(This one is my favorite. O just picked up an empty milk jug and was “drinking from it” walking around the house. Already prepping for the “gallon challenge”.)

]]> http://laurenallenphotography.com/2013/05/bradys-first-playdate-with-the-c-triplets.html/feed 0 http://laurenallenphotography.com/2013/05/brady-6-months.html http://laurenallenphotography.com/2013/05/brady-6-months.html#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 16:03:53 +0000 Lauren.Allen http://laurenallenphotography.com/?p=5644

Brady, you turned 6 months old at the end of April 2013. I can’t believe it. It’s been half a year! Whaaaat? It seems like it’s gone by in a flash. You are so much fun these days. I really enjoy spending time with you all day, every day. What a blessing. Yes, it can be tiring (especially if we haven’t slept much the night before), but it’s a blessing to watch you grow and explore.

A few words that describe you the past month: noisy, wiggly, rolling, attention hungry, exploring.  You are a rolling ninja baby! I can’t leave you alone for more than a minute without you ending up underneath furniture or half way across the room without a clue of how you managed to get there (& so quickly)! One of your favorite places is to roll underneath the coffee table in the living room. I call it your “fort”. You stick your hands and feet up against the underneath of it and kick and play.  Sometimes if I leave the room for a brief moment (to wash a dish or something) I come back to find you rolling around with one of George’s disgusting slobbery stuffed animals and you are SO proud when I find you. And most of the time you’ve rolled in your own spit up and it’s there’s a chunk or two stuck to your forehead. I can’t help but laugh and run for the camera.   At first I was nervous about you rolling around on the wood floors in our house, because you’d sacrifice your big heavy head first when you rolled over. Although, after a few big bonks you learned to gently roll over – it’s so cute how you’re cautious with your head. It’s amazing to see you learn and repeat!

Per the usual, some days are better than others. Doesn’t matter how much sleep you’ve gotten some days you just need a ton of attention and holding and walking around. Other days it’s as if you barely need any at all.  You take an average of 3 naps per day. Usually you take a long morning and afternoon nap (1-2 hours each) and then another cat nap in the late evening. Mommy likes it when you take good naps during the day. It allows me to get a few quiet moments to myself, which I usually end up just doing chores or answering emails. I’ve been trying to use that time lately to get a good work out in (thanks Apple TV- I stream work out videos).

You started wearing 6 month sizes at 5 months old (mostly sleepers because pants were still a bit large). But now you’re totally in 6 month clothing, pants and all.  You are starting to fill out a little more. Your legs are getting a tad bit chubbier, which is so cute, and you’re sportin a little double chin these days. Your feet don’t seem to be growing as quickly as the rest of your body, though. You wear shoes a lot and are still in size 1. They’re getting a little snug, but size 2 shoes are just laughable. The ankle width fits great, but the length is twice as big as it needs to be. Soon enough you’ll be in bigger shoes – can’t wait to use the cute ones you have! Ra Ra buys you lots of cute pairs.

You are so interested in your surroundings. You reach and grab at everything. You stick almost everything you can grab into your mouth to chew on – even people’s hands. You smack stuff with your hands (kind of like a cave man- haha) and you stomp your feet non-stop. Even in your crib… you’ll maneuver yourself sideways and prop your feet up on the side of the crib bars and kick and stomp your feet just to play and entertain yourself. Sometimes I’ll catch you looking at me from across the room and when you realize I see you, you immediately smile unsolicited. You’ll even follow it by a few foot stomps in excitement occasionally.

Nursing has been so much better lately. You only take max 15 minutes total to nurse (both sides). That’s a huge difference from 2 months ago when it was taking 30+ minutes and then followed by a supplement bottle of bm or formula. It’s so nice. *sigh* Although, sometimes you’ll stop in the middle to make a big declarative “statement” and then go back to nursing. It’s funny.

A week or two before you were 6 months, I started feeding you baby oatmeal cereal mixed with a little formula 2x a day. You sit strapped into your bumbo chair with the tray, and you anxiously await to be fed after I nurse you. You bang your hands on the tray like a cave man. The first several attempts were funny & frustrating. It required a mop and a shower.  Although, you quickly caught on within about a week of eating from the spoon. Way to go, baby! I have a feeling you’re going to enjoy eating a lot!

Diaper changes are not for the faint of heart. My goodness, child. You cannot sit still during a diaper change. It usually takes two people to successfully accomplish a diaper change with you. Within seconds of putting you on the changing table you manage to flip over to your tummy with this look on your face like “Yup. Look at me!”.  I’ve removed any objects on/near the table that you grab for, except for Sophie toy. I’ve tried buckling you into the changing mat and that doesn’t do anything since you’re able to flip over underneath it somehow. Ninja. I told you. So, I bribe you with toys and make stupid noises and probably look like I’m a clown trying to capture your attention so you’ll sit still. Most of the time you end up stomping your foot into the freshly opened poopy diaper – haha. I will say these past couple of days have been a tad better. I’m able to get your diaper on and a new one on before you manage to flip over.

