Merry Christmas!!

Sorry I haven't posted in so long, but it's been busy with Braeden. I wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas (or whatever holiday you celebrate with your family), and all the best for a great 2008 for all of us.

Braeden is 15 months old now. He started walking a month ago, now he's running everywhere. He loves to splash in puddles outside when it rains, to pick up the odd leaf lying on the ground where the trees haven't quite lost all of them yet, to go to the park, and his Gymboree classes. And he loves playing with his dog. They chase each other around the house and he giggles. Going on "trips" are his favorite thing (he loves the car), be it to the post office to stand in line mailing out cards, to the store, and especially to restaurants, where we've been ordering him his own meal from the kids' menu. He loves his sippy cups for water, and his straw cups for milk, although he wants to drink right from the cup more now and not use the straw.

Poor Braeden picked up a nasty chest cold just over a week ago - coughing, sneezing, and some chest congestion. We took him to his pediatrician last Friday to be sure all he had was a cold, and she assured us it's going around, and that's what it is. What a relief, since he's only ever had one other cold and it was the nasal congestion type. He only has a slight cough left now, and it never slowed him down at all, or affected his appetite or sleep.

Nothing affects his sleep - he sleeps at least 12 hours at night, still has 2 short naps during the day. I have to laugh some mornings when I go to get him up from his crib. We've left his "aquarium" attached to the side of the crib and if he awakens early he turns it on. If he wants my attention before I get upstairs to start his day, he cranks up the volume on it so I can hear it downstairs and at the back of the house.

Braeden loves helping with the laundry, taking his clean clothes out of the laundry basket and putting them in his drawers. Now if I could only get him to fold them first..hehe. He's emptied one of his drawers of all clothes, and now stashes his favorite books in that drawer, putting one inside, closing the drawer, grabbing another book and adding that one. He loves taking off his socks during naptime. If one's missing and I ask him where his sock is, he either goes over to the wayward one, or points to it if it's nearby.

He's eating pretty well on his own with his spoon, although he misses his mouth sometimes. He also loves brushing his own teeth, after we've given them their "real" brushing. We haven't taken him for his first dental visit yet, but will do that before long.

All our months of work on sign language (and some great tips from Oliver's mommy) are finally paying off, and Brae's doing more and more signing. His favorite ones are sleep and more, but he's doing probably 10 signs. He's saying more words each day now and is starting to string 2 words together, his newest ones being "take dat" as he hands me something. He loves cleaning up his play yard and books each evening, and keeping the carpets and floors free of tiny specks of anything, picking some minuscule thing up and racing over to hand it to me. Carpet fuzz, a crumb, anything that's out of place.

He's a happy little boy. Sometimes I miss that snuggly little baby of months ago, but I really love this new toddler stage. He's not big on snuggling anymore, but he loves to hug and give kisses. It's going to be a fun Christmas with my DH's family. I know Brae's going to totally love all the wrapping paper. A friend gave him a wooden puzzle as an early gift, and he loved it so much that the guy gave us a few more to put away for him for Christmas. And Braeden's so strong now it's kind of scary. He picks up a huge box of diapers all by himself and carries it around the room, dropping toys and books inside if it's been opened.

Anyway, I'm off to start our day. Have a wonderful Holiday Season, and I'll try to post more in 2008.

Fire Storms

We were caught in the middle of the recent Southern California fire storms that started this past Sunday. Before I go on though, we were very fortunate that we're all safe, and our home was spared the horrible devastation that so many people are having to endure here.

We were shopping at a large outdoor mall on Sunday morning, near noon. We bought Braeden a pair of crocs shoes, so we'd have a pair of shoes for him we could put on quickly, that he'd be able to use to walk and crawl around in our back yard without ruining his Stride Rite shoes. We had a great time at the mall, but as we were leaving, saw the all too familiar smoke in the sky that we saw four years ago during the horrendous Cedar fire that destroyed so many homes and started four years ago tomorrow.

We stayed tuned to the radio and TV Sunday afternoon and overnight, and did the same thing Monday. Suddenly on Monday afternoon we heard that our area had been placed under mandatory evacuation, that we had to leave immediately. Neighbors started knocking on the door to tell us we needed to get out - NOW, and our next door neighbor brought over a surgical mask for Braeden, to help him breathe. Luckily I'd been packing things up all day, in anticipation that we might have to leave. Four years ago we got a voluntary evac. notice - this time it was mandatory, the sheriff driving up and down the streets announcing "You must evacuate this area immediately", the fire moving towards us, driven by 60 mph Santa Ana winds.

