Incognito...don't tell mom where I went...

Just me and my monkey haning out...

Still nice hat...

At least we are back in the bathroom...

New hat...

Well its not really a hat...so guess what we are NOT wearing...

Have to wear shoes...

For some reason he had to have his shoes on no matter what. Obviously mom got tired of changing underwear and pants, so we are just down to underwear. So long as they are a bit thick...its not tooo much risk!!

Another week is gone!

We finally got some snow, but its soooo cold that we can't even go out and enjoy it. And really its soo dry that we couldn't build a snowman if we wanted to. Instead we are staying inside and potty training. Wow what a job. Brayden is finally coming around to it and not being so stubborn about it. We have a few accidents every day, but its not as bad as it was, so progress is being made. I had forgotten how much work it really is to train a child. One book I read said to remember that we are trying to remove a habit the child has had for two years and give them a new habit all at once. For perspective we were to find a habit in ourselves that we had tried to change and has it changed or did we give up on it because it was tooo much work. All in all thats a pretty good perspective, not that I can always keep it in mind!!! :-) It has definitely been an experience I hope to soon forget. For now though he is doing pretty good with it all. We have had some funny moments and some not so funny.

Brayden continues to pick up words. In meeting he sometimes will repeat the hymn choice for everyone. Not that you can understand all of it...but he has the sylables right. His list of words that are right is getting longer. It just takes time and effort. We have to remember to speak slower too. He knows all the features on his face, his hands, legs, feet, toes, etc and the sounds most animals make. Its all progress and he is making it in leaps and bounds. It has now been five months since we have had custody, in many ways not so long and in many ways it seems he has always been here. Until next time...take care.

You just must know this....

Brayden was writing on his paper, when I walked into the kitchen, he just burst into this long story complete with all the hand signs!! It didn't make any sense to me...but he loved telling it anyway and I loved hearing all about it.

Calling in SICK!!

The phone is still a huge toy for him, even in bed, must be calling in sick!!

Reading in a basket

Actually in the video there is a bit of singing going on, more than reading!!! He loves this basket, it hold his toys for upstairs when he isn't sitting in it!!

Back to Normal

Now that the holidays are over, it is back to normal life here in our household, or as normal as it can be. We have been busy with various things, not much that is awfully important though. Brayden is continuing to chat up a storm, not much can be understood, but he is getting a few more words to come out right. For now though its just fun to listen to him babble. We all three went to the shop the other day to work for the morning. It was fun to watch him play out there, usually when mama goes to the shop all play stops and he just wants held. This time, mama was staying for a while so it was ok to play. I tried to get some video of things, but it just doesn't work so well when it takes so much time to get the gloves dried off, then taken off and the camera picked up and turned on, well its just tooo many things to do to get the video started and by then the "cute" is over and done with. He now has two recepticle phones out there, those outlets are a wonderful toy. Roger was telling me that yest morn he was playing along and suddenly he RAN across the shop picked up that recepticle phone and started talking away walking back across the shop to where he was playing. After talking a bit he laid it down and went on with playing, wandered away from it a bit, and then again suddenly RAN across to the phone, like he heard it ring...picked it up and started talking away. He really enjoys the whole phone thing. Uncle Bobby called this morning and said he had one missed call on his phone and it said "Dawn's cell"...well three guess who was calling, it wasn't me, I was doing laundry and Roger was in the shop...so for family in our cell phone book, if you get a call...its probably Brayden. Amity got a call a few mornings ago while we were cooking breakfast too, all she heard was "can Daddy have the phone?"...so she called back and we let him talk to her for a bit. He just really loves the phone, course thats mostly all mama does with her day. :-) I am trying to quit my job though so there will be more time with our little man before he outgrows some things, like being rocked to sleep etc.
We had our visit for the first postplacement report yesterday. Was fun to go back and listen to how we had gone over things on the first visit right after we got home. Lots of things have changed in just 4 months. One of the things that is MOST changed is that when we got home he was waking up 3 or 4 times a night and now for a long time he has slept all through the night. We would forget these changes over time, with the post placement visits, we will be more aware of them.
Hope all is well out in our world of family and friends this week. Here we have a blizzard for the first time this winter. It is COLD out there, last time I looked the therm said 2.5 degrees with a wind, so the chill factor would be minus 20 or so I would guess. Until next time...take care.