Whenever I’m holding you while also holding my big Baylor water mug you like to aggressively reach for it. It took me by total surprise one day when your eyes got huge and then BAM! you grabbed the straw right out of my mouth and put it in yours and water spewed everywhere. It was so funny to see you do that. It really made me feel like your growing up to be able to do that.

This past month I’ve been bathing you in the Puj tub in my bathroom sink. It fits the tub better than the larger kitchen sink since you’ve grown. I’m sure that we’ll have to figure out a new location sans the tub soon once you’re able to sit up on your own (which we’re working on).  You seem to enjoy baths a lot more lately. Not sure if it’s because you get to play with the shiny water spout that’s right at your level with water streaming out or if it’s because you’re just getting older? Either way, you smile and gurgle and “talk” to me during baths now while chewing on your toes the whole time. You used to not even make eye contact with me during baths – hah.

Since mastering the roll, you do this thing where you kind of swim in place on your tummy and you wiggle your arms and legs so hard like you want to crawl. Just not yet. Take your time, buddy. I haven’t even thought about what needs to be “baby proofed”. We’ve been working on sitting up by yourself, but I think we still have another couple weeks. Once you start crawling I’m probably just going to stick you a fence around you in order to contain you. Jk. You love to chew on your toes… even if you’re wearing footed pjs or shoes.

This past week you’ve started making a new sound where you make some bubbles and also a soft “Tssss” sound. Almost like you’re trying to say something but have a lisp. It’s adorable.

One thing that we’d LOVE for you to master is SLEEPING AT NIGHT. Please baby, that would be the best gift you can give me right now. You “sleep thru the night” about every 10 days for 1 night *sigh*, but if that’s all I get – I’ll take it. It’s just discouraging when others are all “Oh, little Timmy was sleeping thru the night by 6 months….” Well our little “Timmy” hasn’t really caught up yet. You must take after your dad – tossing and turning all night.  You usually go to sleep very well after our night time routine of bath time, nursing, then bed. You sleep really hard for a couple hours and then are up again. I can’t seem to figure out why you’re awake so I just nurse you after you’ve gotten us up a couple time within an hour. On a good night, you’ll sleep for 4+ more hours before you’re up again. Then maybe another hour or two before it’s time to get up for the day. Here’s what an average night looks like in the Allen household:

8:15-8:45 pm – bath time and nursing Brady.

8:45 – 9 pm – Brady goes to bed (still a little awake, but immediately cuddles with the little snuggle blankie and takes his pacifier.)

10- 11 pm – bed time for the adults.

Between 1 am – 3 am- Brady’s up! Half way crying/making noises. We let you do this for a few minutes and then one of us goes in and gives you your pacifier. Sometimes you freak out and this doesn’t calm you down. Othertimes you go right back to sleep and then wake 30 minutes later doing same. We go back in – repeat. 30 minutes later your up… so I give in and just nurse you. So, essentially I’ve been awake for an 1+ hour at this point.

Between 5-6:30 am – Brady’s awake and usually a pacifier will put you back to sleep. Brian’s up getting ready for work. I put foam ear plugs in so I don’t hear Brian getting ready and move the baby monitor so it’s right next to my face.

Between 7-8 am – Brady’s awake. It’s the BEST when I go in to wake him at 8 and he’s already quietly playing in his crib. That’s a very nice start to the day for me. If he’s awake before this, sometimes I’ll put him in bed with me in hope s that he goes back to sleep, which is not usually the case- hah. We nurse around 8 or 8:30 and start our day….

So, on average, I get about 3 hour stretches of sleep. If I can get a 5 hour stretch of sleep I feel like super woman. This coming from a person who used to NEED 8 hours to function “normally”. If you want to include us in your prayers we’d greatly appreciate it. We like our sleep. Not just for the heck of it, but for our health and well being.

Brady’s 6 month check up:

Height: 27 inches (75%)

Weight: (barely) 16 lbs (25%)

Head circumference: 17.5″  (75%)

INSTAGRAM PHOTOS:

Brady, You turned 5 months old on March 20. Wow, have you made progress these past several weeks!  You really love to grab at your feet. It started with just a little reach and grab, and by the time you were 5 months you were sticking your toes in your mouth and chewing on them! This is especially popular during diaper changes and baths.  You are becoming more coordinated with your hands/arms when grabbing things.  You also like to explore your tongue this month. The buffalo tongue and some new noises have come with that, too.  You are quick to reach out and touch my face lately, which is endearing.

This month of nursing has been challenging. This is the typical time when babies become distracted with their surroundings and like to explore their new world. You are for sure right in the midst of this stage. While nursing you’ll stop and look up at me, flirt a bit, maybe make some cute noises and then turn your head towards something you may or may not have heard. You also like to pull at my shirt or anything you can get a hold of while nursing. You’re very “busy” when nursing.  I finally weaned you from (CAUTION BOYS) the nipple shield and so now we can nurse without any gadgets,which is a huge blessing and relief! It only took one or two frustrating tries and bam, you were through with it. As you got closer to 5 months you started nursing for MUCH shorter periods of time and would cry in the middle of it and delatch. This was beyond frustrating because I couldn’t figure out why or if you were getting enough food, etc… I had been supplementing you since your 4 month check up (17 weeks) with 2 oz of formula after each feeding to make sure you were gaining enough weight. Honestly, I think the (CAUTION BOYS) nipple shield may have caused a transfer issue. Then, once you weaned from the shield you were able to nurse much more efficiently and would get frustrated after a fast let down and didn’t want to work for it after that. Who knows? The wonderful world of nursing… it’s beautiful and frustrating all at once.  Your weight check at 19 weeks was great- 13 lbs 10 oz (gained 1 lb in 2 weeks!)

At the beginning of the month you were still sleeping in your SwaddleMe wrap at night, but at 17 weeks we began weaning you from it. There were some sleepless nights for sure as you adjusted, but you sleep without it now! I was so nervous about you turning over at night and not being able to turn back over since you were swaddled and didn’t have the use of your arms.  Regardless, your sleep patterns are still sporadic. I never know how many times you’re going to wake up or when. For the most part you wake up a couple hours after your bedtime for your paci/soothing, then again around 3 am for a feeding, then again around 6 and I put you in our big bed until you and I get up for a feeding and for the day at 8 am.  Then every once in a blue moon you’ll sleep through the night (9 pm – 5 am)! It’s glorious. I wish you’d do it more often.  If I can just get 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I feel like super woman the next day. It’s amazing. (I say this coming from a sleep pattern of 8-9 hours before I was pregnant. Sigh.)

At 17-ish weeks you started sleeping on your side while cuddling the cute little snuggle blankie. Then, at 18 weeks you rolled over on your own like you’d been rolling over for weeks!  You discovered sleeping on your tummy. Even when I corrected you to your side/back, you’d roll back over on your tummy. I woke up many times at night to creep in and check on you to make sure you were breathing. Ugh, so nerve racking! We spent 5 days at Gammy’s house in Houston while I had a several day photo shoot. You learned to roll over well while we were staying there. My mom and Gammy just loved playing with you while I was out photographing different areas of Houston. It was so nice to have their help. I learned quickly that it’s exhausting traveling alone with a baby. We pulled over on each leg of the trip to breastfeed (and supplement) in the backseat of the car in the middle (literally) of Texas. You mostly wanted to play the whole time and were highly distracted, but we got it done. What’s usually a 4 hour trip turned into a 6 hour trip. hah. Who knew babies has so much “gear” when traveling?! Every inch of the car was filled with stuff.

Your funky left eye mess cleared up all on its own at 17 weeks! Praise the Lord! We were expecting a visit with a pediatric opthamologist to address it. Your hair has grown into this quasi-mohawk thing. It’s so soft and stands straight up towards the back/top of your head. The sides have not seemed to catch up to it yet. The top just keeps on growing.

You like to hold onto your pacifier (which is usually tethered to you) and can take it in and out of your mouth. Sometimes you try to put it in backwards, but at least you’re trying!  At 20 weeks you started doing this thing where you slam your left arm up and down (while usually hitting yourself in the process) when you get excited. It’s funny. Especially if you’re holding a toy.   You’re also in this major pinching phase. Ouch! Anything/anyone that comes near you gets grasped/pinched/latched onto with all your might.  This is what a typical diaper change looks like: I place you on the changing table and you immediately get excited. You slam your arms all over the place and kick your legs,while also arching your back so you’re now turning away from me. I correct you and try to put your paci in and hand you Sofie the giraffe toy. You yip and screetch and giggle and sometimes stop in amazement at the ceiling fan. Then I begin undressing your bottom half. Once I get your diaper off you are beyond excited (you LOVE being naked!) You kick and yelp and put your hands in your mouth and arch your back so your belly is in the air.  At this point I’m usually putting together your clean cloth diaper and setting it near your feet. I clean you up and place the new diaper under you, which you usually kick all over the place and then sometimes pee in the process. As soon as my arm gets close to your feet, you subconsciously kick it away, while latching onto my other arm with your tightly pinching hand. Then as I’m fastening the new diaper on you, you begin to spit up, so I’m now trying to wipe that up while keeping the diaper in place. It’s a balancing act, really. There should be an award given each time I successfully get a clean diaper on you and keep you dry from spit up.

