brady at 18 months

last tuesday, brady had his 18 month well check.  have no fear, all is well!  but since i haven't written an update for the kid basically since he was born, here's a special post... just for my little guy.  i'll try to keep the randomness to a minimum as much as possible... but i make no promises.

just within the last week or two, brady has started getting more adventurous.  and by adventurous, i mean that if we're in a not too crowded public place (like the waiting room at the doctor's office), then he will leave my side.  comfortably going even ten feet away from me.  and maybe if no one is around, he could even go twenty feet away.  i won't lie... it's a really big deal.  abigail is also helping with this because i feel like he's watching her more than ever in terms of social cues and using her as the example for what kids are supposed to do.  also, he loves her to death and trusts her completely so if she's nearby, he's more courageous than if she's not around.

brady has a lot of hobbies, some his own and some that he's mooched off of abigail.  one of his favorite mooched hobbies is jumping.  he likes to try to jump off things (like this little step) and sometimes needs me to hold his hand but sometimes just runs off of it and laughs and congratulates himself as if he'd truly jumped.  also, jumping in place is hilarious.  he squats down real low and then pops himself up on his toes.  he has yet to catch any air but there's not a single person that's been able to watch it without laughing out loud.  it's the greatest.

quite possibly brady's most absolute favorite part of his day is when abigail is getting in bed at night.  brady climbs and signs please and gets so insanely anxious until we plop him in abigail's bed.  then he goes freaking crazy laughing and rolling around and snuggling into abigail and throwing himself into the pillows and basically hyperventilating because he's just so overwhelmed with excitement.

it's hard to get any decent pictures of this because it's nighttime (no natural light coming in) and they move and wiggle so fast!  but this is the gist of it.  they both looooove it.  but brady is truly obsessed.

brady really really really loves bath time.  like runs into the bathroom and tries to throw his leg over and climb in before his clothes are off or the tub is filled.  and he loves just splashing and hanging out playing with bath toys.  so i thought the pool would be a huge hit.  it is not.  the first time we took him, it was to the rec center indoor pool and he was initially terrified, but by the end was totally fine and loving it.  with our neighborhood pool, i'm still trying to figure things out.  he's afraid of people (especially kids because they're so unpredictable) so i know that's part of it but the crowds have died down a lot and he still prefers not to get in the water at all.  he'll get his feet wet, but he won't walk any deeper than his knees.  we still go to the pool several times a week though and he's always excited to get his swimsuit and sunscreen on so i know he enjoys the experience, despite having no interest in the actual pool part of things.  when we're there, he walks around, rarely straying more than five or six feet from me.  he frequently climbs on my lap to snuggle or have me hold him.  he likes to sit in the low to the ground pool chairs by himself.  we eat and snack a lot.  he finds balls and throws them all in the baby pool and then grunts and cries "moooooom" for me to get them out for him.  since we got back from our utah trip, he's also been finding rocks and throwing those into the pool as well.  we have a good time.

it's weird for me that since abigail does her own thing with her floaties in the big pool, and brady doesn't run away from me or try to go in the water, i spend almost all of my time sitting in a chair by the pool.  when abigail was this age, i was constantly up and about, following her everywhere.  not with this guy.  we lounge and munch.

like abigail and myself, brady cleans.  he's not OCD but he does enjoy it.  if his sippy cup has leaked on the floor, i can hand him a little wash cloth rag and he'll wipe it up for me.

brady used to always have a huge bowl of oatmeal for breakfast until a month or so ago when he started showing preference for eggs.  now he loooooooves scrambled eggs.  it's probably his favorite food (aside from sweets... the kid had a major sweet tooth) and he downs a ton every morning for breakfast.  this morning i made six eggs and brady and abigail and i ate every last bite.  brady isn't a picky eater but he has preferences on the food he wants to eat... if that makes any sense.  it's always a gamble if he'll he what i give him because who knows if he's in the mood for that, but it's normally a pretty for sure bet that he'll want watermelon, banana, or oatmeal.  and of course eggs and fiber one oats and chocolate granola bars.  he's obsessed with those.  he doesn't like plain pasta too much and will give it back to you if he knows you're just hiding the sauce.  for the longest time, he wouldn't eat plain tomatoes... he probably still won't... but he'll eat them in fresh salsa or on a sandwich or something.  he's really an awesome eater.  and he eats a ton.

brady's clothes are almost entirely hand me downs so i don't really pay attention too much to what sizes things are, but i think most of what he's wearing right now is 12-18 months and 18-24 months.  even some 2T.  but they're all big on him.  not so big that he looks really weird (it's easier for little boys to get away wearing clothes that are too large) but bigger than what i would have him wearing had i personally selected the size and purchased his clothes for him.  also, i really love little boy clothes.  it's simple and normal but i love just the basic cargo shorts and button down shirts or polos.  or just t shirts that go with everything.  and little plaid shorts and basketball shorts too!  right now, i definitely enjoy dressing brady far more than dressing abigail.  and i'm obsessed with his little blue slip on shoes that he wears literally every day.  i cant get enough of them.  brady also likes his shoes because he's determined that shoes = "go."  so he frequently tries to put shoes on me while i'm cooking or laying in bed as a way to get me to go outside and always gets so excited when i tell him we need to put his shoes on.

speaking of going... brady loves it.  he's always wanting to go somewhere... especially go outside... and his vocabulary reflects that.  it took him a while to start speaking.  everyone told me that boys aren't as verbally advanced as girls and brady has lived up to that stereotype... as well as every single other gender stereotype i've ever heard but that's a different paragraph.  brady's first "word" was something like "unga" which meant pretty much everything.  "i want that" and "okay" and a bunch of other things that it sounded like in context.  his first recognizable word i think was "cheese" which was a total accident when i was taking pictures of him and he really would say "cheeeeeese" clear as day when i got out my camera.  then his most common (like for a while it was literally non stop sometimes) word was "mom" in his special "mooooooom" sort of voice that he does.  he calls chris mom too.  and maybe other family adults like grandparents, but i'm not positive because i haven't paid attention well enough.  when we went on our utah trip, he was 17.5 months and was saying at least two new words a day.  so now his vocabulary also includes, fish, cow, horse, chief (that was the dog), dog, cat, and most importantly... "GO."  so "unga" (pronounced like oon-ga) is now more commonly "ungo" which just means "i wanna GO!"  the latest variation from this is "ungoooouuuuuut" which subtleties i can't even begin to attempt to capture in writing.  but it means "i wanna get out."  the get out part is said very strangely (it makes me think of someone speaking cambodian or something) and the "t" sound is barely audible.  anyways, it's fun hearing brady learn and say new words and phrases.  the funniest part of everything is that aside from "mom" he doesn't say any basic words.  he can sign please, thank you, all done, milk, and bye bye, but he doesn't actually say any of those words.  also, he doesn't say yes or no (abigail's two first words) but has his own version.  when the answer is yes, he does a sort of laugh and when the answer is no, he scrunches his face and does a whine.  it's really obvious when he's doing it so despite his limited vocabulary, i almost never feel like our communication is limited because of it.

