On Sunday we took Braden to get his first haircut! For someone as bald as Braden has been, this was a long time coming.

We went to Cost Cutters, which had a race car for him to sit in. Actually, it was a pretty good setup. A little TV in front of him played “Rugrats,” plus they gave him a balloon at the end.

Braden was shy at first and sort of cowered when the barber tried to cut his hair, but he eventually warmed up and then became fascinated at seeing his own hair on the race car.

If you can believe it, Braden actually looks younger now that his hair (especially around the ears) is not so scraggily.

Check out the photos of his first haircut.

Journal haircut

Hope you  like our Christmas card this year. It was extremely fortunate to have Braden look into the camera (set on “auto”) AND smile at the same time all five or so times we took this picture.

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You can pretty  much ask Braden any question and he will respond with “un un” (no). Even if he really means yes, he will still say un un. This has been going on for about two months now. As of this week, he’s starting to say “no,” which is cute.

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Braden is getting better at jumping. Previously, he could only leap one foot at a time, but now he can take off from both feet. He also can march in place (just like Brian did in the UW marching band).

In addition, Braden is starting to give “zerberts” or “razzberries” (he lifts your shirt and blows on your stomach).

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Braden’s new favorite food seems to be raisins. He likes to take a huge handful and stuff his face with them. If any fall on the ground, he knows to blow on them first (to get rid of any dirt, dust, etc.) before eating them.

Kristin tried to feed Braden a grilled-cheese sandwich (with fake cheese) the other day, but he hated it. However, we suspect if we topped it with his favorite condiment–ketchup–he would have eaten it.

Speaking of eating, Braden doesn’t always want to sit in his high chair. For example, at breakfast, he usually eats at the coffee table in the living room or in his play area. Otherwise, he likes to sit on a dining chair like mom and dad.

Journal feeding, new skills, talking

For the most part, it’s easier to put Braden to bed. After brushing his teeth, giving him some water and reading a couple of books, we can put him in his crib while he’s still awake, and he’ll go to sleep on his own. Much better than the old days of having to rock him to unconsciousness.

On the flip side, it’s become harder to get him out of bed in the morning (isn’t that supposed to happen in the teen years?). He’ll usually lie there and talk to himself. When we try to pick up him, he puts up a fight. Braden also won’t let us change his clothes or diaper in the morning (or at night).

In other words, the morning routine has become quite the struggle. We attribute part of it to his reduced hunger in the morning. Previously, he couldn’t wait to head downstairs to eat. Now he’s not that hungry for some reason and doesn’t mind the leisurely pace.

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Braden babbles a lot, and is starting to string together the few words he can say (e.g. “mama dada”). He’s getting better at repeating words, and he certainly understands a LOT of words in both English and Mandarin.

We know Braden can say (and understand the meaning of): mama, dada, nai-nai (paternal grandmother in Mandarin), up, yes, uh-oh, hot, un-un (no) and Bucky. He also likes to say “yeah yeah,” which stems from TV show segment we once watched.

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Braden for sure has reached the terrible twos (hopefully it doesn’t get worse). When he doesn’t get his way, he well lie on the floor and throw a tantrum if you try to pick him up. His bossiness has increased, too.

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Some times Braden likes to take his sponge and wash himself in the bathtub. It’s so cute to see him try to wash his own feet, for example.

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Braden has been getting hives on his back and face lately, though we’re not sure why, since he hasn’t been exposed to any of the foods to which he has allergies.

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Braden continues to show that he is half Kristin, half Brian, especially in social situations. We were recently at our condo’s flea market, and all our neighbors wanted to say hi to him. Instead, Braden begged Brian to pick him up, then he buried his head in Brian’s chest. Anytime someone try to move to another angle to see him, he would further try to hide.

After 5-10 min., he was running around the room like a crazyman and being his normally cute, outgoing self. It’s funny that it takes time for him to warm up and drop his shyness.