The thing we’ve been most surprised with (regarding this whole baby rearing thing) is how much and how often you spit up. We’d be better off just donning ponchos when around you. Your pediatrician says there’s nothing that can be done about it… you’re just a “spitty baby”. Honestly, it’s super exhausting. I change your clothes several times a day and you usually barf all over the new outfit minutes after I finish dressing you, no joke. Then, I’ll get dressed (after avoiding putting on “real” clothes for the day b/c I know you’ll barf on me) and shortly after picking you up to carry you to your bouncy chair or car seat you barf all down me – haha. Sometimes I have patience with it and other days I’m just human and get really frustrated. It’s extremely rare that you aren’t wearing a bib (that’s soaked in spit up) and therefore, we don’t get to see your cute outfits. When people ask to hold you, we give them plenty of fare warning that they will be spit up on, and try to liberally cover them in burp clothes/towels – haha. It makes it difficult to cuddle with you for fear that you’re going to overflow/barf on me any minute. One time I went in for a kiss on your lips and BLEH you barfed and it just barely hit my mouth before I pulled back as quickly as possible. I’ve since learned. Don’t worry, we burp you plenty but it still comes at all times of the day no matter how much we feed you or when we’ve fed you. You do this thing now where you fight me while I burp you (trying to stand and arch your back), and then you rotate your head from side to side while spitting up in the process to be sure to spray it everywhere. I never thought I’d do so much laundry in my life. This is one “phase” I can’t wait to get through. We love you dearly, but it will be SO enjoyable once this passes (which I’ve read can last until 9 months, Lord help us)!

Not long after you turned 4 months old, I put you on a more structured daily routine. Here’s a rough outline of our daily routine from 4-5 months old:

8 am – Wake up for the day & nurse / supplement with 2 oz formula

8:30 – Play/ awake time  (activity mat) – usually the chipper-est part of your day

9:45 – Nap (lasts anywhere from 20 min – 1.5 hours)

11 am – Nurse / supplement with 2 oz formula

11:30 – Play / awake time  (activity mat / bouncy chair) – rolling all over & batting at toys

12:45 – Nap

2 pm – Nurse/ Supplement with 2 oz formula

2:30 – We usually go to the lake for a long walk/exercise (you usually fall asleep half way in for about 30 min to 1+ hour)

5 pm – Nurse/ Supplement with 2 oz formula

5:30 – “Cranky hour” starts usually right when Dad gets home by 6 pm ish

7:15 pm – Sometimes a 20 min cat nap

7:45 pm – Bath time

8 pm – Nurse / Bed time!

1:30 am – you usually wake up crying and just need your pacifier or something to go back to sleep.

2 or 3 am – You wake up for your middle of the night feeding (quickly nurse and back to sleep).

5:30 or 6:30 – You usually wake up crying and dad or I put you in our bed for a couple more hours until my alarm officially goes off at 8 am for the day. Sometimes you go right to sleep in our bed, other times you roll around & make lots of noise for a couple hours. sigh.

You are still very smiley and giggly, which is such a joy!  You are filled with personality, that’s for sure. It’s fun to watch it develop more and more each week. You giggle a lot during diaper changes and when we make funny noises/faces at you. You like when Dad does funny stuff or makes up funny songs and wiggles/squeaks a toy in front of your face.

We can’t wait to see how you’ve grown at your 6 month check up! Love you, baby.

INSTAGRAM PHOTOS:

Brady, you turned 4 months old on February 20. Now that you’ve passed up the 4 month mark it seems like time is flying and your growing so quickly!  This past month has been a whirlwind. Once you hit 3 months, it seemed like things got a tiny bit easier and you were a lot of fun… then within a couple weeks things sorta went haywire. Your sleep patterns were all over the place, you’d have some really rough grumpy days that were exhausting, then you’d have 2-3 wonderful pleasant days where you’d sleep through the night just fine. We were a hot mess. I’m not sure if you were having an early growth spurt (most of the time it’s around 4 and 6 months, but this was several weeks early), however, we powered through!

