Watch out, Mr. Independent coming through........

Only once you are a mom can you believe how fast infants and toddlers change (I only know the first 13 months, so I am sure I have more to learn), but I now know and believe that babies change by the hour. I watch Brayden and see something constantly that he can do that he couldn't do yesterday or even earlier that day. He is becoming quite the little Mr. Independent lately. He wants to walk around the stores and go where he wants to go, he wants to play outside all the time and do what he wants to do. The only time we have control is on walks. He enjoys being outside so much when he is in the stroller or his car he just hangs out.

This morning I did something I never thought I would do, but he wanted to be in the bathtub all by himself for the first time. So we put just a little water in, more than we wanted to because he knows how to turn it on and let him sit in there like a big boy. He enjoyed being all by himself!! He played and played!!

We went to my mom and dad's yesterday and after we left Brayden started saying "Gra-ma" just out of no where!!!

He is no longer afraid of the grass, and runs all around without shoes on even!! He crawls all over the dog and plays with him outside throwing his tennis balls for him!! He yells "NO MO MO" all the time, just like Mommy and Daddy does. OOOOOOOpps!

Donny and I started saying words to him at night and just keep repeating them until he says them back and he is doing really well with it. He won't really let us read books to him but will at least let us flip through the pages sometimes and point out one or two things!!

We got his 1 year picture proofs today and they turned out soooo cute, just like the rest. I have been looking forward to these ones because now I will get a coffee table book with all of my favorite pictures from his first year of pictures. These pictures make him look all grown up, it brought tears to my eyes to flip through them because I can't believe he is growing up to such a little man already!!



We Like Puddles

The other day my little prince charming was mad at me because I wouldn't let him play outside in the rain, so he sat at the back door hitting it with whatever he could find!! I felt bad, but it was really windy, lightening and thundering, and rain hard so it wasn't a good idea to go outside! After the rain I took him out on our porch which had a little puddle and sat him next to it, and he played and played. It kept him occupied for 25 minutes or so. He was soaked on his shorts, but they were thin enough when he ran up and down the sidewalks they dried pretty quick. I guess he doesn't need rainboots because he welcomes the puddles. It was so cute to watch him!!

My PERFECT baby!!

Oh my goodness, my precious little man just did the best thing ever!! After I changed his diaper, I wrapped it all up and he picked it up. I was unsure what he was going to do, so I followed him ofcourse afraid that he was going to get into some kind of trouble!! He took the diaper and put it in the diaper genie, I pushed it down, he closed it and then kicked it over. *not sure where he got the kicking part from, but oh well!! It's great, my analness that no diapers go anywhere but the diaper genie has paid off!! I will never have to worry again, he will show anyone and everyone where they go!!! I tried to get a picture but I wasn't fastest enough with the camera!! One to come I promise!! Gotta love it, they pick up everything from us, even what we don't think they watch!!

New Baby Pool

Thanks to Aunt Sheila, Uncle Jay, Jessi, Ashley, and Jacob for the great birthday gifts. Brayden got some use out of a few of them, and we got some good pictures. We blew up his new pool and we he woke up from his nap it was in the kitchen and he instantly liked it. He crawled all over it and into it. It was hilarious. The next day we put it outside with water in it and put him outside after his nap. He felt the water right away and it was cold so it took him a few minutes to warm up to it, but he played and played outside. Then we turned on his new bubble machine and had bubbles all over the back yard which was fun too. We got to watch him run and run all over the back yard. A great way to wear him out!! The dog even got into the pool and at first Brayden laughed pretty hard, then he got mad because he took up the whole pool, and he didn't want to share all of it!!  Donny and I had just as much fun watching him I think.

This week we are still thinking that he is teething, but we are unsure cause we won't stick our fingers in his mouth any more to see if we feel teeth. As far as I know he still only has 12 teeth.

He is also learning how to make his clothes dirty!! They never make it through the day any more clean. He gets dirty inside, outside, while eating......use your imagination and he could find a way to get dirty. Yesterday daycare changed his shirt because they put all of the boys on one side of the table and gave them cranberries and they didn't eat them they played with them!! I will need to become a stainmaster remover soon, or buy lots more clothes!! My mom will have some lessons to give me!!

13 Months Tomorrow

Well, I don't even know where to start this week. Brayden is getting so independent and wants to now do everything on his own, but he can't always figure it out. Which in turn makes him very mad.

 He is showing some signs of a not so smooth move into the next room at daycare. They keep him up for 6 hours and then want him to nap for only 2 hours. My poor little man is still a 2 nap per day kid especiallly when he has to be waken up at 6:30 in the am. He is still so little that I feel like it is ok for him to take 2 naps if he wants to.

I am pretty sure that his last 4 teeth are coming in, he has been drooling like crazy, chewing on anything and everything, and been kind of fussy here and there and I need to blame it on something!

He continues to love to be outside and is now walking even on the grass well!! He loves to be in his stroller on walks, or in his little car we push him around in. He also loves daddy to put him on his power wheels and make him go all around!!

Brayden got his second hair cut last week and thanks to suckers he made it through. This one took a little longer because we wanted her to cut the back more than last time. My little man is a champ!!

Brayden spent some time with Grandma Pam yesterday and his other grandma is going to watch him next week. He loves when grandmas babysit because they pay attention to only HIM the whole time!! He is so lucky to have such great grandparents!!!





First Day Went OK at Daycare!!!!!

Brayden went to daycare yesterday for the first day in his new room! It took Donny a little while to get out of there, but he left successfully without many tears. One of the familiar teachers was also moved to the new room so he went to her. Donny says that the new room looks like a lot more fun, but Brayden isn't totally convinced yet. I called twice yesterday while I was at work and the first time they told me he was a little tearful here and there, and that is expected but when I called he was sitting at the table eating with silverware and no high-chair. I couldn't believe it, but it is true!! The second time that I called he was playing and playing on the ground with some of his new friends, and the tears had been much better they said!! Well, I feel a little better with it, but will continue to call a few more times I'm sure.

This week Brayden has decided that he will lay down with me as long as I massage his feet. It relaxes him nicely, so I won't complain. Brayden is also starting to not like his food cut up into small pieces, he would rather have the bigger pieces and show us how those 12 teeth he has work!

Tomorrow we have his 1 Year Pictures. We are suppose to be doing them outside but it is suppose to be almost 100 degrees so they will be short and sweet for sure. Hopefully he does well. I was planning 3 outfits, but I think that we will go down to 2 because when he is outside for too long and gets to hot he ends up with these little bumps in patches around his body, then it goes away when he cools off. I am thinking it is a heat rash of some sort, but it doesn't seem to bother him at all, it doesn't itch or hurt!! The less clothes he wears the better so we will keep it simple!!