Brandon Nicholas Messer

My Little Fish

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:08:00 +0000

I am so proud to say Brandon finally swam a little ways by himself today! We have been working on kicking and blowing bubbles in the water. We had a major coup a month or so ago when he would wear goggles and consequently put his face under water and blow bubbles. Then this weekend I worked on floating with him in the kid pool. The kid pool is only a foot deep and it was the perfect place for him to feel safe, like he could just drop his legs and stand, and work on relaxing on his belly. So when we moved to the big pool and he watched another girl about his age floating on her belly, kicking her legs to her father and blowing bubbles, well it must have clicked because he was able to do it. He started to swim to me off of a platform in the middle of the pool and I slowly started backing up. He swam as far as he could with the big breath he took. Once he had to pick his head up to breathe though his butt dropped and he needed me to grab him. I was so excited I actually jumped up and down in the water with him. He did it several more times with me and also with Daddy.

To celebrate we took him to Toys R Us and bought him a little car as a reward for working on his fear of floating/swimming alone.

I can't wait to get back in the water with him next weekend!

Last Day of Pre-School

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:10:00 +0000

Brandon started pre-school three months ago when I went back to work full time. He was only going two mornings a week. I picked him up at lunch time and brought him home to nap. Today was his last day. I can not say enough how wonderful the pre-school program is at the local JCA here. Ms. Jessica & Ms. Mary Carmen were incredibly wonderful to my little Bug. He will miss them (as will I!) and the rest of his Grasshopper class. Rumor has it that his teachers may move up to the Teddy Bear level next year and I know Bran would just love it if he got to work with them again.

Plus and Minus

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Sat, 23 May 2009 15:37:00 +0000

The past few weeks Brandon has really gotten the hang of adding and subtracting. We talk at meal time about how many bites of food are left and about two weeks ago he looked at us and said "3 take away 1 is 2!" He gets this for all numbers 10 and under. Two days ago he started to get the adding. He looked at his plate of food and said "5 pancake bites and 2 banana bites is 7 more bites of food!"

Other Fun Things for April

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Fri, 01 May 2009 02:48:00 +0000

Brandon "discovered himself" this month. One morning while I was out running errands Daddy found Brandon standing on our sofa with his pants around his knees proclaiming "Daddy! My penis got bigger! It got real big." I nearly died when I heard this story. I'm not ready for this yet!

Brandon also broke the bathroom sink stopper on April 17th which resulted in a long weekend of house projects because the broken stopper led to me wanting to replace the faucet and the sink, which resulted in a broke pipe in the wall, which resulted in no water for a weekend... oh just go read about it here... and here.

In other cuteness:

Here is my Daddy's boy playing Peggle on the xbox not needing the keypad or headset but wearing them just because he could.

Brandon got to make home-made pretzels with Grandma Jan one morning. They were really good too!

Here's our man enjoying his visit with Aunt "Grandma" Janice.

River Taxi

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:01:00 +0000

On the last night of our visit with Aunt "Grandma" Janice we headed out to the Landing in downtown Jacksonville. It was especially fun for Brandon as it was his first real boat ride when we took the river taxi to the restaurant. Despite the wind, a potty accident and it generally being too cool for what I dressed the boys in, it was a great evening.

My Beach Bum

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 02:52:00 +0000

I think we could go to the beach every day and Brandon would be happy. He just loves it there. And that's all there really is to say about that.

Easter Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:41:00 +0000

We had so much fun this year hiding the plastic eggs for the boys to find. We each took half and the best part was when I'd go to "hide" one and find that Joby had already hidden one in the same spot. He found the same thing out for ones I already placed. I can't wait until next year when we can start making them harder to find. Anyways Brandon thought the egg hunt was the best.

But the kid who didn't fall for the "clear egg" the night before had trouble finding the bright orange egg in the bush right in front of him.

The rest was just pure delight and makes me so incredibly happy.

