they'll stay blue forever. How exciting!

We gave him his first solid last weekend, just a bit of egg yolk (as recommended by the book Nourishing Traditions--check it out!!). He wasn't too impressed. We haven't given him anymore, not on purpose, but just cause I keep forgetting. However, he LOVES glasses and drinking. He loves to drink water, and he won't say no to the occasional sip of beer or scotch (does that make us bad?).

Anyway, here are a few videos for you to enjoy!


Brody bouncing in his Christmas jumperoo



Brody trying out egg
(pardon the pantlessness)

Brody's First Christmas

We thought Brody's first Christmas was going to be quiet, just Ellis, me, and 2 sets of Brody's great grandparents, but God had other plans and Brody ended up getting to see the whole Littlejohn side of the family plus Anderson greatgrandparents!

He even got to see Uncle Brad!! Sadly Rachel and Soren weren't able to make it, but we were excited to get to see Brad! Brad, Matt, Ellis, Brody, and I stayed with Grandmama at her house, and I had a BLAST getting to hang out with my brothers!! Matt made us watch Shutter Island, which I was terrified to see, but he assured me that it wasn't scary. I spent the whole movie doubting him and waiting to be scared, but he was right! I don't know why the previews make it look like a horror movie, but I LOVED it! No boy will ever agree with me about this, but I liked it better than Inception!


Abbou, Ami, and Tammi came down and Tammi gave Brody an awesome Monster-themed gift, which he loved, but not as much as the wrapping paper, of course. :)


And Emily introduced him to one of our favorite childhood toys, the back-flipping doggy! This dog (and it's previous editions) has been a part of my Christmas since before I can remember!

Ellis, Brody, and I headed up to Asheville to see Ellis' Anderson grandparents in Black Mountain. We LOVE the cute town of Black Mountain, and every time we go there, I always tell Ellis I want to move there!Here Brody and I are at a fantastic Black Mountain restaurant called My Father's Pizza! YUM!

While Ellis and Brody were hanging out with his grandparents, I slipped away to join Mom and Julie at Chelsea's Tea Room, where we've been going at Christmastime for at least 10 years--we always get the same waittress, and I think we must've spilled something big a few years ago, because she didn't seem to like us. She warmed up to us a lot, though, when I told her their almond scones were the most amazing scones I've ever had and that I look forward to them every year and have the cookbook, but have never been able to duplicate them. (No joke--they are the best things EVER.

Christmas Eve we were able to move up to the mountain house my parents rent out. It had been occupied for most of the visit, but it was great to get the whole family together in one spot for Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.

Julie found various fake tree limbs (not from the same tree set) in the basement, stuffed the limbs in a basket, and voila, adorable Christmas tree. Here's Emily decorating it.


Meanwhile, Ellis and Brody did some dancing.


And Matthew smiled in a pic!! I can make one prediction for sure about 2011--this picture will be in the 2011 edition of Mom's Shutterfly photobook. :)

Christmas morning.

Brody dressed up at Grandmama's house. Again, no shoes--toes are cuter anyway. :)

Partway through the afternoon Brody's Christmas turned white, so here he is in his snowsuit! Snow pics to come soon!

Brody's First Snow Day

I know for everyone out West, you will think this doesn't count as a snow day. But in Va Beach, this was a BIG DEAL. Plus, I got these first thing in the morning, and then it actually snowed more later, but then I didn't want to go back out. You know me and cold. PLUS, you have no idea how many times I had to put his boots back on in just the 5-10 minutes we were outside. I generally don't ever bother putting shoes or socks on Brody, cause he just kicks them off--the only time I put them on him is when other people are going to see him, so they don't think I'm a bad mom or something. ;)

Check out his scratch. He loves to mutilate both me and himself at every opportunity. I have multiple red marks all over my face right now.

Oh, and I finally finished his new hat. He has mittens too, but he just takes them off.

Brody loves snow!

And...just to kill 2 birds with one stone, we'll call this DPP Day 13. :)

DPP--December 8/9/10

Some days during finals I just don't have my computer, so I can't upload pics, but here are some pics from Brody's and my walk yesterday.




Brody got sick of being out in the cold and so he glared at me pitifully and accusingly until we went inside.

December Photo Project--Dec. 7

You may be picking up on the trend that all my photos so far have been interior photos. My friend Abby says she likes to avoid shooting inside if at all possible, so I know I should get outside. And I've been meaning to every day, but the truth is when I'm outside in the cold I can't concentrate on anything but getting from inside point A to inside point B. That's how much of a wimp I am. I'll work on it... :)

December 4 and 5

I totally missed yesterday....I took pics, but Ellis and I share my laptop, and during finals I pretty much don't see my laptop, so I just didn't have the opportunity to upload pics! But here are two, one for yesterday, and one for today!



Hopefully tomorrow I will play around outside with the camera. A friend gave me some good tips tonight too--basically not to try to play with all the settings at once until I know what I'm doing.

Now to watch some of our favorite show, Friday Night Lights!

Already Old Together

One of the craziest things about marriage is seeing how you rub off on each other. It's not always in the ways you expect or hope--like we were both hoping that Ellis's punctuality would rub off on me. But instead my lateness has dragged us both down so that, much to Ellis' chagrin, people that know us now mistaken identify the Littlejohn lateness as an Eifert trait.

But it works both ways, because Ellis always tells people that he was born an old man--he loves staying home every night and going to bed at 10. Whereas I've always been the girl that was going places with people every day and every night and if I was in bed by 10, my parents knew I was sick. But now, just like my old man husband, my favorite way to spend an evening is hanging out on the couch with these guys.



What more exciting weekend plans could you ask for than spending it relaxing with your two favorite people? Maybe that makes me an old fogey at heart like my hubby. But in that case, maybe Ellis had it right all along and being old is F.U.N!



Annndd...my son never wears pants. We never wore shoes as kids (what kids do?), but I think Brody is taking it to the next level. Some days he doesn't even wear a shirt. Just a diaper. But what's cuter than a baby's chubby tummy in a diaper? Especially a cute cloth diaper--they're totally outfits on their own! ;)

The Three Broaduses

A couple more pics from our fall break trip down to SC. I took a zillion more, so hopefully they'll make their way onto facebook one of these days. One of the things on my to-do list (but always coming in behind things like laundry, babysitting, and dinner) is to go through my photos and delete the bad ones and the duplicates. I read this awesome idea in Real Simple about this woman who burns every photo album on a CD, labels it, files it alphabetically, and then deletes it from her computer. She is my photo inspiration, and I'm hoping that she'll inspire me to at least partially implement her system!



Brody with his oldest living namesake, his great-grandad, Papa.



Broadus, Broadus, and Broadus! So far they've all had their own nicknames: Dick, Rick, and now Brody.

Sick Weekend

Here's a view of my bedside table this weekend while I was fighting off the flu or something like it. Ellis had to be gone all day at the ADR competition he was coordinating, which was sad, but he made sure to leave me with a cup of tea, a Christmassy scented candle, and some flowers and a card he had gotten me. Thanks, baby, for giving me a great environment for sleeping away the bug.

And thanks, BRODY, for being a super easy baby who just ate and slept and played happily in between. Here's the little guy LOVING the swings earlier in the week.



He's normally super stoic, but he was smiling and laughing the whole time on the swings. He's kind of an adrenaline junkie--he only laughs when he thinks he may be in danger. The cutie pushing him is Londyn, one of the 2 year olds that I watch 3 mornings a week.