Luckily my ILs' home wasn't affected by the evacuation notice, so after loading up what we could cram into both cars, I left in the SUV with Braeden and DP (dear puppy). DH followed after one last check of the house, grabbing anything else he could think of.

There's only one way out of our neighborhood, so traffic was gridlocked. It took me over an hour to travel the 4-5 miles to my ILs home, and DH was stuck in even worse traffic, having left about 10 minutes behind me. The smoke and ash was awful. If not for my ILs, we'd have been camping out at the stadium, the freeways gridlocked too. Thank God we were able to stay at their home, although they were under an advisory evacuation - i.e., pack up and be ready just in case. Luckily it remained advisory only and while we didn't sleep much Monday night, at least we were safe, praying for our home to be spared.

To make a long story short, on Tuesday afternoon we received notice that the mandatory evacuation notice had been lifted for our neighborhood, and we were allowed to return home. Seeing so many homes burned to the ground, was so reminiscent of the fires 4 years ago. Once again, we were spared that devastation. Why? The fire was heading right for us, just like last time, and exactly like then winds changed direction and the fire moved elsewhere, sparing us. God was certainly watching over us these past few days.

There are still evacuations being issued, others being lifted, but the 8 fires burning here have moved on, hopefully to areas without dense populations of people, where nobody else will die, be injured, and/or lose their homes. It's been an extremely stressful week, but we've made it.

For any of you reading this who were affected by these massive fire storms, know our thoughts and prayers are with you, and if there's anything at all you need, anything we can do for you, please let us know. Now the healing process starts, and soon the rebuilding for those who lost their homes and are left with only what they could take with them as they evacuated.

Chickenpox Outbreak

It was announced on our news this morning that there's a chickenpox outbreak at one of the nearby schools, and everyone is being urged to have their kids vaccinated immediately if they haven't already done so. That's the 2nd series vaccination, given when they're about 4 years old. The one given at 12 months old gives them about 90% protection, while adding the 2nd one ups that to 99%. I like those odds.

Braeden's had a little head cold which I think he picked up at his gym class last week. Two of the other little ones were sniffling and sneezing, and while they strongly suggest you keep your child home if he/she is ill, some people appear to be oblivious to the fact that it's so easy to spread germs in a setting like that, no matter how clean they keep the gym area. Everyone's still climbing on all the equipment, drooling on everything, hands in their mouths. Braeden's just got the nasal thing going on, and it's starting to clear up now. It hasn't affected his activity level, or his appetite, or his sleep schedule. DH and I caught the dang thing over the weekend - blech.

We've got Braeden's Halloween costume. He's going to be a pumpkin this year. We didn't want anything fancy, and being 13 months old by then, I don't think he'll mind. It's a 2-piece outfit, nice and warm, with a hood. While our weather here definitely doesn't get cold, it's chilly at night, and we'll be out in the courtyard to greet the trick or treaters for a couple of hours, so I want Braeden to be comfortable. DH probably won't make it home from work in time for me to take Braeden to our nearest neighbors and pass out treats too, but again, I don't think Braeden will mind. I think he'll enjoy seeing the kids in costume, and he won't be eating any candy anyway.

He's still working on this walking thing, preferring to speed crawl rather than walk. I put his shoes on him inside the house this morning so he could try walking while wearing the shoes, since he hasn't been out much with his cold, and he did very well holding onto his truck and/or car as he took off around the living room. After about 15 minutes I took them off. I certainly don't want him learning to walk wearing them, but do want him to be comfortable walking while he's got them on for our outside trips.

1-Year Appointment

Today was Braeden's 1-year appointment with his pediatrician. He weighs 22 pounds, 8 ounces (50th percentile), is 33 inches tall - nearly 3 feet (95th percentile), head circumference is 17 3/4 inches.

He got a clean bill of health, is thriving, growing at a "perfect" rate (if there's any such thing as perfect), meeting all his milestones - crawling, cruising, doing a little walking, "talking" and babbling appropriately for his age, waving, etc.; totally off his bottles and drinking from cups. We took a sippy cup full of water to his appointment, and his doctor was pleased to see only water in it and not juice. She's not a fan of sippy cups full of juice being dragged around all day, but prefers any juice to be given as a supervised snack and then taken away. Brae loves his cool water in the sippy cup, uses straw cups for his formula/milk.

We've decided to keep Braeden on a 50/50 mixture of Enfamil Next Step (for 9-24 month toddlers) and whole milk for another month or two. His doctor said we could go either way - as we are, or all whole milk - either is fine. Probably after one more can of Enfamil we'll stop it completely.

