Monday, April 30, 2012

8 Months

{April 28th}
8 Months


The last month as been ROUGH...
Since Braxton started daycare, we've been sick for the last 4 weeks straight.
Braxton's had an ear infection, we ALL got the stomach flu, we ALL got some horrible sore throat/cold/virus, and now Braxton has another bad ear infection...
All in a row.
Sick baby = no sleeping for anyone.
At one point, he was getting up 6+ times a night... which is worse than when he was a newborn.
He also doesn't eat well while he is sick, so I think his empty belly also wakes him up more at night.
The poor kid is on his 3rd antibiotic and has been on them for basically 30 days straight.

They have scheduled his surgery to repair his cleft palate for August 14th and they put tubes in his ears as a routine part of the procedure.  I really want to call his ENT and demand they put them in now, ahead of time.  We cannot handle another 3.5 months of straight ear infections (....no eating, no sleeping) and antibiotics.  I don't want Braxton to be miserable the entire time and I have a very strong feeling that's where we are headed knowing he has fluid in his ears and it probably isn't going anywhere until the tubes are put in. (having the cleft makes him more likely to have the fluid/infections)  They want to wait until his cleft surgery so they don't have to put him under twice so close together but right now we are willing to take the risk.  We'll see how the next 10 days go and if he can finally start feeling better.

Although we've had lots of sickness and long nights... our Nug is still as happy as ever most of the time.

He stopped sucking his thumb just before he turned 7 months.
We are sad... it was one of my favorite habits of his.
(the self-soothing also stopped...ugh)


Sits up so good on his own. 
He was still a little wobbly at 7 months but does great now.
He is content to just sit by himself and play with his toys for quite awhile.


He LOVES the kitty cats (or any other animal).
No matter what his mood is...if he sees them, he always gets happy and excited.
If they are anywhere close, he immediately reaches out to 'pet' them
(pet = grab fistfulls of fur)
His favorite is trying to grab their tails and attempt to put it in his mouth.  They will waft their tail around and if it his him the face, he cracks up.  Once he can grab a hold of it, he just sits there holding on! 
Both kitties are pretty tolerable.
Bonnie also loves to sleep in his room.  She usually just lays curled up all night on his changing table pad.  And if they hear him crying at night, they will always follow me in there and sit there watching him until he is back asleep.


Says MAMA.
Sometimes I think he says it with some purpose, and sometimes it comes out b/c its the only word he knows.
Either way... melts my heart!

{oh man.... I LOVE these chubby cheeks!}

Has started to give kisses.
If you ask for one and pucker up, he'll intently bring his face to yours, mouth wide open, and hold it on your face for a second. 
LOVE this.



When we prop him up, he can sit on his hands and knees for a bit. 
He starts to rock back and forth a little but I think we're still a ways away from crawling.


Has learned that really fun game where you hand him something and he throws it on the floor.
Over and over again.

{I mean seriously... I cannot even handle his 'excited' face!! I love this little boy so much!}

Loves it when you clap and cheer for him.
He gets so excited and scrunches up his nose... it is so fun!
He's learning to clasp his hands and kind of get the clapping motion down himself.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Easter Weekend

We flew down to Phoenix to visit Mimi and Papa Jim for Easter weekend.  
We almost didn't make the trip when we all came down the stomach flu, though.
Braxton woke up puking Tuesday night, and after throwing up several times and having a tummy ache all night, I stayed home with him all day Wednesday.  Luckily I did most of the packing on Wednesday night because I woke up puking on Thursday morning.  I sent Braxton to daycare thinking I'd be functional by the time our flight left that afternoon.  When it was time to leave, I could barely walk and we debated calling it off but decided to go for it.  

We were running so late we paid to valet the car IN the parking garage ($30/day...YIKES!) and had a skycap take me in a wheelchair to check in while Brian wrangled the bags and the baby.  We barely made it to our gate to board, then I spent the entire flight keeled over while Brian tried to stay somewhat awake holding the baby (he takes Dramamine for his motion sickness and it knocks him out).  Luckily we sat next to a nice lady who played with Braxton most of the flight and thankfully he was good.  I'm sure we looked like parents of the year.  

Although we didn't get to do a lot of the fun things/dates we had planned, it was nice to have my parents watch the baby while we slept and laid around recovering all weekend (Brian caught the bug Thursday night).  We did get to squeeze in going to see the Hunger Games movie and lay out by the pool.... definitely making springtime trips to Phoenix (and the incredible weather) a tradition.

 Sometimes I can't believe he's really all mine... man, I love this boy!!
Braxton's first time swimming!!!  He wasn't sure what to think.  He didn't love it, but he didn't NOT like it. 
 Swimming: day 2