Definitely his father's son.

In all fairness, I knew that Brady was overtired yesterday evening.  We were running errands when a storm came up during the afternoon, and all the excitement made him too cranky to settle down for an afternoon nap.  I was half-hoping that this would make him fall asleep at 7:00 or so, giving Earl and I the evening to watch the Olympics and then, ideally, letting him wake up for his first middle-of-the-night feeding just before I went to bed.  Those are typical baby hours, right?  

Instead, the last thing he wanted to do was sleep, especially if it meant sitting in one place.  After letting my salad wilt and my dinner get cold, nursing him until we both cried, walking and walking and walking, and going a bit crazy from the quiet calm of the baby room, I asked Earl to take a shift and went to sleep around 11:00.

I woke up at 6:30, the first time I've slept that long at a stretch since about halfway through my pregnancy.  Amazed that Brady slept through the night - progress!  (And yes, I did reach into the bassinet and put a hand on him, just to make sure he was still breathing.)

It turns out I got excited too soon.  The two of them were up until 2:30, and Earl was just too nice to wake me up again.  I'm thankful, but I also think it serves him right; these are his late-night genes, and he needs to deal with them.

Stuff Brady's Parents Like: Special Triple Feature

1.  The Moby Wrap

Carrying a baby, especially one that still has questionable neck control, is hard.  I can't just throw him on my hip and go, and the over-the-shoulder method is only successful for short distances.  Now that I'm watching these things, I've noticed that many people with kids Brady's age hold them in front, hugging the baby to their chest while they walk, and while this is very cute, it's also pretty uncomfortable.

While we were traveling, we were walking a lot; there was no way to just stay in one place, and I really didn't want to.  I ended up using this every day.  It's one long piece of stretchy cotton fabric (t-shirt material) that you tie around you and use as a carrier.  The wrapping process takes a bit of getting used to, but after a few tries I was a pro.  Brady loves sleeping and nursing in it, and it also lets him look around and get a good view of everything while we're walking.  Its best use was around mealtimes - we'd walk and look around until he dozed off, then I could wear him at a restaurant while we ate out without disturbing anyone or taking up a ton of room with a stroller.  

A lot of people seem to swear by the Baby Bjorn-style backpack carriers, and we have one of those, too (actually, it's an Ergo), but I ended up not using it at all on this trip.  The wrap was much more comfortable, and because it could be crammed in the diaper bag, it was easier to carry.  Plus, I had tons of women on the street asking me about it, and it made me feel cool.

2. Camera Phones

Ok, please, no comments about how camera phones are so six years ago, and how Earl and I are the only people on the planet that don't have them.  I finally got one two days ago, and I'm hooked.  There will be lots of camera-phone pix of Brady coming, especially since it means that now I'm always carrying a camera.  (Yes, I was usually carrying a camera before, but I was getting frustrated with the additional few ounces that it took in the diaper bag; I'm working on packing efficiently here.)

Here's my current phone wallpaper:

3. Sports Bras

An odd choice, I know, but you'd be amazed at how well these can be used to carry cell phones, cash, and other small items.  It was the only way I could bring both the phone and Brady over to the computer, and I figured that made it valuable enough to include in this post.

Whew!

We're finally done with all of our summer travel.  Thanks so much to everyone who helped with places to stay, meals, errands, baby-holding, and everything else.  If we didn't have so much help, wow, I can't imagine how tired and stressed I'd be by now.

A few pictures, thanks to my mom and dad (since Earl and I were busy or in most of them)...

Great-grandma Eaton with Brady:

Holly at Chuck and Georgette's wedding, who saved the day by helping with baby duty during the ceremony:

Grandma, post-wedding:

Earl and Brady, already tired early in the trip:

A nice pic of us at Jenny and Marty's wedding - aren't they cute?

Then, the baptism.  Brady screaming:

And Brady screaming:

And Brady screaming: