I had a baby... then... he became a toddler!!! How did 1 year fly by this fast?? I read our birth story and cried over and over again. Sitting in that NICU, I honestly didn't know God's plan for Bryson. Now watching my sweet boy nap, I still don't know His plan but I am in love with the start of the journey!! Over the past year my entire outlook on life has changed. My life is consumed by 1 tiny little person and I couldn't imagine it any differently!
As of 1 year old Bryson:
- Is a crawling machine
- climbs on and over anything
- loves to eat everything (his favorite is all meats and blueberries!)
- babbles all the time
- can say "mama" "dadda" "kitty"
- music is his favorite- esp the drums (he pumps his fist when he hears a beat)
- loves his daddy SO much
- loves to kick his soccer ball
-loves water/bath
- is very sensitive
- is shy around new people
- has the best smile and laugh in the world!
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
catching up!
I can't believe how long it's been since my last post! Life with a mobile child makes for exhausting yet exciting days!!
Bryson is almost 11 months old and I can hardly believe the big ONE is coming up! Since my last post SO much has happened with him.
Here is what he has learned:
- Crawling!! I doubted we would ever get there b/c all he did for weeks was the 'worm' :) finally last week he started 'real crawling' and it's SO cool to watch! He is still getting the hang of it and he gets very frustrated when he can't go as fast as he wants but he will get it soon enough :)
- TEETH! We now are working on teeth #8&9 which is making for a very fussy baby :( he got four teeth in 5 weeks- has been rough!
- pulling himself up (very new) and he feels on top of the world!
- walking is a ways away and honestly with the exhaustion of keeping up with a crawler, I'm ok with waiting :)
- He is still blabbing away. He can say "dadda" "mamamama" and "kitty"
- He is getting into the separation anxiety phase esp with Jeremiah (when he sees him at work/church and then he leaves, B looses it! Loves his dadda!
- He loves being out an about. Loves the shopping cart and people watching
His 1st bday party is only weeks away and I can hardly believe it!! It will be a great time of celebrating one year of blessings with sweet Bryson!
few pics from our last few months :)
Bryson is almost 11 months old and I can hardly believe the big ONE is coming up! Since my last post SO much has happened with him.
Here is what he has learned:
- Crawling!! I doubted we would ever get there b/c all he did for weeks was the 'worm' :) finally last week he started 'real crawling' and it's SO cool to watch! He is still getting the hang of it and he gets very frustrated when he can't go as fast as he wants but he will get it soon enough :)
- TEETH! We now are working on teeth #8&9 which is making for a very fussy baby :( he got four teeth in 5 weeks- has been rough!
- pulling himself up (very new) and he feels on top of the world!
- walking is a ways away and honestly with the exhaustion of keeping up with a crawler, I'm ok with waiting :)
- He is still blabbing away. He can say "dadda" "mamamama" and "kitty"
- He is getting into the separation anxiety phase esp with Jeremiah (when he sees him at work/church and then he leaves, B looses it! Loves his dadda!
- He loves being out an about. Loves the shopping cart and people watching
His 1st bday party is only weeks away and I can hardly believe it!! It will be a great time of celebrating one year of blessings with sweet Bryson!
few pics from our last few months :)
Saturday, April 27, 2013
8 months!
Time is flying (I feel like I keep saying that but it is!). Life is getting more and more exciting as Bryson learns to do more and more! He is such a joy and a very great little boy! I see myself having all boys and getting so excited! (Obviously we would be thrilled to have a girl one day but for some reason God is putting on my heart that little boys are going to be my life and I get so excited!)
What Bryson's been up to this past month:
-He is growing like a weed and eating like crazy! (my future to come, I know haha).
- not crawling but rolling like crazy
- sleeping (most nights) great and 11-12 hours! (knock on wood)
- walking if you hold his fingers (he is SO energetic- he is not happy if he is just sitting anymore, always has to be on the go! makes for one tired mama)
- waves 'hi' to people (really just opens and closes his fist but oh man it's so cute!
- loves music (ironically enough he loves when I sing opera- no joke!)
There is so much more but I would need hours to write it all down!
