Help...

Braden has decided that he wants to practice getting into sitting position when I lay him down at night. I mean what better time to practice right? After 30 minutes of screaming and me going in every 10 minutes to lie him back down, pat his tummy, tell him I loved him and reassure him, only for him to lose his breath from screaming so hard, he finally fell asleep. Boo...I feel like a terrible mom for letting him cry, but I wasn't sure what else to do. It is awful to hear your child screaming, but he had been fed, he was dry, he was tired and it was way past bedtime so I was out of options. Of course Austin wasn't here tonight so I was on my own for decision making. I hope this is just a phase...we'll see how it goes for naps tomorrow. I've heard horror stories from my friends who've said that their babies will scream the entire time through naps b/c they keep sitting up and can't figure out how to lay back down again and get settled. I've also heard that usually after a week of this, things get better. Anybody have any ideas? What worked for you?

So this is what crawling will get you...

Let's just say that after Braden was done shredding all of the toilet paper, he decided to pull up on the toilet seat and then proceeds to suck on the toilet rim. Nice, huh? All of this happened in a matter of a few seconds when I had turned my back just for a minute to grab something. On another note, I had always thought that Braden would be a little more independent when he started crawling. I mean he's always been EXTREMELY clingy and I just kept thinking that this was a phase and that once he could crawl and get around on his own that he would be off exploring and wouldn't want to climb all over me anymore. Wrong!!!!! Now he just crawls after me wherever I go. And although it is endearing, I have to say that much of my day is spent w/ me being frustrated about the fact that I have every colorful, flashy, musical toy a child could want and yet he bypasses them all w/o even looking at them and is crawling toward me, trying to pull up on my legs so that he can be carried around. What the heck am I supposed to do about that? If I pick him up, cuddle him for a minute and then put him back down to play he starts fussing which escalates to screaming and then we are both just frustrated. If I walk out of the room, he's crawling after me...I have no idea what to do about my clingy baby. Any of you other moms out there who read this blog have this problem? Any suggestions? It's to the point that I can't even take him to nursery w/o him fussing and insisting on being held the ENTIRE time. I'm hoping that this too is a phase that will pass, and I know one day I will miss all of those moments when my little baby just wanted to be held, but in the thick of it I can't seem to think like that. Anyway, I'll leave you with a few other random pictures of my little guy:

Braden loves him some washcloth in the tub

Braden is so skinny (probably b/c he's recently decided that he only wants to eat fruits and cheese...no veggies or meat), but he had such a pot belly this day that we couldn't help but take a picture

Umm, is this bad table manners?

Hallelujah, we are going on a date...

And that's all I have to say about that.

And we're off...

Braden's Baby Dedication

We had a crazy weekend filled with lots of family and friends in town for Braden's baby dedication at our church. We had him dedicated Sunday morning and then followed that by having everyone over to our house for a brunch afterward. Of course, me being the not-so organized-overly stressed-from trying to cook and clean way too much-with a very clingy, needy 9 month old mom that I am forgot to bring my video camera to video his dedication. Oops...sorry baby...maybe one day we'll remember to video some of the milestones in your life. We had a great weekend with those we love so dearly and I take great honor in dedicating Braden's life to my Almighty God. I pray that I can live up to all that I committed to during the dedication...to diligently study His Word so that I can teach Braden about Christ, to model Christ in my own life so that he will watch me and see Christ, to remember my marriage covenant and be faithful to it daily. My son's life is delicate. I realize this more and more everyday (especially on days like today when he falls and splits his lip open). And he is a sponge...soaking up everything and anything in his environment...the good, the bad, the ugly. Lord I pray that you will make me like You, so that Braden can see me and know You.

Here are some pictures of the weekend:

Being dedicated -

Here is Braden smoothing out Miss Shellye's hair during the dedication and laughing if you notice

Wallowing in his church clothes after the dedication - The Madison family (minus Uncle Tyler) - Playing w/ Graham during the brunch -

We also managed to catch a few innings of the UK/Vandy Baseball game and I got to spend a few hours w/ one of my best friends Kelley, her sister Kacey and their one year old babies. Kelley lives in FL and was here watching her brother play for UK -

Braden enjoying himself at the tailgating party before the game -

Reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear on the way home from the game -

Nine Things About My Nine Month Old

1. Braden's favorite thing to do is stand, stand and stand some more. As well as walk around from room to room (using my assistance of course) with a smile of absolute bliss. While this is good times for baby, this is hard times on mommy's back.

2. We are not crawling yet and I'm trying my hardest not to worry about it. Braden has mastered scooting in a circle on both his butt and his tummy and has also figured out how to get on all fours from a sitting position, but as soon as he gets on all fours his feet shoot out from underneath him and he lands on his tummy. Very frustrating I'm sure!

3. He loves using his pincher fingers to eat bites of cut up fruit, avocado, veggies and cheerios. It should also be noted that he loves to use his pincher fingers to pick up every tiny piece of lint, hair and dirt that is left on the floor. He also has realized that he can use his pincher fingers to grab his "little guy" in the tub. We are working on putting an end to this :)

4. Braden HATES and I mean HATES getting his diaper changed. Now this is a new issue for him b/c when he was tiny he LOVED being on the diaper changer...in fact sometimes if he was fussing I would put him on the changer and he'd stop crying. Bizarre - I know! So now we avoid and dread diaper changes at all cost. It is all out war as he is arching his back, lunging off the table, flipping over and screaming bloody murder, trying to grab every Desitin bottle, wipe and diaper that is in reaching range for him. We are talking to the doctor today about how to handle tantrums on the changing table!

5. Okay, this boy gets up with the chickens! Lately it's been before 6am which is excruciatingly painful for me. He doesn't get his last bottle until about 8:15ish which means he's only sleeping about 9.5 hours at night. Wow! How does he do it? I need about 9 hours of sleep a night which means that Austin and I don't get a whole lot of down time together after Brady is asleep. Now he doesn't make a peep for 9 straight hours, but once the clock hits 5:58am, he's rarin' to go. Here's the funny thing though - sometimes he lays in there and talks and plays for 45 minutes, sometimes like yesterday, he lays there for 30 mins and then passes out and goes back to sleep for another hour and sometimes he will sleep straight through for 10 hours. There is ABSOLUTELY no rhyme or reason about his mornings. But very rarely these days do we make it till 6am w/o hearing him cooing in the monitor first.

6. My boy has 6 teeth. Two on bottom and four on top. I can see the whites of another one on his bottom gum so I guess those are next.

7. Some of Brady's favorites: riding in the stroller, flipping the pages of books, banging on anything that is loud and obnoxious sounding (particularly pots and pans), brown puppy, his musical table, Tyson and pretty much anything that involves the outdoors.

8. Little man has suddenly become fearful of strangers. Now this is definitely a new phase for my normally social little man. He likes to smile at strangers from afar, but if you are a new face you better not try to hold my boy or he will most likely start crying.

9. And here are the 9 month appointment stats:

Height: 30 inches

Weight: 20 lbs 15 oz