so far, brady has lived up to all of the gender stereotypes people have told me ever since i announced i was pregnant with a boy.  "boys really love their mommas.  the term 'momma's boy' is REAL."  abigail has always preferred me even though she loved everyone.  brady?  no.  it has to be me.  if he falls down and cries, he will pass multiple grandparents, aunts and uncles, abigail, and chris, to stand by me until i pick him up and comfort him.  if we are in an unfamiliar place, like when we were at the cabin, he only wants me.  he needs to be held and it needs to be his mom.  also, the kid loves to cuddle.  he comes to me frequently during the day just to give me cuddle hugs.  not like he needs to cuddle with me for a few minutes, he just needs to cuddle into my arms for 10 or 15 seconds before he goes off to play more.  "boys aren't as verbal as girls but they're definitely more physical."  yes and yes.  brady's speech has been less skilled and slower to come... although i feel like the same could be said for his physical coordination.  but the thing is, he's physical, especially in the ways that are sterotypically boy things... like throwing.  the kid throws everything.  seriously everything.  also, he's fallen down the stairs and bumped into things and holy cow, he's always getting hurt and getting major facial injuries it doesn't do a thing to deter him from doing that thing again.  "boys like playing with balls."  yes.  this is brady's biggest obsession right now.  add "ball" to the incomplete list of things that he says.  he loooves balls and loves throwing balls (especially in the street so they can roll far, far away) and kicking balls and just holding balls.  yesterday we were reading the stanford 101 board book we have and we got to the sports page.  brady got so excited and just kept pointing to the balls so i could say "tennis ball" or "basketball" or "golf ball" or whatever.  nature vs. nurture... i surround the kid with a good variety of toys... especially girl toys... and while he appreciates bracelets and purses and fairy princess slippers and grocery shopping as much as the rest of us, he's found his niche.  "boys aren't as social as girls."  as i said somewhere above, in general, brady is afraid of people and i have to tell people this all the time because they're always confused about what made brady cry.  brady was wearing a striped shirt the other day and when my friend cristy saw it, she gently touched brady's shoulder and said "oh, we have this shirt too."  brady started fussing and crying and clutched my pants while he hid behind my legs.  she was all "oh my goodness, what did i do?! i'm so sorry!" but i just explained the situation "well, he's afraid of people... and you semi touched him."  his doctor's appointment last week was all estimates on his measurements because we were in a small room with a nurse he didn't know and he FREAKED OUT when i laid him down to get his height measurement.  and then he was in such a HUGE HUGE PANIC when i tried to put him on the scale that we couldn't get a reading on his weight.  we actually repositioned the scale and then i had to explain to the nurse that he's afriad of people and could she please stand in the opposite corner of the room while i place him on the scale.  it only helped moderately though because he was already so suspicious and freaking out.  the head circumference was also a crap shoot.  ha, whatever.  when the doctor came in, i had him sitting on my lap and it seemed like he remembered her because he didn't freak out as much.  she's awesome though and she conducted the whole appointment with brady laying cuddled in my arms.  sometimes he panicked, but never too bad because i always kept a firm and secure grip on him and i think he knew i wasn't going to hand him off to anyone.  today, i took him back to get his vaccinations since he was sick last week and the doctor didn't want to shoot him up when his body was already fighting off infection.  i'd prepped abigail in the car "brady is going to be getting two shots because he's 18 months old and these shots will poke him and hurt him a little bit but it's okay that he cries about it because the shots will help him to stay healthy."  well, the kid started screaming bloody murder when i laid him down on the table... like if i wasn't watching, i wouldn't have even known when each of the shots happened.  he stopped crying though as soon as we left the tiny room with the nurse. he got a sticker and was happy about that.  anyways, not a fan of people but even less of a fan of kids, especially babies his own age.  frequently at church and the library, baby girls his age are trying to give him hugs and kisses or check out his binky or something else that puts them in brady's physical space.  he cries.  every time.  sometimes he scrambles to get away and ends up falling in the process.  so i guess it's the fall that made him cry, but really it was the kid.  he does better with kids abigail's age and with people he's familiar with.  although, i won't lie, he just cries easily in general.  whether he's bumped his head or tripped or gotten startled or not gotten his way... he just cries.  it's just his nature... he's a sensitive guy.

surprisingly, he actually did really well at nursery on sunday!  i was worried because it's a small room with two adults he doesn't know and a bunch of kids he doesn't like.  but the nursery leaders said he only cried five or so times and that by the end they figured out the trick to keeping him happy was balls and treats.  yes.  chris dropped him off and picked him up so that's pretty much all i know, but i consider it a huge success that they never brought him to me and that he didn't cry the whole time.  also, chris said he didn't even cry when he dropped him off (he waited by the door and looked through the window after he left and brady was still happy) and that he waved goodbye to all the other kids (i think there were only five there... which probably helped the day) when chris came to pick him up.  i'm more worried for next week that he'll remember and panic since he knows the drill now.  and i know from my experience working at a daycare that the second day is normally the day things unravel.  so hopefully next week (and all the others!) goes well.

every time i sit down to write one of these kid updates i'm all "what on earth am i going to write?!" and then it gets out of hand long like this.  i swear i'll never learn.  

anyways, brady is in size three diapers during the day and size 4 at night.  he's got 12 teeth... four top, four bottom, four molars.  he's the most ticklish kid i've ever met in my entire life and will bust out laughing even if i just make a funny face or show him my hand (like i'm about to tickle him).  he eats as much as an adult, and out eats me most days.  he sleeps 12-14 hours at night (although since it's summer and light outside it's been closer to 12 or 13) and naps every afternoon for around 3 hours but could be as little as 2 or more than 4.  also, he's got a huge belly and loves to lift up his shirt and rub his belly.  and no matter how tired he is, he'll always tell you no when you ask him if he wants to go to bed even though he never actually fights bedtime.  

brady's typical day: 

9:30-10:30 wake up and get dressed

the hour following- eat breakfast

11ish- if we're going out to story time or errands or the pool or something we're normally leaving by 11.

playtime until 1:15 or 1:30.  i normally feed him a quick lunch or snack (like a banana or granola bar at the end of errands or right after we get home and then give him a binky and put him in bed.

1 30 or 2 naptime  (this time totally varies on wake up time, how late errands keep us, and brady's mood.

a good nap is 3 hours.  sometimes it's less than two, sometimes it's over four.

until 5 - wake up.  we play and maybe attempt to make dinner.  since honey's work schedule varies so much, this is always just some unstructured time at home, normally in the front yard.

5 30 - 6 30ish - dinner and hanging out as a family

until 8:30* - playtime... normally outside.  either hockey on the driveway or a walk around the neighborhood.

9 - head upstairs and get ready for bed... teeth, diaper, pj's, fan, binky bed. if we're doing the nighttime routine with both kids at the same time then we do books, snuggles, a scripture (abigail says one to brady each night... he gets giddy with excitement) and prayer in abigail's room. this can last as long or short as we want it... but it's normally 20 minutes when we do the kids together and maybe 4 minutes when i do brady by myself.  

