First Concert

Braxton and mom attended dad's first concert a few weeks ago! We weren't able to stay in the auditorium for the concert because it was too loud, but we watched in a TV sitting room! Braxton and mom enjoyed the lights and music! By the time we got home it was way past Braxton's bedtime, but he adjusted and slept well!

Watermelon

Braxton is mastering foods quite well! He now has officially tried applesauce, pears, sweet potatoes, squash, and bananas. This past weekend he also tried watermelon and loved it! Yummy! Now if only he'll get some teeth in, then he can try some steak!! :-)

Coffee Table

Braxton doesn't stay for long in one spot! He is all over the place! We'll have him on his blanket and in no time at all he is off and exploring the floor all around him! He recently made it to the coffee table and then just sat and played with the legs. It was too cute! Before long, he'll be using this to help him learn how to pull himself up and walk! I don't know if mom and dad are ready for this though!

More toes!

Toes, toes, and toes! Braxton loves his toes! Any chance he has to get them in his mouth, he'll go for it! He's succeeding quite well!

Bumbo Chair!

Little man has recently been enjoying spending time in his bumbo chair! One of the best gifts ever! Braxton will hang out in the bumbo on the counter while I cook dinner, while I wash dishes, while we eat dinner, and the list goes on and on! He loves to be at eye level with us. He also thinks it's fun to throw his rings or toys on the ground and watch mom and dad hurry to pick them up! As soon as we give them back to him, he'll throw them back on the ground! :-) Such a fun game mom and dad!!! Right?

On the Move

Little man is on the move! He's not crawling yet, but he's doing anything and everything to get to where he wants to go! It's amazing at how fast he'll be on his play mat and then as soon as you look back he's completely off and somewhere else!

Bumper Cars Anyone?

Braxton has found that comfort spot in his crib! He loves to get sung as a bug right up against the rails! However, this recently became a problem when he was getting his arms, shoulder, and legs caught and stuck between the slates. You name it, he was getting it out and stuck!! Dave and I ended up moving Braxton to his pac-n-play. The pack-n-play didn't last long because little man would not sleep in it at night. He would be up at 11, 1, 3, and 5. We hadn't done that since the first few weeks he'd been home from the hospital. So I finally gave in after much debate and went and bought bumper pads for his crib. We then moved Braxton back to his crib and he's slept soundly since! Dave and I are still worried about the bumper pads being in there. We are constantly checking to make sure little one is okay. Hopefully soon, Braxton will decide to not be such a wiggle worm and sleep in one place. But for now the bumpers are in there and cushioning him as he plays a nightly game of bumper cars in his crib with him being the bumper car! :-)

First Bug

Wow, so it's been awhile since I last updated! To start off with, Braxton has officially had his first cold and mom and dad both have already had to take sick days from work! Monday morning, Aug. 28th, Dave went in to get Braxton up and out of his crib and ready for daycare. Let's just say as soon as Dave picked him up little man threw up all over Dave's shirt. So Dave brought him to me and he changed. When I handed Braxton back to dad, he began throwing up again and again. Poor Braxton! He was sick and hot. So Dave changed shirt once again and I got Braxton all cleaned up. I decided that I would stay home with little man. I called and got him an appointment. At the doctor's office they checked him for H1N1 and strep, and both came back negative, so that was good. Braxton just had a bad bug. After we got home, he spent pretty much the whole day sleeping on my chest. He did not want to be put down at all. Which was totally fine with me. All I wanted to do was love on him and make him feel better. We piggy backed Tylenol and Motrin for the next two days to help with his fever. There was a time in there we thought we were going to have to take him to the hospital because we couldn't get his fever to break, but it finally did. Dave took the next day off from work and stayed home with BW. By Wedesday, we both were back at work and Braxton was back at daycare. I would say we are well prepared for the next time the little man gets sick with a supply of Tylenol, Motrin, Pedalyte, and theromoters!!! Let's hope it's not anytime soon!

Toes!

Toes, toes, and toes, oh my! Braxton has discovered his feet! It's amazing! He'll try and get them while on the ground, while in his carseat, and even while in the bath!