New Years Morning

Mama's big helper, we woke up whiney this morning, so it needed a diversion. Stirring the eggs has been a favorite thing to do on some mornings, he has gotten pretty good at it, not slopping any either. He doesn't like it when they have to be poured into the pan and cooked, but he does like it when its time for them to be put on his plate and ready for him to eat. Its the middle part that he doesn't think is any fun. Must have something to do with the fact that the middle part is the part he CAN'T do!!

King on the Mountain

Of Daddy's tummy that is...

My first CAR

He just loves his car...its so much fun, but it doesn't always go around the corners real good, we get stuck some.

Pool time

The first pic is the intertube, he loved that tube, mostly to stand in it and flip it off over his head. But laying on it was ok too as long as he got to spin a bit. The next pic he is standing on the step clapping his hands making us wait until he decided to dive into mama's arms. He just loves to wait until the perfect moment to get the most reaction he can get. Then finally comes the biggest giggle and a dive into the water, hope mama catches me!! :-) Of course mama didn't fail to catch him, he just loved it!!

Splashing is such fun

Happy New Year 2007

Happy New Year!! We have had a wonderful holiday time with family. Uncle Bobby left today, Amity and Jean left a few days ago. It seems like such a short time looking back, but we have appreciated all the time we did have. Brayden really had a good time too. Of course Uncle Bobby was his best buddy, he really hit it off with Aunt Amity and Luc too for just seeing them for the first time over x-mas. He knew Aunt Jean, she was good fun too. Grandpa and Grandma kind of took a back seat during our time at their house, so they came down for New Years to have their time with Brayden. Mama and Daddy really hardly existed when there were so many others to answer his every need. :-) Made for a nice break. We took one afternoon and went to Thermopolis to the swimming pool for a couple of hours. Brayden just loves water, so he had a wonderful time in the baby pool. I will post several pics with not much text. His smiles tell it all. It has been so much fun to share things with this little boy, he just soaks up everything and is happy to do so. He is absolutely amazing and we are sooo blessed to have him. We understand that things are changing a lot in the Russian adoption situation with their new laws to encourage domestic adoptions. It may get a lot harder to adopt healthy children from there. Today we feel very lucky and blessed to have done this process and come home with such a healthy happy boy.

Things mommy lets us do

The things mommy lets us do, even leaving butt tracks on the tray. Its just such a kick to see what he will try. So far the high chair he has climbed up the front of it and gotten on top of the tray without it being meal time!! He climbs anything and everything and falls off lots of stuff. We still have bruises all the time, but then he's a boy!! The smile though is worth a ton...he loves it all and just gets such a kick out of most anything.

Happy holidays to everyone...I am working on the photo cards, but ran out, and overnight ups is stuck in Denver till the airport clears enough to let planes go out regular. Have patience with me...I will get them out right after x-mas. Amazing how this change in our lives has made such an effect on how many cards I need. Thought I had plenty, when I get this order back I will have ordered 100 total and I think there won't be any left over. :-) We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, be safe, be happy, and be thankful!!! Love you all and again, thanks for sharing this with us.

Phone...still big toy!!

We talk on the phone an awful lot at our house, mom is always on it and it shows in how Brayden uses it!! He just chatters away with the same voice tones as mommy uses all day long. Its just such a fun toy!! So far we haven't called any far away countries...good thing we don't have long distance service on that line!!

Sometimes I play in the shop, sometimes I ...

