12 month check up

i am pleased to say that bronson gained weight. and grew.and his growth chart graph went up, from a low 20th percentile to a whopping high 23rd percentile. YES! 

weight: 19.5 lbs

height: 28.5 inches

diaper size: 3 

hemoglobin: 11.5 (which is in range)

lead: negative 

we have finished most of the series of vaccines. just started hep A series. we will start MMR and Varicella at 15 month check up. 

goals for this month: we are going to work on building things and saying a couple words, besides mama and dada, and the occasional blurred, slurred attempt of Elliot. we are going to try to eat more beans and lentils. we are going to re-try egg whites without breaking out in hives. and we are going to try strawberries. oh and we are going to WALK! we pretty much can, but crawling is just so much easier! 

1 year (a day late)

happy birthday bronson boy! it's been one year and a day since you were born. you have NO idea how crazy this thought is. that you've been in my life for this long, and i have so many more days to be with you. i seriously can't wait to see what those days bring. 

you are seriously the funniest guy ever! you laugh at everything. you dance when you hear music or if i sing to you. you laugh out loud just because you can. you head butt us just because you like the sound of our heads clunking together. you drive cars ALL day long, and say 'vroom vroom' while driving them. you love Elliot cat. you even try to say his name. it sounds like a muffled blurred together elliot though. you see cats in books and you point to them and say 'elliot'. you are the smartest. books are your favorite. you chew the bindings of your favorite ones with your little shark teeth. the big thing right now is you take steps. sometimes 5 or 6 of them, but usually only 1 to 2. you take more steps when you are holding something in your hands and are distracted. you have no idea you are walking. when you take a couple steps you are aware and timid, and usually fall straight to crawling. you are a pro crawler. sometimes i have no idea how you got from point A to point B so fast. you eat everything! i vacuum like twice a day. or am picking up the tiniest little things so you won't eat them. it's very annoying! or i'm annoying. you are a pretty small guy so far. you are just growing out of your 6 month clothes and starting to wear your 9 month clothes. i buy 12 month clothes for you, and they are HUGE! i'm pretty sure you will fit into those clothes when you are about 2. not kidding! at the rate you're going!

i pretty much just want to tell you, i love being your mama. i couldn't ask for a better job. we have become connected to old friends that have had kids that i lost touch with. we have a whole new crowd of people we see. it's nice to reconnect. it's sad that so many people lose touch just because of a baby. i understand it now, and am trying my hardest to stay in touch with my friends without kids. this is where you realize what kind of friends you have. and what they are willing to do for you and how far they are willing to go. i am so grateful for the friends and family in my life. 

bronson, you will soon learn how important family and friends are. this is why i am so adamant about you having play dates and making life long friends. these kids will be there for you through thick and thin. they will make you laugh when you need to the most. they will be by your side on the most important days of your life. and they will be there for you when you go through a loss. these are the people you need to cherish. without these people, life will be hard. i hope you love and respect these people the way i do. i've only known you a year, but i'm pretty sure you are on your way of becoming the most selfless, compassionate, open hearted person i know. you are a cancer. you are sensitive to others and have deep emotions. this may be hard at times, but in the long run being emotional will be your best asset in life. 

i love you big boy. you are SO loved. 

xo, mama

skater stance

fourth of july (2 days late)

water babies

this is jack. bronson's soon to be best friend, they just don't know it yet. jack is only three months old, so isn't too interactive yet. but will be in the next couple months i'm sure. that is when they will realize they love each other like it's nobody's business. jack is pretty much as big as bronson, as you can tell in the picture. given, his mom is like 69-70 inches tall, and dad is probably like 72 inches. and i am like 61 inches short. there you have it. jack will be huge and b will be short. jack's mama lauren is one of my bestest friends. i am so proud of her. she is a natural at this mommy thing! we love you baby jack and i can't wait to watch you grow up along side with mr B! 

