Thurs., Sept. 17 (25 Weeks Even)

Sunday, Sept. 13 - Brady wants his Mommy! Brady was fussy most of the day...actually, he was fussy really only when I wasn't holding him. I tried to work out for 30min on the elliptical and he just did not understand why Mommy was in the same room but not holding him!! He did everything he could to let me know he wanted to see me and he wasn't happy with that machine taking away his attention. Mark keeps telling me he only acts like this on the weekends when I'm home all day. He's fine as long as I'm not around but if I'm home - well - he demands all of my attention. I (perhaps not so secretly) LOVE that he's so attached to his mama but it's hard sometimes because I can't get anything done. So we got a lot of snuggle time in this weekend. He'll see me walking by him and will reach both arms out for me to pick him up and snuggle him. I have no chance to walk by when he does that! These days, I find myself thinking...what's so bad about a "mama's boy"? ha. I love him more than I ever thought possible. I'd probably be screaming for him if he weren't already crying for me. :)

Tuesday, Sept. 15 - Brady had his (almost) 6-month appointment with Dr. Mandell today. He measured in just shy of 28 inches and is weighing in at 17 1/2 pounds. That's 90th percentile for height and between 25-50th for weight - so he continues to be growing at the same rate as in prior months. The doc suggested we put him on 3 meals a day (he's currently only on 2) then gave him 2 shots. He took them like a champ. Dr. Mandell said he looks great and "keep doing what you're doing". We go back at the 9-month mark. While there, we asked Dr. Mandell for suggestions to Brady's current sleeping situation. Our sleeping champ has - for whatever reason - been getting up at 11pm, 2am and 5am. Ack! The doc believes it might just be because he's hungry since he is so much more mobile now (burning more calories) and suggested we move him to 3 real "meals" a day. Either that or teething. Or a growth spurt. Or (likely) all three. Sigh. He also suggested that we offer Brady water when he gets up in the middle of the night - instead of breast milk like we've been doing. Dr. Mandell said that this tends to break the cycle but to only do this once we start 3 meals a day. I'm not a huge fan of this option but we'll give it a try. Other than that, all is well and we have a (very tall) and healthy boy on our hands!

Wednesday, Sept. 16 - Today is Meema's 66th birthday! Brady picked out some beautiful flowers to send to her work at Mercer Middle School. Happy birthday Meema!

Thursday, Sept. 17 - Ear pulling. Oh boy. Brady has been tugging on his ears constantly for the past few weeks. We've heard this is a big teething sign. That would make sense. He almost gnawed off his hand today and hasn't been sleeping well. He has a sharp bump in the middle of his upper gums. I have a feeling teeth aren't far off. In other news, Brady put himself into the crawling position (up on all arms and legs!) a number of times today...and for a couple minutes each time. When I first saw him do it, Mark was outside so he missed it. Brady pushed himself up into the crawling position and then started to rock back and forth (reaching for a toy that was in front of him). I sat there - amazed - and truly thought he was about to start crawling right in front of me!! Alas, he just rocked back and forth like that for a few minutes and then rolled over to another toy (one that was easier to access). :) He seems to get the whole crawling position now... we'll see how long it takes for him to figure out how to actually move himself forward from that. It was so amazing to watch - especially seeing I feel like I miss all this good stuff when I'm at work! He is also SO giggly and cooing up a storm now! He loves to play chase..."I'm going to get you!" and "Let's get Daddy!" (basically anything where you're chasing him or he's chasing someone/something). He just cracks up. He also loves peek-a-boo and hide-n-seek (that is trying to find where our voices are coming from and laughing up a storm when he finds us). This guy is Mr. Wiggles now and won't sit still for even a second when he's on the changing table. We have to give him something to play with the minute it takes to change his diaper or outfit. Even then, he'll flip over and over on the table and slap his hands and feet against the painting (bright dino painting) on the wall. ha. He cracks me up. And he's still very much in love with Puppy Max.