Bryantown

Everyone gathered at the farm this weekend for our family celebration of Thanksgiving.  Once again, great food, lots of fun and entertainment.  Mom is convinced that Joey is really trying lots of new words.  He pointed at his bottle and said “Milk!” and when she asked him to say “grandma” he said something that ended with an “ah” sound so we’re sure he tried. 

He made up a new game, too.  He crawled around the kitchen table (all the chairs were in the living room) about 4 times on his hands and knees, then collapsed onto his tummy - flat out - and lay very still for about 30 seconds.  Then he started crawling again, 3 or 4 more times around the table and laid flat out again like he was resting quietly.  It was the funniest thing to watch.

We got the pictures off of mom’s camera (our old digital one) so I’ll have more pictures of Joey at a younger age posted to our Flikr account.  Some of us went to the Dollar Store in Marshall and found all kinds of great deals - I’m really liking the dollar store - you can’t buy a jar of real Pace picante sauce for $1 anywhere else.

Today, Joey was walking into the bedroom where Joe was sleeping and he clearly said “Daddy” - now he keeps saying it. 

Sometimes he pats his chest or tummy when he says “daddy” or “mommy” but I think that is because that’s what he sees us do when we point to ourselves and try to get him to repeat the words.

Wow, the kids and grand kids all came over, all Joe had to cook was the turkey…

Sherri made the Waldorf Salad, an apple pie and a Pumpkin pie, with from scratch crust

Amy made green bean casserole, mashed potato

Jenny made corn pudding, stuffing, sweet potato

Scott made the gravy

Adam went out for butter, milk, and he opened the champaign..

Addie skipped her nap but was good all day.. Luke was great with everyone especially helping take care of his baby brother who slept most of the day. Joey walked around talking, clapping his hands and drooling all over himself, but that’s ok as he has 2 eye teeth coming in.
We all sang and danced to Skinnamarink idooo and Adam entertained us all with a classical dance step.  (We’ll get it on video one day)
All in all a very nice Thanksgiving.

Today he pointed to each of these when asked where they were.. Wow, I guess the fish oils are still working.. Now if he’d just go to sleep for his afternoon nap.

So tonight Joey not only points to the eyes, nose and mouth.. he said eye, and nose  ok ok, he did say eye, and then he said “noooo” for nose as he pointed to sherri’s nose.. but that’s good enough for me..

Today he called me “Mommy” - not just “ma-ma.”  It melted my heart.

When you ask Joey if he needs his diaper changed, he grabs his crotch.  Pretty cute. Now if he’s PooPoo and you see him walking around grabbing his unit you know you have a task to do..

Today Joseph Lee Bryan is 1 yr old! What a year it has been for him, and for all of us. He walks and talks, eats people food and sleeps all night, is in a constant state of exploration and discovery.  And to top it all of, he has a new nephew; at least this one is younger than he is.

Yep, Amy and Scott had their second child — a boy! David James Goodlund.

Born 5:38 pm
8lbs 13oz
21 1/2″ long
He looks very much like what Luke (his older brother) looked like when he was born. Must be genetic.

Joey’s first birthday party was a blast.  We ordered 15 balloons of various colors, some with “Happy Birthday,” “1,” and some with monkeys.  The hit for him was the big mylar yellow duck balloon.  They made it into one big balloon bouquet so we left it like that.  Joey’s eyes lit up when he saw it.  He attacked and squealed. Then, when Addie saw it, she did the same thing and they both went after it, running around and dragging all those balloons around.

Betsy (from my mom & baby group) made cupcakes and decorated them like lions, monkeys and elephants - BIG HIT!  We also got the free cake deal from Byerly’s (7-in. round, decorated) and it had two rubber duckies on it - another hit for Joey.

The party started at 4 pm with appetizers first (cheesy baked potato rounds, vegetables with dip and grapes), then cake right away around 5 pm. 
After cake clean-up came the gift opening.

Everyone was wonderfully thoughtful with the gifts they gave and he was fascinated with them.  He got into pulling the wrapping a little and was grateful to have Addie and Luke available to assist when he needed it.  Getting things out the bags worked pretty well when he wasn’t too distracted by the toys he had already opened.

Next, we had the main meal with chili-mac (Joe’s term for what I grew up calling chili hot dish), broccoli-bacon salad, cold vegetable pizza, and “that pink stuff” (jello, cool whip, fruit cocktail mix).

Grand Ma and Grand Pa Popowski, Jenny/Adam/Addisen, Amy/Scott/Luke, Uncle Mike/Rebecca/Quinn/Cheyene, Aunt Chris/Tony/Katie, Uncle James and Cory,  and Amanda were all in attendance.

The noise levels at times was deafening what with everyone talking and laughing, there were 5 different conversations going at the same time.

Today with Addisen here, Joey has definitely mastered the open-floor stand.  He actually realized he could do it when he started to crawl after Addie, stopped and just stood up to continue the chase.  She thought it was great fun.  Now he’s gone from crawling around way behind her to walking and soon, I’m sure he’ll be almost fast enough to catch her.