We began noticing that you were completely intrigued with the TV. I mean, you are locked in when watching it… no matter what is on the TV. So, I started playing Baby Einstein or Yo Gabba Gabba a couple times so, at least I didn’t feel guilty about you watching TV… at least you’re “learning”, right?  We only do this every couple of days, as to limit your time at passive learning. But sometimes I just need 20 minutes to do stuff around the house… you do what you gotta do.  Once you’re able to really understand that you’re watching TV I’m going to have to really limit your time for sure.

You’ve really started using your feet to do everything. You’re more advanced with your feet than you are your hands most of the time! It’s pretty funny (and amazing how strong you are), except during diaper changes when you kick at my arm as I’m changing you. Such a little monkey!  You’ve also been putting your entire hand into your mouth to chew on, or occasionally just your pointer finger.

About once a day or every couple of days we’ll get the best laugh out of you. It’s a real multi-syllable laugh that is the BEST sound in the entire world. You can’t help but laugh along with you; it’s so contagious.  When you smile it takes over your whole body… you crinkle your core, shrug your shoulders, and your feet sometimes go up into the air.  Sometimes we call you Linus, because you love to hold a blanket up to your face. A lot of times that’s how you fall asleep during the day.

We entered into the wonderful world of cloth diapering at 13.5 weeks old. It wasn’t nearly as nerve-wracking or scary as I was anticipating. In fact, they’re better than disposable diapers. We’ve had way less blow outs! If you can commit to doing a few extra loads of laundry, then it’s great. We’ve saved probably $50 this month on a box of diapers that we didn’t have to purchase. The only negative I can really find is that you are so wiggly and you like to bring your feet towards your face that it’s almost impossible to get the cloth diaper on you during the first try.

As I mentioned before, you sometimes sleep 8 hours straight, but lately you’ve been waking up every couple of hours to be soothed. Sometimes you’ll immediately take your pacifier and fall back asleep (repeat 4x every 15 minutes). Sometimes I have to pick you up and hold you to get you back to sleep, then when I lay you down you cry again. That’s always fun at 2 am when I’m super delirious and can’t reason well… haha. But for the most part we give you a nice soothing bath around 8 pm and then wrap you in your Swaddleme wrap (which is amazing and practically shuts you down) and you fall asleep nursing and sleep until 4-5 am for your first morning feeding.

I’ve been operating between baby-led scheduling and clock-led scheduling lately and we’ve been all over the place. It was difficult for me to get anything done, because I never knew what to expect or when you’d wake up in the morning to start our day. I couldn’t make plans in advance and would often have to alter plans because your feeding schedule wouldn’t match up, etc… It’s times like this I’ll look back and laugh at just how “out of it” I was and how I couldn’t think straight and was operating off of pure “Mommy brain”, but someone reminded me of the Baby Wise book to help guide us into a better routine and schedule. DUH. I totally read this book when I was pregnant with you and forgot about it. So, in the midst of our crazy-all-over-the-place-rough-couple-of-weeks, I stayed up one night to read through it again and powered through a couple of days of guiding you onto a better routine that in affect helps everyone! We now get up at the same time each morning to start our day, followed by nursing, awake/play time, then 90 min after you’ve been awake you go down for a nap. Repeat this several times during the day, and that’s our schedule. You take about 3 naps that range from 20 min – 1 hour in length. You fought me SO hard the first couple of days when I’d lay you down for a nap in your crib, but eventually you went down without a fuss – I felt like I’d accomplished so much!! Now I take this school of thought and mix it with my own flexibility and am still aware of your cues, but for the most part it’s really helped get us back on track.  Why didn’t anyone tell me to structure my day like this earlier?!

Since you were born your left eye has acted as if it has a clogged tear duct and doesn’t drain your tears well, and stays watery/goupy most of the day. It’s the worst when you wake up… all crusty and gross. Your pediatrician prescribed you some eye drops that helped for a week or two, but it was still yucky until the day after your 4 month check up when it cleared up on its own (you were technically 4 months and 1 week).  Praise the Lord!

4 MONTH CHECK UP:

Weight: 12.11 pounds (20%)

Height: 24.5 inches (45%)

Head Circumference: 17 1/8″ (80%) – haha all your groceries went to your head this month!

Here are some photos from recently:

INSTAGRAM PHOTOS:

Brady, you turned 3 months old on January 23, 2013. How time has flown!  I must say, I feel like I’m coming out of the fog and kind of turning a corner. The first 6-8 weeks were somewhat difficult and not as “satisfying” as the past 4-6 weeks have been. I’m slowly getting more and more sleep, which is a huge blessing, and I feel like we’re sorta back into our normal swing of things.  Your personality is really starting to show and it’s been a lot of fun.

