Happy Half Birthday to Brayden!!!

Brayden's official six months was on the 18th but we didn't get in to the doctor until today and I wanted to wait and include his six month stats.  I CANNOT BELIEVE that our sweet baby boy is 6 months old, not a newborn, an infant, and before long he will be a toddler!  I always hear people say how fast time flies, cherish this time, blah blah blah, but they were right!  It is unbelievable how quickly time is going and how fast our Brayden is growing.  Last month I didn't think that Brayden had very many changes going from 4 months to 5 months but going from 5-6 months there are so many changes!  This is definitely my favorite stage so far, Brayden is so alert and just so much fun to be around.  It is hard to be with him and to not have a huge smile on your face!  Here are some of the major changes we have made over the past month:

*Good bye paci!  We have been pacifier free for over a month now and we are all happy campers, especially mommy!
*Brayden is now sleeping in his crib in his own bedroom!  On the day we decided to get rid of the paci, we also chose to unswaddle his arms and put him in his own room- I know that's alot of change for one day!  I have to say it is still a little sad for me in the mornings to not have him laying there in the pack n play beside me.  I didn't realize how much I cherished waking up to that sweet innocent face every morning, I know it is still there just on a monitor instead of lying there beside me.  He is doing great in his own room and did not have any trouble with this transition.
*We are still rocking the half swaddle most of the time but have started putting him down for naps without it
*We switched Brayden from his carrier to a big car seat.  He was getting miserable in his carrier and we figured it was because he was getting a little too big and cramped in his old chair.  He literally cried everytime we would strap him in, he is doing quite a bit better now as he has more room and can see much more.  Don't get me wrong though, he would definitely rather not be in the car seat or the car as these are some of his least favorite things!!!
*Along with getting him out of the carrier, we took the connection for the carrier off of the stroller so now Brayden is riding in the stroller seat.  I thought he would be really excited and looking all around but he does not show much expression riding in the stroller, maybe there is just so much going on he is just taking it all in!!!
*We just started giving Brayden solid foods.  We had to give him prunes a couple of times before six months (use your imagination why!) we have now given him bananas, which he loved and also sweet potatoes.  I am giving it a go making our own baby food, so far so good!  We will see how long this lasts!
*Brayden is taking a six ounce bottle of formula before I nurse him at bedtime each night.  He had been waking up all night to eat so we figured we would try and fill him up as best as we could, so far is seems to be working!

Here are some changes we have noticed in Brayden:
*When you carry Brayden he will hold on to you now, which does not sound like much but to me it is the most wonderful feeling!
*He is a rolly poly!  He is constantly rolling in both directions.  We have found that Brayden would much rather be on his stomach than on his back and when we place him on his stomach he is very quick to get on his tummy.  He just started rolling over in his crib and sleeping on his side and stomach.  The first couple of times he did it he cried but seems to like it now.
*This boy still never stops moving!  When he is laying on his stomach, he is like a little airplane ready for take off.  He sticks his arms out, picks his legs off the ground and kick, kick, kicks!!!  We think it won't be long till he figures out how to crawl so we are trying to enjoy this "stationary" stage while we can!
*One of my favorite things is the look of recognition on Brayden's face when he sees Brian and I or when he hears our voices.  He immediatlely smiles, and sometimes buries his head bashfully :)
*He is definitely a thumb sucker!  I am actually very excited about the thumb sucking because he has figured out how to soothe himself with the thumb.  He will wake up in the middle of the night and start to fuss but will quickly find his thumb and fall right back to sleep.  Also, in the car on the way back from Dallas this weekend he sucked his thumb frequently instead of crying.  I am not complaining with this new development because it has meant dramatically more sleep for both of us!

6 month stats
Weight:  18 lb 1 oz 56%
Height:  26.3 In 38%
Here are some of Braydens favorite things at 6 months:
*Brayden still LOVES his bouncer.  He would probably bounce all day if we would let him.  It is HILLARIOUS to watch him when he really gets going in this thing.  He goes crazy bouncing and screaming and smiling.  He is so adorable and it is really nice how he easily entertains himself. 
*Brayden loves anything he can put into his mouth but especially Mr. Giraffe
*Mia!  He LOVES his puppy!  He watches her constantly and will smile and laugh at her.  He has gotten a couple of good handfuls of her hair and she is being surprisingly patient!