Braxton Rolls - back to belly!!

We finally saw him do it! We knew that he had been rolling from back to belly, but we didn't see it until this week! After getting home from work we put Braxton down on the ground. As soon as we put him on the ground he rolled over onto his tummy. We would then roll him back over onto his back and he'd flip over onto his belly. He wanted nothing to do with being on his back and was and still is all about the tummy! Braxton likes to hold his head up nice and strong and play with any and every toy within reach. He'll even get to some toys that aren't within his reach. It's neat to see the challenge these "out of reach" toys provides him. Great job Braxton! Keep up the hard work! I think it's time for mom and dad to start baby prooffing the house! It'll be here before we know it.

Tummy!

Braxton has discovered that he LOVES his tummy! The past week every morning we would find Braxton on his tummy in his crib! The funny thing is that we had only seen him roll from belly to back and never back to belly! Not only that, but the kid is a mover. He is EVERYWHERE in his crib! We'll put him to sleep with his head at one end of the crib and the next morning he's at the compete other end of the crib! Amazing is all I can say! Today, Dave even found Braxton's hand sticking outside of the crib...too bad we didn't get a picture to post. So as you can guess this means that Braxton's swaddling days are over with! The first night we stopped swaddling him, he was up more than usual. Now that it's been a full week, he hasn't missed it at all...all I can say is that the kid loves to be FREE!!!

First Cold

One week at daycare and Braxton already had his first cold! This past weekend Dave and I pulled double duty caring for Braxton during the night as he battled his first cold. It all began at 11:40 pm Friday at night. Braxton woke, which never happens at this time, so we knew something was wrong. Little man was so stopped up that he couldn't breathe. We went in and cleaned out his nose and he fell right back to sleep. Two hours later we heard the coughing again and the congestion in his nose. Braxton would be up the rest of the night every two hours needing his nose cleaned out and patted back to sleep. Dave and I took turns getting up with little man and caring for him. This was the first time since Braxton was a few weeks old that we had been up every two hours. Talk about exhausting! We didn't think about it then, but the next day we elevated his mattress so that he wasn't laying flat on his back. It was such a life saver! The next night he was only up once, intead of 5 or 6 times! Thank you to all of our friends and family that gave us so many suggestions...humidifier, nap or sleep in swing or bouncer, vapor rub, nose drops, elevating crib...I know that at some time they will all be put to good use! I'm just happy that we have our little boy back to his usual self!

Busy, busy!

Wow, so I just realized that it's been almost two weeks since I've updated Mr. Braxton's blog! Shame on me! The past two weeks summed up in one word has been crazy! I started back with a full week of inservice two weeks ago and this past week was my first week with kids and volleyball practice! What a long week it has been! So my time at home as you can imagine has been very limited. When I am home the only thing on my mind is little man! I want to shower him with love for the little bit of time that I have with him in the evening. It's been hard getting used to not being around him all day long; but I'm just thankful that I know he is in good hands and being taken care of!

Braxton goes to daycare

Today my summer officially ended as I headed back to work and Braxton headed off to daycare. The morning started off at 5:15 am as Braxton woke and was ready to eat. After feeding for 15 minutes he was out and asleep back in his crib. Now it was time for me to get ready to work. I showered and did all of my morning get ready business. About the time I was finishing, little man was stirring and ready to get up! Time 6:45 am. Dad was up and got little man dressed and ready to go. Time 7:10 am. Headed out the door to head to Mel's. Normally we won't leave this early, but being as it was the first day for little man, I wanted to head out nice and early so we had time to settle into the new place. Time 7:25. Arrived at Mels. I got Braxton out of his carseat and the other little girl, Olivia who's 6 months, grabbed his hand and was ready to talk and play with Braxton. Time 7:39. Headed out the door and off to work. The next several hours I would spend looking at the clock wondering what Braxton was doing, wondering if he was playing, wondering if he was taking his morning nap, and all of the other mommy worries that mom's have. During a morning break I called to check on Braxton and he was doing well and was already down for his morning nap. Right on schedule! Great job son! Time 3:40. Received flowers from Braxton at school and it made me cry! Too sweet son! Time 3:49. Picked up little man and headed out the door to go home! While driving home little man crashed out and slept until 4:30. He sure was pooped from the days activities! The rest of the evening flew by. We had dinner at some great friends of ours and arrived home shortly after 7:30. We got Braxton in the bath, changed into his night sleeper, and fed. Time 8:02. In crib and out for the night! What a day we both had! Now time for mom to get ready for bed! :D

Family!

