Brenden in the Field

Brenden in the Field
Originally uploaded by Sandra Maynard.

Hooray, new pictures!! Ileana is sending me a cd of the photos that were taken on her new camera and brother Jon's camera from Christmas. She sent me a few which were posted on Flickr. I love this photo: this was from a day where Ilu, Andrea and I walked over to the old house, then walked over near the pond. I carried Brenden for a while, which I'm happy to say was not exhausting (it would have been 6 months ago). When I set him down he toddled on back to the new house, which you can see in the background.

I think one of my favorite moments on Christmas day was hearing my dad laugh during dinner. He was laughing at Brenden, who, at 2 in the afternoon, had refused to nap. Poor B was in his high chair and nodding off while stubbornly trying to stuff more food into his face. The deep need to sleep won out and Jon took him upstairs to nap after using a finger to sweep his mouth for stray food. Jon said the poor kid was so out of it he never even flinched when he stuck his finger in his mouth.

So my diet and exercise plan is working fine. I'm at 131 which is nice, and I can actually see some of my abdominal muscles again. I still have a lot of flab (which Brenden likes to play with, ew), and while I have a long way to go to regain my strength, I am progressing at a fairly rapid clip. And in case you are wondering, no you can't lose weight and gain muscle, but gaining strength does not necessarily mean gaining muscle. I might write more about my dieting plan later, if I actually stick to it.

Brenden worked hard this weekend and can now properly say 'kitty'. He also said 'Elmo!' and can point to his nose, tongue, and chin if I ask him. We're working on 'ear', 'hand', and 'toe'. He likes to say 'pabaa!' 'pabaa!' (his new attempt at spongebob) when we watch the show. When the fish comes on during the opening song, he opens and closes his mouth just like a fish. It's cute.