Our First Steps!

Wed. Aug. 30th

We can't believe it...on the first try! Here is video of Brayden taking his third set of steps. His first steps where a set of 5, his second try had 2 steps, and here you can see his third attempt. The trick was having something in his hand to make him think he had support.

He loves his new (used) stide rite shoes. They are the best for beginning walkers. Elise and I can not believe we found them at the used store for only $2.50. We also found all his gear for winter there.

He turns 15 months tomorrow. His new words are "dark," "double,double" and "Me-mow" (a cat noise).

My Body

Here we are having fun at the park.


These are the body parts Brayden knows and points to when you ask him:
Head
Hair
Nose
Eyes
Mouth
Teeth
Tongue
Ears
Arms
Hands
Fingers
Thumbs
Tummy
Belly Button
Butt
Legs
Feet
Toes

He loves to play chase with Mommy and Dadddy, Peek-a-boo with anyone, and his made up game of "Up and Down." Brayden is standing on his own all the time now. He loves to drop things from a stand and bend over and pick them up. He has learned that a fun way to empty things is to dump them over. He still loves driving his trucks around, going through his tunnel and pushing his walker everywhere.

"I can do it!!!"

Brayden was practicing his standing today. He was getting such a workout. He enjoyed all the attention.

Fun with Auntie Leesie!

Some fun video for you.

Silly Boy!

Here is Brayden at his silliest!

Standing!!!

Here are pictures and video of Brayden standing. He is so proud of himself.

I like to stand on my head...

"Hi"

Aug. 19^th

Well, I was going to stop writing down all the new words Brayden says (because there are so many), but then I worried about forgetting them so, here is the list of words he has said over the last two weeks:

Bed, bye, potty, ark, skunk, toot-toot (for a boat), back, nose, eye, butt (for belly button), done, bye-bye, and bee.

These are his new noises: neigh, baa, hiss, shhhh (for a snail), howl, roar, and snort.

He can also make a snoring sort of sleeping noise.

Brayden said “Bye, Bye” to his friends Eva after swim time on Tuesday and said “Hi” and “Bye” on the phone for the first time to Auntie Elise on Friday. It was really cool.

I had a great time at yard sales this weekend. I got Brayden tons of new things. He has a new fort/castle made from giant lego blocks. He loves it so much! He also loves the Weeble Wobble Ville I found with all the people and automobiles. He got a piano, basketball, slinky, telephone, stacking ups, musical rain stick, a dump truck, another train, a cloth activity book, and so much more. All for under $20.

Brayden is standing on his own more often and stands really steady when moving from his walker to the couch. He even went from a sit to a stand without holding on the other day. We are getting closer to walking every day.

"Bye"

Aug. 14th

I just think he is cute from behind!!





Here is video of his silly niose.

Aug. 14^th

Brayden has his 11th tooth now(Aug. 13th). It is the top right molar. He loves to dip his meat in ketchup (finally, we know he is Mommy's boy). It is the only way to get him to taste it and then he will eat it plain.

Mommy got Brayden a baby. He pushes it around in his walker we made into a stroller and gives it drinks from his cup. Otherwise he is not sure what to do with the baby. The first day it seemed Bray thought she was real and did not like me giving it attention.

He is just getting over a bad cold. Who knows where one gets a cold in the middle of summer, but Brayden caught it. It seems everyone around he has one. Ben and I got a minor case, but it was really bad for Brayden. He has almost a 103 temp for two days. He hardly ate and did not sleep well. This may have done the trick to switching us to one nap a day.

We switched our room around to make for more sleeping space for everyone. That did not help the sleeping either. Brayden would not go to bed because of the new things to look at. He would giggle and laugh at it all. Then when Ben and I came to bed Brayden woke and started laughing again as he looked around the room. It took a bit of time before he would calm down again.































































































Here is Daddy and Bray at the park this weekend.

So Much Talking!

Aug. 8^th

We are talking so much! He is saying words every few minutes now. It is amazing! Brayden says "Help" and “Moor” with my encouragement. It is so much better than the whines. He says “baby”, “Vee” = movie, “Bye-Bye” and “Hi” with a wave.

When we sing our song from music class to put our toys away Brayden sings along, “AW-AW.” He loves it when Mommy sings her high notes. He chimes right in with his. It is SO pretty! Brayden claps his hands to the song "If You Are Happy and You Know It." He loves to dance. We rock out to our Elmo electric guitar.

He loves to turn doorknobs, flick the light switches, and put Mommy’s keys in the door.

He climbs all over the sofa, chair and bed. He loves playing chase on the bed. We are starting hide-n-seek a bit.

Brayden is getting harder to take out and about. He wants to be so independent. If I take him in the stroller, he ends up out of it, pushing it all around the stores. It is cute, but he gets frustrated that it doesn't always go where he wants it. He pushes everything around these days. If we put him in the cart, it also ends up being pushed around by Brayden. We hold him airplane style and he pushes it with his hands (thank you Auntie Jen).

It is all fun and games these days.

Saying Our Prayers

Aug. 7^th

Brayden said his prayers with us at bedtime tonight.
He put his hands together on his own and said the underlined words with us.

“ Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the lord my soul to keep.
The angels watch me through the night,
Until I wake in morning light. Amen”

It was SO cute!

New Words

Brayden's new words for the day are "Tick-Tock," "Back," "Toes," "Nose," "Geese" and "Dude" (That one is definitely from listening to Mommy.) He can howl like a wolf and snarl like a cheetah. He has also been playing with "Bye, bye" and waving with it.

He knows how to knock on the door to get someone to open it and put the key in the door so we can come in the house or get the mail.

So Many Teeth!

Brayden is working on his 2nd top molar. That will make 10 teeth. I see 11-14 are on there way also.


Brayden is wanting to be very independent these days, but it is hard when he can not walk to get were he wants to go and be steady enough to do what he wants to do. We are seeing more of the toddler protesting in him this week. When he does not want to go in the car seat, be put down or not be put down, he arches his back and whines.



Brayden gets all excited about his accomplishments. You can see how hard he works at things.

He loves to fly his airplanes in the air and make the engine noise. He is really in to playing with Mr. Potato Head and putting all the face parts on him. He still loves his cars, trucks, and tractors.

His favorite thing is sliding at the park on Mommy's lap. He also loves climbing all over the play gym equipment. He feels like such a big boy. The other day he showed me how strong he was a climbed all the way up the tub slide.

He talks like crazy, spouting out words he knows or recognized us say, every few minutes. It is so fun!

Fun Times

Aug. 3^rd – 14 months

Here is some video of Brayden playing in the sink and talking on the phone. Funny Stuff!!! His new animal sound is "Neigh." He got his fist top left molar Thurs. Aug. 2nd. He loves to climb up on the sofa and hang over the side of our rocking chair arm. Brayden loves it when Mommy sings high notes. He always follows suit.