We're pro-vaccination all the way, so Braeden had his 12-month vaccines today - two shots. One is chicken pox, the other a combo shot for mumps, measles and rubella (German measles). When I was a kid I ended up contracting all those diseases except rubella, and had a very rough time with all of them - these vaccines weren't available in my childhood. I'm glad they're here for Braeden, so hopefully he can be spared the misery of contracting any of them. And not only that, these vaccinations are all required for him to attend school where we live. I'd much rather have each one administered as we go along rather than play catch-up later when it's time for him to start kindergarten.

Braeden and I went to Gymboree yesterday - he loves his weekly class. He walked for the first time (other than a few steps). He went about 10 feet on his own, heading for a bucket of balls he spotted across the room that he wanted to get to. Yipee!!! His doctor said he's maybe been a bit slower with the walking because he's so tall, that it's hard to balance all that height, but he's on his way now.

So we're home and Braeden's playing. I'm hoping he'll have a nap soon, but he had none yesterday so he may be outgrowing them. I'll post again soon.

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY, BRAEDEN!!

Happy 1st Birthday, Braeden!! How much you've grown and developed over the past year, how many times you've melted my heart. He's off the bottle now (loves his straw cups) - I'll miss it more than he will. Brae had his first whole milk this morning and loved it, but we'll continue using Enfamil Next Step for a couple of months, and will gradually make the milk switch.

Today we're baking cupcakes for Brae's birthday party tomorrow. He loves to watch me working in the kitchen, and I know he'll be fascinated with all this baking. He's on the verge of walking, and it'd be awesome if he took that plunge today. But he'll walk when he's ready, and his timing works for me. Tonight DH and I will have our private celebration of Braeden's first birthday, a cupcake with a candle. We've got the camera and video camera batteries charged and ready to go.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we're having a little party to celebrate, with just a few close friends. We were hoping for the back yard, but with a rain storm forecast for later today and tomorrow, it looks like we'll be inside. That works. Early in the morning I'll pick up his helium-filled balloons and his cake, while DH will pick up the food. My MIL ordered and paid for the food for us, which was sweet of her. Sadly my ILs are leaving this morning on a trip, so won't be here for any of the birthday celebrations. My FIL's health is deteriorating, and this will probably be their last trip.

So Happy 1st birthday Mr. Braeden. You're no longer a baby, but you'll always be my baby!!

Two Weeks To 1st Birthday

Wow, hard to believe Braeden will be a year old in only 2 weeks. We're planning a small party for him here at the house, a few close friends. Like others have written, it'll be bittersweet - so exciting that he'll be a year old, yet already missing the little guy we brought home nearly a year ago. I'll miss my baby bunting, but my little boy is such a sweetheart.

Braeden's got 6 teeth now - 4 uppers and 2 lowers. I've started weaning him from his bottles, and am not having any problem so far. He loves his cups, especially the ones with the straws. We've got a couple of sippy cups, but I save those for water. He drinks his formula much better with the straws. We've got quite a variety of different brands, but his favorite is the Nuby straw cup. He drinks his formula while sitting in his high chair - it's easier for him to grasp the handles, and when he decides to stick his finger in the straw and fling formula all over the place, at least we're in the kitchen..hehe.

I'm also weaning him from his infant formula to Enfamil Next Step. That's going well too. We thought of going right to whole milk, but decided to give him a couple more months of DHA and ARA that Next Step has before we make that switch. He's eating Graduates veggie and fruit dices, and meat sticks I cut up for him, and any table food around at his meal times. So far there's nothing he doesn't like. That makes life easier. He's still eating some stage 2 and 3 foods, mainly to finish up what we bought earlier.

DH got Braeden a pre-birthday gift - a Tonka riding dump truck. He absolutely loves it. It's supposed to be good for him until he's 3, but when he sits on it, he's already flat footing it, so I think he'll outgrow it before then, but it'll still last him a long time. You can take the seat off and snap it on the back, so he has something for support as he walks along behind it. It's great for picking up blocks off the floor and carpet too - run over one and the truck scoops it up and deposits it in a storage area for later retrieval.

No, he's not quite walking yet, although he stands alone frequently and takes 2-3 steps on his own before he sits down, so walking isn't far off now. His new favorite thing is going outside in the afternoon with the neighborhood kids. They're all over 4 years old, and the older kids sit on our lawn in a circle, Braeden in the middle, and he giggles as they pass him around, rolling on the grass.