Easter Eggs

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 02:35:00 +0000

Oh my child had a blast dying Easter Eggs this year. Note the black shirt I put him in before we started. Mommy wins not ruining a light or white tshirt! Brandon probably could have dyed all the eggs in less than 5 minutes if we let him because he was so excited to "try another color." Luckily my brilliant child didn't fall for Grandpa Neil's "clear eggs" like my cousin Kristin and I did so long ago. I'm so glad Daddy has been working on his B.S. meter. That kid saw right through Grandpa Neil's sham of the wire egg holder with no egg on it.

Beach Walk

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:44:00 +0000

This morning we went for walk on the beach after breakfast with Granpa Joe and Grandma Jan. I should have brought swimming clothes for Brandon because he splashed and dashed his way to a rightous good time. Luckily I brought a change of clothes so it wasn't a total soggy ride home. Brandon couldn't get enough of the little waves crashing on him while he held tightly to Grandma's hand. He had a laugh attack every time the waves lapped over his little legs.

The rest of March 2009

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:48:00 +0000

On the 20th of March we took the boys to play putt-putt for the first time. Brandon has become quite good at all Wii sports games and to take him to actually play was really fun. He got it! Alex on the other hand was more interested in running the opposite direction we went. What else is new!

On the 23rd Brandon decided to stop calling me "Mommy" and started calling me "Mom." I so wasn't ready for that and for a while I insisted he call me "Mommy." It makes me sad.

The 26th brought special times again back to our house when Brandon woke up in the middle of the night and proceeded to throw up all over me as he ran to me across the house. It was a long night with several sheet changes, clothing changes and lots and lots of rocking and telling Bran it would be ok. The kid had never really thrown up before and it totally freaked him out. It was over after a few days - just some virus that had to run it's course. I did so much laundry in those few days...

We ended the month with Brandon "discovering" convertibles. He has always loved cars, trucks, trains, motorcycles, etc. But now we are in to distinguishing the different makes and models and convertibles are high on the list for excitement when we are driving around town. If we don't "acknowledge" that we see them then he will get louder and louder and louder and louder. And since we live in Florida and it's spring... it's convertible season. We have plenty of eye candy for him to look at these days.

Bed Upgrade

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:38:00 +0000

Today we moved Brandon from his toddler bed to a big, big boy bed. It looks so great it his room but tucking him in for sleep made me so sad. Just the night before he looked so big in that little bed and tonight... he's so little in that big bed. At least I know he's still my baby.

February 2009

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:33:00 +0000

February was a rough month in the Messer house. On the 17th Brandon was diagnosed with croup, and let me tell you, that scared me to death. The first night he slept on the sofa and I slept on the floor next to him. The second and third night we set up a bed for him next to our bed and he slept there. When I say I slept... not really. I was so worried. But our champ pulled through with his usual sunniness and was on the mend with the help of our amazing pediatrician, Dr. Chally. (If you live in Jacksonville - seriously, she's the best!)

On the 21st we headed to St. Augustine for the day to meet Grandpa Joe and Grandma Jan for her birthday. It was a very welcome fun outing after several days of craziness. Brandon had a blast watching the re-enactment of the cannon firing and kept looking in to the bay to "see where the cannon ball went." I have to admit I put him on to that and it made me chuckle.

Through out the day we did notice that Brandon's left eye was a little swollen and was producing gunk. He slept on it and... the next day he had pinkeye. Again - insert an awesome pediatrician who took our calls on the weekend without blinking (if you read Alex's blog then you'll know that night Alex got croup).

So Brandon started eye drops and he HATED them. But hey, it wasn't over! On the 24th we were back at the doctor's office because Brandon told me his ears hurt. Guess what? Raging ear infection. The poor kid. It was a week...

We ended the month well though by purchasing trees at the annual Jacksonville flowering tree sale. They are $10 each for the trees and Brandon and Alex helped Daddy plant them in the yard. We are looking forward to watching the trees grow up with our little ones.

January 2009

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 14:50:00 +0000

January was a month of entertainment. Early in the month we went to see The Imagination Movers LIVE IN CONCERT in downtown Jacksonville. It was part of Brandon's 3rd Birthday present to get the tickets and it was such a fun day. The show was great and I can say that seeing Brandon's face light up was probably the best thing ever. After the show we drove down to The Loop in San Marco and enjoyed a nice dinner out together.