11 months (a day late)

i am a day late in wishing you a very happy 11 months. it hasn't been the best month, but we survived. your papa got hurt and hasn't been able to work..on the upside it's been nice having him home every night for dinner and bed time. you got very sick with roseola. your papa got poison oak from zoe. elliot cat got a fox tail wrapped around his eye ball and had to go to the vet. and me, your mama is recovering from the worst case of mastitis ever! probably from you being sick and nursing every hour and making my supply of milk go way up. and then going back to normal when you felt better and me getting engorged, which led to an infection. i tried going into work yesterday and ended up having to leave only after 3 hours. i had a major fever and chills and just couldn't bare it any longer. i was so cold, when i climbed into my 90 degree car to drive home, it felt so good, i just sat in there for like 10 minutes and warmed up. today my antibiotics have finally kicked in. i am still in pain, especially when you feed, but at least there is no fever and chills to go along anymore. 

today i felt well enough to take you for a play date at the river. you got pretty tan just from the walk to the beach. then i freaked out and slathered sun screen all over you hoping you wouldn't get skin cancer right then and there...you had fun playing in the water with your yellow dump truck. i am trying to get you used to cold water, because you start swim lessons next month, and i don't want you to freak out because it's not a heated pool. i am already freaking out because i hate water and don't want to get in the cold water to give you swim lessons. maybe i will just make your papa do it. hehe. 

your new major skill you do is throw things. i've been kind of avoiding this one. i haven't really encouraged this one for a while, but you are just doing it on your own, so now i have to. yes, you throw tows across the room. you hit me with your toys in the face. OMG you are obsessed with anything on wheels. or anything that rides smoothly across the floor while you drive it along crawling. it's very cute. you are so fast. 

today you attempted to take that first step, and fell flat on your forehead. we were still in shock about the first step that we didn't react very fast when you started to cry. then i picked you up and handed you off to papa, and you just gave him the biggest proudest grin. you're so tough! 

you're getting pretty good at signing. i love being able to communicate with you. we need to start teaching you new things now, but i want to make sure you get the basics first, which always have to do with eating of course! 

it's been such an adventure watching you grow bronson. i am always so astonished and amazed by you. your capability to do things. your excitement. your laughter. and your love that you show and give us. you are so easy to be around. sometimes i wonder if having you will be enough for us. since you are so great. just you. on your own. and i don't want to ruin that. 

love you my little man. you are almost a year! i can't believe it!

last week sucked

we had a rough last week. b had his first sickness ever. which consisted of a fever for four days straight. at one time it got over 103.5 and i almost had an anxiety attack. thank gawd jon was home and able to be the calm one, and to keep me relatively calm as well. (not really) but he tried. luckily he stayed very well hydrated, actually he would just gulp water down out of the sippy cup every time he would wake up..and his appetite was good until the last day. but still ate. just wasn't as into it as he usually is. i took him into my work and they said it was viral. then i took him to the pediatricians and she said it was viral as well, but to not be surprised if he brakes out in a rash. and if he does, well it will be Roseola. sure enough the rash came. yay! it feels good to have a diagnoses. 

b is feeling 100% better now and is back to eating and smiling and being his old happy self. we are so happy to have our boy back to normal. i've got to admit though, having a sick baby did make the days very relaxing. it was the first time since he was a new born where he would just lay on top of you and not move. and just sleep or just hang out. it was nice to cuddle. unfortunately not under the best circumstances. 

three good reasons i'm glad B got sick. 

1. he is immune to this virus for the rest of his life.

2. i got to cuddle with my boy for the first time in a long time.

3. b learned sign language really well. especially the sign for milk. oh man, i'm in trouble with this sign. but it feels so rewarding to see your baby starting to sign back to you. even if they get mixed up, or he alternates more and all done, which confuses the shit out of me. i have no idea if i should give him more or stop. but the milk sign never gets confused with anything. thats for sure!