Journal bath, new skills, sleep, talking

Braden’s second Halloween was obviously more rewarding than his first. We went to Marcie and Josh’s house and then went to a few houses in their neighborhood. Braden walked with us–which in itself was fun, especially since he couldn’t last year–and then picked the candy himself at the houses. He also waved bye-bye to all the people as we left each house.

(We imagine the experience must have been weird for Braden, to keep going from house to house and getting a treat each time. Plus, he doesn’t even know what candy is.)

Unlike last year, in which he kept taking his pumpkin hat off, Braden left his bumblebee costume intact once we started trick-or-treating. (However, it should be noted he wore his candy pale on his head for a while). As you can imagine, he was super adorable!

When we got home, we let Braden eat a little bit of his taffy. Some of it stuck to his teeth, and it was cute watching him pick it off with his fingers. As expected, Kristin began eating the rest of his candy.

Journal Halloween

Almost a year to the day, Braden took his second flight when we went to Myrtle Beach for vacation. He fell asleep halfway through our mid-morning flight to Detroit, and he did pretty well on the two-hour flight to Charleston until he acted up a bit in the final 15 minutes (when we had to shut off all electronics).

The way back was good, too. We did a better job of keeping him occupied from Charleston to Detroit, and he eventually fell asleep from Detroit to Madison (a late flight that also was delayed). We used food, books, DVDs, YouTube videos on Brian’s phone, videos on our iPod and toys. Both our carry-ons were totally devoted to Braden.

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We think Braden’s favorite part of Myrtle Beach was the alligator zoo (see pictures in the photo album). He loved spotting all the gators and crocodiles, especially the ones lurking beneath us at the bridges.

For that reason, we thought Braden would love the aquatic animals in Ripley’s Aquarium, but he seemed fairly indifferent. The aquarium was located in a huge area called Broadway on the Beach, and so we went walking around a bit. We found a bridge in which you could buy pellets and feed the large fish and ducks below. There were so many we couldn’t believe it–they would jockey for position and sit on top of each other for these little pellets, which Braden enjoyed tossing at them.

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As expected, Braden ate pretty well. We had a condo so we went grocery shopping for Braden. At restaurants, we fed him some seafood, which he tolerated to some extent. He seemed to like hush puppies and fried shrimp, but only in small quantities.

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Braden liked the beach, but never for more than 30-60 min.; we think it got to be too hot out there for him, even though we went out around 10 a.m. We bought him a volleyball, shovel and bucket, all of which he enjoyed using on the sand. We also bought him a floatation device, which he liked using in the pool.

Apparently, Braden takes after his dad in his ability to tan. In just the few days we were out there, Braden developed a small farmer’s tan. He did not get any sun burns!

Journal travel, vacation

It’s been hard to see how many new teeth Braden has, as he hates it when we prod around his mouth. Brian counted eight on the top row (four new), and there appears to be about the same in the bottom row. At least with some molars, Braden is finding it easier to chew.

Braden can now say “bow wow,” and he’ll also respond with those words when you ask him what sound a dog makes. He can also say “darn it,” along with slapping his hands on his thighs, which he learned from his great uncle Chuck. It’s so cute to see him wind up as he gets ready to say it and act it out.

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Braden used to love bananas–in fact, he ate one every day at breakfast–but now he dislikes them. So basically he’s eating around 2-3 bowls’ worth of cereal in the mornings, it seems. On the flip side, Braden now likes strawberries, which he wouldn’t eat before. We don’t understand why his tastes have changed.

These toddler biscuit/cookies we found are his new favorite food. He will open the pantry door and point at them, often stomping his feet, until you feed him one. And he still likes ketchup, to the point that we will put it on various foods just so he’ll eat them.

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We did end up taking Braden to two Concerts on the Square this year. The first time he ended up playing with Brian’s former supervisor from DPI and his wife. They (fortunately) enjoyed his company.

The second time we were able to keep him from wandering as much, but in both cases we left at the half. We missed last year in which he fell asleep during the concert.

