Changing Everyday

My little baby is growing up SO fast! I can't believe that on Monday he will be 12 weeks old! It seems like just yesterday that the hospital called & told us to come start the induction. The time has really flown by.

He is holding his head up on his own 98% of the time now. The only time that his head really flops & needs support is when he is tired. Bath time has gotten easier & Brayden loves to "float" in the water with me holding him up. He kicks his little legs and splashes his hands. When you put him on his tummy, he will lift his head & try to look around. He is still working on really pulling his head up & pushing up on his arms, but can do this if he really tries. It all depends on his mood.

Trying to lift his head to look around


If you put Brayden in his bouncy seat or on his floor mat, he will bat at the hanging critters to activate the lights and music. He has learned quickly that the more he moves around the longer the lights and music will stay on.

Talking to the lights & music


Brayden also loves to be sung to. No, I can not carry a tune, but he doesn't seem to care. On a daily basis, I sing the ABC song and also do the alphabet in sign language. I have read that doing signs from an early age helps with general language development, so why not give it a try. We sing lots of silly songs & he coos, smiles, and laughs at me. Matt likes to make silly faces & noises at Brayden & get the same deep belly laughs. They are great!!! One day I will get them on video & post them.

Watching sports with Daddy

Brayden has always enjoyed sitting with Matt and watching football and/or basketball. Today, I propped him up on the couch and took he picture while watching basketball. He looks like a little grown man in the pictures. At one point, I must have been blocking the TV, because he leaned over like he was trying to see around me :)

Bottle Update

The good news is that today, Brayden has taken a bottle 3 times (for a total of 6 ounces) with very little fuss!!! One time he even took it from me! You just don't know how happy this makes me. Yes, I love breastfeeding, but I was getting really concerned about how Brayden would adjust to daycare if he was still refusing to take a bottle. I just hope & pray that Brayden continues to take a bottle as well as he did today.

YEAH FOR BRAYDEN!!!

Baby Pictures

I finally got a few baby pcitures of me and Matt so that we can see who Brayden looks more like. After comparing our baby pictures to Brayden, we both agree that overall, Brayden looks more like Matt. Let us know what you think! Either way, he is ADORABLE!!

Matt at about 6 months


Jennifer at about 5 months

Brayden and Vince meet!

Yesterday, Brayden and I went to Burlington to meet Vince and to visit with Beth & Luke. Vince is now 2.5 weeks old and Luke is a GREAT big brother! Vince was so good all day...sleeping most of the time & only waking up to eat. He is such a cute baby with those chubby cheeks! I think Vince looks a lot like Luke did at this age, but with dark hair. It will be interesting to see how he changes and grows over the next few months.



Vince on left (2.5 weeks old) and Brayden on right (2.5 months old). It is amazing that Vince & Brayden are almost the same size!

Bottles??? Not for me says Brayden!

Brayden took a bottle (Avent) with minimal resistance in the hospital and for the first 7-8 weeks of his life. Since I am going back to work in a few weeks, we had been trying to give Brayden at least 1 bottle each day so that he would be used to it and so that Matt, my mom/dad, Matt's mom/dad, etc could also feed him. This was going relatively well. Suddenly, about the time he turned 2 months old (and got his 2 month shots), Brayden decided that bottles were NOT an option anymore. I don't know if it was the shots, turning 2 months old, all of the activity around the holidays or what, but now...Brayden will NOT take a bottle.

I have bought and tried about 10 different bottles now with little success. You name it, we have tried it.



The Avent & Nuk bottles seem to work better for us than any of the others.

I called the lactation consultant at Rex last Friday. She gave me some great advice and we are trying everything she recommended. Mainly...for me to be AWAY from Brayden when others are trying to give him a bottle. Things are starting to get a little better, but right now the most you might be able to get Brayden to take from a bottle is about 1.5-2 ounces. That is no way near the volume that he should be eating at one time, but so we still have a LONG way to go before he is readily taking a full bottle from anyone. I have faith that we will get there before it is time to start daycare (in 3.5 weeks).

Visit with Friends

On December 28th, Matt, my dad, Matt's parents, John, & Dana all headed to Birmingham, AL, to go to the Papa Johns.com bowl game featuring NC State vs Rutgers. Brayden & I decided to go back to Albemarle to spend time with my mom. While we were there, my second set of parents (Jim and Jane Kerr) came by to meet Brayden. Supposedly, they weren't going to have any children then they held me as a tiny baby & decided to have a baby as well. Julie was born 13 months after me and we have been best friends ever since. Julie and her husband are expecting their 1t baby in late April/early May. Jim and Jane got to "practice" holding & feeding a baby again. It was really nice to see them both & catch up.