Encore, encore!

Braylen slept NINE straight hours last night (7 pm- 4 am)!!!!  Then he went back to bed not fully asleep and slept until 9am.  I swear he's sick because how can we go from 5 hours tops to 9 hours?!  I really hope my 5 month old is finally figuring out the amazing-ness of uninterrupted sleep!

Fives All Around

On the 14th of this month numbered FIVE, we celebrate two important FIVES!

Happy birthday number FIVE to my one and only niece, Hannah.  I can't believe it's been FIVE years since I held your little FIVE pound body next to mine. 


Hannah Noel- 1 week old!

We love being an Auntie and Uncle to this girl


One and some change


 She gets cuter each year!

Visit to Auntie and Uncle's house!  Two

OCNJ- Three

Christmas- Four

I am so happy to live 20 minutes from my niece to see her grow into such a lovely girl.  She is a great big cousin to Evie and Braylen.  Happy Birthday Hannah!

The other important FIVE is Braylen is FIVE months old!! 

 Our 16.5 pounder is filling up more surface area on the giraffe each month

Braylen at 1 month

When you are only FIVE months old, there are a lot of firsts.  Here are some of his firsts this month-

Hair Trim

"solid" food

Exersaucer

Swing ride at my new favorite playground

Braylen is doing a great job with his rolling.  He can roll both ways and likes to practice the most at night while the rest of the house wants to be is sleeping.  He gets stronger each time we put him in the exersaucer and he discovers what to do with the toys.

Much improved posture in the exersaucer

Superbaby!  He has on his Superman shirt too. 

Sleep?  Eh, we're still working on it.  We think swaddling his bottom half is still needed.  He gave me the best Mother's Day gift- only calling me out of bed ONCE!  The last time he did that was my birthday.  Well, maybe not that long, but it sure feels like I've been up every 3 hours for months.


We have a thumb sucker!  Welcome to the club


Braylen was Mr. Serious this weekend.   Must be teeth :)

Don't mess with him while he is watching golf

The newborn days are over (except in the sleep department...)!  I am excited about the next stage of Braylen's life.

What a Difference an Eater Makes!

Braylen added "who hash" (AKA rice cereal) to his short list of meal options this week.  Evie moved to a seat that attaches to the table and Braylen took her high chair. 



Strapped in, ready for take off

Let's pause for a moment and compare Evie in the same chair at SEVEN months.  Braylen is definitely going to be the bigger, younger brother.


Less than thrilled with Who Hash

Braylen is the complete opposite of Evie when it comes to eating.  He nurses well, takes the bottle, and took to who hash the first time.  Gosh, having a baby that eats is amazing. 

Tonight at dinner he begged for more cereal then guzzled down 3 ounces of milk from the bottle. 

A full belly makes a happy baby!



What What?!?

We like to make our kids look like bad a$$ rapers. 

One of our favorites of Evie at 6 Months

Now Braylen

Thanks kids for perfect facial expressions!  Daddy can't be bad a$$ with that smile.

And She's Back!?

Evie took a long bath in Braylen's blue tub in the tub tonight!!!!  She cried when I took her out.  Over the last week and a half I have gradually transitioned her back to submerging body parts in the tub.  First, she put her feet in a wash tub while laying on the floor on a towel.  Next, she would do "up/downs" in the wash tub.  Her diaper area was getting very red, so it became a must to get her bottom in water!  Then we moved to the filled blue tub on a towel.  And tonight back into the bath tub in the blue tub.  She played with her cups and poured water on herself.  I think she might be back to her normal self!  I was never so happy to have her splash again!  There is hope that she will touch the pool this summer!  How many explanation points can I put in one post?!  It was a horrible afternoon.... I am thrilled to end on a happy note!!!!!!!!

Growing

Braylen's numbers at 4.5 months-

Weight: 15 lbs, 10 oz (43%)
Height: 25 inches (25%)
Head: 41.25 cm (24%)

Most of his weight is in his chunky legs!  Both of my kids are in size 3 diapers now.  We will start rice cereal with him this week.  Pictures and commentary to come on that milestone.

Dr. Burke commented that it appears his teeth are "there".   I think she meant to say we might be seeing some teeth cut through way earlier than 10 months with this baby!  He may be teething after all.  I hope that's the reason for the screaming fits.

Thank Heavens For Little (and Big) Girlfriends

These two melt my heart

Little girlfriends holding hands are so stinkin' adorable

Not all play dates are this adorable though.  The girls have a hard time sharing sometimes.  Babies, strollers, pizza play food, and snacks are usual culprits.

However, the more they play, the more they like each other.

Evie and I are so happy to have girlfriends a stones throw away.  It's so easy to have spur of the moment play dates.

Evie shows Emily how to be brave and go down the big slide at the playground.  Emily shows Evie how to be messy

Evie lasted about 5 minutes being dirty.  Emily could have played all day

I love our blossoming friendships with Emily and Lisa.  Evie asks for "Emie" all the time and Emily runs to our house looking for Evie (actually, now her boo, Braylen). 

The older sister monitoring who is after her brother

Neighborhood friends are the best!  Get ready for many more pictures of Emily and Evie!  Lisa and I have plans to be together a lot this summer :)