OK I might be the most horrible at the blogging lately! Sorry for all of you that have been anxiously anticipating the arrival of the ever so late blog.. :)

Well what a month it has been for the little guy! He is truly finding himself between the shrill shrieks of enjoyment to the “what are you thinking” looks that he can give :). SO many changes and his wonderful little personality coming through more and more. HOWEVER, he doesn’t wish to roll or be any sorts of trying to be mobile. He is perfectly content being held :)… I had to give him a sweet smile and shake of the head as I looked at him while answering the nurse’s development questions :). Nope… yeah Nope…we hate tummy time and are not afraid to show it, right Brady lol. Oh well.. she giggled too and reassured me that he was doing just fine :). It really didn’t matter to me what she said though… I REFUSE to get all worked up if he doesn’t hit a milestone when the books say he should, infact I don’t even read about it or care to know. I will be concerned when the doctor tells me I should :)…. Until then, we are on his pace. But MAAANNNN, I want a pic of him pushing up so bad! EVERYONE’S DOIN’ IT! Come on little buddy! Those only make the cutest pics ever :)!

I had to endure shots by myself this round! Luck would have it that Brad, who has been off on Mondays, had to work this Monday. Overall that is good because they are busy again to where they need to work full weeks, but when it came to having to take Brady to have his shots I was on my own! Man, I had anxiety through the roof about it! As I said would happen, it was all energy wasted, and once it was done I once again realized that I worried for nothing. In all honesty my anxiety really calmed itself when I walked into the waiting room and there sat a woman with the strength of 100 women, sitting there feeding twins in a double stroller at the same time. I then realized, as I do so much in life- IT CAN ALWAYS BE WORSE, BE THANKFUL FOR YOUR SITUATION! :) She was there for the exact same reason as I was, and with double the sad number of babies when the nurse pricker came in :)… They were right across the hall and I heard them…. So sad. Overall he was a little crankier yesterday during the day, and then last night (Tuesday) (or I should say this morning, make that Wednesday :)) he went down around 8 but then woke up at midnight and then THREE and wanted to eat and I gave him a little Tylenol. All seemed well after that!

I have been learning a lot about baby sleep cycles and kinda incorporating that into bug’s sleep, but sometimes it works oh about as good as NADA. He is doing really well at night putting himself down… although I swear sometimes they have eyelids of steel because it is not unusual for him to last sometimes 40 minutes just playing before he conks out! If he lasts an hour (and it isn’t bedtime!) I let him win and get him out. Stamina I tell ya…

There are new noises, and new attitudes every day from him :).. He, sadly, is learning very well how to express himself :).

Sorry this update is quite “short-winded” for me :).. my brain is fried but I wanted to do an update and get some new pics and news up! I didn’t realize it had been 2 weeks since I posted!! YIKES! Can you tell I am trying not to get on the internet as much at work, now when do I have time to blog! :) Enjoy the pics! I know that is the best part about these blogs anyways, not my witty wit :)




CLYDE: MOMMA, THIS THING IS MAKIN' THAT NOISE AGAIN!
Brady nooooo likie tummy time :).



My little poser... little alfalfa Bevo :)



Nothing beats the taste of "fist" :)



Watching the Ags go down in a roar of flames... :(

Too early for a grill???

I hate to say it is my scapegoat, but it sure is my “woobie” (security blanket for all of you non Mr. Mom movie watchers **wink wink**)


that I run to if there is an inkling of something wrong with little buggie..(new nickname- immersed from Lovebug.. BUG… and now buggie.. and who knows what next week)- TEETHING. I loooove to blame any tear, or upset little feeling on teething. I think it mainly goes back to teeth, and my hate of teeth pain… I can’t stand the fact that he is going to have those big burly white things poke through his sweet little gums.

