Lucky Number Seven

Brayden has been a busy little bee these past few weeks! We celebrated his 7 month birthday two days ago. It really was his best photo shoot to date! 

We have also been concerned about his weight. He didn't really gain much in the span of about three weeks, and so yesterday we went to see the doctor for a second dose of the flu shot and a weight check. And . . . he gained a full pound in two weeks as well as a quarter of an inch in length! He is now 15.3 lbs and 26.25 inches long! Hooray! We were worried about our little man. I am hoping that the trend continues.

We celebrated this great success and his birthday by going to baby yoga. This was our last session before I have to go back to work. Brayden is also ready to move up to Tots Yoga, since he is on his way to crawling! He has too much energy now for the mellow baby yoga class!

Toes to the nose!

Brayden has also been eating solid foods! Here are the most recent food pics.

Sweet potato!

Avocado!

He enjoys the eating part, but it's the digesting part that often make his tummy very unhappy. Either he has a lot of gas and is uncomfortable or he has the opposite problem . . . nothing happens and he is extremely uncomfortable. I am still breastfeeding, and while I have been restricting my diet (no soy, dairy, or nuts), it's still unclear to us what might be upsetting him. We've tried everything. Everything. We can't seem to win. We have been to the pediatrician who referred us to a pediatric gastroenterologist. The GI nurse practitioner was extremely unhelpful, and (I thought) very rigid in her understanding of Brayden. Our next stop is the baby allergist. Please pray that we can figure out what is going on with our little man. Dan and I just want him to be comfortable and to sleep better. We have held off on sleep training because, well, how can we let him cry when he is obviously in pain? We can't. And so some times we just don't sleep a lot. Lately, though we have been getting some 5 hour stretches, which has been great.

Speaking of sleeping, Mr. Brayden also does not like to nap in his crib, and so we have been walking him to sleep. It has been good exercise for me, and the weather lately has been beautiful! Here are a few pics of Brayden asleep in his stroller.

He also likes to sleep on Dan's shoulder (and mine. Currently, he is asleep in the Ergo carrier on my chest. This is new for us!).

But sometimes we do get the oh-so-sweet (and often oh-so-short) nap in the crib.

Asleep in Ocean City, NJ!

At home in Milford.

If only those naps would last just a little longer!!

Finally, Brayden has been rolling over like a champ! He's been going front to back for a while, but now he can go from back to belly! We found him asleep on his belly this morning in his crib! This was a first! No pics of this yet, but we will try to get some video! Crawling is sure to follow soon!

Catching Up with Brayden

Wow! Has it really been since January that I last posted? That says to me that time moves way too fast! And it reminds me of how busy we have been! We'll stick to short summaries and long pictures since it has been so long! Brayden had his half birthday (6 months) on Valentine's Day! He was as cute as can be! He was my perfect Valentine! We love you, Brayden!

He also had his six month check up. He is a little guy, weighing in at just 14.4 lbs and 25 inches long. That puts him in the 3.5 percentile for weight and the 2.98 percentile for height. His head is in the 26 percentile! He got a lot of shots, and so we had a tough night. That darn Roto Virus is the worst. It really messes with his stomach! 

Because Brayden has so many suspected allergies, we decided to wait to give him solids until 6 months. And so, the day after his birthday, I gave him his first taste of "solid" food--baby rice cereal! We had fun giving it to him, and I think he really liked it! 

Since then, he has had sweet potato

 

And baby oatmeal . . . 

We also went to visit Nonni and Poppy in Ocean City, New Jersey. Brayden was such a great traveler! He slept for most of the six hour ride down there. I love going to their new beach house. It's very relaxing--even in the winter! We had awesome weather. It was so incredibly warm the first few days we were there! I ran on the boardwalk twice, which was such a treat for me! Of course, we took Brayden for walks, too! Here are so pics from the trip. 

You can see Atlantic City!

Brayden fast asleep in his stroller!

We had fun playing inside, too! 

I can't believe we are on the other side of six months! Time goes by so, so fast! I will do my best to post more frequently in the upcoming month of March. Stay tuned for more cuteness!