Here are some of my favorite pics from this month:

First time in his stroller, doesn't he look so excited??

Ready for takeoff!!



I think he has offically grown out of this toy!!

Help please!

 
 

What would we do without this bouncer!



Brayden's new "big boy" car seat seems pretty comfy!

Who knew thumb sucking could be so cute????

I love this!

PEACE out PACI!!!

Three weeks ago we decided to get rid of the paci once and for all, going with the "cold turkey" method.  I have nothing against paci's, in fact when Brayden was a newborn and nothing else would soothe him we thought "what did we ever do before the paci?".  That was before Brayden started spitting the darn thing out every hour ALL NIGHT LONG!!!  We had Brayden sleeping in the pack-n-play next to our bed from birth until just three weeks ago when we moved him to his own room.  We had originally planned on moving him to his own room at three or four months, but because of the constant need for the pacifier to be replaced he has been in our room until now.  Between hearing friend's struggles with taking the pacifier away from their older kids, combined with waking up all hours of the night we finally decided to get rid of the pacifier once and for all!  I took it away for the first time during his afternoon nap one day.  I began preparing myself for the worse, surely we would have weeks of crying and sleepless nights!  The worst it ever got was that first day when he cried for about 25 minutes before falling asleep. After that, we had just a couple of days when he would cry for 5-15 minutes before falling asleep.  Now we can put him in his crib wide awake and he will go down on his own sometimes happily and sometimes with mimimal fussing.  He still wakes up during the night and cries sometimes but after just a couple of minutes will fall back asleep on his own.  So, after seeing a friend's blog titled RIP swaddle, I decided to do a tribute to the paci of which we have had a love/hate relationship.  So here my friends is our journey with the paci:

It all started at about three weeks old with our beloved "Bevo", Brayden took the pacifier willingly. Bevo calmed Brayden when he was upset and helped tide him over until it was time to eat again.  We were so excited, this thing was genius!!!  Enter sweet, quiet, sleeping baby:

It was all good and well until Bevo would fall out and in turn Brayden would wake up.   Then we started the game of putting the pacifier in, Brayden spitting it back out, over and over again!!!

 Next, we tried giving him a traditional pacifier and had the same results

And finally, we have had "Mr. Rabbit" that was really a dog for the past couple of months.  Mr. Rabbit seemed to help weigh the paci down and keep it in place.  If Brayden was to spit it out, sometimes (and a very small sometimes) he was able to get it back in without any help. 

I am very, very proud that we are finally rid of the paci and happy to report that we are all getting a little better sleep.  Unfortunately as I finish up this blog, my sweet son is taking a nap with a new bad habit...sucking his thumb!!!

Colorado Trip September 2011

In mid September we took Brayden on his first family vacation!  There were many firsts for Brayden during this trip.  We were a little anxious about how he would do on the plane ride.  We had not purchased an extra ticket for Brayden but luckily the flight going there and coming home were not full so we were able to have a seat for his car seat.  I nursed him on the way up and on the way down to help him with his ears and the pressure and he did great!  He slept most of the way and did not seem to notice any difference when the plane was taking off or landing.  We did not realize quite how lucky we were and how easy of a baby Brayden was until we saw the poor baby in the row right in front of us.  He was just a couple of weeks younger than Brayden and literally cried probably 90% of the flight.  I felt even more sorry for his poor mom who walked up and down the aisle shushing him! 

Excited for the flight!

After getting in to Denver and dropping our things off at Uncle Keiths apartment we headed to Coors Field for Braydens first baseball game.  The Rockies were playing the Reds and the air was nice and cool, we were all excited to be there.  I attempted to nurse Brayden at the game under a cover, not happening!  Brayden was much more interested in what was going on around us.  We thought that Brayden was just going to fall asleep in his car seat like he always has in the past but apparently the excitement was just way too much for him and he stayed up for the WHOLE game!  We realized quickly that we were going to have to be flexible with Braydens schedule for the next week-not easy  to do at first!!! 