Poor baby can’t just have a “bad day” without me looking into the deepest parts of google.com trying to find out what could possibly be wrong with my sweet baby. That is if I convince myself that it is not tooth pain… I kill myself lately with all the worrying and stressing that I do… but I just can’t help it. It’s like a bad addiction. REALLY BAD!

Sunday night we had a really hard time getting him to stay asleep.. Usually what happens (if I repeat from previous posts please do the following… slowly hit the down arrow or move your finger down over the scroll button- this will move you down the page and you will not have to read what I repeat :)) is we get him ready for bed… either giving him a bath if he did not have one at Gigi’s, or just get him changed into jammies. Once he is jammied up I give him his bottle. I really enjoy this time… even though I am in there for almost an hour with the whole bottle process I don’t mind one bit. I take my time giving him his bottle, burping for a while between- trying to get any last minute burps out before hitting the sack for the long (or so we hope) slumber, and then I hold him upright for 20-30 minutes so that the reflux monster hopefully stays down in the belly where it should be. Well, this is sort of a double edged sword.. Holding him for that long, inevitably he is going to crack those eyes open when I try to lay him in his crib.. It’s funny how you can hold them “too long” but you can.. and yea it’s really not funny when you are ready for bed and the eyelids start creeping open.. DANGIT! So before he even has a chance to rile himself up, get those arms going which still like to come out and party (get crazy moving and jerking) every once in a while, and legs bouncing- I pick him up.. bounce him for 5-10 MORE minutes, and then we are good.. the rest of the night he is out. UUUUUHHHHH someone forgot to read that memo Sunday night.

We decided that we would start trying to jiggle some of this cellulite off by walking in the evenings now that the time has changed and we have more after work daylight.. so unlike all other efforts to work out with my “start Monday” rule, and their failures- WE STARTED SUNDAY (please do not ask if we went yesterday, I WAS TIRED FROM THE STORY YOU ARE FIXING TO READ OK! ;) ). He usually takes a nap anywhere between 6-7:30 which I try to not let it be longer than 30 minutes.. just something to give him a little rest so that he doesn’t get too tired for bedtime as he seems to need a little nap. Well in make believe world.. I was thinking that if we started taking our walk around 7 that it could then turn into his nap time as well.. we could get home.. bathe him… and then go with our normal routine. Well we tried this Sunday… well let’s just say that make believe world became nightmare reality when it came to mommy’s bedtime!

So we take off on a VERY short stroll on Sunday just seeing how he would do.. he was “rollin” around town big boy style.. no carrier needed for our big boy.

He was just as excited as can be.. kickin’ those legs as fast as one can and sit stationary :)… Arms were goin… he was having a grand time. Well we get home and get the bath going as little guy started getting a little grumpy.. keep in mind NO NAP in the evening.. he wasn’t missing a thing on the walk :). I am not sure what even happened after the bath.. it is all a blur :). What didn’t happen was Buggie going to sleep! He was up and down from his first slurp of the bottle at 8, until his last “awakening” at 10:50. It’s amazing how before he spoiled me.. I felt like one gazillion dollars getting sleep from 11 pm to 5 am. NOW, I felt like I had one hundred drinks the night before, that kind of tired! Although I must say for all those with a judgemental slanted eyebrow at that statement, no I have never had that many drinks in one night…. 97 but NEVER 100 ;). He was letting out little cries, nothing of the painful shriek when his reflux was bad but just a short WHA… something isn’t right type of cry. I would go back in and bounce him back to sleep and he would go right back to sleep. Finally at 11 I laid down for the night, only to have a sound of sucking my brain out on the pillow beside me, but that is another post, another day :) of telling that story. He had some super rosey cheeks.. I know that teething can make their cheeks rosey… he didn’t have a temp. and he was cool on the rest of his body.. .so who knows. He is drooling like nobody’s business and what he lays his eyes on really needs to be in his mouth in his opinion :). Last night I still felt “hungover tired” so we didn’t go on the walk, he got his nap from 7-7:30… bath.. and we were eating at 8:20… started getting a little fussy so I gave him a couple of Hylands teething tablets that help with pain and some night time oragel and wha-la.. 5 this morning is when I woke up :). He did great, so I am not sure if teething is what it is or not but the remedies I gave him for that seemed to help.

