Braeden's Adventures

Braeden's been a busy little guy the past week, having some fun adventures.

This past weekend was our wedding anniversary. We all went out for lunch, the three of us. Since Braeden's outgrown his 2nd car seat (due to his length) and we've moved on to a convertible one that will last him until he weighs 65 pounds, we've had to carry him, or use his stroller. No more car seat to conveniently sit on the table at restaurants, or in a shopping cart. So at this particular restaurant, Braeden sat in one of their high chairs for the first time. He wasn't real fond of it - kind of hard on his little behind - so we put him back in his stroller.

I ordered a great meal which included a baked potato. On a separate little plate I mashed some up and let Brae try it. He loved it. It's so funny watching him chew, his two little bottom teeth glistening white. He sat back and enjoyed his first taste of "adult" food. I can feel the top teeth, but they haven't broken through yet. Mashed bananas are next on the new food list.

After we left the restaurant, we went and got a supermarket cart cover, so I'll once again be able to easily take Brae shopping with me. I did that yesterday, and it was fantastic. I parked right next to a cart corral so I could leave Brae comfortably in the car with the door open while I quickly grabbed a cart. Never having put one of those things on before, I was pleased to see not many people around, nobody paying much attention to me, although I must admit that it was very easy to put on, and the belt loops very easily behind the cart seat to securely attach the cover to the cart itself.

Brae seemed very comfortable sitting in his new shopping cart cover, his favorite toy with him, and off we went into the store. My only concern was that without a baby car seat or stroller, he had no coverage from the sun, but he was wearing his sun visor so that kept the sun off his face, and it's a short walk into the store. He wasn't real happy traveling backwards, and was constantly turning around to look where we were heading. He wasn't too interested in where we'd already been..hehe. But he did great, seemed to enjoy himself and the sights, and visiting with a few people who stopped to chat. Boy, this is the only way to go for me. I won't be hesitant to take him anywhere now. If the store has a cart, I've got the cover for it. If it doesn't, I've got Brae's stroller.

Early this afternoon we headed up to the park, which is just up the street from our house. It's a great place for dogs, kids, family picnics. Nobody was there today. I was very happy to see that, because I wanted to try out something else, and I get nervous that I'll look like a total dork if there are experienced mothers around. I know everybody has to do all this stuff for the first time at some point, but if I can manage it without people watching, it's much easier.

There are two baby swings at the park. Braeden loves swinging in his swing at home, rocking back and forth to get it moving, so I thought I'd try him in a park swing. OMG, he absolutely loved it. He hung onto the chains on either side of the swing (thank God for baby wipes..eww), and laughed, throwing his head back as I gently pushed him. We stayed at the park in the shade for about half an hour, but he was only in the swing about 5 minutes.

So as you can see, Braeden's been a busy guy this week. We have to lower the mattress in his crib this weekend. When he sits up in the morning to play (even wearing his sleep sack), he can look over the crib railing, so it's time to drop the mattress down a notch. His new thing this week is pushing up from his tummy to a sitting position. When he was first trying it, I wasn't sure what he was doing, but now he's an old pro at it. Once he's sitting up, he drops down to his tummy and does it again - over and over again..hehe. He's more fun every day!!

Happy 8-Month Birthday!!

Happy 8-month Birthday, Braeden!!

Every day I find it hard to believe that Brae is growing and developing so fast, and here we are at his 8-month birthday already. I think I'll always wonder where the time goes. It seems like only yesterday he was born, not 8 months ago. A true miracle!!

Braeden's Baptism on Saturday was beautiful. We've got some great video, and will have the CD with the pictures either later today or tomorrow. He looked so gorgeous in his little white suit, although it was pretty snug - the buttons down the back held, but were gaping open. You'd never know from the front thankfully. Braeden fell asleep in my arms during the entire ceremony, and only awoke when they poured the baptismal water over his head, a few tears, then he was too busy looking at everything to cry. After the ceremony, we headed home so he could have a short nap before we were off to the reception. There were a lot of people there, but he seemed to enjoy himself. Aunt Y. sat with us, and gave him his bottle. We took his food with us, but knew not much would manage to reach his mouth, let alone be eaten while he was so busy socializing, so we waited until we got home to give hm the rest of his meal and a snack. He was having no part of sitting in his chair at the restaurant - he wanted to be held. DH's sister carried him around to all the different tables so people could see him up close. That gave us a chance to grab some of the scrumptious food from the buffet tables.

He's visiting with his grandparents today. DH's family is still in town, and they wanted to take care of Braeden one more time before they all head home tomorrow. I'm greedy though - they can have him for 4 hours, but I want him home this afternoon. He's still exhausted from being there all day Thursday, and his Baptismal celebrating Saturday. His teeth are erupting fast and furious now, and he's not feeling the best today. He managed to untie one of the bumper ties on his crib somehow and was chewing on it early this morning. I saw him on the video monitor. I went in and re-tied it, and he fell asleep again. It's time to put a teething ring in his bed with him, and the bumper will have to be removed soon. He sleeps in a sleep sack at night, so there's no worry about him standing up and trying to climb out when I'm not there. Those things are great - for warmth, and also for the safety factor.