This morning I started taking Brae and DP (dear puppy) for walks together. DP has gained weight in the past year and after checking out a dog walking service, they're way too expensive for our budget. When I tried walking DP and Brae at the same time earlier, it wasn't a pretty sight, but today DP walked calmly next to the stroller, totally enjoying a nice long walk, and of course Braeden had the best time - he always loves going for a walk.

So we're gearing up for Braeden's big day. Have a great weekend.

Happy 11-Month Birthday!!

Yikes, 11 months old today. It doesn't seem possible that in one more short month little Braeden (who's not little anymore) will be celebrating his 1st birthday. What happened to our little baby? I'm so glad we've got a ton of pictures and video of those early days to look back on.

We went to our gym class this morning, but poor Brae's cutting 2 teeth at the same time, so he didn't have the best time. Still, he participated with the other children there, and did some of the activities. We were going through tunnels today - lots of fun. He was more clingy though than he has been, but that's ok. He'll have good days and bad like we all do.

So Happy 11-Month Birthday little Braeden. The next time I wish you Happy Birthday, you'll officially be a toddler - ack!! LOL!!

Braeden's Busy Week

Braeden and I headed off for his 2nd Gymboree class earlier this week. It was his last level 2 class. Next week he moves on to where he should be, level 3 - 10-16 months. Now that he feels totally comfortable at the gym, he's more than ready to move on.

He's had a few adventures and minor mishaps this week. We've got a gigantic play yard in our living room (32 sq. ft.). Close to it is an antique "drum" table (about 36 inches round) that's been in my family for over 200 years.

One day this week Brae decided to climb onto a stool we've had in his play yard for him to use to pull himself up. It's not there now. I was playing in there with him when he put his knee on the stool, then pulled his other leg up, so he was kneeling on the stool. Grabbing the top of the play yard, it was nothing for him to pull himself to a standing position so he could bang on the table. I keep the camera in my pocket now, so was able to get pictures of him in action, and got a video of him going from kneeling to standing. Major danger lurks there though. Standing on the stool, the top of the play yard is below his waist, so if he leaned forward, over he'd go. Like I said, the stool isn't in there now.

Apparently my table was even closer than I thought. For his next trick, the next day Brae opened one of the drawers (only 2 open, the rest are false drawers), but I guess he couldn't see everything in there he wanted to see, so he pulled the drawer right out and it landed in his play yard. Thank God it didn't hit him, but it scared both of us half to death. I was in the play area with him, lying down with my eyes closed, obviously drifting off. I could hear him playing with the drawer handles like he always does, but never thought he could pull the drawer out. Needless to say the play yard is now further away from the drum table so he can't even reach the handles.

Yesterday he was playing in his play yard (no he's not in there as much as it sounds - he just gets into more trouble when he's in there now) while I uploaded some pictures to the computer, and he was totally enjoying his new game of picking up toys one by one and dropping them over the top and onto the carpet and/or ceramic tile. He's already broken a few electronic toys by throwing them on the tiles. He started to cry - he'd thrown one of his balls over the top, then decided he wanted it back, so stuck his arm through one of the slats to retrieve his ball - yep, he got his arm stuck above the elbow. It only took a second to free him, but by then he wanted some "hold me" time, and he got plenty.

After he'd settled down, I put him back in the "yard" so I could finish uploading the pictures. More crying. We got Brae a "phlat ball" which you push down in the middle so it goes totally flat, and then springs open into a ball. He loves playing with it, and if a finger or two gets caught when the ball "pops" he laughs and thinks it's funny. I've tried it myself to be sure, and it doesn't hurt at all. Not so when somehow he stuck his whole hand inside. He was waving the ball around, trying to get his hand out, but he needed mommy to push down on the ball a bit so his hand slid out.

No worse for wear, at that point I let him roam around while I finished up the pictures. Maybe Braeden doesn't want his pictures on the computer..hehe. He headed right for the stairs, and of course I hadn't closed the baby gate since he'd been in his play yard. Forget the pictures - I'll finish them later..hehe. I followed him as he climbed upstairs and roamed around up there awhile, then carried him back down.

Otherwise it's been a quiet week - yeah, right..hehe. He continues saying "wassat?" to everything he sees, inside the house, while we're out for our walks, at the store particularly where he wants to know the name of everything on each shelf. Of course right now he doesn't know what they mean, but out goes the hand towards an object he's interested in, then "wassat?" follows. After I tell him, he moves to the next object. It's funny. He's saying his name even more clearly now. I love how he says "Brae" - he rolls the "BR". He's also calling his dog by name now. I was on the phone last week when he called for his dog, and the person on the phone with me could hear him say the dog's name very clearly.