We started playing in the jumper/entertainer! He loves it! OK so I should have picked one of the smiley pics to emphasize the "loving it" part.


I can’t believe how well it holds him up and steady! He is still learning hand and eye coordination…. But he is learning very quickly! It’s amazing how many things that I am scared to try because maybe he isn’t old enough, he loves to do and does well. I swear they don’t get enough credit for what they are capable of doing!

He is sitting up really well, assisted of course! He has finally started liking his bumbo!!





I am so excited for this! This is the one thing that I have that I want him to love and he just plain hated it before. Maybe it was the teething pacifier thingy that I was giving to him in the bumbo that made him happy the other day, but as far as momma is concerned IT WAS THE BUMBO. :) I mean is this not the most hysterical face.. like yeah this is loads of fun mom lol.


He isn’t as intrigued with “the thumb” as he was last week.. I am hoping only because he got bored and not that it has been broken up with. He just really doesn’t want anything to do with the paci.. it really makes me sad.. I had so many funny pictures in my head with these..


But I guess it is one thing that we will not have to fight with when he gets older and it is time for no more paci.

He is getting suuuuuch long eyelashes.. Cover Girl herself would be jealous!



HMMMMM…. Things to ponder… I mean you have to wonder what is racing through his beautiful mind.

To suck or not to suck…

Oh isn’t that the question of the day most days??? OK maybe just me :)… But mine is in a much non-innocent manner :).

I am speaking in regards to sweet lovebug and his new BFF- THE THUMB. We have been doing some fist suckin’ for a while, but recently Brady(and with some motivation from Grammy last Sunday putting his thumb in his mouth hahaha) has discovered that this fist that he has been sucking on has contents when unfolded that he is in love with. The thumb… he is outright sucking on that little sucker!! Sometimes just the end nubbin’ gets the suckling but more and more it is the whole deal getting the schlobbin! The goal of getting that thumb in the mouth has overran the bottle even, which is just an unknown occurance in our household! The boy loves to eat, but now the battle is on for the nipple to beat the fist to the mouth! One free moment and break, and the nipple will lose that battle :). It is actually really cute, and boy oh boy am I excited for the cuuuuute thumb sucking pictures I am going to have! I love those! This new thumb sucking could actually be a God send for us as well since I think he forgot to tell us that he has “broken up” with the pacifier. He doesn’t seem to have quite the attraction as he used to….. I am able to still get him to be comforted ever now and again with it, but I think he more loves to feel that nipple on his gums :)… No toofs yet though :)… He has spurts now and again where we think that he “might” be teething but no white spots or bumps just yet! It is nice to know that maybe, just maybe, he will have a thumb to self pacify himself with here pretty soon! It's crazy how hard stuff is for these little angels as they learn in life! I mean really how hard is it to put your thumb in your mouth :).... harder then you think when you are 3.5 months old :)

The attempts.....





He is outright laughing.. and us “play” coughing to him is hysterical!! So for the love of God, in the future, do not choke infront of him – HE WILL LAUGH ATCHA! :) I am guessing we don’t have a doctor on our hands.. ;) I swear we do some of the most ridiculous things trying to get that laugh outta him… Here is proof that choking = FUNNY… ignore the hacking dog sound in the background :)..



