Sun & Shower

Braeden had his first lemonade stand over the weekend at Grammy’s garage sale. All lemonade stand proceeds went to his college fund (the little blue Illini piggy bank on the table).

Braeden has become an expert at rolling from his back to his tummy. We put him down to sleep on his back and he immediately rolls over to his side and starts sucking his thumb. By morning, he’s on his knees in child’s pose with his head turned to the side and thumb in his mouth. It’s so cute!

Braeden is really into grabbing things these days!  Every morning he yanks on my hair until I finally convince him that he’ll get to eat as soon as he lets go.  I don’t have pictures of him holding onto my hair but I do have pictures of him holding onto other things…

Braeden likes to show off for the camera…

Braeden checks his email---Still checking email...

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Braeden likes to send instant messages to Mommy

Sk8er Boi

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Look Ma, no hands! (for Daddy)

Braeden rolled over from tummy to back today… twice!  He also rolled himself over from back to tummy last week but he had some leverage that time.  Still, it meant I had to take the sleep positioner out of the crib.  I also had to take the stuffed bear out of the crib.  He’s gone crib mobile.

Some other milestones Braeden has reached:

• Drooling and blowing bubbles - teeth are coming soon!
• Holding his head up while on his tummy
• Grasping and holding items like rattles
• Smiling in response to others
• Making real word sounds like “ah goo”
• Squealing laughter
• Standing on his own

Yep, you read that right.  He can stand up on his own.  He needs a spotter for balance but the leg strength is all there.  He actually enjoys doing squats.  The kid is going to be one heckuva skater!

Here’s a picture of Guinness and Braeden being cute:

Best Buds

Braeden went to the doctor today for his two-month checkup.  I forgot to ask how tall/long he is but they did tell me his weight… 13 pounds, 2 ounces!  Holy cow!  No wonder he’s so heavy to carry in the infant seat!  I had expected him to be about 11 pounds.  Two pounds may not seem like a big difference but it is when it comes to diapers.  Anyone need some Size 1 Pampers?  I’m pretty sure he’s going to outgrow them before I use them all.  This explains why his diapers have seemed a little tight lately and some of his sleepers are too small. 

The doctor said Braeden is in the 70th percentile for both height and weight.  This is no surprise to Mom.  The boy likes to eat!  The doctor also said he’s very strong and in great health.  Yay Braeden!!!

It was also an eventful visit because Braeden got his first round of shots.  One by mouth - that was the easy one - and three in the legs.  He didn’t just scream, he wailed!  I don’t know how nurses do it.  I had tears in my eyes.  I felt so bad for the kid.  By the time we left the exam room, he was out cold from all the excitement.  Normally he’ll twitch if I touch his arm or belly.  This time, nothing.  He slept almost two hours!

He’s on infant Tylenol now and sucking on his binky.  For the most part he’s calm but he also seems a little on edge, like “Mt. Saint Braeden” is about to erupt at any second.  So my job tonight will be to keep him calm and get him to bed early.

Speaking of bed, he’s been sleeping pretty well lately.  Saturday night he slept from 8pm - 4am without waking up!  Of course, I kept expecting him to wake up any minute and want to eat so I didn’t go to bed at a reasonable hour.  I dozed off in the rocking chair periodically.  Every time I woke up, I ran to check on him to make sure he was still breathing.  It was simultaneously the most scary and most awesome night with him.

One more sleep story: This morning I was really tired and didn’t want to get up at 5:30 when Braeden started crying.  He had just eaten and had his diaper changed at 4:00 so I knew he wasn’t hungry.  I turned off the monitor and let him cry while I went back to sleep.  An hour later, I finally stopped hitting snooze on my alarm and got up.  I checked on Braeden and he was sound asleep.  For the first time, he cried himself to sleep!  Yay for learning to self-soothe!

For the future parents reading this, I recommend reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, M.D.  I learned so much about baby sleep habits and Braeden is a much better rested and happier baby because of it.

