Brantley Rolling Over

New Milestones

In the last week or so we've hit a few milestones in Brantley's little baby world.

Laughing:
The kid smiles ALL of the time. It takes very little to get him to smile. You don't have to work too hard for it. You either make a shooting noise with your mouth, gurgle, touch his nose, or talk in a high voice and he is all smiles. Laughing on the other hand - not as easy. You have to work extra hard for those and they are few and far between. About a week ago when he got excited he started almost doing this scream thing. It was a happy scream, but a scream nonetheless. Now he's starting to giggle and it is the cutest thing. The best time to catch it right now is to touch his neck while he is laying on the changing table. He thinks it's the funniest thing.

Rolling Over:
Craig took video while I coaxed him to roll over. He HATES being on his stomach. HATES is probably putting it lightly. So I'm not sure what age they actually are supposed to start rolling from stomach to back, but I feel like because I don't put him on his tummy as much as I should he might be a little behind. Not sure. Either way, he's doing it now. (And he looks at me like I'm crazy when I squeal and clap my hands after every time he does.) I took a video of him when he did it , but I can't get it to upload to Blogger. I might try again later, but still wanted to get it written down since this is pretty much his "baby book".

And a milestone for me:

I am now running up to 2 miles at a time. Granted it's like a 13 1/2 minute mile, but it's 2 miles! It's quickly becoming addicting. On days that I don't do it, I think about doing it. I started doing the Couch to 5K program that I downloaded on my iPod but I got a little bored with it. So I started walking/running a mile, then running a full mile. Then I went to walking/running half a mile, running a mile and a half. And this weekend I walked a few minutes for a warm up and then ran the full 2 miles.Now I'm going to start pushing farther in quarter mile increments. It is my goal to run a 5K in 2011.

You never see overweight runners. This is what I keep telling myself. :) Must get this baby weight (and then some) off.

Brantley's First Christmas

Our Christmas was great. Brantley is obviously too young to get what was going on, but Craig and I both enjoyed it enough for him. We spent Christmas Eve at my cousins house with our family. We spent a huge portion of Thanksgiving afternoon playing Apples to Apples. My second cousin Celia wanted and got it for Christmas. So that is what we ended up doing after all of the presents had been opened.

On Christmas morning, we all woke up around 8:00. Once the boy had a full belly, we opened presents. Craig and I didn't go crazy with him this year. Santa brought him a doorway jumper. He's loving it so far. He's more in to twirling around in it than actually bouncing. But he stays entertained in it for the most part. I'm sure it will just be more fun for him the stronger his legs get.

Christmas afternoon we went to my dad and June's house to eat lunch. My brother and his kids came later in the afternoon. Our newest neice, Cayley, was there. This was her and Brantley's first chance to meet. She is almost 3 weeks younger than him. They'll have fun growing up together, I'm sure.

And while we were there it started SNOWING! So cool that is snowed (and actually stuck) on Brantley's first Christmas. June took pictures with her camera that I'll have to get from her. Ours was already packed up in the car. We were worried it was going to get messy and hard to get home so we left soon after it started coming down. So much fun to wake up to it on Sunday morning.

Since it was so cold and pretty, we sat around the house most of the day on Sunday with the windows open just enjoying it (inside in our warm clothes). Brantley played a lot in his new jumper, Craig played with his new toys and installed his new CD player in his truck, and I played my new Sims game on the Wii. We missed going to my mom's house to exchange presents, but we will catch up with her soon. It was a very relaxing day to end the weekend on after having such a fun and busy weekend with the family.

First Meeting With Santa

Two Sundays ago we went to Bass Pro so Santa and Brantley could have their fist of many meetings. Having a kid makes life SO much more fun. We met Anna and Dylan forlunch at McAllister's after getting a time slot for later in the afternoon. The system they have for getting in and out is awesome. You go in the morning, get your ticket for your time slot later in the day, and when you come back later you wait maybe 10 minutes. It was great - especially with a baby!

I was a bit more excited this year than Brantley was. Didn't realize Santa was in his little log cabin. So when he came out of it while we were waiting in line, I may or may not have popped Anna on the shoulder and yelled, "Santa's here!" Like I said, thank goodness I have a child this year. It gives me a pass for being so excited as an adult.

He was the best baby ever. Even with the long day we had, he never once melted down. Even though I totally wouldn't have blamed him because I was super tired. I can only imagine how he felt. Because after our meeting with Santa, we went to a friends surprise grad party from law schoo and to Donna's annual Friends and Family Christmas party. He handled the long day like a champ.

Can't wait for Christmas - this year is going to be so fun!

Wordless Wednesday

I mean really...need I say more?

3 Months!

Happy 3 Months, Brantley! At three months you...

• Have found your feet and there is not much that can capture your attention when you zone in to them.
• LOVE your bath time and have started to splash in the water. We moved your whale tub from the counter to the bath tub because of all the excitement.
• Are wearing size 2 diapers
• Unofficially weigh 14 pounds.
• Love looking at yourself in the mirror and hear me talking about what a sweet baby I have.
• Eat 5 ounces every 3 hours and get a six to seven ounce bottle at night before bed.
• Smile ALL the time. You are rarely fussy and so much fun to be around. I don't have to worry about taking you anywhere because you're so easy and mellow.
• Sleep in your swing from 7 to 10. Get your nighttime bottle at 10 and go right to bed.
• Your favorite toy is rainforest bouncy seat. It helps mommy shower, clean, etc. I think you'd stay in it for days if I let you.
• Wearing mostly 6 month clothing now. I packed away your newborn and 0 to 3 month clothes this last week and it made me a little sad. It went by too quickly.
  

I can't believe it has been three months. This last month has not gone by as fast as the first two and I am so thankful for that. Every night when I feed you your bottle I rub my nose on the top of your head and try to soak it all in. I know there will a come a time when you'll want to hold your own bottle. I'm going to miss these times. I don't know what I did to be so lucky to be your mom. I feel like my heart is so much bigger since you've come in to my life. I forget what life was like before you. Watching you learn new things and grow is so much fun for us. Your dad and I love you so much.