Vocal child...

Here's Bradley with a new toy - I think he likes it! About half way through he kind of shrugs his shoulders a little - he's been doing this a lot lately and it's adorable but so hard to catch on tape - this is the only little bit of it I've gotten recorded and it's such an understated version of what he normally does - it's so cute!

Separation Anxiety

Not Bradley - me! A couple weeks ago one of my best friends got married. It was a 3 1/2 day event in Denver and Lyons. It started on a Thursday night with the bachelorette party and ended on Sunday morning the day after the wedding. From the planning stages I knew that I was going to have to pick and choose what I was going to be able to do and not do - partially because of breastfeeding and partially because of me not wanting to be away from Mr Bradley.

The main thing was I was supposed to go to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner starting at 4 on Friday night and then stay the night up there, and Kevin and Bradley would come up the next day for the wedding at 4. I was really worried about being away from Bradley for 24 hours when I hadn't been away from him for longer than 4 hours before! I felt much better about the situation when I found out that Kevin and Bradley could come to the rehearsal with me, then drive back down that night and at least I'd get to see them for that amount of time - so that was the plan.

Then on Friday when I was getting ready, Bradley was taking his nap and it was about 2:00 and I was supposed to leave at 3:00. Kevin and I started talking about how it probably would be better for them to just stay so they wouldn't have to drive back and forth, we wouldn't have to wake up Bradley from his nap, and he wouldn't have to stay up late. So - hesitantly - I agreed that I would just go and they'd stay home and see me tomorrow. Then --- while I was packing up my stuff, running around the house like a crazy person trying to get ready in time - I started FREAKING out! I started thinking about how I wouldn't get to say good-bye to him, or good-night to him, or see him when he wakes up, or see him at all for more than 24 hours!! The whole hour between 2 and 3 I was trying to convince myself that it was going to be ok and I was just being stupid and I'd get over it - but then when it was time for me to leave at 3 I just started bawling!!! Bradley was still sleeping and Kevin was resting on the bed and I came in the room - crying and crying saying "I just can't do it! Can you please please come? I just can't leave him" Totally freaking out! So Kevin had to jump up and get ready, I had to rush and get all of Bradley's stuff together and we had to wake him real fast and put him in the car and leave - it was a mess! I'm ridiculous! But that's just how I am - I did NOT want to be gone from my baby for that long!! It was still hard saying goodbye to them that night and sleeping without him for the first time. Anyways - the wedding was wonderful - Jenny (the bride) looked amazing and happy and everyone had a great time! Here's a picture of Katie, Me, Mr B, Jenny, and Anna.

Big Boy!

Mr Bradley has graduated from Bumbo seat to big boy High Chair!! He loves it! He likes picking up his puffs and putting them in the cup holder, taking them out, and doing it all over again :) He also got a new big boy car seat because his feet hang over the other one so much and it's impossible to carry with him in it anymore because he's so heavy. When did my baby boy grow so big???

Bradley's version of Peek a Boo

This is Bradley's new thing - it'll happen anywhere, anytime - out of nowhere he'll close his eyes really tight and put his arms in the air like he's feeling around for something - then opens his eyes and laughs and laughs! It is just hilarious! And I think he knows that I think it's hilarious because the more I laugh the more he laughs and the more he does it - so funny!!! :)

Here's another video - he does the same thing at the end of this one - and as you can tell - he still really likes to shake his head too :) What a funny boy!! :)

Sleep update

Ok, so after about 2 months of no sleep at all and 1 terrible try at letting him cry (remember that story?) we decided we needed to make a change. We both decided that we'd try anything we could before we let him cry again, we even brought him into our bed one night - which we didn't want to do but thought it was worth a try - didn't work. Bradley was still waking up so many times a night. To give you an idea of how many times a night - Kevin and I split up the night, he'd take the first 4 hours then I'd take the second 4 hours. One morning I asked Kevin how many times he got up and he said, "Not too bad, I think it was about 3 times" and I was all excited because I said, "Oh good, he only woke up about 3 times with me too!" Then I realized that's still 6 times in 1 night - not good!
So on Sept 19th we decided to try again (I felt bad doing it on his 9 month old birthday but it was a friday so it was a good time). I have never had a problem rocking him to sleep or nursing him to sleep initially (I actually love it) - it's the waking up that was getting out of hand, so we decided that I'd nurse him to sleep, then when he woke up we'd go in at 5 min to make sure he's alright, then every 10 min after that. He woke up about 45 min after he fell alseep like he normally did, Kevin went in after 5 min, then I went in after 10 only to find that he had thrown up all over the place (like I didn't feel bad enough already!!!) So we cleaned him up and decided that we couldn't let him cry anymore that night because we wanted to make sure he was feeling ok. That night was bad like normal but he seemed to be feeling fine and he was fine the whole next day as well - so we had to try again!
Mom and Bill came over to play cards with us and distract me so that I wouldn't be crying the whole time with him :( This time he did not fall asleep nursing so we put him down awake and checked on him every 10 min. After about 30 min he threw up again :( we cleaned him up and put him back down and he was pretty calm for a while after that, then started crying again. But all in all it was better than I expected - except the throwing up was hard! It took 2 hours total for him to fall asleep and he slept for 9 hours straight!!! Kevin's back hurt the next morning because he wasn't used to sleeping so long :)
The next night he fell asleep nursing again and slept for 11 hours straight. And every night since then - 2 weeks now - he's been sleeping great!! He seldomly wakes in the night and the couple times he has in 2 weeks he gets himself right back to sleep - not even crying for over 2 min.
Naps were a little difficult but we have gotten those down now too. We can even put him down still awake for a nap and he rolls over to his side and falls asleep! It's amazing to us! It's like night and day.
It's a great feeling knowing that we taught him this great skill. I love knowing that he is comfortable in his own room now and isn't scared to go to sleep on his own and doesn't get upset when he wakes up by himself. 2 hours of crying was worth him not waking up scared and feeling alone so many times in the middle of the night - now he's comfortable and getting all the sleep he needs. Oh - and I can't say Kevin and I aren't enjoying our sleep as well!!! :)
Thanks to everyone for all their help and advice. :) And especially Mom and Bill for keeping us company that first night - it really helped a lot! We love you! And Mr Bradley sure loves his Mammy and Poppy! :)

The simple things...

Like laundry baskets - so much fun :)

E-trade baby :)

Bradley loves loves loves Kevin's phone. It's the nightly distraction that lets me clean out his ears after his bath - otherwise that's a very difficult task to complete! In the morning when Kevin is trying to relax a little more in bed after I leave for work he usually sits Bradley next to him and gives him his phone and Bradley could sit there for the longest time playing with it. It makes the coolest sounds when you touch the touch screen :)

Anyways, sometimes he really reminds us of the E-Trade baby, the new commercial with the phone - it's really funny :)