Daddy had a good photo op here, Brayden decided that he was too tired to play anymore and since Daddy was just making noise that he couldn't hear...its time to catch some zzzzz's

There is just something about warm clothes fresh from the dryer. They require a baby be in the basket with them, its just required.

We ago to get Amity and Luc from the plane next saturday. I will try to post before we go, but it is the last week before x-mas so it might not happen. In any case, I will post pics after x-mas for you all. Please excuse further lateness this holiday season, its a busy time for every one. We wish everyone a wonderful holiday. For those of you new to our site, don't miss the archive files, the earlier postings get filed in archives, they don't all show up on this page. Also our thoughts and a piece of our hearts go with Becky and Noah as they leave tomorrow to go back to Russia to get Kevin!! We hope they have a speedy trip and all goes well. And finally our thoughts go to all the children still without homes this holiday season and the homes waiting for children here. Russia has NOT allowed any agency to reaccredit yet and it may not until March. That means that Brayden and Daniel were the last ones allowed out of Omsk. The last referral out of Omsk was for Daniel the week after Brayden. That was in May, really brings home the length of the wait for others that have signed with agencies and haven't gotten any further. Also reminds us that we were told we might have to wait until the agency was reaccredited to finish the adoption, how glad we are that didn't happen. Those traveling now are independent and the Russian government has started a law to stop those too. We are thankful every day that we got things through when we did, grateful that we had help from Heaven to do it all. And everyday we pray for others that are waiting and pray that the country will open again and children will have homes with plenty. Merry Christmas to all, please remember to sign the guest book again and again and again. :-) Afterall, I sign on here every week or two...:-) Its fun for us to see who comes to check on us every so often. We are so glad for the support and love of family and friends.

Might be a Dr....

Uncle Bobby is here for the week and he has supplied an endless bit of attention. No matter where he is, Brayden will find him. Here he decided to see what was in Uncle Bobby's ears, thats just a computer adaptor cord, but worked pretty good he thought. Obviously our little boy has had his ears looked in a lot in his time with us. He and Daddy have this finger in the ear thing going too. He just giggles and wiggles when Daddy puts his finger in Braydens ears. Guess it tickles a lot, but its really a lot more fun when Brayden puts his fingers in Daddy's ears too.

Sour orange!

Brayden came down with another cold this week, its different from the last one in that he has a cough this time and much more congestion. I am trying to feed him fresh fruit and as much water as possible, here is the reaction to the oranges. They are a bit tart, but he really thinks they are tart!! In fact he really won't eat oranges now, just pears please. We even seem to be off the banana kick. Its sad really all the stages we go through in short amounts of time. He changes what he likes really fast, just a few weeks ago he wouldn't eat homemade turkey potpie then a couple nights ago, he ate it really good. Might make a difference how hungry he is too, but its amazing how quickly the likes change.

Forever late!!

Late, its not just my middle name, it might very well be all of my name!! Most of you know though just how busy I get at the holiday time, so this year is no different, I just have so much to do and not nearly enough time to get it done!! Posting has taken a back seat!! I finally got our x-mas pics back from the lab and now I just have to get the envelopes addressed and then stamped and sent, its a long process. :-)

This weekend Granny and Grandpa came down again and Bobby is here, so there is plenty to do and lots of people to pay attention to. On friday night we were at a church gathering of about 35 people or so. Brayden still doesn't do crowds well. Anyway, I mentioned to him that Grandpa and Granny were coming to see him the next day and he said "papa" and started to look all around the room looking for his "papa". It was sooo cute, but I decided that I wouldn't mention it again until right before they got there as he seemed to think they were already there. :-) So when Granny and Grandpa pulled into the yard I was working on lunch, so I opened the big door and told Brayden to go tell them hello, he went right outside to the car to see his "papa". They were thrilled with the welcome and he was soo glad to see them. Now he is loving to play with Uncle Bobby. I think it goes both ways!!

