12 Month Stats & Doings.........

We had Brayden's 1 year check up on the 19th & I think he is starting to HATE going to the doctor; I think I would if I were him as well!!  Don't get me wrong I love his pediatrician but this visit was pure torture for him; after we got him checked in & all the paperwork filled out for his file we had to go back to the lab for his finger prick test.  Once that was done it was back to the waiting room & then right when he seemed completely calmed down & started to play again it was back to the room for everything else.  He was very unsure of the nurse when she came in & kept reaching for Lance as I undressed him so that he could get weighed; he started crying really hard when I put him on the scale but was better when Lance grabbed him & then he was even better once the nurse left & it was just the 3 of us waiting for the doctor. Then the doctor came in & he was uneasy again not to mention the death grip he had on Lance; we finally got him to lay on the table & he cried again as the doctor did all the necessary looking, poking & prodding.  Finally hat was all done & Brayden was calm again & then it was the nurse again with his 3 shots............you would think there would be a better system for appointments that have all this going on.  He did really well with his shots; he f course did the no breathing cry like he always has but it was only for about a minute & then he was fine!!  We took him out to dinner for being such a good big boy & Lance had to have a beer for the very stressful experience!!

Brayden weights 22 lbs 3ozs. which is in the 25-50 percentile, is 30.5 inches tall which is in the 50-75 percentile & has a head circumference of 18 inches which in the 25th percentile.........he is long & lean just like his momma!! 

He is eating like a champ & loves just about anything I give him; he has been eating what we eat for a while now & although his favorites are sweet potatoes still (now we just cut them up after I have baked them so he can feed himself) mac & cheese, chicken nuggets & spaghetti he also loves fish, grilled cheese & hot dogs too!  He prefers to feed himself over us feeding him but he hasn't quite figured out the spoon concept yet but is getting the hang of it slowly; fingers are what he uses the majority of the time & a bath is almost always necessary right after dinner!  We are currently using the Tommee Tippee bowls & mat with a suction cup on it for the bowls but he still manages to get the bowl un-suctioned at times so soon I think we are going to switch to Boon Catch bowls to see how well they suction to his high chair.

Brayden LOVES to look at books & love to have us read to him alot through out the day.  He will be playing & then just stop say "bac", get up & go grab a book & then com over sit in the lap of the desired reader & just clap, smile & squirm while the book is being read to him!

He has no fear what so ever; we went to the aquarium when my family was visiting & he climbed out into this bubble like it was nothing.  Other kids thought they were going to fall in the water but I guess B really hoped he would since he LOVES water so much!

He is talking like a crazy man; we can only make out some of the words but there are quite a few.  He says "uhh-ohhhhh", "bac" which is book, "mama", "dada", "ba" for ball, "na-na" which is no no (don't know where he learned that one), "a dan" for all done, "ma" for more, he will point his finger at what he wants & he will clap & say "yyaaaaa" for yeah, he waves & says both "hi" & "bye bye" as well & I am sure that there are more but my brain isn't working the best today!

He runs more than we walks now & has the best balance that I have ever seen; he loves to climb up on everything & once he manages to get his feet where he wants them he can stand up on whatever it is & not fall over that often.  I am not sure that this is a good thing but it is funny to see how tickled he gets with himself every time.

We are only giving him his pacifier at nap & night time & are soon going to work it out completely.  He still get a night-night bottle & that is because I am not ready to let go of our "special" time together yet but I am giving him less milk each night so I am thinking it will be gone for good by next week.  We don't rock him to sleep anymore so I am going to really miss that 5-10 minutes of rocking him while he would drink his bottle; I know that he has to grow up but it makes me sad that he is such a big boy already.  All we do for naps & night time is give him a kiss, tell him we love him very, very much & lay him down in his crib; he might play for a little bit but he puts himself to sleep when he is done & sleeps straight on threw until morning. 

He is such an unbelievably good boy & Lance & I love him more than we can ever put into words.  We feel so lucky & blessed that he loves us so much too; he gives the best hugs & the slimiest kisses in the world & he gives them to us often!  We love you Brayden Goodson & thank God for you every single day!!!