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Last update: Braden can sort of jump. After watching Brian do it a few months ago, he tried to imitate it but couldn’t get his feet off the ground (but he got the arm gestures down). Now he can sort of get one or both feet in the air (about 1 cm tops). It’s really adorable when he tries.

Journal going out, new skills, talking, teething

We just posted some new albums, finally!

• Kristin took Braden to the Spray Park in Middleton
• Braden at the Dane County Fair
• Miscellaneous photos from April, May and June

Pictures

While Braden is still not talking, he can say a few words and does understand what we’re saying some of the time. Besides “uh-oh,” he yells “up!” when he wants you to pick him up or lift up to a place he can’t climb. Note: he can’t quite make the “p” sound, so it’s really more of “uh!”

We have heard him say “dog” (closer to “Doug”), and we think he knows he’s referring to us when he says “mama” and “dada.” In addition, you can ask him to point out his eyes, nose, tongue and bellybutton. Plus, you can ask him in both Mandarin and English to blow you a kiss. It’s super cute!

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We took Braden to the Mallards baseball game the other day. We’ll post a video soon of him acting shy around the dog mascot named Bonehead. Unlike the first game in which Brian took Braden, who only sat in the seats for one out, this time Braden made it through a whole inning before wanting freedom. He went all over the ballpark!

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We’re trying to figure out if we can take Braden to Concerts on the Square. Last year we were able to rock him to sleep, but he was much younger then and couldn’t run. This year may prove to be more difficult.

Journal going out, talking

We’ve had three events recently in which Braden has had the chance to interact with other kids his age. Kristin took him to story time at the library the other day, but Braden was horribly shy and clung to his mom. Last Wednesday, we went to Kristin’s department picnic at Hoyt Park, where he was sort of a bully by taking other kids’ toys. There was one cute moment when he reached out to another infant to shake his hand (or simply touch him), but the other kid didn’t notice.

Yesterday Kristin took him to story time again. At first he was shy and sat very still on his mom’s lap (a rarity), but then Braden became a wild and crazy guy, running around the library, getting his hands on everything and taking another girl’s toy. Kristin is not sure if she can ever take him back.

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We finally started measuring Braden’s growth. We are putting pencil marks on the wall with his height and reach. We’re anxious to see how much he grows month-by-month. As we previously mentioned, it’s noticeable how much more he can reach (he’s taller and has longer arms). Once, he could barely reach the first ledge in the bathtub (he would have to stand on his tippy toes), but now he can almost reach the second ledge (where all the shampoos are).

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While Braden is still not talking, he does understand what people are saying. You can ask him where his eyes, nose, tongue and bellybutton are, and he will point to them. He also recognizes many other words, such as “Elmo” and “Bucky Badger,” for example.

Journal growth, interaction, talking

Our house is getting less and less baby-proofed by the day. Braden really enjoys his new skill: climbing on furniture. Whether it’s a couch, bed, chair … you name it, he can climb it. We think he enjoys the sense of accomplishment for getting up there and sitting with the adults.

Speaking of new skills, Braden can occasionaly open our doors (we have the long handles vs. the knobs). He gets on his tippy toes and reaches for the handle, and sometimes he can grab it long enough to pull it down and open the door.

Braden’s throwing skills have improved as well. Brian loves the face Braden makes when he puts both arms above his head to throw–we’ll try to get a picture soon.

What Braden has not yet mastered is climbing down stairs while standing up. He used to “slide” down on his stomach, but now he prefers trying to walk down. His legs are a bit too short to do this, so we hold his hands and float him down each step.

In case we forgot to mention: Braden is able to take his own soiled diaper, put it in the Diaper Genie and rotate the cylinder.

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More TV, less food. Braden is starting to enjoy watching TV. He’ll just sit there on the floor and silently watch the screen despite not completely understanding what’s going on. On the other hand, Braden is starting to eat less, if you can believe it. He no longer will finish an entire banana (plus cereal) at breakfast. In fact, when Braden’s done eating a certain item, he’ll either throw the leftovers on the floor or at you.

Journal feeding, new skills