This past week we were blessed with opening up our home to Dave's parents as well as his Dave's brother Nathan and his girlfriend Sam. Dave's parents were in town Tuesday and Wednesday as his mom had a doctor's appointment. We enjoyed the time we got to spend with them! We even went "daycare" shopping for Braxton! Grammy and Papaw bought him 3 new shirts and 2 pairs of jeans! So much fun! I can't wait to dress him up in all of his new outfits!

Then Saturday night, Dave's brother Nathan and Sam stopped by on their way home from a wedding! After several hours of visiting, it was decided that they were going to stay the night with us! Yay! Nathan jumped right into Uncle mode and helped feed Braxton his cereal before going to bed. Braxton gobbled up his whole bowl, granted it was only a little over a tablespoon! Once Braxton was out for the night, it was time for a game of Train! A great domino game that my grandparents got us started on! Girls verses guys! Let's just say that the guys dominated over us. But it was a time of great fellowship with one another! We enjoyed opening up our home to our family and are so thankful for each of you! We can't wait to see you all again soon!

Front Carrier

Braxton has yet another new thing to add to his day...hanging out in the front carrier with mom! For the longest time Braxton did not care for his front carrier. So this past week I decided to try him in it again and he LOVED it! Wow...I should have tried this out sooner! What was I thinking? Braxton got to help mom grill chicken on the grill, cook potatoes, and veggies and it was all done and ready when dad got home from work! The whole time while he was in there he just looked and looked around and of course saturated the front of the carrier in slobber! We tried it out again the next day to make sure it wasn't a fluke and the kid enjoyed it once again. This time Braxton got to help mom clean the house, including vacuuming! He even squealed with delight when the vacuum cleaner turned on. I even enjoyed it too because little did he know, but he was giving mom a work out! Thanks Braxton!! :D

Skyping to Belgium

Braxton has already traveled across the country and he hasn't even had to leave our home! My sister and her family are stationed overseas in Belgium. Braxton has got to meet Aunt Brandy, Uncle Shawn, and cousin Chelsea via Skype! We absolutely love Skype! This has become a part of our weekly routine with them. We love every chance we get to visit with them. My sis has had several opportunities to see Braxton in action. You name it, she's seen it; happy, laughing, fussy, playing, babbling, and the list goes on and on. She has also taken her first pictures of Braxton and myself, via Skype! I've included a few of her first international snapshots she's taken. So even though she hasn't officially met Braxton in person, she's been able to take pictures of him! Who would have thought you could take pictures from another country! Technology it's amazing!! We've also enjoyed using Skype with both sets of grandparents! It's so nice that even though none of our family lives close by, that they can watch and see little man growing and changing before their eyes! We love you all and thank you for all of your love and encouragement you've given to us!

Braxton chewing away on my thumb and his while Skyping with my sis! Such talent! Great shot, sis!

Braxton and I saying hello to cousin Chelsea!

My sis snapped a picture of Braxton playing in his ExerSaucer during one of our Skype calls!

Slobber Time

Breaking News!! Braxton is completely fascinated with his hands, mouth, and anything that can possibly go into it! I believe that he has began the early stages of teething. From what I've been told babies tend to teeth for quite some time before they actually have their first tooth break through! So in honor of this breaking news I've included many poictures of what we see 24/7 in our house these days. Notice how his shirt tends to be saturated with slobber and his face covered in wetness in every picture!!

Pictures from the Week

Pictures from the week...

More Cereal Fun

Braxton is continuing to enjoy eating cereal. Here are a few pictures that we've snapped!