Jeremiah and I are so in love and with each passing day we love seeing how his mind and body are growing!!
Here are a few pictures from the past month
What Bryson's been up to this past month:
-He is growing like a weed and eating like crazy! (my future to come, I know haha).
- not crawling but rolling like crazy
- sleeping (most nights) great and 11-12 hours! (knock on wood)
- walking if you hold his fingers (he is SO energetic- he is not happy if he is just sitting anymore, always has to be on the go! makes for one tired mama)
- waves 'hi' to people (really just opens and closes his fist but oh man it's so cute!
- loves music (ironically enough he loves when I sing opera- no joke!)
There is so much more but I would need hours to write it all down!
Jeremiah and I are so in love and with each passing day we love seeing how his mind and body are growing!!
Here are a few pictures from the past month
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Looking back
We are almost at the 8 month mark and I have seen so many babies born recently and am overjoyed for all these new parents and the adventure that is beginning!
I'm seeing a lot of beautiful posts and stories. All of these babies and their parents in their hospital room, visitors coming and going in big groups. Walking the halls pushing your baby as your nurse encourages you to get up and moving. (after you pushed a watermelon out of you, really!?) Up at 2am to your baby crying, daddy picking him up and bringing him to you in your hospital bed. Leaving after a couple days and ready to start it all at home.
But I can't help but envy these stories as this was not our beginning. I know that we did not have (BY FAR) the worst scenario but every time a new healthy baby is born I think about their experience. Rather than being in our hospital room most of the time, we actually rarely even saw our nurses and didn't interact with any parents in the rooms next to us. Rather than having groups of overjoyed family and friends coming to see us, we had a few close family member come but only one at a time. Rather than walking the halls with our baby, we walked many halls every 2 hours to get from our room to Bryson's NICU pod. We were up at 2am but listening to other people's babies next door crying and being soothed and then walking down 2 stories to get our baby, not knowing if he cried since the last time we saw him. Holding him but not too far from his bed because the wires were so many. Not knowing when we would be able to leave and looking at the monitor every 3 hours to see if we were closer to going home.
Even through all that- I wouldn't change a thing.
God wrote our story and although parts of it were heart breaking, I am staring at our miracle baby right now sleeping as I type this. While we didn't get our normal 'experience' at the hospital, we got one part the same- we went home with our baby.
How can I ever look back and wish anything was different? As I work alongside Owl Love You Forever (an organization that helps support women in the hospital after they miscarry or have still births www.owlloveyouforever.org), I think of how heartbreaking their story is but how I have to believe God is writing their story in that way for an even greater reason than my own story.
I think about Bryson's birth story every.single.day. I look at him, even in the difficult moments and think, but at least he is here and well. God is good. SO good.
I'm seeing a lot of beautiful posts and stories. All of these babies and their parents in their hospital room, visitors coming and going in big groups. Walking the halls pushing your baby as your nurse encourages you to get up and moving. (after you pushed a watermelon out of you, really!?) Up at 2am to your baby crying, daddy picking him up and bringing him to you in your hospital bed. Leaving after a couple days and ready to start it all at home.
But I can't help but envy these stories as this was not our beginning. I know that we did not have (BY FAR) the worst scenario but every time a new healthy baby is born I think about their experience. Rather than being in our hospital room most of the time, we actually rarely even saw our nurses and didn't interact with any parents in the rooms next to us. Rather than having groups of overjoyed family and friends coming to see us, we had a few close family member come but only one at a time. Rather than walking the halls with our baby, we walked many halls every 2 hours to get from our room to Bryson's NICU pod. We were up at 2am but listening to other people's babies next door crying and being soothed and then walking down 2 stories to get our baby, not knowing if he cried since the last time we saw him. Holding him but not too far from his bed because the wires were so many. Not knowing when we would be able to leave and looking at the monitor every 3 hours to see if we were closer to going home.
Even through all that- I wouldn't change a thing.
God wrote our story and although parts of it were heart breaking, I am staring at our miracle baby right now sleeping as I type this. While we didn't get our normal 'experience' at the hospital, we got one part the same- we went home with our baby.