*nighttime varies a lot since it's summer and we've got a lot going on.  if the weather is rainy or brady took an early nap or if honey got home early from work and we already had a lot of time to play then we'll take the kids up to bed at 7:15 or 7:30.  but right now it's more common that we'll have something going on like getting together with family or friends or taking a long walk or just sitting outside with the neighborhood kids or whatever and we don't even go inside until after 9.  i know 9:30 is late for a 1 year old to go to bed, but he sleeps in to compensate and right now, it just really works for us.  

every time i take a picture of brady, i can't help but think how he looks so big.  like a real kid!  it makes me giddy with excitement.  he really is such a fun kid.  i love that he wants to cuddle and that he laughs as a way of saying yes.  he started walking around 14 months and when he runs, i think it's the most adorable thing ever, right up with saying "moooom" all the time.  i'm really loving him right now but i also can't wait for him to be two.  he's got a good sense of humor and i have a feeling he's going to be a hilarious two year old.  

i can't wait to see what the future holds for this guy.

brady at 9 months

happy nine months, brady boy!

here's the best i've got for a 9 month run down...

sleep... it's improving!  i can't even remember the last time i swaddled brady.  at least three weeks ago.  probably just right after i wrote his 8 month post.  there was a bit of a learning curve figuring out how to sleep well without the swaddle, but since then, it's been so much better!  i'm not sure if it's dropping the swaddle or increasing solid foods during the day (or likely a combination of the two) but brady has been sleeping longer and longer stretches at night.  if he wakes during the night... it's just once (normally because he needs a diaper change) and three nights in the last week, he's slept a full 12 hours without waking at all!  keep up the good work brady boy!

brady is awesome at sitting and really great going from sitting to stomach.  he walks his arms forward and looks like he's about to take off crawling, but really he just slides onto his belly and then just rolls wherever he wants to go.

as of two days ago, brady can army crawl!  he only does it when he really really really wants something (normally my phone but occasionally for a toy) and it's hilarious to watch.  he looks like a wounded soldier in battle.  his right arm stays tucked under him while his left arm does more reaching which gives him the wounded look.  and he's so intense about it but he moves at the speed of... molasses.  i need to get a video before his crawling evolves.  kids grow so fast, hopefully i don't miss this.

like i said last month, clothes are all over the board.  everything from 3 months to 18 months.  diapers are still size 2 during the day and size 3 at night.  poop is awesome because he pretty much never has blowouts but the downside is that his diapers aren't smelling like roses (outkast anyone?).  i really don't know how but abigail's poop didn't smell at all at this stage... brady's definitely does.  some days he only has wet diapers, and then some days, i'm changing dirty diapers every few hours alllll day long.

brady still has the best laugh ever.  and getting him to laugh is the easiest thing ever.  sometimes just eye contact, sometimes making a suspenseful "i'm gonna get you!" kind of noise... you don't even have to touch him.  he also thinks fake laughing is hilarious.  like if you literally say "ha ha ha ha ha."  although real laughing works too.  especially when abigail is laughing... then brady will laugh too.  other things that make him laugh... tickling him (anywhere from head to toe.  behind his ears, in his neck, his chest, back, sides, under his arms, thighs, legs, feet... i'm not sure i've found anywhere that he's not ticklish), attacking him with stuff animals, tossing him in the air, faking like you're going to drop him, pushing him over and then catching him before he hits the ground.  really, if he knows you're playing with him and you have a playful energy, whatever you do will get a deep laugh and it'll go forever... or at least however long you continue to do what you do.  it's positively intoxicating.

brady still has no teeth and absolutely zero signs of teething.  no drool, no fussiness, no chomping on everything in sight (he'll mouth stuff but he's not going to town on it), nothing.  it is wonderful.  and he's got the cutest gummy smile. hopefully he gets teeth eventually so he can start eating more real food though.  nursing is still going great (he never tries to bite me... i totally anticipated that happening by now) and although he's super easily distracted, i just make it a point, when we're home, to always nurse him in the glider in his room and abigail is amazing now at not interrupting.  ever since i explained to her that brady has trouble eating when she's around, she wants to do whatever helps him so she'll go play by herself and if she does come in, she opens the door really slowly and quietly, sees brady is still eating, and then quietly closes the door and tiptoes away without saying a word.  the sibling love between these two makes me so anxious to see how they'll get along when they're a little older.

brady really likes to eat food.  he loves loves loves cheerios.  i think because they're so quick and easy for him to feed himself.  he prefers to feed himself but most of his "i-have-no-teeth" food options aren't really easy finger foods.  so, in the mean time, i try to occasionally give him things he can feed himself (like raspberries) and more often than not, try to get him to let me spoon feed him.  he likes the food, he just wants to put the spoon in his mouth himself... after inspecting it himself.  jarred peas and green beans are his favorite veggies, and he likes sweet fruits like applesauce, mashed pear, and jarred peaches.  real fruit is sometimes a little too flavorful i think.  or maybe he just doesn't like the tartness?  he'll eat fresh kiwi, peaches, raspberries, etc. but it normally takes him three or four bites to get into it.  my favorite food to feed him is boiled egg yolks.  i boil a bunch of eggs at a time, and then i go ahead and peel all of them and separate the whites in one container and little egg yolk balls in another container (whites for abigail, yolks for brady... works great!) so they're so simple to just crumble and stir in with jarred food or baby cereal or mashed up anything.  quick and cheap and easy way to bulk up his food with some fat and protein.  and from what i can tell, it adds good flavor.  my other favorite food to feed him is bananas.  because it is also quick and cheap and easy and it's one of brady's favorite foods so i know he's not going to be finicky about eating it.  my favorite is to cut slices into quarters and feed him with a spoon but of course his favorite is to feed himself.  but really, i love the convenience of being able to throw a banana in my purse along with one of those little take n toss (although i never toss) baby spoons and we're good to go.  one other thing to mention is that i can't get over how much this kid eats.  for having such small percentiles, he really puts the food down.  tonight for dinner he had half an avocado, a handful of mashed raspberries mixed in with baby oatmeal, more raspberries just thrown on his tray that he fed himself (abigail started him with those... she actually gave him grapes first but i took them away... how many times do i have to tell her, you can't eat grapes unless you have teeth!), and a jar of green beans with an egg yolk and oatmeal cereal mixed in.  i swear he was in his highchair all night long.  it was well over an hour.  and it ended with a hose down shower in our kitchen sink.

k, that's all for now...  brady, we love you so much and think you're awesome blah blah blah... basically, you are the best little bundle ever and i love you so much i get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about your smile.  there's a reason i creep into your room a million times a day to see you sleep.

i just can't help myself.

"high needs" in vs out

tonight, i was talking to a friend about how brady is about 8.5 months old and he's at the point where he's been out about as long as he was in.  i said something like "the strange thing though is that pregnancy was such a breeze and it just flew by and these last eight and a half months have felt like ffffffffoooorrrreeeevvvvvveeeeeerrrrrr."  don't get me wrong, i love my kid, but holy cow, it's been a really, really long 8.5 months."  my friend has a difficult baby like brady so we can relate.  but tonight i just keep thinking about that.  so i finally did the math.  turns out, today exactly, brady is as old as the number of days i was pregnant (well, kinda... the first two weeks of pregnancy are a freebie because the moment you conceive, you're already considered two weeks along... but whatever).  let's be honest here that being pregnant was way easier than actually taking care of a baby.  and i really loved being pregnant so we can also be honest that being pregnant was also frequently more enjoyable than taking care of a baby.  but, still in complete honesty, i anticipate the next 8.5 months to be way more awesome than the previous 17 months... so there.

brady has not been an easy baby at all.  in fact, according to this article about the 12 features of a high needs baby*, brady is as "high needs" as they come.  apparently "high needs" is the politically correct term for that kind of baby.  i read this article and it was as if someone wrote that article specifically about brady.

like this...

Along with their unpredictability, these children show extremes of mood swings. When happy, they are a joy to be around; they are master charmers and people pleasers. When angry, they let everyone around them feel the heat.  

"When he is happy, he is the happiest baby around, but when he is angry he is the worst baby around. He is still that way, sunshine and smiles, anger and daggers. He has no middle emotion." 

