So It's Been Awhile....Oops!

It's been much too long.  Not that anyone who's on Facebook can't see what our family has been up to, but this blog is much more personal.  Mommy has been a little busy with work and outside medical writing jobs, but I'm much more caught up these days and promise to update more regularly.  Time flies, and Braden has had many more exciting firsts.

First time really loving his jumper

Learning to pull to stand and cruise

First four-generation picture

First major injury

He discovered his insane love for dogs

Had his first guitar lesson from Grandpa

We moved into a new house with carpet for all those falls

First Halloween



And first steps!

Braden is now walking like a madman.  Took his first real steps at about 9.5 months and now, at 10.5 months, walks really fast, gets up from mid-floor without pulling up, and turns all over the place.  He also has three words: Mama, Dada, and dog (sounds more like "di-").  Three teeth so far....the two bottom ones and one top side tooth.  We're working on the two top middle teeth currently.  He's silly and clingy and loves to challenge us when we tell him "no."  He likes to tease us and make us chase him and loves to try everything that Mommy and Daddy are eating.  He's an amazingly brilliant little boy, and we are so grateful every day for him being in our lives.

Family Vacation

We went on our first vacation with Braden last week!  We visited Morro Bay and Santa Rosa and watched Daddy do his Vineman half-Ironman race. He finished above average for the entire race, so we're very proud of him! We also went sight-seeing and wine-tasting, and Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Allison, Muah, and Papa came with us.  After that week....oy, my advice is to not bring a 6 month old on vacation!  At least not a teething, hates-to-nap 6 month old.   Here's the pictorial:

We saw super-loud, barking sea lions,

Sat on Snoopy at the Charles Schultz museum in Santa Rosa,

Wore Daddy's swimcap for good luck before the race,

Congratulated Daddy by eating his medal,

Took a well-deserved nap with Daddy after the race,

And took a whack at Mommy at Pea Soup Andersen's!

Next time we travel, Braden will definitely be a little older!  We needed a post-vacation vacation when we got back....

I'm Going to Be A Mommy Again!!....

Not like that.  Haha, sorry, it was just too good to pass up.  I mean I'll be finishing my last few days of intense rotations on Wednesday, and I'll have a lot more time to actually spend playing with and feeding my son.  So, I'll be a Mommy again in that sense....definitely not in the "I'm pregnant again" sense.  Not for another year or so, at least.  But definitely looking forward to seeing my son on a more regular basis for awhile.

Father's Day was fun, Braden bought two new Daddy-centered onesies to wear on Daddy's special day.  He didn't have a lot of time to be creative because he's been working so hard, but Braden definitely loves his Daddy!!  He also spent time with Grandpa and Uncle Petey (who knows, he may be a father, too....??).  And as the ultimate Father's Day gift, he actually took a couple of knees forward crawling!!  We were very excited, Daddy even got some video of it.  That was a week ago, and since then, Braden's learned to get around very well.  Not always actual crawling, but slithering, army-crawling, and lurching forward and hitting his head in the process, too.  So exciting =)

In other fun firsts, Braden went to his first wedding yesterday.  And let out a gigantic toot during the ceremony that everyone heard.  I thought it was a poop, but it was just a loud, stinky toot.  Hehe.  That's my boy....

Time Flies

Coming up on our first Father's Day tomorrow....Braden bought his Daddy some cute presents, he's excited to show them to him!  Pictures to follow.

Time has flown by these past few months since going back to work.  I've had intermittently really rough schedules, it's been exhausting.  I come home more tired than you could imagine, but I don't want to sleep because I want to be with Braden.  And of course Daddy's exhausted being a House Dad, so it's rough all around.  He's also training for the Vineman half-Ironman next month in Napa which is extra hard! 

For the past couple weeks, Braden has been entering his separation anxiety stage.  We leave the room, he cries.  We come back, he's all big smiles.  When it comes time to go to bed, it's torture for us because he just cries and cries, and sometimes it's damn near impossible to get him to sleep.  It's heart-wrenching, he feels like we're abandoning him!  Too bad there's no reasoning with a 5 month old....