Tonight we ate dinner by candlelight as the electricity went out about 4:51 and didn't come back on till 6:30 p.m. I had put supper in the crock pot this morning so it was still warm enough to enjoy when we sat down at 6. Brayden wasn't sure what to think with the light switches not working!! He loves to go over by the back door and turn the lights on and off. But when they don't work its really odd!! The house was pretty well lit with all my candles going. I decided it had been a long time since I had enjoyed the candles on the walls, this was the perfect opportunity to BURN the cobwebs off them!!! Yup, housekeeping has gone down the drain and it may never return!!!

I will try to get some pics posted tomorrow, have to get some video footage from Granny to work with as mommy hasn't had much for camera time lately. Thanks to all our faithful viewers...sorry we are always late, but thanks for coming to check whats new.

BANANA MESS

Ok, the order of events was that we were finishing Sunday lunch of pizza and the phone rang. Becky was calling me back for a nice chat. I was finished so I gave Brayden a half of a banana, a bit ripe, and went into the living room to chat. Roger was sitting right beside Brayden working on the laptop computer. Well Brayden realized he had NO ONES attention and proceeded to smash his banana to nothing but smears and a few chunks that are on the floor. Then he took his socks off and smeared banana on those and it was also smeared all over his tray top, sides, front, everywhere!! He was soooo pleased with himself!! Of course the dog doesn't care for banana, so we had to clean up the floor ourselves. What a kid, he is apparently over the banana kick, or maybe its just the ones that are a bit over ripe!! Whatever it is, it might be a very long time before he has banana unsupervised!!

SOOO Pleased with myself

Doesn't he just look soooo pleased with himself!! The pic above this one will show you why, Daddy wasn't paying attention and Mommy was on the phone with Becky, Brayden was having soooo much fun!!

Driving the car

This is our latest fun thing to do. He loves to get out of the car seat when we get home and then while mommy and daddy unload the car, he climbs back in and gets in the drivers seat and drives. Then he wants to sit on our lap while we drive to the garage. For now, he is happy to put his hands down and let us drive, but that won't last I am sure!!

Late again!!

Here we are again, late in getting the posting done. This time I have an excuse...I have been sick this week. Its a nasty cold and unfortunately, I have shared it. Brayden hasn't been feeling real well either, but he doesn't seem to have it quite as bad as I have had it.

On Monday we went in for Brayden's flu shot booster, ( I haven't had a flu shot at all:-)), he did ok until the nurse came into the room with stuff in her hand, and it was the same nurse that gave the last shots. Daddy wasn't with me this time, so it was all up to me to help her contain him. He was NOT going to straighten his leg out for her to give the shot either, she said he was a strong little guy. He had tons of determination in holding his knee up!! We got the shot overwith finally and the tears stopped almost immediately. The doctor looked in his ears for me too, since we were there, I wanted to know if the drops were making any headway in clearing out the ears. Finally we can see the eardrum in the left ear. He said it was a little dull but we can see it. Now we can stop the drops and just do normal things. I ordered an otoscope for myself, ya know Dr. Mom, but its nice to see what I have to work with. I do want to take him back into our audiologist and have her look again to see if there is anything else that we need to work on. Brayden continues to try to talk a lot, he really is getting vocal. He isn't able to make things sound just like we say them, but he sure tries hard. It probably won't be long and he will be talking up a storm. For now though we still have to guess at what he wants and needs most of the time.

Want to take a moment to say congratulations to Noah and Becky on their new little boy. They will be bringing him home at the end of the month, end of the year. What an ending for them this year. We are sooo excited for them and know that the next trip over to Russia will be sooo much more fun than this first one was.

games and fun

Our camera is going on the blink...the lens in it keeps doing weird things, so the pics aren't real good, bear with us until we get something else done. :-)

Last night we played mexican train...Brayden learned how to shuffle the dominoes and how to throw them too. :-) He had a great time with all of it. Now its back to just the three of us and Brayden is having along nap. Must need to catch up real good. He has been down for 2.5 hrs now, he should be in rare form this afternoon. Its been a busy weekend for all of us. Its nice to wind down and be quiet.