The child's unpredictability makes your day unpredictable. Do you take him shopping and risk a mega tantrum when his first grocery grabs are thwarted, or will this be a day when he is the model shopping cart baby, charming everyone at the checkout counter?

i mean seriously!  how many times have i called him bipolar?!  that's why!  he only knows the two extremes of emotion.  i've always said "he's never just quiet, he's only laughing or crying.  thankfully, this is not the case anymore.  well... not as much.  he's still very much bipolar (although thankfully the percentages have shifted and he's now happy and laughing far more than he's fussy and crying) but he's really evened out into a pretty well adjusted kid!

but that article describes his newborn days so perfectly.
1. "intense" - like how he screamed for the first three hours after he was born and every nurse that came in commented on how loud and angry he was.  and they sent us home with five or six of those green pacifiers.  with abigail, we were sent home with zero pacifiers.  brady, they just kept throwing those our way.
2. "hyperactive" - basically, his body didn't have the ability to relax.  his whole body was always flexed and tense, back arched, squirming and wiggling.  i know now that it was from the pain of reflux but holy cow was it exhausting to try to hold him.  and my whole body would ache after trying to feed him because i was trying to contort myself to keep him latched.  i remember sprawling out after nursing him, my whole body completely spent.
3. "draining" - i think of this more like everyday he would completely suck the life out of me.  he took everything i had to offer, and still wanted more.  sucked me dry until i literally had nothing left to give.
4. "feeds frequently" - with abigail, she refused to nurse more frequently than every four hours and it was hard for me to imagine when other people told me their newborn liked to eat every two hours.  with brady, it was like he hated nursing but wanted to do it all the time.  at the height of his difficulty (thankfully for me, while my mom was in town) brady was two weeks old and would nurse so frequently than in a single hour, i couldn't tell you how many times he'd eaten.  even now, i nurse him about every 2.5 hours (when he wakes and before he goes to sleep), plus give him solids.  and he puts down a TON of food.  lunch today was almost an entire avocado, almost an entire pear (abigail got a few bites of each), and oatmeal cereal with a hard boiled egg yolk mixed in.  for a kid barely on the charts.  i'm realizing now that he just requires more food, and more frequently.  thankfully, feeding him tons during the day has directly correlated to longer stretches of sleep at night.  i think the kid was just hungry.  really really hungry.
5. "demanding" - like the article says, it was never a request to be held or be fed, it was positively demanded.  if i had a dollar for every time i said "i feel like a slave to my child."  he was truly a slave driver.  constantly cracking a bull whip.  and he sometimes (wait for the "unpredictable" bullet point) still is.  when he wakes during the night with a dirty diaper and i try to change his diaper before i nurse him, you better believe he is going to scream bloody murder during that entire diaper change... right into that baby monitor.... which i'm sure christopher appreciates.  so now i nurse him on one side, change his diaper, and then nurse on the other side before putting him back in his crib.
6. "awakens frequently" - i actually don't have that many memories of this because i could never get him to sleep in the first place.  but i do know that even the very slightest thing would wake him up and that he wouldn't transfer from my arms to a crib or anywhere else and that his naps were super short and his night time sleep stretches were frequently only an hour.  so umm, i guess i do remember this part after all.  but really, before i started him on zantac... he never slept.  awake for hours and hours and hours on end during the day.  and i remember so many sleep deprived nights where brady "slept" in the moses basket next to our bed and i could go three hours straight just putting a binky back in his mouth after he'd spit it out and cry.  i was doing that about every 15-30 seconds... FOR HOURS.  all. night. long.  then maybe we would sleep for 30 minutes.  but then it was the binky game for a few more hours.  and then back to day time when i was just up and bouncing his crying self all day.  i remember finally looking at the clock one afternoon and thinking, "how could it be?!  it can't be this late in the day!  he most recently woke up before noon!  that was four or five hours ago!"  if he does poorly in school, i am going to attribute it to his severe lack of sleep during those formative newborn days.  i couldn't figure out how to follow an eat play sleep routine when he would constantly eat, never play, and absolutely downright refuse to sleep.
7. "unsatisfied" - how many times did i cry (with brady) in frustration that nothing i did was working?!  i could try every trick in the book and it was just not enough.  no matter how swaddled, bounced, binkied, nursed, etc. that baby was... it just wasn't enough.
8. "unpredictable" - go back and read blog posts from the early days if you want examples but basically, the only thing constant... was change.  the same thing never worked twice and my mom frequently referred to this challenge as brady's "secret combinations."  trying to figure out which combination of things and in which order... next to impossible.  next to "bipolar," "unpredictable" is actually the word i used most to describe him.  brady's like a box of chocolates; you just never know what you're gonna get.
9. "super sensitive" - brady always noticed even the slightest change in lighting or temperature or sound or the way i was holding him.  he was definitely easily bothered and being around him was like walking on eggshells.  i remember my mother in law coming over and, seeing me holding him, saying "well, he doesn't look too fussy right now!" as she smiled at him.  just that she made eye contact with him and smiled at him sent him in full hysterics.  unpredictable and very sensitive.  the times that i took brady to therapy for his arm, the therapist always noticed how perceptive he was to sounds.  she would comment on it that he obviously noticed a sound from the hallway... normally something i didn't ever hear or notice but the therapist caught a ton of those at every appointment.  also, if i was holding him, i couldn't speak in anything above a whisper or he would start screaming.  you wouldn't really think so, but this was hiiiiiiiighly inconvenient.
10. "can't put baby down" - it wasn't just that he needed to be held.  but he needed to be held by a human, that was standing up, and in motion, that would offer a variety of bouncing, rocking, etc changing on a dime, depending on what brady was in the mood for.  a swing wasn't enough, and neither was a bouncer.  and a sling wasn't either.  none of those things can change every ten seconds.  so even though i had one of the most gorgeous newborns to ever grace this planet, i have so few pictures of it because i could never put the kid down.  although the few times it happened, i took a million pictures.  my mom really got in on it too.  "quick!  he's not crying!  take a picture!"  if he could be put down for 15 to 30 SECONDS without crying, my mom and i celebrated.  that meant that he wasn't crying in my arms, and that the crying didn't start even when he was out of my arms.  though neither of those things really happened more than three times a week.  but ohhh, he was so gorgeous.  he still is, but it's pretty rare for a new baby to be as beautiful as he was.
11. "not a self-soother" - i remember the doctor asking me how brady was sleeping and i said something like "i can sometimes get him to sleep if i double swaddle him (in this very particular way with certain blankets and certain pj's) and have it be really dark and hold a binky in his mouth while cradling him in my arms and bouncing in this very particular way while it's absolutely silent except for me making really loud shhhh-ing noises but then i can't put him down or stop doing any of those things or he'll instantly be awake and screaming again.  and i remember being so proud of that until my doctor made a comment about him being picky about his sleep environment.  ha.  this goes back to him not wanting a swing or a bouncer or anything else (although he did do very well with a carseat when it was in motion)... he needed a human... and about fifty other things, all part of the secret combination, to be happy not miserable.
12. "separation sensitive" - if by some miracle, i could get brady to be content in my arms, he would immediately go into full blown panic mode with even the slightest change (walking on eggshells much?) occurring that might indicate that i was about to leave him in any way.  if my body tensed in a different way, he would sense that i was about to place him in his crib/carseat/swing/bouncer/someone else's arms and he also learned to recognize his bedroom and dark rooms in general to the point that if i had him quiet and content in my arms and i walked upstairs, he would start crying as i stepped over the threshold into his dark bedroom because he sensed that i was about to place him in his crib.  even now, he's really great playing independently, but does best when i'm either always in sight or never in sight.  if i have him playing in the great room and i'm putting laundry away or cleaning around the house or doing anything that requires me to go from room to room, frequently coming and going from his sight, he's going to freak out and fuss the whole time.  it's like every time i leave he thinks i'm never coming back.  DUDE!  I ALWAYS COME BACK!

