GregoryBrand.com

Lloyd recently upgraded to real-crawling!  HERE’S A MOVIE.

And here are some pictures with his awesome Dad as they celebrate the start of football season:

Lloyd has been learning new skills at an incredible rate.  In just the past 14 days or so he has learned how to:

• Pull himself up to stand
• Clap his hands
• Give high-fives
• Throw arms up in the air for “Touch Down”
• Crawl for real (not army crawl)

and yesterday he signed “milk” at me with his mouth hanging open.  I asked him if he wanted milk and he kept doing it and I grabbed him and he latched on immediately.

He will wave, clap, and do “touch down” on verbal cues alone.

He is also standing with only one hand hanging onto the surface supporting him, and is experimenting with letting go and standing independently.  He also can scale the furniture, walking while holding onto the couch.

So pretty much, he’s a genius, although he still has trouble figuring out how to poop.

Who can believe that Lloyd is now nine months old?  He’s such an old guy now, doing so many impressive, big-boy things.  Read on for more insight into the goings-on of our Acorn.

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Lloyd has learned how to pull himself up into a standing position.   He can only do this in certain locations, as the furniture has to be just-the-right height.  The leather cubes in our living room are perfect. 

First, here is a video showing how Lloyd can now sit up from a laying position. 

Now, here is a video of Lloyd pulling himself up to stand.  He sort of sounds like E.T. at the end of this one.

Our beloved Greg has turned 27 years old.   We celebrated this awesome occasion in a variety of ways over several days.   First, we went over to the Crawford Parent’s house and had a nice dinner.  They got him a wooden work-bench for the basement, which is beautiful as well as practical!  Then we went to the Dexter Daze Beer Tent and had some fun with friends “socializing.”  

(BTW: Bob and his girlfriend Brie are engaged now!  He proposed to her on Tuesday, Aug 25)

Next it was off to the Brand Parent’s house for the whole Brand-a-palooza where Greg was royally feted.  He got lots of great lounging clothes, a nice bottle of scotch, an ice cream gift certificate, some movie-theater gift cards, and some most appreciated gift money to Zingerman’s Roadhouse.  

On the actual day, Lloyd and I gave Greg our gifts.  Lloyd got him a bottle of Drambuie to make Rusty Nail cocktails, which I thought was strange, but Greg was pleased and didn’t question our son’s methods.  I got him several books he wanted, and a knife that lights fires that he promised to keep in a locked box.   We ate Zingerman’s Roadhouse take-out and lounged and cuddled.   Then that following weekend I took Greg out on a date to see Inglourious Basterds while Grace and Jerry baby-sat.  It was a great time. 

We love you, Greg!  Happy Birthday!  Here are some pictures of Greg and our baby boy: