Well, life sure has been busy around here! So busy, in fact, I haven't blogged in 6 months! My little boy is growing and changing every single day. We celebrated his 1st birthday last month, I can't believe he is already 13 months old! I am saddened when I think about how quickly he is changing, but excited for his future as well.
Braxton started walking at 11 months old and has been on the run ever since. There is no question that he is ALL boy! If there is a toy in his sight that shouldn't be there he will pick it up and throw it behind him in one graceful (and dangerous!) swoop! He loves to be outside. If he could just stay out there all day, he would. There is no more holding Mommy's hand as we go down the sidewalk...no, he wants to do it himself, even if it means some skinned knees.
Braxton definitely inherited his Dad's musical passion. Whether it be the theme song to Spongebob Squarepants, a Mozart symphony, or Green Day, he finds the beat and bounces up and down to dance. He single handedly figured out how to get to the music screen on my cell phone and turn on his favorite tunes. Such a smart little boy.
Earlier this month while changing his diaper I asked "Braxton, where is Dad?" He looked over the the front door and whispered "Hi Dad." And so began the talking! He can now say "Mmmama" "Dad" and "No" his favorite thing to say, however, is still "Dad". Sometimes I say to him "Braxton, say Mom!" and he will answer "Dad!" ;) Damn kid!
In June we packed up the family and went to the cabin in Idaho. We
all had a great time, most of it was spent riding the 4-wheelers. Braxton LOVED them, which
I was very surprised to learn. I took him
for a short ride and when we came back and shut the engine off he started bawling. As soon as the engine was restarted he was happy again. We would take the kids out for an hour at a time and there were no complaints! Night time was a challenge, I should have thought ahead and brought a baby monitor, but instead I was stuck in the cabin after 9 pm or so. Next year should be better!
Last week I took for Braxton his first haircut. We went to Cookie Cutters, which was just adorable. He got to pick a movie to watch, (Elmo, of course), and picked out a truck to sit in. All was fine until we put the smock on him, then the tears started rolling and didn't stop until the end of the haircut! He got a sucker and balloon to remember his day by, and I kept a lock of his hair.
I wasn't entirely prepared for how different he would look without his baby hair. Now he has a faux-hawk , and an attitude to go with it. He left the house a baby and 15 minutes later he was a toddler!
Some of his favorite things to do these days include; walking outside, up and down the stairs. He loves to get into the kitchen drawers and throw out all of his bibs and then put them back again. He also loves reading his books! Whether he is reading them by himself on the floor, flipping through the pages, or sitting on Mommy's lap while I read to him...he just loves books. We spend one or two days per week at the library, mostly throwing the books around and then reading them when we get home. :)
One of my favorite things to watch him do is what I call his "pacifier game". When he was 6 months old he learned the joy of different pacifiers. He would wake up in the middle of the night and when I would go in to check on him I would find him sitting straight up with his eyes still closed...sort of rocking back and forth with a pacifier in his mouth. A couple seconds later he would drop the pacifier, pick up another one and put it in his mouth. This would go on and on until someone stopped him. He is now almost 14 months old and
he still plays this game. I love to put 3 or 4 pacifiers on the floor by him and just watch him try them all out.
The hardest thing we have encountered so far would have to be the sleeping issues. He has never slept through the night, not once. I was hoping it would just be something he outgrew and eventually would learn to sleep longer...however, it's only getting worse it seems. The last 2 weeks he has been waking up around midnight and most nights he will stay awake for hours at a time! Needless to say, Mom is exhausted!
Well, that catches us all up! I will try better to keep up on the blog. :)
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