so as difficult as a brady was as a baby, i am grateful it has made me so appreciative for the kid he is today.  he's got his fair share of fussiness but he smiles so so much and it is so easy to get tons of those real deep belly laughs out of him.  people always comment on what a happy baby he is and i typically just smile and say "he's come a long way."  i know people don't think twice about it when i say that, but for me, it's special.  he really has come such a long way.  as a mother of just abigail, i would have looked at my current self with pity like "your child nurses how often?!  and still doesn't sleep 12 hours at night?!  and needs a binky 24/7?!"  but my experience with brady makes me grateful that even though he still nurses frequently, it is enjoyable for both of us.  and even though he doesn't sleep 12 hours straight at night, he's only waking up once and often has an 8 or 9 hour stretch in there... getting over 12 hours total.  and even though he has a binky in his mouth more often than not... he is happy!  forget the secret combinations... binky = independent, happy baby.  it's straight forward and we love it.

i really love this kid.  he has taught me so much and really, he is the most gorgeous, laughy kid everrrrrr.  raising him is like continually unwrapping a present and he's only getting better with age.  i'm so excited for all the days we have ahead of us.

*i found this article through this blog post... which really could have been written by me, it soooo perfectly described my own experience.  like word for word. almost... there are some minor exceptions.

8 months for brady!

happy 8 months, brady boy!

 

here's what brady has been up to this past month...

brady has mastered sitting!  he went from not sitting at all, to sitting for long periods of time within the space of about a week.  right now, he's working on gracefully getting out of the sitting position and within the last day or two has shown significant improvement.  i'm normally not looking exactly when it's happening, but from what i can tell, he does a sort of tuck and roll to get from sitting to laying on his back.

which only lasts for two seconds because this kid rolls like nobody's business.  the first several times he rolled, it was in his crib when he was fully swaddled.  within a day or two he was occasionally rolling back to belly but i never seemed to catch it.  and since then, it's been constant rolling all over the place.  i think it's just been within the few days that he's been rolling as a means of getting from one place to another.  i can put him sitting somewhere, leave the room for two minutes, and come back to see that he's five feet from where he started.  abigail thinks it's especially cool when he does several rolls in a row without stopping.  i'm loving the rolling because it makes him so happy and really keeps him entertained.  the only downside is that he'll get stuck under the coffee table or roll into the brick fireplace.  like yesterday when he was in his room and rolled all the way over to where i have his fan and he was tugging on the cord.  glad i found that situation before he pulled a fan on his head.  so many hazards with a mobile child.

brady got his first haircut.  which was really just a trim of the hair around his ears.  but still... i'm counting it.  speaking of hair.  it's lightening up.  in pictures it frequently looks dark, but if you look at the actual hairs on his head, they're all just as blonde as abigail's.  we'll see how that turns out.  

brady loves his binky.  he always has a binky when he sleeps in his crib and most often has a binky when he falls asleep in his carseat too.  and very frequently when he's just hanging out.  he is super stealth about getting it in his mouth too.  sometimes i'll be holding him and holding a binky and somehow he gets it off my finger and into his mouth without me even realizing it.  or now that he can roll, he just rolls on over to his binky and pops it in his mouth.

which brings me to one of my favorite things that he does... spits his binky out.  if there's something he wants in his mouth, he spits his binky out with such force!  i first noticed it when he was hanging out on the floor of his bedroom after a diaper change.  when i leaned over to pick him up, out popped the binky, propelled a foot away.  it kept making me laugh out loud so one night i showed chris.  "watch this.  he's hungry and ready to eat.  when i pick him up, he's going to spit his binky out as fast as he can... maybe before i even get my hands on him, but definitely before his body leaves the floor."  and then it happened... just like i said it would.  the only part of that that makes me sad it that i know he just sees me as a food source.  it's not like he stopped crying because he wanted me to hold him... it's just because he wants to nurse.  and he does it every time he wakes up during the night too.  and even though it's not as funny, he'll do it when i put him in his bumbo that has some food on the tray already.  or if he's sitting in his bumbo with his bib on and he sees me bring a jar of food over to him, out pops the binky... right into the catcher part of the bib.  seriously cracks me up.  although how so am i?!  when it first started happening, i kept thinking to myself, "i never remember abigail doing this!"  and then i realized... oh, it's because she never had a binky in her mouth.  this kid... he's mastered the binky.

as far as size... his onesies are size 6 months (they're carters though... and carters clothes magically fit for-ev-er).  he almost never wears sleepers because it's so hot but the ones he has... i thiiiink they're 9 months.  some clothes are 6-9 months and HUGE.  but he's got a handful of things that say 18 months that fit him great.  and the outfit he wore today?  size 3 months.  so basically, sizing in baby boy clothes means next to nothing.  he's wearing a size 2 diaper during the day and a 3 at night.

speaking of night time, that size 3 diaper still frequently leaks during the night because he still wakes up a million and one times and needs to nurse before he falls back asleep (except for an hour ago where i heard him wake up and cry for two minutes and he actually fell back asleep before i went up to check on him).  there's really no "normal" because every night is different.  this kid is the epitome of unpredicatable.  but, if i had to find a method to the madness, he frequently goes to bed between 8 and 9, sometimes wakes up during the 11 o clock hour, very often wakes up around 2:30 (give or take), and a lot of times again betwen 4:30 and 6:30, and then gets up for the day sometime around 10.  so a good night means he only wakes up that one time at 2:30, and a rough night means he wakes up at midnight, three, and five.  every time he wakes during the night, i nurse him.  at least half of the times he wakes up, he needs something else (normally a diaper change (when do they learn to stop pooping during the night?!) and/or a reswaddle).  it's always quick.  naps are good.  he goes down without a problem and sleeps for 1.5 to 2.5 hours.  it used to always be 2h20 (like to the minute sometimes) but ever since i started weaning him from the swaddle, it's varied.  normally he just takes two naps during the day, but if we started the day early or are out late and not home for a normal bedtime, there's a short (like an hour... give or take) evening nap in there.  i know i shouldn't, but lately, i've just been keeping him awake way longer than i should because he's actually happy.  so even though i know he'd go down great for a nap after a 2 hour wake time, i'll keep him up playing with abigail and myself because he's happy and it just seems more fun to not have to worry about napping yet.  i'm so much more lax about napping and schedules this time around.

nursing is so fast.  like five minutes.  and he never needs to be burped.  he rarely burps, and if he does, it's completely on his own.  spitting up is virtually nonexistent.  he doesn't do the windshield wiper thing while he nurses, but sometimes he yanks at my tank top strap while he nurses and pops it.  i'm not a fan and he knows it.  if abigail is around when i try to feed him, he will not eat.  will. not.  she is the ultimate distraction.  so when they wake up at the same time, i normally go to her room and tell her i'm going to get brady and that i'll be back in a few minutes.  that way i can make sure he gets a good first feeding.  it's tricky timing wise and whatnot, but it's worth it to go the extra mile eliminating distractions.  he's got good ears.

