3 months

Brayden was three months old on Tuesday...3 months!! They sure have gone by quickly. We can see the changes in him almost everyday it seems like. He is growing up so fast, and we know its only going to continue. Brayden is continuing to practice his tummy time and rolling over, and we put him in his bumbo seat for the first time this week. He really seems to like his new view of the world "sitting up on his own". He has also been constantly drooling the past few days, so we've started putting bibs on him all the time. He can soak a few bibs in no time! It doesn't help that we can't keep his fists out of his mouth now! His poor little hands are becoming so red and chapped from the constant gnawing. Here are a few recent pictures...

Tummy time

Tiffany & Tanner, Emily & Bo, Leslie & Brayden

Checking out Callie

Happy boy in his bumbo

Rolling along

We have been doing lots of tummy time over the past few weeks. Brayden is getting better & better at lifting his head and chest each day. And today he rolled over for the first time from his stomach to his back! For the rest of the day, when I'd lay him on his stomach, he would pop up his head and then roll over immediately. I was able to catch one on film...

Holiday Visits, Part II

This past weekend, we traveled to western NC to visit my mom's side of the family. Once again, Brayden did great on the rides there and back (about 4 hours each way). He mostly slept, so we didn't even have to make any stops on the way for him. He got to meet more great aunts & uncles, cousin Samantha and his Great Grandma Thomas. Click here to view a few pictures. It was wonderful to spend time visiting with everyone because we don't get to see them often enough. We are glad to be home though...we did ALOT of traveling over the holidays and don't plan on going anywhere else for quite awhile!

with Great Grandma Thomas

Four generations

2 month checkup

Brayden went in for his 2 month checkup yesterday. He weighed in at 12 lbs 14 oz and is 24 1/2 inches long. The doctor said his weight is about average and that he is in the 75th percentile for height (he must get that from me =) ) Brayden also had to get his first shots yesterday. He did not like them one bit! He screamed and cried at the doctor's office as soon as the first one was given. My eyes teared up as well seeing him like that! He was a little fussy and cranky the rest of the afternoon, but Tylenol seemed to help a little. I couldn't resist taking a picture of him fussing...he looks so pitiful, but that bottom lip poking out is too cute to me! Don't worry, after I took the pictures I picked him up and loved on him to make him feel better.

Baby's First Christmas

Greg, Brayden and I traveled to Oswego, NY to spend Christmas with Greg's family. Brayden did wonderfully on the car rides up and back, which took over 12 hours each trip. I don't think he could have done any better! His NY relatives were all so excited to finally meet our little man. He got to meet Great Grandpa and Gramma Sharkey, as well as all of his great aunts & uncles and some cousins on the Sharkey side. Brayden impressed them all by being such a good, happy baby. He gave LOTS of smiles and talked to everyone. I think he only cried twice the entire time we were there, and even then he was settled after a quick pop of the paci in his mouth. His first Christmas was a white Christmas....it will probably be a long time before that happens again! The snow was beautiful and we took a few pictures of Brayden out in it. He was too cute wearing his snowsuit because he couldn't move his arms at all. He was such a good sport about wearing it! We had a wonderful time visiting with family and can't wait to see them again. To see pictures, click here.

2 months

Brayden is 2 months old! Where has the time gone? When he was first born, he received a gift addressed to "Master Brayden Parr". Well, Greg and I quickly realized the "master" part is true! Brayden determines when we sleep, when we eat, where we go and pretty much everything else we do during the day. And he does this all without saying a word. How does he manage it? Thankfully, the sleeping part is getting longer everyday, so I can't complain. Last night we had an 8 hour stretch followed by another 2 1/2 hours after getting his belly full. He truly is a very happy, easy baby and we love him more & more each day. He has been very talkative to pretty much everyone he sees lately. I caught him talking to his toys on the playmat this morning...he especially loves the flashing star. I got him talking again tonight, but he wasn't as talkative as he was this morning. It's still very cute though =)

Breakfast with Santa

Brayden had his first visit with Santa yesterday morning at our church's annual Breakfast with Santa. He had his breakfast in a bottle as soon as we got there, and as usual feel asleep right after! But he work up in time to get a few pictures with Santa before we left.

We also tried to take a Christmas picture of the whole family yesterday afternoon. Trying to include Callie in the picture was tougher than usual this year! Greg had to hold both her and Brayden while I got the timer set for each take. This the best we got...oh well, it's not too bad, but not as good as I would have liked it to be. Callie's always looked right into the camera in years past. You can see some outtakes and other pictures by clicking here.