Now only one!

Two olives

Note the two olives on the fingers...had to teach him that, every kid needs to know they fit like that!!

Thanksgiving

First Thanksgiving Dinner and Brayden got served first. Daddy was helping him eat while I took pictures. He didn't eat real good, but with 14 other people at the table perhaps its no wonder. Over all he had a real good day. He was a bit clingy and whiney, but with so many people in the house on his turf I am sure it was very strange and unsettling. We have so much to be thankful for, it was good to have family around here and share all our new fun with them.

Big HELP!!

Today we had a BUSY day!! Here he is helping Granny wash windows. Its time to get the house cleaned for Thanksgiving!! That deep detail cleaning that may never get done again, at least not without help. Here he is helping out soooo much by spitting on the window, too bad she started with the bottom one! :-)

Its been a good week, but nothing real special has gone on. Its amazing to feel like he has always been with us. We miss all the little changes in him because hes just always here. Good that others notice the changes and mention them to us so we can be reminded that we really have been home just about 3 months. Lots of changes in all of us for that short of time.

For those of you new to this blog, please sign in and those of you that check it regularly...we want to hear new comments from you too. Some of you I know have been here and have never signed in,,,please do so if only for the baby book. :-) We have family that checks this real regular and hasn't signed in, please do so. We know you all enjoy this, imagine how much we enjoy reading your comments too.

still on the phone!!

Another place we like to sit, how nice that it is sooo near the phone!!

Chatting with Grandpa

Grandpa called yesterday afternoon, I was on the business phone, but didn't want to let the answering machine get it, so I picked it up and told him it would be just a couple of minutes and handed the phone to Brayden. They just chatted up a storm for the 10 min it took me to wrap up the business call. Brayden wandered around some while he was talking to Grandpa, but he sat and rocked most of the time. He just chatters away, constant, not much of it makes sense, but he is getting the idea of talking anyway.

Ready for Church

Just ready to go to meeting. No smile though, not sure why. The shades though, they make the boy!!

In the Pile

Not sure what he thought of the whole thing, he had to swim off the pile!!

Big leaf pile

Getting ready for the pile!!

Late again!

Friday came and went again. Too much stuff going on and too much to get done. Last weekend we spent Saturday cleaning the yard up, raking leaves etc. Brayden loves to be outdoors and it was a lovely day to spend out there too, a bit nippy maybe, but mostly comfortable. Well for November in Wyoming anyway. This last week as been busy too. Wednesday got a bit too exciting for mommy, Brayden wasn't feeling real good. I had noticed he was a bit warm on Tuesday just sometimes I would notice his head felt warm, then wednesday a bit more often I noticed. He wasn't acting right either, but I wasn't just sure what was up. We were going to go to town early to install a cabinet and then have supper and go to church, I went up to see if he was up from his nap and found him awake in his crib just lying there with his head on his arms and his butt in the air. He looked up at me and didn't even wiggle. Normally he jumps right up and wants out right a way, but not today. I reached down and picked him up and he was HOT. Took the temp and it was 104, scared me to death!! The doctor said to come right in there was time to see us, of course its a 45 min drive to Lander to see the dr. We got there and he checked him over, still can't see in that left ear. Everything else seemed ok, strep test was neg, blood test showed elevated levels for a bacteria infection. The dr guessed it must be that left ear and it must have an infection. We got our prescription and instructions and headed for Riverton and the pharmacy. Brayden and I got home about 7 or so, had a bite to eat and then took all his clothes off, he was soo hot. He was drinking some, but not alot, so that was something I had to work on a bit. We just sat and rocked mostly. Finally about 9 or so the fever just wasn't budging, so I ran a tepid bath and put him in to see if we could get it down. Found out that is how we could get him to drink water, he loves to drink his bath water!! :-) As long as there hasn't been soap in it yet, I figure its safe enough. His fever finally came down a bit and I got him down to sleep. He got about 2 hrs and was back up again with a hot fever. Mommy got a little sleep after the midnight bath and Brayden did too. Thurs was a bit better, but he still wasn't real good. Finally today we have gotten ahead of it and he isn't playing or tugging on his ear all day. We have a couple of other things to try on the wax in that ear after we get a few more days of antibiotic in him. Maybe we will get it cleaned out better so it can drain too. This week we have had a clinging whining boy for the most part. Tonight he was near normal and was playing independently again. MUst let this do for now and get some sleep, got to keep up ya know.