I think he's also beginning to teethe.  The chewing on things has gotten out of control!

 Random flowers,

 His toys,

 Our bunny, Simon,

 And, of course, Mommy.

Everything but the nice, cold teething ring.  Drool is everywhere!  I think I'm going to cry when he actually does pop his first tooth.  Breastfeeding may be over forever....

Also, in exciting Braden news (really, is there anything else?), he's thisclose to crawling.  We're up on our hands and knees, rocking back and forth.  We can turn round and round, and sometimes we even move backward.  Video camera is poised and ready!!

More Firsts....and the NICU

The NICU sucks.  I've never been an fan of intensive care, but I've managed to do two NICU months while pregnant -- not a big deal then.  Well, it's a HUGE deal now that I have a baby.  I can't walk through the place without running and sticking a pacifier in every crying baby's mouth or wiping up their spit-up.  When the parents aren't there, it makes me really sad.  All I want to do at the end of the day is run home and cuddle Braden.  Not to mention the 30 hour calls.  That's really rough.  Missing my baby and pumping every 2-3 hours sucks.

On a happier note, Braden celebrated his 4m birthday last week!  We celebrated by having our first rice cereal feeding.

You can see how well that went =)  We'll keep trying....

He has also learned how to roll over both ways.  And does so ad lib.  Putting him down to sleep on his back is now a serious process.  He rolls over onto his stomach immediately despite hating that position.  It's like some bizarre reflex that he can't control now.  He can roll back, but sometimes it just ends in a fit of crying.  I'm just terrified about him sleeping on his stomach, it's so unsafe.  As if I need one more reason to not sleep at night....

I'm so, so proud of him though.  He's growing up so fast.  Had his 4m vaccines today -- ouch!  He now weighs a whopping 12lbs 3oz.  Such a big guy!!!!

Firsts

So, it's been forever.  I had full intentions of updating this far more regularly!  Problem is, I'm back at work now.  One week left in my first rotation back.  It was really hard to leave Braden at first, but it's getting better.  Last night was the first night I didn't get to kiss him goodnight.  Ugh.  As if I need another reason to hate medicine....

Braden's had so many firsts this month!  It's absolutely amazing how fast they grow and develop. 

First bottle

First time reaching out for an object

First time meeting his brother and sister

First time raising up on his arms while on his tummy

And, of course, his first time being post-call....rough night.

He also had his first laugh.  Cory caught it on video, but I don't know how to upload video to this thing.  And I'm way too tired to try to figure it out! 

Cory's also having fun running Daddy daycare.  I'm not sure what's going to happen when he get a job.  I probably should be researching daycare options, but I'm in complete denial.  We also don't know what our budget is or even where we'll be living at that point.  I just can't stand the thought of someone that isn't family taking care of Braden during the day.  Breaks my heart.

Anyway.  Watching Braden's firsts has been such a blessing.  And I know there's still so many more to come!  I'm so proud of our Big Guy and love watching him grow, but I'm also so sad that he's growing so fast.  Oh, well, guess we'll just have to have more babies soon!

Getting Started

So, I figured now that our son, Braden, has finally arrived (over two months ago....yes, I'm a little slow), we finally have something in our lives worth occasionally posting to a blog. 

He was born January 12, 2010, and is perfect in every way.  He's a peanut -- born at 6lb 4oz, but he's been gaining weight well.  He now weighs a whopping 9lb 1.5oz!!  I know, what a big guy.  Cory and I are so happy with him.  Every day there's a little something different that he does, and we always look forward to seeing what that is!  Sitting and playing with him, listening to him coo, watching him smile....it never gets old.  I could do it all day long.  Problem is, I go back to work in two weeks, and I'm dreading not being with him all the time.  But nevermind that, this isn't going to be a blog about my personal problems  =)

I suppose that's all for now.  But I promise I'll try to keep this current and post fun, cute vignettes whenever possible.