Brayden's Accomplishments

I am so very proud of Brayden!! We printed off some worksheets from www.starfall.com and www.edhelper.com for him to practice his letters....I know .... I know.... he will be in school for the next 20 or so years --give the guy a break! BUT... He is such a keener! I did the first few Aa's then he copied the rest. We traced the alligator from his hand (thanks Rene for the idea!).

He also loves his puzzles --- I found the abc's from one puzzle put together in another...check it out. :) He also knows on the world map where we live and where Gramma Rain lives... "Auztrazzila!"

TOP 10 Rylanisms

Rylan is now 3 1/2 months old, over 18 pounds and he CAN...

1. smile (which shows his two dimples)...even to strangers
2. talk when looked at and spoken to (He is a great story teller)
3. fold his hands together and grip blankets, toys and fingers
4. almost fit his whole fist into his mouth (good hand eye coordination like his dad) which causes excess drool!
5. sit in his BUMBO chair unassisted holding up his head!
6. get fussy when he is left in the room with no one around (very extroverted!)
7. pick good singers from American Idol (he kicks and makes loud sounds at the bad ones and listens intently at the good ones)
8. follow you when you move about the room
9. burp a good one... he could compete with the best of us!
10. laugh when tickled on his feet and arm pits...he also likes his cheeks and belly nibbled!

Brayden and Bubbles

Brayden loves to play in the bath tub especially when I fill it with bubbles ... he pretends he is swimming...sometimes he actually is! I filled it extra full the other day so here are a few shots!

Mom and Rylan

I thought I would post this because for ONCE :) Clay grabbed the camera and took a picture of me (and Rylan!). Cute!

Rylan's Sleeping..shhhh!

The Lode's sure like to sleep and Rylan is no exception! I found him fast asleep under his blanket (I could hear his breathing through the blanket..whew!) and another time gripping tightly to another blanket. What a cutie!

Natasha and Brayden

Good friends, Shelley and Eddie, came over last Friday nite with their daughter Natasha who is 2 DAYS younger than Brayden. They had fun on the computer .... here is a cute shot!

Adventure Zone

Brayden is a VERY active boy and needs lots of exercise, so we decided to try this ginormous indoor playground to help him let off some of the 'antsiness' during the cold weather. It has a bouncy castle, ball room, and lots of slides and tubes--about 12 times the size of McDonald's play room. Bayleigh and Carter were playing there too! FUN! (In some pics try to find Brayden in the maze of tunnels!)

It's a Boy in Vancouver

So Brayden, Rylan and I braved the long drive to visit the Priebe's in Vancouver. We hadn't met Tyler James yet, so it was fun to see this tiny (really TINY compared to the Lode boys) newborn baby boy. Ty is about at birth weight now which is 7 pounds 3 ounces (now less than half the size of Rylan). I even caught a picture of Tyler awake! It was fun to see the size difference of Ry and Ty. What fun buddies they will be! Em and Brayden had so much fun running in circles in the house, playing in the "whirly, twirly park" and laughing hysterically! Congratulations Barton, Heather and big sister Emily!

Brayden's Journey Towards the NHL

Just Kidding! Brayden went skating for the first time on Sunday in his new skates he got for Christmas. He did really well, with lots of help from Daddy and Papa Ken. He LOVED it! He loved it so much, he didn't want to take his skates off to go home. Rylan and Mommy took pictures and video.

Mr. Snowman

At the end of our street somone built a ginoormous snowman. We were able to take pictures with him before the rains came!

Tears :(

I just couldn't resist taking these pictures! Poor guy!

The First Screw

Brayden helped Daddy take the screws out of his wall so we could paint over the bright green. The new blue looks great!

Guy Smilie

Rylan's smile takes up his whole face! It is soooo cute; it melts my heart! Watch out girls!

Brayden the Photographer

Brayden loves to take pictures with his new fisher price (he calls it his "little people") camera. We recently downloaded a few of his shots...the quality isn't so great but here are a few good ones. ( He also takes pictures of the carpet, the couch, the ceiling....anything in his line of sight).

The Boys Dressed in Blue

I know...I know...cheesy to dress them the same, but they are sooo cute! I actually caught Rylan smiling for the camera...(even though the shirt is a bit big, he is falling over and Brayden is trying to hold onto him for dear life!!). The dark blue t-shirts were the only things that we bought before Rylan was born...check out the what they say!

The Many Faces of Brayden William John

The reason for the title: If you ask Brayden his name ...he will say, "I'm Brayden William John Lode". He loves to make silly faces -- especially when he is being mischievious (which is all the time!).

Cool Dude!

School of Rock

They call him..." The Chunky Monkey!"

Yes, you can see by his belly that Rylan is a big boy. I guess I should clarify...at his 2 month check up he was 7.11 kg which is 15 pounds 9 ounces and is 24 1/2 inches long. (To put that into perspective... my girlfriend in Colorado's baby girl at 4 months was 16 pounds. ... Brayden who was a REALLY big baby was 14 pounds 13 ounces at two months and 25 1/2 inches long. Brayden only gained 3 pounds and grew and inch from birth to two months while Rylan gained 6 pounds and grew 3 inches from birth!!! WOW!)