Just riding by!

This birthday toy has been a lot of fun and good while mommy is cooking. It helps keep him occupied so he doesn't want held all the time!

Bye Bye, time to go

He has the wave down, but the word starts with a "d" not a "b".

Anybody remember this little guy?? Its amazing the changes in him over the time we have been home. Just thought I would put this on here so others would see the changes too. Wednesday November 1st was the appointment with the cardiologist. The doctors come up from Denver Childrens once every three months, so this was our visit. The dr said he has a very boring heart. He listened to it rather extensively I thought, but that means he heard all there was to hear. That was excellent news. Can't complain about that at all. Of course getting the EKG was interesting. Brayden apparently remembered the thing about nurses because he gave this one fits. She wasn't even armed with a needle, and he still gave fits. She had to put 10 sticky tabs on his body, one on each ankle, four on the chest, two on the collar bones, one on each side, then attach the little wires with clips to each tab. He screamed and fought that with everything he had. She got kicked so many times I am sure she lost count. AFter she had him all hooked up she stepped back and I could get his entire attention on me. He quieted down pretty good and she said the third EKG was the best reading one. That would be once the screaming stopped. Taking the tabs off then was a whole new screaming situation. Anyone would have thought it hurt really really bad the way he was reacting. When we were finished with that dr I stepped next door to our regular dr to have his ears checked again. We are still having the wax battle. Dr Barnes cleaned out his left ear with a tool and said that should help, and the right ear is looking lots better. He is even talking a bit better all the time, so must be hearing better too. Dr Barnes also explained the EKG a bit to me, all looked normal and he said it was nice to wipe his Russian medical records completely clean with no evidence of truth in them. That means that should we need to change insurance companies at any point, there wouldn't be anything there to keep another company from insuring him. Good to know why we are jumping through all these hoops and dr visits that we really hadn't intended to do. Feels a little like having a dr that watches out for your interests. When we finished with all of that we went to see mommy's dr, just to introduce them, was fun to just stop in and say hello. Even the ladies from the accounting office came out to say hello. They gave Brayden his first sucker. I am not a fan of suckers and still NOT, after I got him buckled in I exchanged his sucker for a cheese stick. He loves string cheese. A pretty good trade I would say!! All in all a good week. AFter the dr visits though he has gotten pretty clingy, hope that gets better in a few days. We hope to rake some leaves tomorrow if the weather will cooperate. Would be so nice to have a good day outside, like last weekend.

Hands Too!!

First Mud puddle

And did he enjoy it!! He was wet all the way down!!

Halloween

Today is Halloween and we have a little towel ghost running around our house. We decided not to dress him up for trick or treating because he can't talk yet, and really doesn't need the candy!! Today I am doing laundry and the towel just became so much fun! This last weekend we made the trip to Grandpa and Granny's house. It was a whole new adventure for him but his favorite was the dryer. I wish I could send a video to everyone, he just waved goodbye and climbed right in, closed the door completely behind him, then opened it back up and stuck his head out and waved again. Good thing the camera was ready or it would all be a memory now. We have alittle video of it, its really quite good. He played with the dryer lots, the rest of the time the three wheeler Grandpa bought him was most fun. Today we are still on daylight savings time, he gets up at 6:30 or so and wants lunch at 11:30 and nap immediately following, then bedtime is 8 or so. He is a bit behind, wonder if he will catch up or if we will just be on this schedule for a while. Will just have to wait and see, for now, Mom needs a nap too.