I joined the "Baby's First Disney Books" book club, and received notice this morning that Brae's first shipment is on the way. It'd be so cool if his first books arrive today, on his birthday. He's got a ton of board books passed along from friends, and while he's been enjoying all of them, "My Train" being his favorite, they're all pretty well chewed up by prior owners. He's constantly grabbing at them to do some chewing of his own, but we've managed to keep them out of his mouth. Now he'll have his own books, some great books btw, that he can hold and gnaw on while we're reading him his stories, without wondering where they've been previously.

So Happy Birthday my little wiggle worm. The next few hours will give me time to reflect on the past 8 months, pouring over all the pictures from his birth to the present.

Baptism Tomorrow

Braeden's Baptism is finally tomorrow. It's been hectic trying to book a time with our church because there have been so many babies born in the past several months, and only a few days short of 8 months old is pretty late, but tomorrow is the day at last.

After the ceremony we're heading to a Chinese buffet restaurant for the reception. It looks like there'll be about 50 people there, so it should be lots of fun. Brae's becoming more and more social all the time, so I know he'll have fun being the center of attention. He loves it when the ladies stop to admire his hair..hehe. DH got him a blue onesie with "Chick Magnet" in black on the front. He looks awesome wearing that and his denim shorts.

DH's sister bought Braeden his Baptismal outfit - a little white satin suit, tie included. Sadly, he grew so much between the time she got it for him and now, that DH had to go out and buy him the next size up. Even that's snug, but hopefully we'll be able to get him to suck in his gut a bit to fasten the buttons down the back...hehe. One of our friends will be taking the photographs, another friend doing the video.

DH's whole family has arrived for the celebration. Sadly, all of my family is deceased. I know they'd be so proud of Braeden, and I wish they could be at his Baptism. They will be in spirit. Brae's aunts and cousins babysat him all day yesterday, and from all accounts and the pictures they took, he had a blast. DH's sister has 3 children, all girls, the youngest one being 5 years old. She took over a lot Brae's care and entertainment, got on the floor to play with him, made sure he didn't have too many toys to play with at one time. DH and I joined them all last night for a family dinner. We ate in the dining room, while the kids ate in the kitchen. The little 5-year-old came running in, "Braeden's got a water bottle, he's ripped off the paper and is trying to eat it". He loves water bottles, and it appears someone left it too close to the edge of the kitchen table where he could reach it from his portable high chair that we had fastened to a kitchen chair.

After we all finished eating, it was time for Brae's dinner. DH's sister gave him his bottle, then sitting in his high chair, the two youngest children fed him his food, taking turns alternating between his meat and veggie. He thoroughly enjoyed his meal.

While Brae was off socializing with his cousins, I was out stocking up on more food, formula, diapers, wipes - he was running out of everything at the same time. I got some #3 foods, although he's yet to try them. We want to wait until after the Baptism tomorrow to introduce new foods, just in case. So far he hasn't had a problem with anything, and loves all his food, so I know he'll do great with these new foods.

I gave him the fourth hair cut of his young life a couple of days ago. DH once again said it was too short, but it's not. He looks so adorable. His hair was growing so fast he'd developed bangs that were so long they were hanging in his eyes. Not a problem now..hehe.

DP (dear puppy) is at a pet hotel this weekend. It would have been way too hectic for her (and me) if she was home with all the company we've had and will have Saturday, and she was overdue for a mini-vacation. We pick her up Sunday morning. She loves that place, always has a great time. I really miss her, and so does Braeden. He looks for "my dog" in the morning when I bring him downstairs.

Then Monday is Braeden's 8-month birthday. Wow, where did that time go? He's got several teeth coming in now. All have broken through the surface, but aren't fully in yet. They're becoming more visible each day. He's started crawling - backwards. He doesn't go far, preferring to continue rolling around the room as a means of getting where he wants to go.

I'll post more next week.

Teeth At Last

We were starting to think Braeden would be going through life gumming his food, but we've finally got teeth breaking through the surface - 5 or 6 of them in total, top and bottom.

He's been taking this teething thing in stride until last night, when he was a bit cranky during his evening meal, not real interested in his food - highly unusual for Miss Piggy's nephew. Normally he eats everything presented to him. Towards the end of his meal he had a few tears, so I threw out the little bit of food left, and held him for awhile.

He doesn't have many cranky times, and is very easy going. So after some snuggle time we played on his puzzle mat, I read him a couple of stories, then we headed upstairs for bed at 7:30 p.m. He cried for about 15 seconds, then was out like a light, not to be heard from until 6:00 a.m. today. Maybe he wasn't cranky because of the teeth so much as the fact he was tired. He doesn't sleep much during the day - a couple of short naps is it for him. Another factor is that it's been close to 100 degrees here the past few days, and we've all been feeling the heat.

Braeden did enjoy a nice tepid bath last evening. Sheesh, break out the snorkeling gear. He grabbed 2 wash cloths from the side of his tub, and proceeded to splash with both of them, one in each hand. I was drenched from head to toe, but loved every minute of it, and Braeden was laughing so hard I know he was having the time of his life.

I'm going to have to get baby gel for his hair though. This is getting ridiculous. I've now cut his hair a total of 3 times, and it continues to grow faster than I can keep cutting it. When he woke up this morning it was all standing straight up, and he'd had his bath 3 hours before bedtime, so I know it was totally dry before I put him in his crib. I wet it down and tried styling it again, but it's a lost cause. Time to gel it...hehe.

Happy Mother's Day everyone. Enjoy whatever it is you've got planned!!