Later in the month we met our friends Don and Autumn and their kids Kate, Bridgette and Kent and went to the Ringling Brothers Zing Zang Zoom circus. That also was a great time. Brandon especially liked the puppies jumping through hoops while all the adults held their breaths when the acrobats kept missing their landings on the ariel platform tricks.

Brandon also enjoyed helping me make muffins one Sunday morning. He's becoming quite the helper.

Another super cute thing Brandon did this month was decide that he had to wear "Mints" (mittens) to bed because it was cold outside. For like two weeks the kid literally made us put his "mints" on his hands every night and he would wake up quite upset if they had fallen off overnight. He would run in to our room saying "Mommy! My hands are cold!" Of course, they weren't cold at all because he had been sleeping on them, but hey - it only gets cold, cold enough for mittens, a few weeks in Florida. So we just went with it.

Brandon is 3

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:24:00 +0000

We began Brandon's 3rd Birthday like we have begun every one of his birthdays with our walk on the beach to throw flowers in the ocean for Noah. It is our annual present to Noah so he knows we remember him. It was a beautiful day, despite the cold. We had an amazing time and then hurried home for his birthday party. Mommy made Brandon a train cake this year (her first attempt at decorating a shaped cake) and we were lucky enough to have Uncle Chris, Aunt Sharon, Patrick, Grace, Olivia, Sophia and all the Grandparents over to celebrate our special boy. It's hard for us to see him getting so big. He's so smart, sweet and just wonderful. It seems like yesterday that we brought him home in a carrier that swallowed him up. There is no other love like this.

Brandon's 3rd Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 03:15:00 +0000

Brandon's 3rd Christas was extra fun this year as he really got in to the whole holiday season, and opening gifts. He helped with everyone's presents and was so happy with everything.

Preparing for Santa

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 03:12:00 +0000

Here is our big man making cooking with Mommy to leave out for Santa. Some cookies ended up with more sprinkles than actual cookie but from what I heard, Santa didn't complain.

When I was a little girl we used to listen to the radio and listen for the DJs to give us updates on where Santa was on Christmas Eve. I remember the DJs telling us that he'd be on the East Coast soon and we better get to bed. Now, through the miracle of modern technology, Brandon is able to track Santa's journey online through NORAD's amazing Google Earth inspired tracking system. He LOVEd clicking on all the places where Santa had been and seeing clips of Santa flying over cities in far-off countries. It was really amazing.

Brandon and the Concrete

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 03:08:00 +0000

While playing ball in our backyard Brandon face-planted on to the concrete patio and ended up becoming our Rudolph for the season.

Winter Wonderland

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:05:00 +0000

Tonight we joined our friends the Martins in St. Augustine and had dinner at a great restaurant called the Gypsy Cab company and then headed over to the St. Augstine Ampitheater for their Winter Wonderland. It was really fun to watch Brandon and Maeve run around in the elf village, see Santa Clause, and roast marshmallows in the open fire pit to make smores. YUM. We also played the fair-type games and "won" some treats and holidays pens for the kids. It was a later night for the boys and both Brandon and Alex were sound asleep in their car seats within 5 minutes of pulling out of the parking lot.

Morningtime Cuteness

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:35:00 +0000

Every morning when Brandon wakes up he comes out to see me and we exchange a huge hug and say "good morning!" We chat for a minute and then go use the potty and get dressed. This morning I asked him "How are you doing today 'handsome'?" Brandon looked at me and scrunched up his face in a goofy smile and said "That's not right Mommy!" "What do you mean? I can't call you handsome?" He replied, "No Mommy! I'm Brandon!"

More Wii Play

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 12:35:00 +0000

Brandon can play the Wii sports games almost entirely by himself now, figuring out how to point the 'finger' cursor at the right on-screen buttons and pressing the right controller buttons to select them. He knows how to start the game he wants, how to bring up the menu and click the Quit button in order to switch games, and even how to exit the game entirely to the main menu. He also knows how to switch clubs in golf, although sometimes he insists on teeing off with his putter, which doesn't work so well. He calls the driver "the hammer" for some reason.