solid foods are going really well.  i never need to straight-jacket him anymore.  after the first several times i did that, he got the hang of things and realized that he preferred not to have his arms tied down.  since then, he his table manners have improved dramatically.  brady always eats in his bumbo.  one of these days we'll transition to the high chair but right now the bumbo is easiest (complete opposite of how things were with abigail).  he eats everything i give him but there are some clear winners and losers.  he really loves peas and green beans.  LOOOOVES.  like if i get distracted while i'm feeding him, he starts grunting at me with an open mouth.  from what i can tell, he's not a huge fan of the jarred dinner type meal foods.  stuff like "turkey vegetable medley" or "sweet corn and rice."  so i'm not sure if it's the combination of flavors, the texture, the meat, the rice, the corn...  and he didn't seem that keen on avocado.  but he really likes everything else.  squash, carrots, mango, sweet potato, peaches, applesauce.  applesauce it actually how i get him to eat other stuff he's not crazy about.  although tonight i gave him tiny chunks of peaches on his tray and when he slowed down in his enthusiasm for getting them in his mouth, i started putting a chunk of peach on a spoon with a little bit of green beans, and he was all over that.  as far as rice cereal, i've only done oatmeal.  i almost always mix it in with jar foods (or whatever food i've mashed up... like pears) to make them thicker and easier/less messy.  food is always room temp or slightly warm.  he's not a fan of cold anything.  also, he loves puffs.  i just use them to keep him occupied and give him practice with his coordination, but he's getting good enough that i'm already paring back because i know they're just flour and sugar.  giving him chunks of peaches tonight almost felt mean though, they're so slippery and tricky to pick up.  way more difficult than the puffs that stick to even the driest of tiny fingers.  oh... and the kid loves hummus.  like the rest of us.

as far as temperament.  when he's happy, he is the happiest kid i've ever seen in my whole life.  the smiles and laughs are out of control.  just making eye contact with a mischievous face will send him into a fit of giggles.  he loves the suspense of watching my hand as it comes to tickle him.  and he's ticklish on pretty much every inch of his body.  my current favorite is pinching his thighs, but he laughs just as hard when i go for his belly and his neck.  under his arms, his feet, his back, his cheeks, and every other random place (i'm pretty sure abigail has tried them all at least once) yields laughter of some sort.  it is absolutely incredible.  i love tickling him before naps/bedtime.  it's like he's slap happy or something because he can't stop laughing but he can't stop rubbing his eyes either.  so he's just laughing so hard while he's taking out his whole face with his sleepy fists and i just delight in every bit of it.  within the last few weeks, i've noticed that he wakes up super happy in his crib (there's a good chance he's done this for a long time and i've just never noticed) and just hangs out and babbles and coos until i come get him.  he's tolerant of abigail's vigorous affection, loves being in his carseat (probably more so than being held) and is just overall a really really happy baby.  he still has his moments when he's just plain angry at life but it's getting more and more infrequent and when it happens, it's almost always accompanied by a very good reason (normally a short nap or just lack of sleep in general).  when he's crying, it's often within four minutes of his laughing and me telling him that he's the happiest baby ever.  he only knows how to go zero to sixty.  there's a reason i call him my bipolar child.  he only knows the two extremes.  thankfully, he's on the super insanely happy extreme way more often than not. 

i know there's tons of stuff i'm leaving out and hopefully i'll come back and add more to the post later (and pictures and links to the stuff i've already written), but as of right now, this is my snapshot of brady at 8 months.  he's so great.  it is positively remarkable the transformation that has happened since he was born.  i am in awe of this sweet little spirit.  and so insanely impatient for him to grow up just a little more.  he is going to be a crack up... i'm sure of it.

6 months!

brady is six months old!  it has sure been a roller coaster of a ride but i'm happy right now with where things are.  he is such a fun guy, and although he's been high maintenance and infinitely more difficult than abigail ever was, i love this little guy like crazy.

i just read over abigail's six month post to see what sorts of things i wrote about and quite honestly, even i was a little shocked at how different brady is.  i mean, i guess i knew it but i thought my memory would be skewed.  turns out my memory was really accurate and these kids are so on opposites side of the spectrum.

in no particular order, here are a few things about brady at six months...

brady is the most smiley, social baby i have ever seen.  it takes mere eye contact for him to break out in the most gigantic smile ever.  i always tell him, "brady!  you keep smiling your binky out!" because he'll catch his reflection in the mirror or see chris or something and then two seconds later i hear his binky hit the floor.  smiles that sucker right out.  he will smile like that for everyone, complete strangers included.  i can not emphasize enough how much this kid smiles.  there are few things i can make him do on demand but smiling is definitely one of them.

also similar but just slightly different... it is crazy easy to get brady to laugh.  eye contact and talking to him in a fun baby voice will do it.  tickling his chest with your fingers will do it.  really any sort of physical contact with him in a playful manner will have him busting up laughing.  christopher's favorite way is by putting his head on brady's belly... for some reason that makes him laugh the hardest.  i can do it when him too but then i have these tiny little iron fists clenching my hair and it takes considerable time and effort to pry those little fingers open one by one.  but luckily, i can make him laugh a million times a day without putting my hair at risk.  my favorite is when i abigail does something that makes brady laugh and then she laughs and he laughs more.... completely independent of me.  they really love each other.

developmentally, he is no prodigy.  he can roll from tummy to back but doesn't do it often.  and he has never rolled back to belly and doesn't seem close either.  by my standards, he seems behind what he should be, but i know each kid develops at their own rate and right now i'm just going to be mindful of it but not stress.  he doesn't sit up by himself except for occasionally when he seems to want to do that. but if i try to prop him in a way that would help him sit, he's all about tipping over, lunging for a new toy.  i just put together that fisher price rain forest jumper a week or two ago.  i just didn't feel like he was ready for it yet, so i waited until he was older.  he seems to like it more than the swing (which really we just end up using as a chair for him to sit in) but he hasn't really gotten the hang out it that he's supposed to jump and play with the toys.  he is really good at putting his binky in his mouth though.  he has a lot of practice with pulling it out, turning it over and examining it in his hands, and getting it back into his mouth.  right now, he's fine to play by himself for a bit but gets impatient with toys and seems bored pretty easily.  but just look at him and say his name and he'll instantly go from fussing to smiling.  i'm hoping once he can sit up and play with toys and move around a bit more, he will learn to be happier playing on his own.

nursing is going well but always changing.  a week ago, brady got sick (fifths) and the first few days he was crazy fussy and having screaming/crying fits and refusing to nurse and the next few days were just a lethargic baby that still wouldn't really nurse.  i'd say all of that lasted for a week, so we've had about five days being back to normal again and i still feel like we're trying to recover nursing-wise.  i think my supply took a major hit that week and brady came back impatient or extra hungry or maybe it's just coinciding with him being an add eater or maybe his reflux medicine isn't working as well anymore or maybe he's just needing solids to help fill him up but it's been an adjustment.  he doesn't want to nurse as long but i don't feel like he's really eating a lot at each feeding either.  before sickness he was nursing 3.5 minutes on each side.  now sometimes it's really short (or really long if he's distracted) so it can be anywhere from 1-5 minutes per side.  i haven't had the overabundance of milk that i did last time around which has been really nice because brady has always been able to keep up with my flow and my supply without me needing to do anything special nursing/pumping.  for the past several days i've been nursing him twice as often to make sure that my supply isn't an issue.  so i've been feeding him when he wakes up (that's the norm) and then sometimes again before he goes back to sleep.  but before the whole sickness mess, he was just nursing every time he woke up which was about every 3.5 to 4 hours.  i haven't started solids yet.  such a pain and i'm not looking forward to it but hopefully it'll make him happy and help with the reflux.