After leaving Denver we drove to Canon City, Colorado to the Royal Gorge.  We walked out on to the suspension bridge that hangs 956 feet high over the canyon.  It was super windy up there but had some pretty spectacular views. Next we took an incline railway train ride down to the bottom of the gorge down to the river. 




Brayden on train, clinging to daddy



On the train, headed back up!

At the bottom by the river

Next we drove up to Colorado Springs to where we were staying at the Broadmoor hotel.  We had an awesome little cottage on the 18th hole of the golf course where the views were just stunning.  To say that this place was nice would be an understatement!  We all had to agree that this was the prettiest hotel we had ever stayed at!  It had a great living area in between the rooms where we could all hang out and we could lay Brayden on the ground to play.  The best part (in my opinion) was the outdoor space.  Our patio had comfy furniture to relax on and we spent alot of our time out here enjoying the beautiful Colorado weather.  We would spend the mornings outside in robes with our coffee and evenings with a cup of wine.  We were only supposed to stay for two nights but ended up staying three because we loved it here so much!!!  While in Colorado Springs, the guys played two rounds of golf, we went to an awesome zoo, checked out the USA olympic training center, and some of us went up to visit Pikes Peak.  We had all planned on going up to the peak and loaded up to go one day.  Debbie and I had both researched the safety of taking a baby up and everything that we read said it was safe to take babies over 4 months.  Since Brayden was almost 5 months at the time we thought he should be okay.  We drove up to the gate and the attendant asked how old Brayden was.  After telling him, he proceeded to tell us to be sure to watch Brayden's coloring as he may pass out and would not "come to" on his own!  The thought of having to reccessitate my baby boy made me want to cry and Brian and I decided to stay at the bottom of the mountain.  We got dropped off in this cute little city called Manitu Falls where we walked around, ate lunch, and went to the park while we waited on Eddie, Debbie, and Christi to go up to Pikes Peak.  Apparently it was a pretty scary and long drive and everyone was glad that we chose not to bring Brayden along.

Got lots of QT with Aunt Christi...even though she still hasn't changed a diaper!!!!:)

And Uncle Keithy... yes he has changed a diaper!

I love this one!  Happy baby!!

Stopped at the Air Force Academy on the way for Brayden to eat and for a little sight seeing

Snuggling with Papa in the morning

Enjoying our coffee and the crisp Fall air :)

Brayden's first time on a swing!  This is about as excited as he looked the whole time....

After leaving Colorado Springs we started our Colorado road trip.  This road trip included lots and lots of pretty scenery, a little bit of snow, and finding out where the Starbucks was in every town!  The first day we headed up to Breckenridge and hit some pretty big rain/slushy snow.  We stayed one night in Breck and then headed on because the weather didn't allow us to do very much.  From there we drove through Vail and up to Steamboat Springs.  The weather eased up a little and we were able to get out and walk along the river some.  It was beautiful and the air was so crisp and cool.  On this trip we wore Brayden alot in out new ERGO baby carrier and Brayden fell asleep while Brian was wearing him, it was so sweet!  From Steamboat we drove back to Denver to spend our last night with Uncle Keithy and his girlfriend Emily.  We got to  spend the afternoon in Washington Park walking and taking turns riding Keiths bike! This park is so huge and cool, it had us all wishing we lived in Denver or that they had better parks in SA!

I love his face here :)

We had such an AMAZING trip and I think that it was really good for my hard working husband and sister in law Christi to get away from work for a couple of days, they deserve it!!  We hated to leave but it felt great getting home and back to our own beds and getting our poor baby out of his car seat!!!  We are so appreciative to Brian's parents for taking us on this trip, it was great to get to spend so much time with them and for Brayden to see his Grandparents so much!

Thanks Grandma and Papa!!

One of my favorite of many photo ops