You are making more and more distinct noises and coos. I’m pretty sure I heard a real laugh from you just the other day… usually your quasi-laugh is kinda accidental and let out as a result of excitement. I just love love love your little voice, especially when you make facial expressions along with your voice, as if we’re really having a conversation.  You’ve also started using your hands more lately. You grab at your toys when you’re sitting in your bouncy chair or when you’re lying on your activity mat. It’s fun to watch you interact with your toys while you’re on your mat. A lot of times you get so super excited and kick/stomp your legs and feet and squeel so loudly and flail your arms everywhere and punch a toy or two. You can get really into it at times, as if you’re working so hard and studying the particular toy you’re attempting to grab.  If you’re wearing a bib (which is 95% of the time) you’re holding onto that.. most likely pulling on it. If you have a blanket near you, you’re pulling that up to your face. You do not like your hands covered. Even when we’re on a walk at the park and it’s chilly, I try to cover your hands with a blanket and they somehow find their way to the surface as if they too need to see the scenery. So, I make you wear mittens on lake walks since it’s cold.  I can’t figure out if you’re starting to teeth a little bit, because you also shove your fist into your mouth and drool a bit more these days.

We’re pretty much back to nursing fulltime and only a bottle of my bmilk maybe once every day or two. It’s worked out great. I like not having to clean bottles and the pump accessories 6x a day. Around Christmas time I started nursing you in bed for your middle of the night feedings and really early morning feedings. You really really liked that and would sleep next to me for the last 2 hours of the morning, accept I didn’t sleep very well because it was still new to me and I wasn’t sure if I’d forget you were there or something. Co-sleeping still makes me nervous.

Baths are still “Ok” to you. Sometimes you make sweet “sighs” or grunts like you’re adjusting to the water, etc… You don’t really interact with us while we bath you, you just kinda sit in a daze and try to figure it out I guess?  You keep your toes curled under SO tightly. It’s funny. They look like little monkey toes, but gosh they attract lots of fuzz from your footed onesies.

At about 9.5 weeks old I put you in your crib to sleep one night and it worked! You officially do not sleep in your car seat anymore – wahoo! You usually sleep from about 9 pm (after a feeding) and I’ll try to wake you up for a final night feeding between 10:30 – 11:30 pm. Sometimes you’re impossible to wake up so we skip it. Sometimes you’ll sleep straight through until 6 or 7 am, which is magical! Sometimes you wake up in the 4 am hour. Most of the time it’s for a feeding. That’s not fun, because here I am thinking we’ve made total progress to sleeping through the night then BAM, one random night you wake up at 4 am and I’m all confused, and usually don’t get much sleep after that and the rest of the day I’m like a zombie or we try to take a nap mid-morning.  Most week days we head to the lake for a long fast walk. We started using the awesome BOB stroller that my aunt gifted us (thanks, Aunt Di!). You seem to like it a lot. It’s usually 50/50 if you take a long nap on the walk. Sometimes we have to play the pacifier game (where you drop it or spit it out and I put it back in several times within a chunk of time) until you fall asleep (that goes for the walk and afternoon naps at home).

One of my most favorite things that you do is lay your head on my chest. Sometimes I’ll just walk around the house with you like that and you’re not even asleep… you just find it comfortable and calming. It makes my heart go pitter patter. I just hold you close and kiss the top of your head (which has lots more hair coming in… You have many cowlicks and some areas you have a couple of random strands that are much longer, especially near the crown of your head it’s kinda spiky & cute). I also hold you so that your cheek is right in front of my face and lean you against me and kiss kiss kiss your face and it makes you (and me) smile.

We’ve taken you to church 3 times now, and you’ve been so great! I put you in the baby k’tan wrap and you usually fall asleep just before the service starts and sleep until we put you back in your car seat to go home. We also do the same when we go to Home Group Wednesday nights and you do great. You can sleep for almost 3 hours in that thing if I let you. Sometimes I wear it around the house while doing chores and you eventually fall asleep.

You do this thing now (mostly during diaper changes) where you put your feet down flat and arch your back so your belly is sticking up and you’re coming off the surface. It’s pretty funny, except when we’re in the middle of a diaper change.  We still don’t have an exact schedule down, but we have a general routine. You usually are pretty happy when you wake up in the morning before and after your first daylight feeding. You play a lot during that time and then usually take a decent nap between 11 am – 1 pm (not the entire time though), then you usually take another nap in the late afternoon/early evening.  There are the occasional catnaps throughout the day, too. I still just let you wake up on your own in the mornings (mostly because I like my sleep and mostly don’t have to be out the door early in the morning) so, we haven’t gotten on a rigid daily schedule yet. You’re usually like clockwork though, and most days have a very similar routine.

I think you’re figuring out how to charm the ladies already, because sometimes you’ll cry for your pacifier and then whenever I come in the room and put your pacifier back in you smile and smirk at me  like “ha! gotcha, Mom!”