After nine weeks of daytime television, I finally returned to work.  I considered putting it off another few days because of Brian’s appendectomy over the weekend but I was afraid if I didn’t go in today, I’d never go back.  So I went into the office for my morning meeting and told Brian to call if he needed me to come home.  Instead of calling, he sent me this:

Hi Mommy!

Seeing my baby boy was happy at home made it easier to be away.  Although really, it’s not hard while I’m at work.  The hard part is coming home just in time to feed him and put him to bed.  I don’t get much playtime anymore.  I also need to figure out when I’m going to workout.  I don’t think I can handle getting up any earlier - 6:30 is early enough for me! - and I need to be home by 7:00 at the latest.  I could workout after Braeden goes to bed but then I need to start thinking about bed myself.  Oh, and lunch time is out because I have to spend that time pumping.  I have no idea how working moms do it.  The working part is fine and the mom part is okay but I have no time left for anything else.  I guess I’ll have to be a “weekend warrior” type of workout person.

Braeden and Mommy have a conversation…

Braeden is eight weeks old today!  I’m sitting at the Borders enjoying some much-needed time away while Aunt Sara watches him.  I’ve gotten so much done today, including buying some new running shoes.  I’m officially out of excuses.  It’s time to start running again!

At this point, Braeden is starting to sleep longer at night.  He goes to bed sometime between 6-8 and sleeps until about 10 or 11.  He eats and then goes back to sleep until about 2-3 in the morning.  On a good night, he’ll eat and go right back to sleep until 6:30.  On a bad night, he’s up for an hour before I finally bring him into the bed or take him out to the couch.  Then he sleeps until 6:30.  So it looks like when I go back to work, I’ll be getting up at 6:30.  Yikes!  Right now it’s not so bad because Braeden and I take a nap until 9 or 10.  I really don’t know how I’m going to function without my daytime naps when I go back to work next week.

Braeden spends a lot of time sleeping and eating but the few hours that he’s awake and playful are getting to be more fun. He smiles a lot and almost laughs sometimes.  He’s starting to reach for things and grab onto things if they’re put next to his hand.  And he’s really started to like his bouncer with the lights and music.

Next week is Braeden’s 2-month doctor visit.  He’s going to get a lot of shots!  I’m curious to see how much he weighs now.  He’s getting so big!  I’ve already had to retire a few of his sleepers because his legs don’t fit in them anymore.  I have no idea where the long legs came from!

Ben and Carrie got married Saturday evening (Congrats!).  Brian and I wanted to enjoy the night without having to worry about Braeden so I took him out to Crystal Lake Saturday morning to spend the night with Grandma and Paw-Paw.  It was his first night away from mom and dad!  Brian and I even stayed at the hotel so we’d be completely away from anything kid-related.  It was such a nice break!  I actually got some really good sleep although it probably would have been better if I had skipped that last beer.  As good as drunken sleep can be, I think I really need some good sober sleep.  Oh well, sleep is sleep, right?

The wedding was beautiful.  It was at the Garfield Park Conservatory in Chicago.  The flowers were amazing!  My favorite part of the night, aside from “I do”, was welcoming Carrie into the wives’ club and watching the band play.  And by “the band”, I mean Zero Ground (or whatever name they decide to go by).  They sounded great and got me dancing!

The report from Grandma was that Braeden was good and slept fairly well.  On Sunday morning, he went to Easter Sunday mass, brunch at Walker Brothers and Wal-mart.  He then got to meet his Great-aunt Tracy and a bunch of cousins.  Braeden and Sean were so cute sitting by each other!  Being so close in age, it’s going to be fun to watch them grown up.  I bet they wind up playing hockey against each other someday!  Grandma Helen and Aunt Annie joined us in Crystal Lake too so Braeden got to spend Easter Sunday with the whole family.  I’m glad so many people showed up and that my mom was willing to host such a large crowd.  It was a lot of fun!