How can I ever look back and wish anything was different? As I work alongside Owl Love You Forever (an organization that helps support women in the hospital after they miscarry or have still births www.owlloveyouforever.org), I think of how heartbreaking their story is but how I have to believe God is writing their story in that way for an even greater reason than my own story.
I think about Bryson's birth story every.single.day. I look at him, even in the difficult moments and think, but at least he is here and well. God is good. SO good.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
7 months!
Can hardly believe we are a month past the halfway mark to one year old! It is crazy to think that before I realize it he will be one, then walking, then talking, then off to college! ;)
This past month has gone so quickly and Bryson is so smart and growing so fast!
This month he has learned:
- sitting up on his own with rarely falling
- grabbing things like a champ
- eating EVERYTHING (haven't found a food he doesn't like- his newest favorite is corn and blueberries)
- drinking from a straw cup
- babbling
- reaching to get picked up
- smiling and laughing up a storm
Plus- I got 2 teeth!!
While he will probably take a lot longer to crawl, I love seeing him slowly come into his own!
Here are a few pictures from this month's excitements!
This past month has gone so quickly and Bryson is so smart and growing so fast!
This month he has learned:
- sitting up on his own with rarely falling
- grabbing things like a champ
- eating EVERYTHING (haven't found a food he doesn't like- his newest favorite is corn and blueberries)
- drinking from a straw cup
- babbling
- reaching to get picked up
- smiling and laughing up a storm
Plus- I got 2 teeth!!
While he will probably take a lot longer to crawl, I love seeing him slowly come into his own!
Here are a few pictures from this month's excitements!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Half a year of pure love!
How can my little baby be 6 months old already??? I feel like month 5 to 6 had the most milestones! Literally one day he cannot do something and the next day he can! I love seeing those changes.
Bryson has become more active and independent.
We are currently working on:
- sitting up unassisted
- feeding ourselves
- rolling from back to belly (he hates his tummy)
- holding our arms up when we want to be picked up
and many more little things
In the past month he has learned to:
- play with his toes (he is so long for his age that he honestly couldn't do it for a while because he would have to bend in half just to touch them haha)
- put in his own pacifier
- reach and grab items
- sit up with a little help
- not have meltdowns in the church nursery ;)
- smiles/tries to grab when he sees the cats (He LOVES Quinn even though she isn't too keen on him but she is very protective)
Jeremiah and I are just in heaven with him. Although we are getting less sleep than before (I think a huge growth spurt mixed with teething have made the last couple weeks a little rough) we are so blessed and love him more than humanly possible.
We have started doing baby led weaning. Basically we give him whole (soft) foods and allow him to feed himself. Yes it is messy, yes he does gag and yes he loves every bit of it! People think this is a new trend when actually this is one of the oldest techniques. 100s of years ago there were no food processors or store bought baby foods- babies just ate :) So we made the decision for our family to go ahead with it and Bryson is doing great! So far he has had banana, sweet potatoes, avocado, pears, peas, carrots, bell peppers and a few other items. All fresh and just cut up in manageable size slices (fry or wedge shaped) and all delicious :)
Bryson is also beginning the 'unswaddling' process. (something that seems like I'm the only one who struggles with but after reading up on it, guess I'm not alone). Bryson loves being swaddled (to a fault) but lately he has tried to struggle loose and is showing signs of not wanting to be anymore. So we tried cold turkey and that was a nightmare. He screamed for an hour (checking on him every few minutes) and would scratch himself. Then I heard about a product called zipadeezip(.com) and it's like a sleep sack but with arms that are enclosed! So we have started the process of half swaddled (one arm out) and he is doing so well. No stress of scratching or getting cold and not too much freedom as he freaked out when we tried full unswaddled at first. It is a process and through a lot of researching I found that most babies who like to be swaddled are swaddled until about 5-6 months while it seems most people I know stopped swaddled at weeks old (definitely felt alone in this issue haha) but I know in a few weeks we will have this behind us and have the next phase of mobility upon us! :)
All in all, Bryson is doing so well and I love seeing his little personality blossom! Here are a few pictures from this month's adventures:
Bryson has become more active and independent.
