Busy Busy Busy....:-)

We have been very busy lately. Braden has therapy 5 X's per week. Most are scheduled early morning. So we are up early and have a good bit to do before therapy. Bath time is now at nite instead of in the morning. Which has actually been better since Braden has decided making messes with his food is FUN. Last week was the first week on this new schedule. By Thursday Braden was too exhausted for his PT session. Hopefully he'll build up some stamina after just a few more weeks. He has already made great progress. He can now sustain pushing up in the crawl position for 15-20 seconds. He can also rock back and forth without dropping to the floor. He can stand up on his knees. He wants to stand now but I have to call Ortho first. Not sure if he is allowed. We have been putting it off because I'd rather him crawl before he tries to walk. He actually does travel to get to his toys although much of it is the non crawling technique. It's the Braden Harris version of traveling. Which usually involves staying on his back or side and wiggling till he gets there. Or he uses his head to move. Hard to explain but lets just say this is how he got around in his cast. He has strong neck muscles. lol Braden is also very active on our laps. He can really wear you out when he wants too. Especially when he's tired and doesn't want to fall asleep. I'm sorry I don't have any new pics. I'll try to post some later this week. Thanks to everyone again for keeping up with Braden's progress. We appreciate all of you so much.

Cute pics...

I just wanted to share a few new pics. Braden is loving chewing up the remote. He would rather put his teeth on hard plastic than a teether. He bites on remotes, tupperware, the box of wipes, lotion bottles and sterile water bottles. In fact we have to give him empty sterile water bottles. He actually got the cap off one while chewing on it and fortunately it had little water in it. I would have had a stroke if he had dumped water down his trach. You know because he won't keep his nose on. Notice in some of the recliner photos his nose if laying off to the side. He's such a character.

Update on Braden's progress

I just realized it's been almost a week since my last post. So I thought I would share a few new things with you. Braden has done two complete roll overs over the past week. All one direction which he has never done even before his cast. Braden has also warmed up to being on his belly just a smidge. At random we will find him pushing up from the floor and raising his head while on his belly. All good exercises for learning to crawl. He is still teething up a storm and now has 13 teeth. It seems they have all started coming in at once. It's required alot of Motrin and teething tablets. Braden and I have been practicing playing ball. We sit on the floor and pass the Elmo ball to each other. He either pushes with his hands or drops it to me after trying to eat it.:-) Several days ago Braden played a very long game of peek-a-boo with me. It was so much fun to see him laughing so hard and really getting into the game. Before he'd play one or two times and then he was over it. Braden has also learned a new sign other than Daddy. No it's not Mommy it's "all done". The therapist and I grab Braden's hands after he eats to say "all done". So in Braden's world he should grab my hands and make me sign "all done". So that is how Mr. Braden tells me he's finished eating. He always gets a great big grin on his face while signing he's all done. It's so cute. Stephen has taught Braden to reach for us when he wants up. Braden will also grab your hands if he wants to pull up and sit. Braden's back to not loving his cheesy poofs. Could be partly due to the teething. Braden and I took a trip to the Donelson Walgreens all by ourselves this week. We went thru the drive-thru because as many of you know I will not take him into the stores. The trip went very well. It was so nice to get out and I think we will be doing more of it. I really wish grocery stores would let you fax in your grocery list and have a drive thru pick up. Wouldn't that be awesome? For now we will just have to go to Sonic every once in a while for a treat. Maybe I can talk Braden in to liking ice cream now that we know he's not allergic to milk. We tried Yo baby yogurt and Braden really likes it. Oh and on the way back from our trip to Walgreens Mr. Braden decided to take off his trach nose. So I am scolding him thru the rearview mirror and what does he do? Starts laughing wide mouth smile showing all his teeth. He just thought that was hilarious. I had a really hard time not laughing with him. But I didn't. We stopped off at the Cracker Barrel so I could put his nose back on. He wasn't real happy about it. I think he thought since we were on the road he wouldn't have to put it back on. It's a little bit of a battle with him right now. He goes thru spells of us going back and forth putting the nose back on after he pulls it off. He's also learned how to pull off his velcro straps on his splint/brace. I think he likes the noise it makes. So glad he doesn't have to wear it all the time. As long as I can keep him in it for naps and nite time we are good.

Due to all the sickness (H1N1) we have asked to cancel all our visits to Vandy over the winter. Thankfully they were excepting of that request. So our Pediatrician will see us for RSV shots and she has agreed to see us in the early AM before anyone else arrives. So hopefully we will be able to keep Braden from getting sick this winter.

Ok well it is late and for not having much to say this is a pretty long post. :-) I am super tired so hope it all makes sense. If I've rambled please forgive me. Braden has been waking up at 4 am and has no desire to go back to sleep. With his feeding schedule I rarely go to bed before 11 pm. So not much sleep for me lately. Braden eventually goes back to sleep and then gets up a 6:30 but I am up at random during 4-6:30 because after a full nite of sleep (Braden's full nite) he's a bit junky and has to be suctioned a good bit. So I'm up and down alot.

Braden Update

Well not alot to share right now. Braden is doing well. Still teething and drooling like crazy. But he is still eating good, on and off with the cheesy poofs and still drinking well from the sippy cup. We take his brace/splint off a couple of times a day. He loves being in his jumper as seen in these latest pics. He isn't super active. He is a little reserved on using his feet. Which is to be expected but I'm sure with time he will get more active with it. He is doing great push ups for us and his PT. Working with him on those crawling skills. He still hates being on his tummy so who knows he may skip crawling. The last pic with Braden sleeping on his table. That was a day when he didn't take his nap. It was about 6 pm and he just passed out. It lasted about 20 minutes. :-)

First trip to the Nashville Zoo

NICU party photo

Here is the pic the professional photographer took of Braden and some of his friends on Sunday.