I hope it's a quieter weekend. Hope you all have a good one.

Braeden Rules the Gym

Braeden had his first "real" Gymboree class yesterday, level 2 (6-10 months). He ruled that place, feeling totally comfortable and at home. The instructor said only one more class and then Brae moves up to level 3. He's way beyond the activities from yesterday, but at least he had a chance to become more familiar with the gym and the equipment there - he was crawling everywhere, racing over to the other babies so he could touch their faces. They didn't seem to mind, although you could tell they were probably wondering what this little person was doing racing towards them.

The instructor rings bells when a new activity is to begin - unless Braeden has made off with the bells, racing to the other side of the gym with them. She had to chase after him 3 times, to retrieve the bells, the faster she chased him, the faster he crawled, trying to make his great escape. She eventually had to hide them in her pocket.

The other babies were only 7 or 8 months old, so Braeden was far more advanced. He rocked...hehe. So we'll go back next week, and after that will be in the level 3 class. That class is earlier in the day, which works better for us with Brae's lunch and nap. It's a fun place though. Even I had a good time there.

Gymboree Classes

We signed Braeden up yesterday for 10 weeks of Gymboree play classes at a new facility that opened up over the weekend just down the street from us.

We ended up going with the level 2 classes (6-10 months old), since we went to a trial level 3 class Saturday (10-16 months old) and poor Braeden had a total meltdown with all these little toddlers walking up to him. We had to leave, and they told us to come back Sunday and try a level 2 class. He started with a minor meltdown on Sunday too, but after a few minutes calmed down, and towards the end of the class had started to become more comfortable and was crawling around playing with some of the toys. The babies there were from 7-10 months old, much more his peers. One little girl was giving him the "eye"..hehe.

So we decided to try 10 level 2 classes. We had to pay yesterday, but they told us that if he doesn't become totally comfortable after another 2-3 classes, they'd refund our money, so it's worth a try. It's been very hard to get him out and about with other babies around his age. While there are about 10 of them in the neighborhood, nobody's ever around like they used to be (I have no idea where they all are, but I rarely see any of them at our park or out for walks).

This morning Brae went to work with daddy for a couple of hours. He had a very minor crying jag at first, but settled down quickly, and poor DH spent the majority of the time chasing Brae around the office, as he crawled everywhere exploring the new territory. Braeden's got some real separation anxiety right now though, that hopefully we can work through with the classes. Like at DH's office, he was fine until people came up to him, then he raced for DH. Still, all things considered, it's to be expected, and he's doing well.

He's now got 4 teeth fully through (he was slow getting those first teeth), and has taken to climbing the stairs from bottom to top, with one of us right behind him. He never misses a step though, and once he gets to the top he's off and crawling into all the rooms.

Brae took his first walking steps Saturday - only 3, but all on his own, without any support. Yipee!!! It's kind of scary knowing he'll be walking so soon, but the time has come.

As for his eating, he continues to devour his food. He's not real fond of stage 3 dinners, except the chicken noodle one, but our ped. said if that happened to just skip them and move onto the diced table foods, which is what I've done. So far he's only had green beans, pears, and chicken sticks, but he loves all of them. He's also sampled some restaurant food when we go out to eat, and he loves everything, except carrots. He looks so cute chewing everything up. He still gets his 20-24 ounces of formula, and is still eating stage 2 foods along with the dices, and he likes to drink bottled water in between, right from the bottle. We got small child-proof bottles for him with a sport cap, so he can sip away without worry he'll get the top off. He also loves his cups with straws. He's not fond of sippy cups he has to tip up in order to drink, but we're working on that, since I don't think he'll be drinking from a straw the rest of his life..hehe.

He needs another hair cut already. This with be the 6th one, and it's getting harder to cut myself. I'll keep going through until it's impossible. Everyone says I do a great job on his hair - that's incentive to keep cutting away awhile longer. I've taken to giving him hair cuts while he's in his high chair. That's about the only place he's reasonably still these days.

We're off this weekend to a luau. Brae's got a Hawaiian shirt and shorts for the occasion. It's at 4pm, so we'll be able to have some fun, and still get him home pretty close to his 7pm bedtime. Speaking of bedtime, he's still sleeping about 11 hours at night, straight through. He wakes up at 6am and plays with his toys in his crib, then after I take DP for her walk and get her breakfast ready, I go upstairs and bring Brae down to start his day.

Happy 10-Month Birthday!!

We spent Braeden's 10-month birthday quietly at home, after a very busy week. He's getting more and more active all the time.

