After a warm start to Spring, we're having very pleasant, cool, weather. The sun is out, the plants are green, and Peter is growing like a weed! His 4th tooth on the bottom is coming in, bringing his grand total to 8 pearly whites.

And so it begins.... Peter has had his first taste of temptation, and it is not looking good for his well-meaning parents.  He has discovered that he can reach up and out for things that are close to him, thus overturning baskets (see left), pulling down books (see left), and sometimes even causing bodily injury (photos withheld).   He is pulling up on all fours, contemplating intensely on what he should do next, but so far he has not figured out the coordinated arm/leg movement.  We are really hoping he can hold off until we get the new furniture that keeps all kinds of tempting cords and  buttons out of his reach.  Plug covers will be the least of our concerns if he beats the furniture delivery man!  

We have a big weekend ahead of us.  Peter is officially a bottle-fed baby now, so he can spend a long weekend with Reenie and Grampa in Birmingham while Hayes and I hit the road to attend a wedding in Mississippi.  Hayes will hold down the golf course and I will test out the spa then we'll head over to see some old friends for the first time in quite a while.  Our friends from New York will be there, along with all sorts of college friends and it should be great fun.  We'll miss Peter and we'll miss introducing him to everyone, but something tells me I won't be missing him at 6AM... 

What a week it has been! Peter finally realized that the world is much more interesting from a sitting position, so he's choosing to sit more than ever.  His balance has drastically improved in just a week. He's already so enamored with his surroundings that he's getting onto all fours and trying to crawl. Out come the outlet covers!

His two new favorite toys are a ball and his very own chair. The stuffed chair has become a great place for reading and relaxing after a long day's work. (Pardon the paint patch in the background - we're sampling colors.)

Much like the empty water bottle, the ball is a hilarious addition to Peter's toy chest. He'll roll the ball with us and lurch forward to catch it, but his favorite thing to do is try to eat it.

HAPPY EASTER!

Me and my girls.

7 Months Old

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

I hope that you find a pot o' gold

at the end of your rainbow.

Love,

Peter

Nashville got a second dose of snow over the weekend, and we woke up to a winter wonderland.  The sun came out and quickly starting melting everything, but we were able to get Peter out to take a few pictures.

Two of our neighbors came by and volunteered to take a picture of our little family.  You can see that the sunshine was really bright by this time.

Peter is a big fan of flying, and he enjoys taking off from Daddy's arms.  Mom doesn't mind, except that they sometimes get close to the ceiling!

Old Man Winter has left the Bryants with more than a slight case of cabin fever. In anticipation of a warm front, Hayes used his Eagle scout magic to outfit a tree in our back yard with a baby swing. Peter actually hammed it up for the camera; not even he could resist the euphoria of a good swing.

Too bad we're supposed to get a few more inches of snow tomorrow...

Also noteworthy: we're celebrating Hayes's 30th birthday today. Happy birthday, Daddy!




 

  

Note: Double-click on the last picture for a better look at Peter's windswept 'do.

4 days old

204 days old

Playtime in the "Pen"

"It's so much more fun when Daddy feeds me!"

Adventures with Snow

Peter has been a happy boy for the last few days. He's very excited about Daddy's birthday and Pop's birthday coming up soon. He can't wait to see all of his Kennedy cousins in a few weeks in Bluffton!

Peter and Dad bought Mom a pen for her to play in. Peter jumped in to hang out with her for a while!

Peter celebrated his 1/2 birthday on February 10 by taking his parents to brunch.  As you can see, Daddy was the most excited of us all.  It's been quite a busy few weeks for Peter.  He has so perfected the 360 degree roll that in the blink of an eye, he managed to find an "unchildproofed" spot that resulted in a goose egg.  The first of many, to be sure.  He's got three teeth now - two on the bottom and one up top.  He shows off a precious jack-o-lantern grin, though it will not show up on camera.  

Reenie and Grampa came to visit and helped Peter to build his very first fort.  It's really just a blanket thrown over his jumperoo, but it has provided hours of excitement in the days since.  Below you will see Peter's reaction to Reenie's peek-a-boo.

Yet another great milestone reached this month has been the farewell to Peter's pacifier.  He wasn't really big on it unless it had a touch of Reenie's "special sauce" (Karo syrup), so we decided to attempt a few days without it.  He adjusted beautifully, though he has clearly found a substitute or two... or twelve.  

       

Peter continues to eat like a man.  He has yet to refuse any type of food, and his repertoire continues to grow.  He's only eating two solid meals a day:  cereal and fruit in the morning and cereal with veggies at night.   It's like he's got a three course meal at every seating.  It was during his meals that he first began babbling and making some new gleeful sounds.  We hope to post some video of his voice soon.  

With mobility just around the corner, we find ourselves inventing all sorts of ways to childproof, both temporarily and permanently.  We continue to make big plans for the whole house, but for now we are enjoying our "new" basement and getting Aunt Callie's room ready for her stay with us during March and April.  We're glad she'll be here to help us chase this little rascal around!  

Mardi Gras was yesterday, and Peter made the trip to Houma, Louisiana for the big party. The weather was overcast and windy, but warm. The parades and floats were a big hit with the little man. He came home with enough beads, doubloons, cups, trinkets, and other stuff to make Mr. T pity himself.

He is thinking of giving up his pacifier for Lent.







Even all of Peter's loot was nothing compared to Cousin Sarah's big pile of fun!










Peter really enjoyed hanging out with his Parrain. They took time one morning to just stop and smell the flowers.

Peter spent the weekend with Reenie, Grampa, Uncle Palmer, Mom and Dad. It was very cold outside (even too cold for Palmer and Hayes to play golf!), but Peter had a great time playing with his grandparents.



Reenie and Peter played in Grampa's big red chair every day. He's getting much stronger and will hopefully be sitting up on his own soon.






Peter sure loves his Reenie, and he sure loves his veggies, too!

Family, friends... meet Big Mouth Bryant.

While avocado may be an taste reserved for accompanying margaritas later in life, carrots were a hit.... and yet also a miss. :)

Oh yeah, and there are two more bottom teeth emerging. We jinxed our poor child with all that talk about unfortunate dental genetics. But hey - "Bugs" likes his carrots, so perhaps his vision will redeem us.

Greetings from Nashville on a balmy January day. It's been quite a year so far for Peter... and for his parents! All in one week, he has cut two teeth, mastered rice cereal, tinkered with sleeping through the night, and learned to roll from his back to his tummy. It's wearing us out, so we can only imagine how he feels!

Eating solids continues to be the entertaining highlight of our days. We have begun feeding Peter two servings of cereal daily, both of which he just gobbles up. We look forward to the hilarious photo ops brought on by the addition of vegetables and fruits. As you can see, Peter has adopted the same habit exhibited by many of his cousins: the bird mouth.






Now, any other time this would be cute, but his two little pearls poking through his gums make it that much funnier. It has literally taken us days to capture those two little grains of rice on camera, and you may have to zoom in and look very closely. Trust us... they are there and he knows how to use them! His teething toys didn't have a prayer.




We wish you all a happy, healthy 2008!