as far as reflux goes, i felt like he was doing really really really well until a few weeks ago when he started spitting up more (and the cry of discomfort that comes with that) and grunting/arching his back/fussing more while he was eating.  and being fussier for awake times.  i talked to his doctor about it at his appointment and she's prescribed a new medicine to try out (i'm going to pick it up tomorrow) that is a capsule that can be broken and put into his solids and only needs to be given once a day instead of twice a day like his zantac.  i am so grateful his reflux is under control and not crazy horrible like it was when he was a few weeks old and not on zantac yet, but honestly, i'm so anxious and curious for how he'll be when this is totally behind him.  at the expert evaluation about his arm, the main expert doctor looked at him, and almost instantly asked "does he have reflux?" because, even though he wasn't fussing, it was obvious to her in the way he held his body that he was trying to relieve that discomfort.  i just said yes.  didn't bother telling her it was diagnosed when he was just a few weeks old.  that morning/night zantac is just part of his life... which is funny because it tastes horrendous (i've tasted it and even though they try to mask the horror with peppermint flavor, it is bitter and so gross) and when brady was a newborn and first taking it, he would spit it out and cry every time i gave it to him.  now?  that happy guy reaches out both hands to help hold the dropper in his mouth as he opens wide and gulps down every bit.  the nurse at his appointment on tuesday was surprised how well he took the oral vaccine she gave him because he was acting like it tasted so good.  ha.  hopefully he's that good with solids!

the phrase i use most often is "this boy's got issues."  because at first it was just the reflux and fussiness and crying.  then he had two blocked tear ducts.  and a flat spot on his head.  and his sleep was bad.  and his right arm was acting weird. and he has a blue spot next to his eye. and a million other things i can't even think of right now.  i always have a long list written down of things i need to address with his doctor.  well, it's all melting away or getting under control.  the tear duct in his left eye cleared up right after he turned 3 months and the one in his right eye finally cleared up while we were on our trip in utah three weeks ago.  it's crazy how exciting that was for me not to have that eye constantly needing to be wiped.  or being crusted and sealed shut every morning.  and not having the "tri-lash" on one side.

sleep is not perfect but i am soooo very happy with it anyways!  a month ago, we did cry it out with brady (click here to read about his sleep history and cry it out) and his sleep habits tremendously improved.  he would basically always go down for nap without a problem (awake, double swaddled, binky, in crib) but have a hard time at night.  and then during the night he would wake up a million times and fight going back to sleep.  in the past month since we did cry it out, he still takes awesome naps (between 1h45 and 2.5 hours.  last week they were all 2.5 hours and the past few days they've been just under 2 so really, it just varies) and goes down super easy (no real routine... just a dark room, swaddle, hold him upright to let him get out any last minute burps, and lay him down with a binky) but he actually does the same at bedtime too!  and during the night he's only up twice (give or take... last night was only once) and never has a problem going back to sleep.  if he wakes during the night, i just nurse him and put him back in his crib (awake) with his binky.  he never wakes at the 45 minute mark during naps... i can't remember when that dropped off but it's been at least a month i'd say.  as far as the carseat goes, brady will still easily fall asleep in the carseat but he typically will only nap for 30 minutes or less before he's awake again.  funny that this is the exact oppsite of when he was a newborn and would nap for hours in his carseat running errands but only nap for a few minutes if it was in his moses basket at home.  this way is much better.  having a kid that takes consistent naps in a crib is priceless.  it is amazing and i do not take this for granted.  lately brady has been taking some naps without his binky.  if i feed him after i swaddle him, and he's calm, then at least 50% of the time, i can lay him down without a binky and he'll fall asleep just fine.  for some reason this fills me with pride and makes me want to smother him with hugs and smooches.  anyways, the short story is that i'm so proud of how far he's come sleep-wise.  he wake time is between 1.5 and 2 hours and he typically wakes for the day between 8 and 9 (give or take 30 minutes) and goes to sleep for the night between 8:30 and 9.

as far as clothes go, all of his 3 month carters onesies still fit great and his 6 month onesies are perfect in the length but still really long in the arms (if they have long sleeves).  since it warmed up, i haven't put him in any sleepers and actually, my favorite thing for him to wear is just a long sleep onesie with no pants.  for some reason, i love that look.  for a long time, he's been wearing a size 2 diaper at night and size 1 during the day but as of this past week, he's in a size 2 around the clock.  blowouts are still semi frequent just depending on his position when it happens, but i know all of that will be changing soon with the introduction of solid foods.

brady has no teeth but loves to gnaw on everything he possibly can.  he has a strong bite!  even with no teeth, it hurts for christopher and i to let him chew on our fingers and knuckles.  he loves sophie and actually also really likes to chew on his aden & anais blanket that i always throw on him in his carseat.  but really, anything will do.

other randoms, brady's only trip away from home has been our short road trip to utah three weeks ago and he has his first real trip, flying to atlanta, next week.  he likes bath time just fine, doesn't hate it but doesn't love it either.  he hasn't actually been swimming yet.  he actually really likes abigail's vigorous love and attention.  tummy time is hit or miss and sometimes he's angry within a minute and sometimes he's happy for twenty minutes.  he still gets comments about his long eye lashes everywhere we go.  and have i mentioned how much he smiles?!  so so so soooo smiley.

alright, this post it about twenty times longer than i had anticipated so let's just wrap things up with some growth stats...

6.19.13 - 6 month appointment

14 lbs 2 ounces  2%

26.5 inches  44%

hc 42.5 cm  26%

the last six months have felt like forever and they've felt like they've just flown by.  parenting brady so far has been a special and unique experience that has taught me so much already.  if i've said it once, i've said it a million times, this kid makes me feel like a new mom.  clueless and confused.  i'm learning though and i'm experiencing the joys that come with hard work.  brady, i love you right now, but your smiles and laughs melt my heart and make me anxious for you to keep on growing so i can keep meeting you and getting to know you.  

having kids is like opening a present... the best kind of present... every.  single.  day.

brady at 4 months

happy four months, sweet brady!

i don't really have the motivation for this right now, but i'd rather just have it done than not do it at all sooo...

at four months, all of brady's sleepers are size 6 months (except two).  the 3 month sleepers are just too short.  the rest of his three month clothes fit perfectly which means he'll probably outgrow them any second.  and i started dressing him in 6 months onesies a few weeks ago and they're not enormous... they work just fine.  he's in a size 1 diaper during the day and size 2 at night.

about three weeks ago, brady's left eye cleared up so now he only has one blocked tear duct... although it's still really bad.  hopefully it clears up on its own eventually too.  he also has a flat spot on the right side of his head although it's not as bad as it was a month ago.  and his right arm sometimes acts unusual.  and he's still got the reflux.  boy's got a lot of issues.  maybe i'll have more info to add to this paragraph after his appointment tomorrow.  so, he's taking 1.1 mL of generic zantac twice a day, the flat spot on his head isn't of concern (we just make sure to turn his head when we can), we're hoping his right eye will clear up with time, and the doc checked out his arm and made a referral for physical therapy and neurology.  i expect to hear from the physical therapy people sometime next week and the neurology people within a week and a half.  i'll keep you posted.