The little guy just went to bed, and to be honest, I'm totally wiped out, so suffice it to say, HAPPY 10-MONTH BIRTHDAY, Braeden!! And no more climbing the stairs please..hehe.

My Mother's Birthday

I hope Braeden doesn't mind me posting on his site. Not many people come here now, so I guess this site is just for the two of us - me and my son. I think he'd approve.

Today would have been my mother's birthday - would have been, because she passed away many years ago. It doesn't make it any easier when her birthday rolls around each year. I still miss her and I always will. How I wish she could have known Braeden, how I wish he could have known her. It wasn't meant to be, and that's ok. I know she's watching over us, almost as though she were actually here.

A week from today would have been my father's birthday. Same situation - he passed away a long time ago too. It's hard on both dates, but harder on my mother's birthday - she and I were so very close.

I'm an orphan, no siblings, in fact no remaining family of my own. Until I met DH I spent years by myself, me and my dogs. Now DH is here, DP is here, and of course Braeden is here. While I love them all, I still feel so alone sometimes. I just want to call my mother today and wish her a happy birthday, have her over for tea and a visit. I know that will never happen in this life, but does it ever get any easier? I don't think so. I learned to go on, learned to cope without her, but that gaping hole will always be there, the emptiness sometimes overwhelming.

Braeden is my pride and joy, but he was born via surrogacy - I couldn't carry him and give birth to him. That honor belongs to someone else, and while she's the sweetest lady, and Braeden wouldn't be here without her, it's hard knowing that one day I'll be sitting Braeden on my lap and telling him about her, he'll spend time with her. Will he love me less? I hope not - God, I hope not. Sometimes I almost feel like I don't want to get too close to him, to let him know how very much I love him. Maybe that will shield me a bit from the biting pain I'd feel if he rejects me for the surrogate who carried him, who gave him life. Thankfully though, dealing with that is down the road.

Today I'm sad, depressed, in tears. Maybe it sounds silly at my age to say this, but I want my mom. I could really use a big hug from her. When I was growing up I used to ask her, "Mommy, how much do you love me?" and she always answered, "All the much's in the world". I've been teaching Braeden that little exchange, hoping to keep part of my own mother alive.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Busy Weekend

Yikes, what a busy weekend we had, compared to our usual laid-back style.

Aunt Y. arrived on Saturday and was here for 4 hours. She was shocked at how big Braeden's gotten, at his teeth, his smile, how fast he can crawl. She hasn't been here for a couple of months, so lots of changes. After a great visit here, we all headed out for lunch. Braeden had a great time sitting at the table in the restaurant high chair (shopping cart cover in place). He was flirting with everybody who passed our table, waving and smiling and talking. I felt badly for the little girl at the next table (probably about 18 months old). Braeden was "flirting" with her, and he made her cry. He didn't seem to mind. When she started wailing, he turned back to eating his Cheerios and banging on the table again, trying to grab food off my plate.

After we finished our meal, we all came back to the house, and Aunt Y. was able to give Braeden his bottle and feed him his food. This is the first time she's been able to spoon feed him, and you could see the excitement on her face. Braeden's not particular who feeds him, as long as that food keeps coming. Aunt Y. is really looking forward to Braeden's birthday in September. She doesn't know where the time goes either. We're so lucky to continue having her in our lives.

Sunday we headed to the pet store to stock up on DP's food and treats, then went to Pizza Hut for lunch. Braeden got to sample his first mushrooms (the only thing on our pizza that didn't have sauce on it). He loved them. I gave him one little piece of soft pizza crust with a tiny amount of cheese on it, and that was a big hit. I didn't want to press my luck though, so left it at the one piece. He continued flirting with the people in the restaurant, and became so bold as to grab at the server's blouse as she passed by - she thought it was hilarious. Braeden let out a hearty laugh, so I guess he got a kick out of it too.

So today we're resting a bit. It's been very hot here, so we bit the bullet and dumped Braeden's sleep sack that he's slept in since we stopped swaddling him way back when, and let him sleep in just a little top and shorts his grandparents gave him a couple of weeks ago. He was much more comfortable, and seemed to sleep better. I kept checking the video monitor (will I ever give that thing up?) and he barely moved all night, whereas when he was wearing the sleep sack he moved a lot more. Now the mattress is at the lowest level, we have no fear of him tumbling out of his crib, which is why we persisted so long with the sleep sack. Now he can feel free to move about his crib, play with the little toys in there, turn on his aquarium music, and talk away to himself.

So all is well with us - Braeden will be 10 months old on Saturday.

