Father's Day and First Laughs

This weekend we got to celebrate Andy's first father's day! He decided that he wanted to go to lunch at Steamwork's Brewery downtown and then wander around the shops for a bit. The weather was beautiful and we were able to sit out on the patio and enjoy it. After lunch we walked around before treating ourselves to shakes at Cold Stone Creamery. We actually spent part of both days this weekend downtown. There was a car show and festival down there on Saturday. I love taking Braylon out and about. We always run into friends who love getting to see him. We get a lot of strangers stopping us to admire him too. And I absolutely love the nice comments people make about what a good baby he is and how beautiful those huge, blue eyes are. Of course like all parents we get our fair share of stupid comments too and this weekend was no exception. The first was was directed at Andy. He was holding happy little Bray and hanging out in the front of a boutique while I tried on a shirt in the dressing room. A woman our age walked in and immediately asked "where's his mom?". Andy said that the way she said it was like she thought Andy had no business holding his own son! The next one wasn't actually directed to us - it was just said loud enough to make sure that we overheard. A woman and her teenage daughter walked past us on the street. Braylon was in his stroller hugging his stuffed mouse. The girl commented on how cute Bray was and then asked her mom if she looked like that when she was that little. Her mom said "yes except you weren't allowed to play with stuffed animals when you were that little because a baby that young might choke"!

A couple of days ago Andy got Braylon to really laugh for the first time! I wish we had it on video - it was way too funny. Andy was getting him ready for his bath and undressing him. When he started blowing on his stomach Bray just started cracking up. It was awesome! He has been giggling a little here and there for a long time but this was the first time he just kept laughing out loud. Needless to say every bath since then we have been trying to get him to laugh like that again! I think we can add stomach kisses and funny noises to our nightly bathtime routine now!

Stats

Name: Braylon Brant Vanous
Age: 4 months
Weight: 13 pounds - 20th percentile
Height: 2 feet, 1 inch - 50th percentile
Eyes: bright blue
Hair: light brown/dark blond
Likes: gagging myself with my own hands, napping in my parent's arms
Dislikes: 4 month shots :(
Favorite food: milk

4 Months

My how things have changed! Braylon turned 4 months old on June 13th. It is so amazing to look back at not only how he has changed but how our life in general has changed. I never knew how one little person could make me so happy. Just look at the glow on my face in this photo. Okay so I used the "glow" enhancer in my photo editor - but still! I have never been a morning person but this little guy makes me look forward to my mornings because he almost always wakes up so happy...


Suddenly we look forward to the weekends so that we have time to assemble the jumperoo that we have been so excited for Bray to be big enough to use. I look forward to bed time so that I can lay there and watch my son sleeping. He is so beautiful and peaceful... And I live to take pictures of him as he grows and changes. You can tell from the expression on Bray's face that he loves it too...


And just like everyone said - our dogs are totally neglected now. Poor little puppies...

Braylon & his Mousey

Look at that big boy! Yesterday I went to the hospital to visit a friend who had just had her baby. It made me realize how big Braylon has gotten in the last 3 months! He has almost doubled in size and developed the sweetest little personality. A few nights ago we decided it was time to start transitioning him into his co-sleeper at night. He is doing so well. I wish I could say the same for myself! I find myself waking up just to look at him and being anxious for his 3 or 4 a.m. feeding so that I have the excuse I need to put him back in bed with us. For someone who swore she was never going to get in the habit of sleeping with her baby I sure am having a hard time letting him sleep on his own!

He has become super expressive and it is so easy to get him to smile and laugh! I love all the funny little faces that he makes. Lately he has been smiling at me when he is trying to fall asleep. He will almost be out and then he half opens his eyes. When he sees me he gets a huge smile on his face. I've got to tell you - there is NOTHING like being adored by your baby boy.

Happy Friday!

3 Months

Wow - I seriously suck at keeping my blog up to date. For as much as I love reading blogs and seeing new posts everyday it is pretty ridiculous that I post once a month. I will try to do better! I had a fabulous 1st Mother's Day with my boys. Braylon is doing great - he is 2 feet tall and weighs 13 1/2 pounds! We have a pretty good routine down so things are surprisingly easy. It is rough working full time and taking Braylon with me but hopefully we will find a solution to that soon. We are so happy that spring is here though so that helps to keep me from losing it!

2 Months Young

Little "B" turned 2 months yesterday, the day after his first Easter! He goes to the doctor tomorrow so we will find out then how big he has gotten. We spent the weekend getting some of our much overdue "to-do" list done. One of the more fun projects on the list was putting Braylon's hand and foot prints on some 5 inch square canvases that I painted. The hand was challenging - I didn't think how difficult it would be to get a sleeping baby to unclench his fist - but they turned out awesome and it was totally worth it.

Braylon is such a good baby - we feel super lucky. He is super easy going and usually only wakes up once or twice at night to nurse. He really only fusses when he has a dirty diaper or when he is hungry (oh yeah - or if his mom eats tomatoes or cabbage!). He is low maintenance for sure. I think the fact that we he is still sleeping with us and that I wear him in his Moby wrap a lot has a lot to do with how content he is. He gets to come to work with me so he gets my attention all day long too. It really is much easier than I thought it would be to take care of him and work at the same time.

He is smiling a ton (but has already learned how to stop as soon as I grab the camera). I've gotten a few shots of the elusive smiles but I still haven't captured his huge "something is SUPER funny" smile. When he does that one it looks like you should hear him cracking up laughing even though no noise is coming out of him! It's awesome. I'll leave you with some photos from Easter...