Time gets away!!

To everyone watching this page...we took the weekend off and simply didn't get our blogging done. I will try to post some pics today, if they work out. If not, it will be in the next day or so. We took our first trip to Grandpa and Granny Eisele's house. Brayden made the car trip fine and spent two nights in a portable crib just fine too. He really had a wonderful time exploring all the new territory. A whole new world up here. He has been really busy this weekend running all over outside and helping daddy and Grandpa with the new porch. He has held the back end of the drill to help push the screws in. Its really been fun to watch for us too. We played some domino games last night too, he had to learn to sit on mommy's lap without taking the dominoes off the table. Was a bit hard on him too!! Meal time has been a bit hard as he has just been toooo tired to eat, sooo much to do and not enough time to eat and sleep and do it all too. Lunch today he ate just a little bit of potatoes and some veggies a bite or two of meat and then laid his head down and sang to himself for a bit. Finally Granny took pity on him and took him to the rocking chair. It wasn't long and he was fast asleep. Its hard for him to sleep for his full two hours though since there is so much to do and he really doesn't want to miss a moment. We will head home after supper and then its back to normal ground again. Its been beautiful weather up here, hope it is at home too.

Look at these sunglasses

New vacuum cleaner, it makes noise like a real one. Now maybe he will vacuum with his instead of with mommy's!

Learning the party favors

The birthday party went off with all the trimmings thanks to all the family!! Brayden had a wonderful time opening all his gifts and is now even more spoiled than before! He loves to tear the paper off, sometimes just in little pieces but as long as it all comes off he is happy. The toys now days are very well packaged and don't come out of the boxes very well, so there were times when he wasn't a very patient little boy, but all in all he was pretty good. He even ate his supper pretty good and had a couple bites of cake but wasn't real impressed with it. I made an icecream cake using mint icecream, maybe that is what threw him off. And maybe he was just full too, but he really didn't want to eat much of it. We opened packages first and then after dinner he had time to play with the gifts he was given. It was really fun to watch him go through each one and enjoy them all in turn. Tomorrow we go back to the doctor for the two year checkup. He was supposed to weigh in at 24 lbs by tomorrow, don't know that we made it though. Will have to see if the drs scale weighs him different than ours. On our scale it looks like we missed it by 6 oz or so, he kind of went on a picky diet for a while there. Up until the picky part he was putting on weight pretty well. It will also be interesting to see where he is on the growth chart too now that he has been home for two months. I decided to take a parenting class offered by one of the BEST headstarts here in Riverton. This lady really has a nack with kids and really handles things very well with them. It has been most interesting to pick up her tips. We have found that they work just pretty well when we are patient enough to remember them!! Our little boy has a very stubborn side and we needed some help in dealing with that effectively. I have one more class this tuesday night to go to and then we are back on our own trying to remember all we were supposed to learn. The good thing is that she has allowed me to tape it each time since we really don't want to leave Brayden with anyone else just yet and Roger really needs the info too. There is only so much one can relate through notes and retelling, so its been so nice for him to watch it off the camera. She is offering one more class on stimulating the young mind, that should be helpful too. For now we are just so very pleased with his efforts to talk and all his busy side. He gets harder to keep up with all the time. We had our first snow that actually accumulated outside last night. This morning after church Uncle Bobby tried to get him to touch it and feel it. He wasn't really interested. Perhaps later when there is more of it we can go build a snowman and really enjoy it. This time he handled new people a lot better. He really took to Uncle Bobby right away, that was really fun to see, he also met Aunt Jeanine and while it took him just a little longer to adjust to her, he went to her twice yesterday on his own. His horizons continue to expand and he just gets more and more used to the changes and different people all the time. He doesn't seem to have the tendency to hide his face much with new people now. All the strides are so nice to see and this is a nice forum for me to sit down and remember them as they happen. And its great to know there are people out there that are interested and come along with us every week.

