Braden's First Snow Day

The day after Christmas we got hit with 7 inches of snow.  Then, last night we got another 5.5 inches.  We have been waiting for snow so we could take Braden outside.  We got him all dressed up in his snow suit and headed out.  He loved it!  Now, that's all he wants to do.  Logan has not been feeling well, so he has been inside with Mommy. Here are a few pictures and a video:

Christmas 2012

We had such a great Christmas this year!  It was Logan's first Christmas and Braden's second - though he was so young last year that this felt like his first Christmas!  He was so excited to come into the living room Christmas morning and see all of the presents!  It took us most of the morning to open gifts because Braden would unwrap a gift and then just had to have it out of the package so he could play with it.  It was a struggle to get him to open gifts after he was playing, but we managed :)  We stayed at home as a family and had a great day.  We also got to stay home today since we got a bunch of snow and didn't go to work.  Here are some photos from Christmas:

Here is a video I put together of Christmas morning (my editing skills are not so great...)

We were also fortunate to celebrate Christmas with both of our families this year.  My parents came in the weekend before Christmas and we were able to celebrate together along with Nate, Angie, and Jackson.  We missed Matt - unfortunately he was not able to get off work :(  Here are some photos from the Davis Christmas:

We celebrate with the Hall's the Saturday before Christmas at our house.  We also celebrate with the extended family on Christmas Eve in Kokomo.  Here are some photos:

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

Braden is 18 Months Old!

Oh my, how the time flies.  18 months old.  Before I know it, he will be two, which doesn't seem at all possible!  He is a VERY busy boy, so getting him to hold still long enough for me to take his picture has not been very successful recently, so I have hardly any of him by himself this month!  

Stats

His pediatrician's office was so booked in December, that Braden doesn't go in for his 18 month appointment until January 2.  So, I don't have updated height and weight.  I feel like he has gained about 10 pounds though :)

Development

• Braden has made HUGE progress developmentally this month.  HUGE.
• He is able to twist lids off now.  He thinks it is so much fun, but he also wants lids off all the time.  So, we typically have a battle over why the sippy cup lids need to stay on.
• He can put straws into cups.
• His vocabulary is growing so fast!  He FINALLY learned how to say 'yes', which has helped so much in figuring out what he wants.  You can ask him if he wants to do something and he will say yes or no.  
• He likes to say 'help me' and will ask you for help when he needs it.
• He is learning more animals and what noises they make.
• He is starting to identify colors.
• He is also starting to identify letters.  I wrote the letter 'B' on a piece of paper the other day, and without me saying a word, Braden looked at it and said 'beeeeeee!'
• He knows when he pottys and poops now and is starting to identify that he needs a new diaper.  Some days it really bothers him that his diaper is dirty and other days he could care less.  We are a long way from potty training still, but this is one of the first signs that he recognizes what is happening.  Sometimes he will also say 'poop' BEFORE he goes.  This is very helpful when he is in the bath :)

Updates

• He is having a rough time deciding if he needs one or two naps a day.  Nap time is rough around here.
• Luckily he still sleeps pretty well at night.  However, on the days when he takes two naps, he gets up super early the next morning.  
• He and Rocco are best friends.  He calls for Rocco whenever he can't see him and always wants to feed him.  Rocco gets very concerned when Braden isn't home.
• He is doing more pretend play these days which is so fun to watch.
• He loves Logan still and likes to share his toys with him - for about a minute :)
• He is very attached to his blankie, which Mommy thinks is super cute.

Bubbles!

We have a newly discovered love for bubbles around here :)  The video gets more entertaining as it goes on...

Visiting With Santa

This was both boys first trip to visit Santa.  We were not too sure how Braden would do because he is starting to have some stranger anxiety.  However, all was good!  We didn't have a single tear, but he also refused to smile. We waited in line for about 45 minutes, and Braden was really good.  Of course, Kevin had to chase him around the mall for awhile :) All things considered, I'd say it was a successful visit!

A Few Videos...

Here are a few videos that we have taken recently.  Make sure you have your volume on and turned up!

This one is of Logan rolling over for the first time!  He's getting so big!

And this video is of Braden and Rocco.  Rocco goes crazy when he sees squirrels outside.  Braden loves to imitate Rocco!  It's really funny!

Logan is 4 Months Old!