You are lots of fun these days, but we’re still figuring you out . It’s been quite a blessing to stay home and spend so much time with you. I will cherish these days and moments forever.  I love you bunches.

This was our first Christmas with our sweet little baby, Brady. It was fun to have a baby on Christmas, but I was still pretty sleep deprived and “out of it” most of the time while visiting with family and friends. The holidays seemed to fly by, because we pack in visiting so many people in such little time. This year we celebrated Brian’s dad’s (Clif’s) birthday on Dec. 19 at his house with Brian’s siblings and kids. We did a small gift exchange before heading out. Then, we hosted a small gathering at our house for Brian’s mom, siblings, and kids. It was fun having family over here for a casual meal and opening presents. Marilyn and Duane brought homemade chili and I made some cornbread. We kept it nice and simple .  Then, Christmas Eve we drove down to Katy. Half way we stopped to feed the little critter and changed his diaper. Since it was literally the middle of Texas, there’s pretty much no where to go in and use a decent bathroom with a changing table. It aint a road trip without changing the kid’s diaper in a Dairy Queen parking lot.  (On the way home we stopped in the same town, but outside the town’s court house to change his diaper/feed him. In the rain.)   We arrived at my mom’s house Christmas eve and unloaded. Then, we headed over to my Dad’s & Daria’s house (which is thankfully 5 min away) to celebrate Christmas with them. We gave presents to the kids and opened some of our own before we all headed over to a neighbor’s house for a party. We enjoyed some amazing international home made dishes, but only stayed for 2 hours before it was time to head home with the baby and get him in bed. Since we were traveling on Christmas Eve we missed out on a church service, which I was kinda sad about, but we celebrated Jesus in our hearts.  Christmas morning we woke up at my mom’s and opened presents, followed by a big breakfast/brunch. My mom always makes Christmas so special for us! That afternoon, we headed over to my grandma’s in Houston to meet up with the rest of the family to open presents and pig out. Almost all the cousins were there, which is so nice. We all get along so well and usually laugh 95% of the time we’re together.

Two days after Christmas, Brian and my dad and little brother headed down to his ranch to deer hunt for a long weekend. Brian came back with a big deer! We’ve got lots of deer hamburger meet, sausage, and steaks to last us until next season.

It’s crazy to think about the events in the last year. On Dec 23, 2011 on our way down to Katy (literally 5 miles from our destination) we got hit by a drunk driver. Thank God we didn’t have a baby with us then! It was surreal thinking about that event while arriving safely at our destination in Katy  with our new baby on Christmas eve. He is good.

Here are some photos from our 5 Christmases this year. We are truly blessed. Sorry if I was sorta out of it, family. We really did enjoy spending time with you this year and can’t wait until Brady will be a bit over a year old next Christmas time!

The front yard was marked by a giant pink and while balloon #1 structure (maybe 8 feet tall?) so you couldn’t miss it. Right when you entered, there were party favors on the entry way table tucked away in cute little chevron printed bags.  The front room was dedicated to a gorgeous photo booth decorated with pink and white balloons, the beautiful Toys for Tots Christmas tree & gift area, the ceiling was littered with balloons draped with long strings to the floor, and the table was covered with the most amazing sequined chevron patterned table cloth topped with dainty pink and white cakes, cookies & cupcakes.  The room was glowing with candle light and just a touch of incandescent light.

Little Miss Sloane was dressed in the fanciest dress with a little fur and sequins to match the decor. Most of the ladies at the party donned some pretty form of sequins, as well. There was champagne and a full bar for the adults (once again decorated to perfection), a s’mores bar on the back patio – which was draped with chinese lanterns and twinkle lights, and in the back alley there was a food truck making wood burning oven pizzas. Sloane was sung happy birthday by a room ful of family and friends who love her and she got to dig into her own personal cake with her hands and face. Did I mention she had another cute little white outfit change for after the cake?

It was quite the event.  Happy 1st Birthday, Sloane!

Brady,  you were two months old on Dec. 26, the day after Christmas! How time flies. This season has been so busy and filled with family and friends. I don’t feel like I’ve gotten to catch my breath really and all the while you’re growing so quickly.

