Monday, April 30, 2012

17 Months

Our sweet boy is almost 17 months old, in one short month from today he will be a year and a half old and a BIG BROTHER!  He is growing into such a sweet little boy and we are enjoying every last second of being a family of three before we grow into a family four.  What Braxton is up to:

  • He is talking more and more and we love every new word that he learns.  His words include mama ( usually only if he is crying), daddy, eat, juice, ball, thank you, night night, ice (which is a whole other story), apple, uh-oh, shoe, sweep, bubble, hi, yay, woah, go-go (this has two meanings- it is his way of saying he wants to go outside or his way of saying he wants to go somewhere in the car--it depends on where we are) and cookie.  I am sure there are a few more that I am forgetting.  
  • He has 16 teeth and wears a size five diaper.  
  • He is in mainly 24 month clothes and some 2T clothes.  
  • This past weekend he has started telling us when he is ready to eat.  He walks up to me and says "eat" and when I ask if he is hungry he goes straight to his chair.  
  • The past three days he has also told me when he has a dirty diaper.  I know he is very young and I do not expect him to be ready to potty train for a very long while but this is a new development so I want to document it.  Sweet boy walks up to me and says "shewy" so I ask him if he is "shewy" and for three days in a row he has been.    
  • His appetite has decreased, which they say is normal for this age, but every once in a while he will have a couple of days in a row where he eats like a horse.  (He still prefers fruits and vegetables over meat). 
  • He probably weighs 27 lbs now--not sure on this one.  Last time we were at the doctor he weighed 26lb 12 oz.  
  • He is pretty particular/habitual about some things.  When I get him up in the morning he sits up and says a few things in his own language, then he looks/listens for the dog (he might bark at the dog a couple of times, haha), then he hands me his blanket and says "night night" (that's what he calls his blanket), and will stand up for me to get him out.  When we are getting ready to leave in the mornings he hands me his cup, his snack bowl, and his "night night" then climbs down off the couch and will head to the laundry room.  Once we get in there he will close the door into the kitchen and go to the door into the garage and say go-go.  We then walk out into the garage and he goes and stands by the door of the car and says go-go.  Once I open the door to the car, I put his snack bowl, cup, and "night night" beside the car seat and get him in.  He then leans over and picks each one of these items up one by one and puts them in his lap.  
  • He can pout with the best of them and I have to admit it is so very cute.  He ducks his head down, purses his lips out, and looks up with sad eyes.  He usually then walks over to one of us to give us a hug. Along with the pouting goes fake crying, if you would even call it that, haha.  He is pretty good at fake whining or crying but we do not let it fool us!    
  • He has successfully slept in his "toddler bed" for a week now.  We converted it into a toddler bed but still have a bed rail on it for post c-section purposes but he has done SO well.  Not a single escape attempt!  
  • He still likes bath time but also loves to take a showers.  
  • He is ALL boy!  He loves to be outside and would probably be out there at all times if we would let him.  We are usually outside 1-2 hours every evening.  He loves to swing, ride in his police car, run, do anything that daddy is doing, water the grass (or play in the water), climb in the chairs, draw with side walk chalk, occasionally he will just sit in the chair and rest for a minute, and go on stroller rides.  
  • He has turned into my little love bug.  He is all about his momma and loving on me.  I know that he does not understand that we are about to have another baby but I think that he senses something because he has been wanting a lot of cuddles and love lately.  Hubby jokes that he does not like him as much as me so I have to explain to him that their outside activities/fun is their "cuddle" time.
  • His tantrums have reduced tremendously!!!!  I am not saying that we are completely out of the woods, haha, but now the only time he might get upset is when we have to come inside or stop doing something that we were--like getting out of the bath or riding the four wheeler and it is usually very short lived.  
We LOVE LOVE LOVE watching him grow, learn, and develop but it sure is bittersweet for this momma.  We were truly blessed when the Lord chose us to be his parents and can't wait to see him transition into a big brother.  

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Talkin'

For a while I was really worried about Braxton's speech. When he was nine months old I talked to the doctor because I really did not feel like he was "talking" (making sounds like he should have been) and she told me some things to do, such as, pronounce the words slower making sure to stress every syllable and sound. So, we did that. At his fifteen month appointment I still had the concern because I felt like he was not saying as many "words" as he should have, but the doctor assured me he was right on track, saying between 5-10 words. Between then and now, I have kept in mind that she said he "should" be saying between 10-15 words by eighteen months and by golly he already does! It's hard not to compare your child's abilities to others around their age and shame on me for doing that (lesson learned)! His speech has blossomed recently And every time he says a new word it is like he has taken his first step over again! His words include: mama ( only if he is crying), daddy, eat, juice, ball, thank you, night night, ice (which is a whole other story), apple, uh-oh, shoe, sweep, bubble, yay, woah, and cookie. I really think there are a few more but I am having a little block at the moment.

We are so proud of him and love to watch every little new thing that he does as he continues to develop into a "little man."

Monday, April 23, 2012

I wasn't ready....

But it had to be done. Actually, I don't think any of us were ready and his daddy has great fear that he is going to go over the side, but for post c-section purposes... It had to be done. Brax is and will always be my little baby but tonight we took the front off of his crib and replaced it with a hinged bed rail. One of my greatest worries is caring for Brax post c-section and after hubby goes back to work and the bed was one of my biggest worries. I will not be able to lift Brax out of bed so I had to devise a plan to get him out and this was the only thing I could think of! Luckily, we just put him down and guess what??????? He went right to sleep! No hassles, no escapes. Yes, it's still five weeks away but I wanted to make sure that we got this transition taken care of before the baby comes. Bittersweet indeed.

34 weeks

34 weeks and so much to do! I'll update more later!

Monday Morning

Just some random Monday morning pictures. I have dinner in the crock pot for tonight, which will be accompanied by sweet butternut squash and maybe cream cheese corn. There is a stack of resumes to be mailed just sitting in the counter-- I really need to get by the bank and get some stamps. I made some sweet tea this morning to help satisfy my undying craving for it. AND then there is chocolate cake that hubby slipped in the basket at the grocery store yesterday. Oh did I ever open that up to get a piece this morning then close the kid and walk away empty handed!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Thursday, April 19, 2012