Stats

• Weight: 13 pounds 9 ounces (25th percentile)
• Height: 24.75 inches (50th percentile)
• Head: 42.5cm
• For those of you that are curious, Logan is exactly 1 pound heavier than B was at 4 months old.  He is almost 1 inch shorter than B was :)

Updates/Development

• Logan is very happy!  He is constantly smiling, laughing, and shrieking.
• He is able to grasp on to toys with both hands and pull them to his mouth.
• Everything goes in the mouth - hands, toys, blankets, bibs... anything that he can grab.
• He rolls from stomach to back.  He can't quite go from back to stomach yet, but I'm sure it will happen soon.
• He is able to put himself to sleep now.  We lay him down when he is awake and he goes to sleep on his own.  We sometimes have to go put his paci back in his mouth, but other than that he doesn't need assistance.
• He still takes about four or five 30-45 minute naps a day.
• He sleeps from about 7:30pm until about 7am, getting up once to eat.
• He is still nursing, now exclusively.
• He also has a milk protein allergy, which is why he is not getting formula anymore.  It took awhile to figure it out because he was getting such a small amount of formula everyday.  Now that we figured it out and took away the formula, he seems to be better.  This also means I'll be nursing longer than I originally planned to because we don't want to pay for the million dollar Nutramigen formula that is made for babies with milk protein allergies.
• His allergy is not as severe as Braden's was - thankfully.

Pumpkin Patch and Halloween 2012

This year we decided it would be fun to go to a pumpkin patch and pick out our pumpkins.  Braden is at the age where everything is so interesting, so we knew he would have a blast.  We headed up to Noblesville and went to Stoney Creek Farms.  The place is awesome, but it was a Sunday so it was really crowded.  Maybe next year we can go during the week.  My parents were in town that weekend, so they came along too.  We had a good time and Braden had a blast!  Logan slept the entire time.  Braden thought that picking out pumpkins was the best thing EVER.  He would walk up to every pumpkin he saw, touch it, and say 'ooooo'!

Here are some photos from the pumpkin patch:

On the hayride to where the pumpkins were.  He LOVED the hayride.  

We were so excited for Halloween this year because we were going to take Braden trick-or-treating for the first time!  He was so cute dressed up as a cow!  He walked around saying 'moo'!  It was really cold outside, so we only took him to a few houses.  That's ok - he doesn't get to eat the candy, and we don't need it!  He had so much fun!  After we came back to the house he stayed in his costume and helped hand out candy.  He had a blast waving to all the trick-or-treaters and saying hi.  Logan was a giraffe and was super adorable as well!  Here are some pictures from Halloween:

Logan is 3 Months Old!

Logan turned 3 months old this past Monday!

Development

• He smiles ALL the time!  He is generally a very happy baby.  If he is crying he is either hungry or tired.  This is 100% different than Braden :)
• He still hates tummy time, but he will now hold his head way up and look around.
• He rolled over, twice, from his stomach to his back.  He has shown no interest in rolling from back to belly - probably because he hates being on his belly :)
• He can hold onto some toys for short periods of time.
• He tracks faces and objects with his eyes
• He will turn toward voices and sounds
• He coos and makes all sorts of noises now
• Just today we got a laugh out of him!

Updates

• I am still nursing him, but we did switch to formula at night.  Kevin gives him a formula bottle at bedtime and then when he gets up at night. Don't think that Kevin is getting the bad deal with giving him his bottle at night - I am still up pumping :)
• Since we added the formula, he goes to bed around 8:30/9:00 and often sleeps until 4 or 4:30.  He has a bottle and goes back to bed until maybe 7:30.  This is working out much better for us since I don't get home from work until 11:30pm.
• We are working on the napping - he still prefers to take several 30-40 minute naps a day.  If we are lucky... Like his brother, he fights naps.
• He loves to lay on a blanket and roll around and kick
• He LOVES Braden and is fascinated by him
• He is already wearing size 6 month clothes.  He's so big!  Look at that double chin!

Here are some photos from the past month:

This is one of my favorite pictures - they were snuggling!

Hanging out with Poppi at Nate and Angie's baby shower

Go Colts!

Daddy and his boys - Logan must have spit up on his Colts gear :)

The hands - always in the mouth!

Happy boy!  And that is my finger - his ear isn't deformed.

Braden was growling at Logan

Playing together already

So handsome!

I love his expression in this photo

He figured out how to hold onto his toy

Mommy and her boys!