9-Month Exam & Shots

Braeden did great at the doctor's office this morning, unlike last time when he cried throughout the whole appointment. He was more interested in what was going on around him than in anything else, grabbing at everything within his reach. DH and I took separate cars so he could head right to work after the appointment, but he got stuck in traffic and only arrived at nearly the end. At least he made it.

Braeden weighs 20 pounds and 14 ounces (85th percentile), and measures 30 inches tall (95th percentile). Since he's had a cold, his pediatrician gave him a good going over, but the cold is gone for the most part, nothing to stop him from getting his vaccinations.

He only got 2 shots this time, one in each hip. Of course he cried, but as soon as the bandaids were on and he was back in my arms, he stopped crying, and started banging on the exam table, grabbing for the paper covering, banging on pictures which hang on the wall, he was having a great time exploring, the shots forgotten. He goes back in 3 months, early October, after his 1st birthday celebration.

I dressed him in his jean shorts and a top that has "Chick Magnet" on the front. The staff went totally nuts over his top, and as usual everyone commented on all that hair. He's due for hair cut #5, but I wanted to wait until this weekend, so it won't grow too much before his photo shoot next week. His pediatrician signed the form required, giving her authorization that Brae's good to go for the photo shoot. We'll go next Friday, but getting those pictures will be enough for me. I don't want to drag him all over town doing shoots.

He slept on our drive home, but has been very active since we got back, crawling around his expanded play yards, squealing, standing at his piano table and banging away on that. He's been cruising a lot lately, this morning he let go and took a step without holding onto anything. That was so awesome to see. He's finally settled down for a nap.

I nearly forgot. Brae's got the ok to start with table food only, we can stop any and all baby food at this point, although it'll be easier to keep going with it as we transition over. I'm no cook, so I'm not even really sure where to start with table food other than fruit. He's allowed to eat anything he wants now, and is even allowed a little whole milk, so long as we continue with his formula for the majority of the "milk" part of his diet until his 1-year birthday. Some of that baby food is gross - if I won't eat it, I sure won't feed it to my son.

Happy 4th of July!!

I hope this finds all of you well, and that everyone (in the U.S. at least) has a very Happy Independence Day. I may be Canadian, but I still love a good celebration.

Braeden's cold is nearly gone, and he's really on the move. We went into the front yard yesterday so he could crawl around on the grass. I turned my back on him to close our courtyard gate, and there was Braeden halfway across our driveway, heading for the next door neighbor's house, and speeding right along. He wasn't too happy when I picked him up, but concrete and bare knees don't make for a good combination.

The two of us went visiting an elderly neighbor later in the afternoon. We're in the middle of a heatwave, and E. lives alone, so I'm kind of keeping an eye on her. She thoroughly enjoyed Braeden's visit. He was a bit timid at first, although we've been there many times before. But when I set him down on the carpet, he looked around for a few minutes, then off he went exploring this new territory. E. has hardwood floors, whereas we have ceramic tile. Braeden was fascinated by the hardwood, banging his hands on it and giggling. I guess he liked the feel of it.

DH ordered Braeden a new play yard so he'll have a place to crawl (inside and/or outside) but won't be able to get into trouble. He actually ordered two of them, so we can link them together and give Braeden 34 sq. ft. of crawling room, for short-term use only, like taking DP for a quick potty break while DH is still asleep. I put one of them together when they arrived. One wall of this thing is a "play wall" with all kinds of goodies to keep Braeden amused. I'd just put it together and placed him inside for an initial inspection, then ran upstairs to finish the laundry. Suddenly I heard the weirdest sound coming from the living room where Brae was. I looked down from upstairs (our upstairs is totally open to below, with a "bridge" going to the master bedroom suite - so you can look right down into the living room. There was Braeden playing with his new play wall, spinning everything, testing it out. Then he found the musical section, and was hitting all the buttons. He had a great time. This particular play yard has a gate on one side, so I opened it up and left it that way. Brae came crawling out, explored a bit, then went back inside to play more.

He did something different yesterday too. He's got a large plastic dragon with holes to drop little balls inside. It makes music when you do that, and the balls pop out different doors at the bottom. Somehow he got a little chicken he plays with inside one of the bottom doors. I watched (and videotaped) him for about 4 minutes, opening the door, trying to get his chicken out of there. The door doesn't stay opened, so he had to figure out how to hold it open with one hand, while he reached inside with his other hand. The concentration blew me away. But after a few minutes he turned and looked at me, and raised his right arm in the air. That's his signal that he needs help or wants something. I took that as my cue to help him get his chicken out, and after I retrieved it, he picked it up, raised his arm high, and said, "Yeah".