Almost 2!!

I will just put this note on for now and then update on Sunday. Brayden will be 2 tomorrow, so we are having a family party. I am sure he will have a grand time opening gifts and there will be plenty judging by those that have already arrived in the mail! We will have lots of opportunity for pics and good fun so will tell all about it come Sunday.

Look at that smile!

This is what happens when Mom comes to the shop, thats why there aren't any pics of him playing in sawdust! Daddy got some stuff this morning, but he mostly likes to get in the cabinets and dig around, mess with cords and big stuff!
some of these pics are a bit blurry as they are taken out of video clips. He moves so fast and so much that still pics are near impossible.

Such a pill - Check out that DUST!!

Just me and the airgun

He likes this as long as it doesn't blast him with air!!

Pics as promised

This is a "look" that we see quite often. Wonder if this is something WE have taught him...anyway its cute!

A Quick Note!

Tonight I don't have any pics to share!! I spent most of this week out of town, so no pics were even taken!! I left Monday night and got home thursday afternoon. Just one of the perks of a job, I had to go to a school for pics and it is three hours from home, so we go and stay three days and get the whole thing done. Anyway, it wasn't much fun, mostly work and not much sleep either. Roger and Brayden stayed home together and seemed to do just fine. In fact when I did get home on thursday afternoon I went out to the shop to find our little boy, he just looked up at me and then went right on with what he was doing. What a let down!! I had hoped he would run right up to me and want to be held, but not so at all. He was a daddy's boy until well into the evening. I didn't even register on his radar until I ran his bath! After that I was on the radar but not quite back to normal. I may NEVER leave again!! On Tuesday night I called home and Roger was giving him a bath, so he called me back using the business line with the speaker phone. I talked to Brayden that way for a bit, he kept talking to me and Roger said he looked at the phone really funny like why can I hear mom and not see her! Anyway, that was fun for a night. Today all is mostly back to normal, he wants to be held and cuddled by mom again, so I am feeling good about that. I will take pics this weekend and post them first of next week. Should be interesting, I need to make salsa tomorrow, will see how much help he is for that!

Check out these Slippers

Yes, its late but I am still going to get this posting done tonight!! Roger is putting Brayden down for the night and I am taking a moment to think back over the week and appreciate all the little steps our little boy makes. He really comes a long way every week. Today I got the laundry out again, he loves to switch all my piles around, I have to sort every load again before putting it in the machine. If ever I lose track of him and there is laundry being done, its almost a sure thing I will find him there. If he isn't moving my piles he is climbing in and out of the baskets. Its a good thing he doesn't cry everytime he falls, he would be crying an awful lot!
Again this week I had to work two days, so he went to the shop again both days for about 1/2 the day. I went out to get him on Thurs after I got home to put him down for his nap. He was under the table saw table playing in the dust with his loader wearing his ear muffs to keep the noise out. He is just very happy to be out there with Daddy, but when mommy comes along its another story all together. After his naps he usually stays in the house with me for the rest of the day. Today I noticed he really is babbling a lot now, making lots of noises and if I sit down and point things out in a book, he will try to say them too. He gets close on some things and not very close at all on others, but he is trying. He has learned the levers on the recliners and everytime we walk through the living room its a bet the foot rests are out. The telephone is his biggest toy!! Its rather difficult to get him to leave it alone actually, and the cell phone is the worst. I really don't want him answering the phones, it would just be my luck he would answer my business line...and then where would I be. :-)
We are so glad that so many check this all the time, we just want you to know that we check it too, and we are looking for words from you all, don't leave us hanging!! Have a good week, see you next friday!

See I really do FIT!!

Laundry Fascination