brady is still a really crappy sleeper.  a few weeks ago he seemed to be really improving.  he took three solid naps (about 2 or 2.5 hours long) and went down without a problem.  and his night time sleep seemed to be getting better too.  but then it went downhill and it's just been ups and downs since then.  he frequently wakes at the 45 minute mark but will normally go back to sleep with a binky.  if it is his third nap of the day, the chances of him going back to sleep are significantly less.  and if you try to put him down to sleep for the night, he will totally fight you on it and then 100% for sure wake up 45 minutes later and flat out refuse to go to sleep.  the hours of 8pm to midnight are still the fussiest time so that's when i get my nightly workout in.  in those four hours, i go up and down our stairs at least 10-15 times... and that's not even on a bad night.  he wakes up for the day around 9 or 9:30.  so between the hours of midnight and 9am, he wakes up twice to nurse (often between 1:30 and 2:30 and again between 4:30 and 5:30).  i feed him for about five minutes on one side and put him back in his crib with a binky and he goes right to sleep.  maybe 2% of the time, i have to go back up a second time to put a binky back in, but those middle of the night wakings, he pretty much always goes right back to sleep.  he still naps well in his carseat, even if he frequently wakes up at the 45 minute mark.  it's pretty unpredictable.

for sleep, he gets double swaddled with his arms pinned down, and a binky.  he gets put down awake and actually doesn't get rocked or held before hand because it gets him more fussy and worked up.  although, like everything else, this changes some from day to day.  his happy wake time seems to be around an hour and a half although it depends on the time of day so i try to pay attention to his sleep cues when i can.

brady can sit in the bumbo for about five minutes before he starts sliding to one side and gets scared out of his mind and cries for someone to rescue him.  he also gets fussy if he's in the swing for more than 15 minutes and then you just have to lay him on a blanket on the floor and he'll be fine.

brady doesn't like to be cradled.  he prefers to be held upright, facing in or facing out... doesn't matter which.

the newest development is that he is really good at pulling his binky out of his mouth and replacing it with his fist.  ohhh the drool and wet fists.  if only he was equally good about placing the binky back in his mouth... then we would all get a little (or a lot) more peace and quiet around these parts.  we have binkies strategically stashed around the house so that one is always nearby and easy to locate when needed.  clear binky on the changing table, yellow binky in the crib, red binky in the pocket of his swing downstairs, clear binky in his carseat, blue binky in pocket in my purse.  it's a good system so far.

brady loves the light/dislikes the dark.  you'd think a tired baby would be calmed by a dark or dimmed room... not this kid.  it's like the sign to him that he's going to be put down for nap and he goes into a panic.  if he's having a hard time settling down for his nap or at bedtime, sometimes i have to get him out of his crib and just walk around upstairs a little for him to calm down.  as soon as we leave the dark room and go to where there is more light, his whole body relaxes.  same in the morning when he wakes up.  i know he's awake because he'll cry but if i just go in and turn on the light and say good morning, it'll buy me at least five or ten minutes (while i go get abigail up and dressed).

everyone still comments on his super long eyelashes.  i'm seriously going to be so happy when his one eye isn't always so goopy.  his eyes are blue but much darker than abigail's.   christopher and abigail and brady all have blue eyes but they are all so different from one another.  since they're pretty dark, i wonder if they'll change colors.  we'll see.

brady definitely cries and fusses a lot but it is also so easy to get a smile out of him too.  if he's just hanging out, simple eye contact and a smile will make him grin so big, his binky (if he has one) will for sure fall out.  so as much as i make comments about how difficult he is, he's actually a really happy baby much of the time! happy ≠ easy but it's still awesome that he can be so happy!

brady has been left with a number of babysitters so far... both grandmas and a few of the young women in the ward (haley, kayla, lauren, and maria).

3.20.13 - 3 month appointment

12 lbs 5 ounces  12.88%

23.5 inches  18.48%

hc 39.5 cm  18.71%

4.19.13 - 4 month appointment

13 lbs  8.01%

25.25 inches  52.45%

hc 40.7 cm  22.84%

i'm sure there's got to be plenty of things i'm forgetting right now but really the only truly important things are that brady is happy and healthy and that i love him to pieces.  

*pictures to be added later... maybe

happy three months, brady!

my sweet brady turned three months old yesterday.  we had a wonderful day celebrating with naps and eating.  we both had a good morning since we were only up once during the night (over 6 hours, followed by a 4.5 hour stretch) which is as good as it gets around here... at least for now.  and that brady and abigail both woke up in unison after 9am was fabulous too.  it's fun doing stuff as the three of us when we're not in a hurry to be somewhere.  brady got a bath with abigail and had his morning nap from 10:15 to 1.  then it was eating and more hanging out until his afternoon nap from 2:30 to 5.  when he woke up, christopher was actually home already and the three of us hung out on the floor upstairs in the hallway until it was time for dinner.  he went to sleep for his last nap at 6:15 and i woke him up at 8:30 for his last wake time of the day.  he ate while we hung out as a family and watched part of the avs game and then all four of us went upstairs to get ready for bed.  late evening is still the roughest part of the day and this was no exception.  luckily though, that just translated to being awake and unable to settle down easily... not screaming fits like what used to be the case... and after me just holding him while christopher and i read scriptures, i carried brady upstairs and he was calm enough to go to sleep for the night.  if i was a really super awesome mom, i would do real "day in the life" posts with pictures and better narration.  right now though, this is as good as it gets.  brady, you've got it good... this is a typical day in the life for you... and at three months, you're loving it.

Brady is two months old!

i know these are super crappy pictures, taken in a really dark room, on a cell phone.  but it is what it is... the second child gets gypped.

oh, and he's wearing no pants.  although maybe that part was semi on purpose because i always dressed abigail in a onesie and socks and loved it.

brady is a super sweet boy and i love him to death.  pictures don't do it justice but he is gorgeous beyond all measure.

he also sports a pretty awesome bewildered sort of look... almost constantly.  i initially had thought he had an unhappy disposition about life but it turns out that was just reflux.  as long as he does miss a dose of zantac, he is one happy kid.

he smiles like crazy whenever we made eye contact, and especially after he's done eating, it's all cooing and smiling.

brady's sleep still leaves much to be desired.  i feel bad saying that because i used to be up with him for hours at a time during the night just trying to get him to go back to sleep after a feeding... but it is still normal for him to wake up at least twice during the night.  although sometimes it's only once, sometimes it's thrice.  thrice is not my friend.  the good part is that after a quick feeding, i pop him back in his crib with a binky and he puts himself back to sleep just fine.

during the day, his happy waketime is about 55 minutes to an hour.  if he's awake longer than that, you'll know because he'll start to get fussy and his happy and content personality will turn sour.  his naps vary quite a bit although i blame myself for that for being so inconsistent.  again, the second child gets gypped.  if we're out running errands, brady will sleep for several hours sometimes or maybe just nap for the parts we're actually in the car.  at home, a nap could be 45 minutes (if he can't get himself back to sleep after that first sleep cycle) or it could be close to four hours (if i've forgotten about him or things have been super hectic that i haven't had time to wake him up for a feeding).  totally my fault and i'm sure this is much of the reason his night time sleep isn't optimal.

brady is rocking a size one diaper and 0-3 clothes.  he's noticeably filled out and is chunking up nicely. he's not a big kid by any means but he's not the scrawny little peanut that he used to be.  it makes me sad that his newborn days are already gone but excited for everything to come.

and here are brady's stats so far...

12.18.12 - birth

7 lbs 3.6 ounces

20 inches

hc 33.4 cm

12.19.12 - discharged from hospital

6 lbs 15 ounces

12.22.12 - nurse home visit

6 lbs 15 ounces

12.28.12 - 2 week well check

7 lbs 4.5 ounces  46%

20.25 inches  93%

1.15.13 - fussiness visit

8 lbs 8.5 ounces 21.55%

2.20.13 - 2 month appointment

10 lbs 14.5 ounces  15.1%

23.25 inches  57.67%

hc 38.7 cm  34.71%

my sweet brady boy keeps getting better and better.