We have been successful with taking away the swaddling at night! Man I was scared to try too… I saw those good night sleeps that he has faaaaading away the second we tried.. But once again he has slammed in my face- WRONG AGAIN MOMMA! It was getting to be ridiculous how he would try and try and try, which woke him up more and more and more.. when trying to get out of the swaddle. I mean that is the point of the swaddle isn’t it? To comfort? Help him sleep? I have always wondered when we would take away the swaddle… although I was in no rush.. if it comforted him then why… but that fight that he had every night gruntin’ and gruntin’… that meant no more, no thank you, get this off of me… Sleep and comfort, this has been the purpose of the swaddle for us anyways, and I will NEVER not appreciate the swaddle! I love that he was one that loved the swaddle… I think it helped us transition him to his crib quicker because he felt all wrapped up and snuggily still in the GIGANTO BED :) (6 weeks on the dot I made myself put him in his crib!), helped him to sleep through the night quicker (7-8 weeks we were sleeping through!), and a resort to end a fit! Still, even now if he is having a bit of a grumpy battle wrapping him up in a blanket, even if it is only over his arms, HE LOSES THAT BATTLE 99% OF THE TIME and settles down. He can’t fight those heavy eyelids when the swaddle is incorporated :). I am very thankful that we have that to fall back on… among the other one million things that I am thankful for :). He is really being so good to us!

We are taking the unswaddling very slowly… he is still being swaddled for naps. He doesn’t seem to fight that swaddle as much as he does the night time. Maybe because he is down longer at night I suppose? He is still putting himself to sleep when Gigi lays his sleepy self down for naps… swaddled of course. I am going to work with him this weekend on napping without the swaddle. We are transitioning him out of the swaddle and into a “sleep bag” which is this….. (he actually has it on in the video above..), he actually sleeps like this too lol...




We have put him in the sleep bag before and he doesn’t seem to mind it at all. As long as the arms can go in every direction he would like he seems to be content, yet feel snuggled with having some sort of “blanket” around him. At nights right now we are successful with him sleeping through the night while unswaddled but that is also with me putting him to sleep. We started a “routine” in which we start getting him ready for bed around 8 if we bathe him (most of the time when I pick him up, his GiGi has him smellin’ pretty from bathing him most afternoons :) ) and taking his last bottle between 8:30 or 9. I know that it won’t always be the same but with all the things I have read about how babies love routines and such.. I thought that although I think he is too young for SET TIMES on his bottles and naps (although he is getting consistent with his naps during the day a lot, with Gigi that is.. mom and dad on the weekends = HERE KITTY KITTY…. Cat naps it is :), Gigi gets 3 hour naps!), I thought it might be good to get somewhat of a bedtime routine down as he gets older. We are still battling with a little reflux although it seems to be so much better! What that means is that after that last bottle, I have to hold him upright for 20-30 minutes (big time reflux rule :), and I firmly believe that it helps) so that all acid stays down in that belly… So what that long story is getting at that I am telling is (hahaha) he is not being put down without the swaddle to put himself to sleep. That is the next goal….. getting him to put himself to sleep. He can do it, I know he can… However, I right now I can’t imagine the “cry it out” method, even when he gets older (I think they talk about doing the cry it out method if you have to when they are 6 months). I just really hope he does all this like he has done so wonderfully with everything else! There have not been many times that he is not able to “recomfort” himself at night without the swaddle now. Although, please do not pay attention to the cup of coffee that I am drinking at 3:20 in the afternoon because one of the “there have not been many times” was this morning hahaha! So that is the next step is getting him to put himself to sleep and to be ok laying him down drowsy without being swaddled! I am going to try that on his nap times this weekend and see what happens. Right now I am all about swaddling during naps… the better sleep he gets during the day, the happier he is and the better that he sleeps at night! Crazy how that happens!

WHAT THE! Snow… and lots of it! Of course we had to take him into the “blizzard” since he probably won’t be in snow of this sort for many a years :).

GIGI'S HOUSE HAD LOTS O WHITE STUFF!


DADDY MADE A "MINI SNOW MAN" LOL...


I think right about now Brady is like ARE YOU KIDDING HOW COLD IT IS..


I hope everyone is well.. my wit button is broken today but I wanted to get a blog out about the new successes that our little Hulk is accomplishing.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!! XOXOXO!