You’ve outgrown your newborn clothes. I think I was in denial because I was still trying to make you wear them and it was sorta a fight to get them on you. Sorry, buddy.  You’re making lots of noises these days… really discovering your “voice” of coos and gurgles, which are accompanied by the sweetest facial expressions.  When you’re awake you’re AWAKE and alert and making noises. You even make noises while you sleep like you’re dreaming.  Some nights lately it seems like you’ve had night terrors, because you wake up screaming and your eyes are still closed, but you go back to sleep almost immediately.  I about fly out of bed at the sound of this. You’re still sleeping in your car seat, but we’ve put it in the stroller frame so you’re higher up and not on the ground where it gets cold at night. And yes, you’re still next to my bed. It’s convenient b/c I can just lean over and put your pacifier back in or rock your stroller back and forth. Sometimes I fall asleep while doing this and wake up with my arm on your stroller. You’ve averaged about 5-6 hours of sleep at night now, which means I’m getting about 4-5 hours at a time. Thank you!  You’re also taking some good afternoon naps and are slowly liking the idea of laying on your back more often.  We don’t really have a “schedule” yet because some days you’re very awake and active and other days you sleep for hours on end and only get woken up to eat.

You seem to think baths are “ok” lately. Your face is filled with skepticism, but you’re quiet and make cute little sighs as if you’re enjoying it. You’re impossible to keep clean/dry. You go through at least 3 bibs/day and sometimes that many outfits. You also have many blow-out diapers. Dawn soap is the only thing that gets out your poop stains. Dang, those are powerful stains!  Good thing I don’t wear “nice” clothes around the house when these blowouts happen. You’ll be happy to know that we’ve captured some of your loud “sharts” on video and  you have your own YouTube channel chock full of fun videos as you grow.

I waited until you were at least 6 weeks old to take you out in public (except for doctor visits), but I still keep you pretty much in a bubble even in public. Hey, it’s flu season and I don’t mess around. When we’re out and about, I use so much hand sanitizer it’s sick. Thankfully, Dad is still doing the grocery shopping for us (since we hit 3 stores in a day) but I’m sure you and I will pick that back up sometime soon when we can take our time during the week days.

You’ve been nursing a little here and there. I was exclusively feeding you my milk via bottle, because I was pumping to make sure you were getting enough to eat. You seem to balance both well so, we’ll keep at it. You also seem to be gaining weight like a champ these days.

At your 2 month check up you were 11 lbs 10 oz (70%) and 23 inches (50%) and your head circumference was 16 1/2 inches (90% – big head – it runs in the family.) You also got 3 shots in your legs and were such a brave little boy. You only cried while they gave you the shots and were soothed when I picked you up and you snuggled into my chest.

Below are some photos shot around your 2 month “birthday”. The photos of you and me together were taken by Daria Ratliff Photography (one of your grandmas) & edited by me.

I’ve decided to continue documenting this wonderful experience month by month as you grow into a book like I did for my pregnancy with you. Above is a spread from the book.

You turned one month old on November 28, big boy! Talk about a life changing month, indeed.  Figuring out “life” together has been interested and definitely new for both of us. My mom (“Ra Ra”) stayed with us for a few days after we got home from the hospital. She really helped us around the house and watched you so I could catch a nap here and there while your Dad was back at work. She loves you so much. She even cried when she left to drive home to Katy. (Ok, maybe I did too… my hormones were all over the place.) A week later my step-mom, Daria, came up to help out, too. She and I did a little photo shoot of you.  My postpartum recovery was a bit harder than expected, so I was a little delayed in taking your “newborn” photos. I was also a little spacey and sleep deprived, so we only did a quick session with you, but got some good ones while you slept.

We’ve been so blessed to receive countless meals from family and friends. It has been such a big help in the evenings so we can focus on each other and not worry about preparing a meal.

The past two weeks have been fun with you. You have started to become a “person” and not just a feeding/sleeping/pooping machine. Although, technically you are still very much all of those things.  You’re very happy in the mornings most days (your “happy hour”).  Sometimes I’ll put you in the pack & play in our bedroom while I make myself a quick breakfast and it sounds like theirs a chimpanzee in the bedroom making noises. It’s pretty funny hearing you discover your “voice”.  Bright lights seem to capture your attention.  You’re still sleeping in your car seat (next to my side of the bed).  You seem so soothed by it. You still do not enjoy sleeping in your crib or on your back for more than maybe 15-20 minutes at a time.    You seem to get the hiccups at least once a day, if not more.  You also spit up a lot. All the time. We go through several outfits a day and several bibs a day. It’s nearly impossible to keep you clean/dry. You’re such a boy already! We still can’t decide who you look like… most people say it’s split about 50/50. Can’t wait to see how you grow.

We’ve recently discovered that by tickling your nose and chin, you produce huge smiles and coos. It’s pretty darn cute.  At your one month check up, you were 9.11 lbs (75%) 22 inches long (75%) and 15 3/8″ head circumference (75%). You’re growing so well!

Since I included a ton of photos from the first couple of weeks… here are some that I took around the same time I took your “one month” photo.