Tonight he figured out how to change characters, and pointed the finger at mom's Mii. "Who's that?" he asked. "That's Grandma Jan" I told him. "I'm going to play Grandma Jan!" he said, as he picked her character. Then he proceeded to select the baseball game, and said "Grandma Jan likes to play baseball."

Playing the Wii

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 00:05:00 +0000

Brandon is becoming quite the golfing and bowling expert in Wii Sports these days. While I work on my form and try to actually golf and bowl, Brandon just swings the controller with ease and pretty much beats our best attempts.

A long time ago we created a Mii Wii character for Bran. He wears a green shirt. Bran loves the TV version of himself. Tonight, while bowling he was forgetting to release a button on the controller and therefore the Mii wasn't letting go of the ball.

Brandon's response was to say "Go Green Brandon!"

Like come on! Take your turn already! What are you waiting for?!

He's so cute!

Fun Dinner Conversation

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:47:00 +0000

Tonight for dinner we made Brandon some Alfredo noodles with chicken. We made a big deal about it being "new mac n cheese" since anything with the word "new" attached to it grabs his attention and holds it for at least a nano-second longer than normal. Well I guess it was too hot or he didn't expect the chicken chunks, but he started chewing and then immediately spit it back out in to the bowl. When we asked what was the matter he said "I pooped it out my mouth." While I tried very hard to conceal my laughter behind my hand, Joby calmly showed Brandon the chicken, blew on the food and then asked Brandon to try it again, which he did. He ate several bites of the food before declaring himself done.

I guess I have failed as a mother to teach Brandon the difference between pooping and spitting something out. That problem is in the process of being corrected.

October in Review

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 03:08:00 +0000

Brandon celebrated his third Halloween dressed as a Dinosaur! It was a perfect theme for him. Anyone who has spent any amount of time with him in the past year will know that his favorite music CDs are from a woman named Laurie Berkner. There is a song called "We are the Dinosaurs" and it pretty much was Brandon's theme song for most of the year. It took us several attempts to get him to try on his costume before Halloween. Joby finally had to hold him down and put it on him. We sound cruel! Brandon sobbed and sobbed about wearing the costume... until we held him up to the mirror and then he thought it was really funny. He laughed while crying. It was very funny. But by Halloween we couldn't get the costume on him fast enough.

Halloween was especially fun for us this year because Brandon really figured it out. By the third house he looked at me and said "Now we go to the next house and get more candy?!" Yeah, it was adorable. He also wouldn't let us help him carry the pumpkin when it got too heavy. He dragged it before considering letting anyone else hold his loot. He's truly a Messer.

On another note we visited a Pumpkin Patch/Corn Maze early in the month and Brandon delighted in examining all the pumpkins. He was especially fond of the ones with all the bumps. It was also our first experience with porta-pottys... something I don't particularly look forward to experiencing again. He just couldn't comprehend why the people before him didn't "flush" and left us a big mess. While it was cute it was not the highlight of my day, despite getting a note in his blog. :)

Sitting in Time Out

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:51:00 +0000

As many parents do we have incorporated "time out" in to our parenting tool box in recent months. It does work fairly well although now we do have Brandon doing something borderline wrong and then stating "Don't put me in time out!" Sometimes it's cute. Mostly it's not.

The other night Brandon and Daddy were sitting on opposite sides of the coffee table rolling a car back and forth to each other, crashing, and generally having a good time. Then Joby moved around the table to sit next to Brandon. Well Brandon didn't like that. He said "No Daddy! Sit over there!" And Joby said "No. I want to sit by you now Brandon." And Brandon responded "GO SIT IN TIME OUT, Daddy!"

I guess Daddy wasn't listening to Brandon and Brandon thought he was making up the rules.

Reading to his friends

noreply@blogger.com (colleen) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:43:00 +0000

Today Brandon decided to read to his friends. He collected one of his favorite stories, Mickey Mouse and Nicholas Bear and enjoyed some great story time. He actually pretended to read to them and engaged them in the story by asking them if they understood and to point to pictures on the page. It was so cute.