We are currently working on:
- sitting up unassisted
- feeding ourselves
- rolling from back to belly (he hates his tummy)
- holding our arms up when we want to be picked up
and many more little things
In the past month he has learned to:
- play with his toes (he is so long for his age that he honestly couldn't do it for a while because he would have to bend in half just to touch them haha)
- put in his own pacifier
- reach and grab items
- sit up with a little help
- not have meltdowns in the church nursery ;)
- smiles/tries to grab when he sees the cats (He LOVES Quinn even though she isn't too keen on him but she is very protective)
Jeremiah and I are just in heaven with him. Although we are getting less sleep than before (I think a huge growth spurt mixed with teething have made the last couple weeks a little rough) we are so blessed and love him more than humanly possible.
We have started doing baby led weaning. Basically we give him whole (soft) foods and allow him to feed himself. Yes it is messy, yes he does gag and yes he loves every bit of it! People think this is a new trend when actually this is one of the oldest techniques. 100s of years ago there were no food processors or store bought baby foods- babies just ate :) So we made the decision for our family to go ahead with it and Bryson is doing great! So far he has had banana, sweet potatoes, avocado, pears, peas, carrots, bell peppers and a few other items. All fresh and just cut up in manageable size slices (fry or wedge shaped) and all delicious :)
Bryson is also beginning the 'unswaddling' process. (something that seems like I'm the only one who struggles with but after reading up on it, guess I'm not alone). Bryson loves being swaddled (to a fault) but lately he has tried to struggle loose and is showing signs of not wanting to be anymore. So we tried cold turkey and that was a nightmare. He screamed for an hour (checking on him every few minutes) and would scratch himself. Then I heard about a product called zipadeezip(.com) and it's like a sleep sack but with arms that are enclosed! So we have started the process of half swaddled (one arm out) and he is doing so well. No stress of scratching or getting cold and not too much freedom as he freaked out when we tried full unswaddled at first. It is a process and through a lot of researching I found that most babies who like to be swaddled are swaddled until about 5-6 months while it seems most people I know stopped swaddled at weeks old (definitely felt alone in this issue haha) but I know in a few weeks we will have this behind us and have the next phase of mobility upon us! :)
All in all, Bryson is doing so well and I love seeing his little personality blossom! Here are a few pictures from this month's adventures:
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Has 5 months already passed??
Our big event from the past month! He can roll!!
Well only from belly to back but still! You can tell how excited he is in this picture. :)
This month has been the most challenging for mommy and daddy because Bryson is going through so many changes and we are all adjusting. Sleeping through the night has kind of regressed but I have read a lot of research that says 4 month sleep regress is very common. So we are working on that slowly and following his lead. Even if I have to get up a few times a night to put his pacifier back in or done a random feed, it is worth even sleepless night to see this smiling face each morning when he is ready to get up. That is how we know he is done sleeping. He doesn't moan or cry, he laughs, talks to himself and screams with delight (we definitely have a tenor on our hands- haha no basses in this house!)
Bryson's schedule is very set and it's very nice and predictable (for the most part). He is smiling so much more now, even at strangers which melts my heart and so many new things make him laugh. He is definitely ticklish. Jeremiah was changing his diaper the other day and he accidently pinched his inner thigh and he laughed so hard!
Bryson used to be afraid of louder noises and would cry when he heard others babies or kids cry and now he barely flinches. We just assume he will be a very compassionate little boy who will feel other people's pains. Wouldn't mind that attribute at all!
We are so in love and we can't remember what life was like without him. This next month will bring a lot of new changes and can't believe we are weeks away from half a year old!!
Starting at 6 months we will be doing baby led weaning which is where Bryson will skip cereals and purees and he will go straight to solid foods. We are excited to try this with him and have done a lot of research on this. He will basically be getting whole foods (mooshier type foods at first- avocado slices, sweet potato slices boiled/baked, banana chunks, etc.) and eventually he will eat most of the foods we eat. You can read more about it here at babyledweaning.com and the book by Gill Rapley is very interesting on the concept and research behind it. Will be a messy, fun time and can't wait to share pictures! :)
For now, here are some pictures from our past month together :)
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