We don't have anything planned for today, except to maybe take in the picnic up at the neighborhood park. But we're in the middle of an excessive heat warning and the park has very little shade, so we may skip that and head for an indoor mall to roam around. Indoor malls are few and far between over here, but there's one only a few exits up the freeway. It'll be nice and cool there, and it's one place Brae hasn't been to yet.

He goes to the doctor Friday for the dreaded 9-month shots. Hopefully he'll do as well as the 6-month ones, without any type of reaction. The 4-month ones didn't go so well - he had a fever. The following Friday is Braeden's photo shoot. It's an informal event to get his little portfolio put together. He'll be a fisherman in one shot, a baseball player in another, and the 3rd will be him hanging out wearing jeans and a T-shirt, standing up on his piano table. Aunt Y. is coming down for a visit that weekend. It'll be great to see her again.

So enjoy and celebrate today, but stay safe.

Braeden's First Cold

DH is a bit on the paranoid side when it comes to photos of Braeden being posted here. Somehow I don't think there's much in this picture to identify him, so here it is, and I really wanted you to see his favorite pose. He hasn't figured out yet how to stand upright without some form of support, but he's getting the hang of it.

My poor little man awoke this morning with a runny nose, sneezing, a little cough. It looks like he's got his first cold (or maybe allergies - we've all got those right now).

He's teething big time, that's for sure, and is very cuddly. I broke down and gave him Tylenol drops, which he hasn't had since the slight fever he got with his 4-month shots. Those work too well. In about 30-45 minutes he was raring to go again, crawling all over the place, and at a faster pace than usual.

We're all very lucky - at 9 months and 1 week, this is his first cold. He doesn't seem in any discomfort now, but refuses to take a nap. He's too busy standing up in his play yard. Braeden and I had to take our dog to the vet yesterday. It was a much better trip than the last time we all went together. Our DP (dear puppy) is much more used to Braeden and the stroller now, and while we waited, she sat right next to the stroller. Brae looked at her a few times, but he was much too busy waving at everyone who came through the door. In the exam room, he took to waving at the vet when she came in - waving is his latest "I love doing this" thing.

Happy 9-Month Birthday!!

Happy 9-month birthday, Braeden!! I know you're going to have a wonderful day today, crawling all over the house, playing in the grass in the front yard.

You're not a baby any longer. It's sad in a way to see the days of babyhood give way to your toddler period, yet I love seeing your little teeth when you smile at me, I love chasing you around as you crawl so fast towards your dog to say good morning, I love seeing you enjoy your meals. I love watching you wave at daddy and me when you see us in the morning, and at various times throughout the day. I love how you still want to cuddle, although not as often as you did when you were younger. I love watching you play with your toys, figuring out new ways of doing things. I love hearing you say "yeah," "hey", "daddy", "mama". I love everything about you.

Braeden weighs 20 pounds and is 30 inches long, is one very happy fellow. He's one very busy little guy too, and over the next few months he's probably going to be even busier. You see, Braeden now has a modeling contract. This was a totally unexpected turn of events, but living where we do, not totally surprising. It's only for 6 months, and only for the odd print ad, but out of 100 babies, he was one of 8 selected. We're taking it all one step at a time at this point. If Brae isn't happy with photo shoots, we're finished. His happiness is the most important thing. On the other hand, if he's able to do a few shoots so we can put aside some money in his trust fund, he'll have a nice little nest egg down the road for college, or for whatever else he may want to do. The law here requires a trust fund be established to protect any money he earns. Never would we let anyone exploit our little man in any way, nor would we do that. But we'll give this a chance and see how it goes.

Braeden's met each and every milestone to date, and goes in 2 weeks for his 9-month check-up and more of those charming shots - only 2 shots this time thankfully. We've got some questions for his pediatrician on the #3 dinners. Those dinners have such big chunks in them that he doesn't enjoy eating them, and all of them have carrots as the top ingredient. Brae and carrots do not agree with each other, so I'm not sure where we'll go from here. He's loving his finger foods, so is able to handle chewing without a problem. #3 fruits and veggies are great, it's those dinners that are the problem. I'm sure there's an answer.

I'm sorry I don't post much, but it seems like the following we had with "Our Miracle Baby" has disappeared, and I keep a written journal so don't post here that often now. I'll keep updating occasionally though. It's hard to believe we'll only be saying "Happy __-Month Birthday" two more times - then it'll be his 1st birthday - hard to believe he's nearly a year old.

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.