Brayden Update.

I thought I would take the next few days and fill you in on the kids, how they are growing and some special things about them that only those who are a part of our daily lives get to see.

Today is Brayden Jacob

Brayden is such a happy baby! Now that he can roll around, he loves to play on the floor with a bunch of his toys! He's content to roll from side to side, grabbing at things and watching his crazy brother and sister run around. HaHa. He gets around so fast now that I can lay him on a big blanket, walk out of the room for a few minutes and when I come back, he is clear across the room wrestling with the computer chair! Brayden can sit by himself for a bit, but he's not completely steady at it yet. I have one of those Bumbo seats, but I think he'd just rather be free to roam. He does love to play in the Exersaucer also, maybe the standing is why he likes it so much! Last Saturday, we were at the park for a birthday party and Brayden crawled for the first time...well, it was more like an army crawl, but there was a water bottle just out of his reach that he was DETERMINED to get! He is also very vocal and he talks and coos to himself, others, or his toys...quite often!

Brayden is also a good eater! We have gotten him to the point that he takes 2 meals and 4 bottles in a given day. He's pretty good about the fact that I feed him around the same time every day...which also makes it easier on us for sure! He loves all fruits and vegetables and has yet to try the meats and dinners. I really try to wait until 8 or 9 months for this when he is to the point of eating 3 meals a day. It is so funny because when the bottle comes out, Brayden can go from happily playing to panicking at the realization that it's time to eat! HaHa!

For the most part, Brayden has the sleeping thing down. He definitely doesn't sleep as long as the other kids did at his age, but he does sleep 8 hours through the night. I wonder if he would sleep longer if we didn't get him up for his last bottle around 10pm-midnight! He still does take 2-3 naps during the day (morning, afternoon and early evening). The thing that I absolutely LOVE about putting Brayden down is giving him his Bear-Bear and his binky...then I tuck his blanket around him and he always smiles really big and giggles when I go to kiss him! It is soooo sweet that I sometimes sit there and play for a couple minutes more. When Brayden wakes, up I can count on one hand the number of times that he has actually woken up crying...usually, he wakes up, plays in his crib and "talks"....it is just sooo squishable!

Kristiaan and Kayla love Brayden so much and there is no end to the help that they have to offer. Kayla does really well at fetching a toy or giving him his binki. Kristiaan, however, loves to tote Brayden around the house...he'll take Brayden into whatever room he's playing in. He also loves to hold him, wrestle with him, feed him...everything! You can really see a special bond between the two of them - especailly how Brayden just lights up and smiles and laughs whenever Kristiaan is near him! We have never been the kind of parents to keep the older siblings away from the baby...my thinking is that he's joined our family and better get acclimated a soon as possible! That sweet boy can handle all sorts of things - with Kristiaan carrying him around, and there have even been times when I have come in the rom to see one of them laying on him! He's a tough cookie! Just in case any of you are worried, don't fret - he is never in any danger.

Brayden is such blessing to all of us! I find myself taking more time these days to hold him a bit longer, love on him a bit more, kiss him and make him laugh as much as I can because I know that our time with him at this age is going to be gone before I know it.