Another month in review

Ok, so I have been really bad about updating the blog lately. Actually I have been pretty bad about taking pictures too. So let me catch you up on what has been going on in our lives over the past month. After Brayden's first birthday, we had a ton of doctors appointments for follow ups. First the neurologist's office. Great news there, Brayden has been released from his care!!! He said that since he hasn't had a seizure since birth and he is off his medicine there is no need for him to see him again unless something arises. Next off to the NICU follow up clinic. There they test for milestones at his age to make sure there is no delay. Jon and I sat in the room while they did the tests, though we didn't really understand them since it really looked like they were just playing. He passed all of the tests at average to above average, so great news there. Last stop the pediatricians. Nothing too exciting there just the usual measuring and shots. He is 31 inches tall, 90%, and a thin 20lb 9 oz, 25 %. Doctor said he is going to be tall and skinny, just like daddy. The last bit of good news that we got was that Brayden has been released from physical therapy!! So needless to say we had so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. It is such a great relief to know that things are going well with his health and development.

On to the pictures...

Just hamming it up for the camera

We had a quick trip to Indy for the Colts game and a visit with Uncle Joey and Heather

Cousin Maddie at Thanksgiving, love the pigtails!

Eating Thanksgiving dinner alone

Helping Maddie take a call

Then we decided to have laundry basket rides

Looks like one satisfied rider

Just reading. By the way the kid loves to have books read to him.

Ride'm Cowboy

We visited Santa,but that didn't go so well. First Maddie went, you can tell by her expression she wasn't so pleased with Santa.

Then the cousins took a picture

Then it was Brayden's turn. Not as good as lasts year sleeping picture, but still a pretty priceless expression.

Brayden and Colin enjoy giving each other rides on the firetruck.

Brayden got a drumset from his friend Benjamin. Let's just say there has been a lot of "NO's" when it comes to the drumsticks and mommy's glass coffee table. He just was checking out the inside of the drum here.

Just some funny videos of him lately. He is definitely comprehending everything we say. If we say bath, the kid goes nuts. He runs to the bathroom door and dances until we give him a bath.

Here is Brayden just being a boy. He is trying to pick up two heavy toys at once and gets very frustrated that he can't do it. His facial expressions at the end are hilarious.

Happy 1st Birthday Brayden!!!

I can't believe one year has passed since the birth of Brayden. I know people say that it goes by so fast and your right it does go by so fast. I put together a collection of pictures, one picture from each month of life to remember quickly the past year.

Nov 9, 2008

1 Month

2 Months


3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

1 Year Old!!!

Ok, so maybe the pictures represent the best over the years. I am not going to lie, there were definitely some very tough times. Especially having to face the fact that your baby had a stroke at birth. He has done physical therapy since he was about 3 months old and just last week the physical therapist said that he can be dismissed from the program. If you saw him on the playground running around, you would never know what we went through with him when he was born. He is a tough little guy and already has shown us in the past year that he is a fighter and can get through it. He has shown us how blessed we are to have him in our life. It is amazing how excited he gets every morning to see us, it just melts your heart. Jon and I say all the time, I don't know what we did before Brayden. He is our life and has brought so much joy and meaning to it. Happy Birthday Brayden. We love you!!!


Ok, enough sentimental stuff. Here are pictures from the last couple weeks.

Just Monkeying around

We had a few birthday celebrations over the past couple weeks. Things needed for an awesome birthday party: One large shinny banner with Happy Birthday on it...

Lots of birthday cards....

Of course family, Cousin Mattie and Aunt Jamie....

One large riding toy....

One push toy.....

A cell phone....

And trying some cake for the first time.

Ok so it went better the second time.

Enjoying the nice weather outside.

Like father, like son

October update...

Brayden has been so busy lately. He is walking, or should I say running everywhere. It is amazing how quickly he goes from walking with his arms out trying to balance, to literally running. He just keeps amazing us on how much he is now understanding what we are asking him. He is very good at "where is". So far he can locate ducky, the ball, the book snuggle-puppy, his water, the bathtub and of course his golf clubs. It is so funny because if you ask him something that he doesn't know he looks at you and then says "huh". Very cute. The best one he does is, can you find the diapers? He will go to his room and pull out a diaper from the diaper holder and bring it to us. If only he could reach the wipes! I don't seem to be taking a lot of pictures lately, simply because he doesn't stay still long enough for me to capture the image. Here are a few picture over the last few weeks.

On a side note, Grandpa Dave had his prostate removed over a week ago due to cancer. Jon made the trip out to Columbus to be with his dad, but we didn't think Brayden would do so well on a 6 hour car ride and a few days stuck in a hospital, so we stayed back. The surgery went well and Dave is home recovering. Please keep him in your thoughts for a speedy recovery.

We got to celebrate Colin's 1st birthday at the beginning of the month. Brayden loves party hats, doesn't look like Colin likes them though.

We also got to celebrate my Aunt Dorothy's birthday with all of her family. (We took pictures, I just don't have them yet).

Braydn was trying to steal Colin's I'm 1 button.

It is so funny to have Brayden walking around. Since we have hard wood floors, he hardly every wears socks or shoes in the house. So we are trying to get him used to wearing shoes and socks. He totally freaks out when you put them on and then when you try to stand him up, he won't. So right now he only wears the little slipper shoes out. Also funny story Brayden refuses to walk anywhere else but our house. This weekend we opened the door and tried to have him walk into the hallway and he refused to. He just stood at the front door and whinned until you picked him up. So then we tried it again when we got outside, but no, he won't walk outside. He just stands or throws himself down until you pick him up. I guess he figured out that he likes the free rides he receives from us. So not only do we have to get him used to shoes, but we have to have him learn to walk outside.

Brayden got in his top four teeth all at the same time, so he wasn't feeling so good then. Here is his "old man" face. I guess he was getting used to his new teeth.

Brayden has been sleeping on his face with his butt up in the air and this is what he looks like when he gets up. Needless to say we got his hair cut a couple days ago because it was so long.

Brayden cuddling with his favorite things: a bottle, ducky, and the remote control. Life is good.

We have been signing to Brayden since he was about 4 months and just in the past month he has started signing back to us.

Small steps...

Brayden has been trying really hard to walk lately. He is pretty consistent with it. We were at 3-4 steps for about a week and now we can get him up to about 15 steps at a time. Most of the time we still have to tease him with a cell phone or something to make him come to us, but he does!! He has no fear what-so-ever. He falls every which way and doesn't seem to be bothered at all. I am sure we will have a full fledged walker here in the next week or two. I am not sure we are ready for that. Actually I take that back, we will have a runner, not a walker on our hands. The kid is in such a hurry and he gets way too excited and moves as quickly as he can. Here are just a couple pictures from the past weeks. I seem to be getting bad about taking pictures lately.

Brayden and Colin eating breakfast. It is so cute, whoever is in the chair the other one (whether they have eaten already or not), comes to the chair and shares the food.

Look at our Sheriff, he even has spurs on his outfit!!

Brayden Walking!!!

Labor Day Weekend

Brayden has been a ball of energy these days. He is discovering everything!!! He has now learned how to open and close all of the cupboards. It is hilarious, he opens it up, looks inside, and then gives you this look like "oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever". And what did he discover, tupperware. Who needs toys theses days, he plays more with the tupperware, empty boxes, and his puffs containers.

Brayden got a taste of daycare last week for a couple days. Our nanny went on vacation, so Jon took off a day and stayed home with him and then my mom helped out the other day. So for two days, we put Brayden in back up daycare. I am sure Brayden had a ball, but mommy and daddy got the consequences of daycare at home. I didn't know how he would do since he is really shy when it comes to strangers. So when I dropped him off, I was bracing for melt down. It never happened, he saw all the toys and he was off. Not one tear was shed. They even let us call in and check in on him, and they said everything was fine. Ok, I guess if he is eating, playing, and sleeping, then there is not much too it. Well Jon picked him up the first day, and he was a dirty mess. Come to find out they let him feed himself his yogurt and carrots. They said he only had about 2 bites, but about 7 were on his shirt. I haven't yet ventured to let a 9 month old feed himself spoon things. So we laughed about it and sent him back the second day with dark clothes and a bib. His report said he only took 2 thirty minute naps, yikes!! The best part was that they let Brayden play with markers. He came home with markers all over his hands and sure enough in his diaper bag was his picture that he made us. Once again, not quite sure I would allow my 9 month old to have markers. The poor guy gets so easily distracted that if there are toys he will play. So he came home Thursday so overtired, we didn't know what to do. He just screamed at the top of his lungs. The only way he would sleep was in the car, so at midnight, Jon and I are out driving in the pouring rain to get him to sleep. Finally asleep, he woke up again at 330 am and couldn't be consoled, so back in the car we went till he was sound asleep. So needless to say, we are not taking him back to daycare anytime soon. At least until he can tell us how his day went.

On a happier note, Brayden is trying so hard to walk. He definitely gets 2-3 steps in and then falls. He climbs up on everything, we caught him yesterday trying to climb up onto the couch. He is very vocal and says ma-ma, to just about everything. He has also learned to wave bye, so anytime you say it, the wave comes. It is very cute. Here are some pictures from the past couple of weeks.

Brayden hamming it up for the cameras

We went to the petting zoo and Jon and Brayden got to feed a cow

Brayden thought it was so funny!!

Look at that smile, a lot of gum and a little teeth

Is there something wrong with my hair guys?

Brayden reading the Sunday paper

We went apple picking today, he couldn't decide if he liked the taste of apples.

Brayden in his rocking chair.

Mommy and Brayden, at this point he wanted off.

He has been so active these days, the poor kid passes out on his face from exhaustion.

I promise these socks are clean and unworn, I just love his giggle

Brayden started doing this angry face about two days ago. He does it when he gets frustrated and can't get what he wants. Unfortunately Jon and I think it is hilarious. If we make a funny face to him he will do it back to us. The video doesn't do it justice, it is so funny in person.