It’s really funny to hear Braden grunt or make other sounds, especially when he’s sleeping. Unfortunately, it makes it harder for us to sleep, as we’re never sure if he’s about to wake up or not. We will try to get this on video for an upcoming episode of “Brian and Kristin Plus One” so you can hear it, too.

Braden also loves to stretch. He will throw his arms above his head, extend his legs and arch his back in one big stretch. He usually does this right after waking up, especially if he’s been swaddled, but he’ll do it other times, too. It’s do damn cute!

Journal sounds, stretching

Yesterday we went to Kristin’s paternal grandparents’ condo in Fitchburg for a family get-together. All of her dad’s siblings and their kids were there (shout out to Marcie, Gretchen, Katie, Andrew, Rachel, Erin, Bryce and Taylor, plus spouses Josh, Todd and Scott). In addition, Gretchen and Todd brought their 10-month-old, Bennett, and Katie is 74 days away from her expected due date.

We just can’t believe how all of us “kids” have grown up. When Brian was invited to go with Kristin’s family to their cabin in 1999, some of her cousins were infants and some were still in high school. Now two of us have our own kids with another on the way. Thanksgiving will be decidely different this year.

In this picture is Kristin’s dad, Chip, and her grandfather, William.

Journal family, four generations

In the past few days, Braden didn’t sleep much during the day, and only for an hour at a time at night, making for very tired parents.

Last night (Tuesday), however, Braden slept in two three-hour blocks followed by a two-hour block. By comparison, we felt like we slept 10 hours and weren’t as groggy in the morning.

Now that we’re writing about this, we know we’re probably jinxing ourselves and that he will revert to his old habits. Or maybe, just maybe, this is a sign that he’s finally going to start sleeping more.

Fingers crossed!

***

Braden is definitely smiling a lot more now–it’s so cute! We’re trying to get a picture of it.

Journal sleep

Yesterday (March 3) was Braden’s one month birthday already–how time flies! We can’t believe that a month ago at this time we were in the hospital.

Braden is now more than 10 lbs. Kristin found out from the lactation specialist that we’ve been feeding him too much. Apparently he’s not always hungry when he cries; some times he just wants to be held. So now we’re cutting back a bit.

Today (March 4) is the 10-year anniversary of our first date. On March 4, 1999, we had dinner at Paisan’s (when it was at University Square 4), then we rented “Happy Gilmore.” We also made plans to see each other over spring break, which was the following week.

If someone had told us back then that 10 years later we’d be married, own a home downtown and have a one-month-old baby … wow!

Journal anniversary, birthday, feeding

Over the past week or so, we’ve noticed Braden has been smiling a lot. Right now, he’s not smiling in reaction to anything. Rather, he’s smiling accidentally, but it sure is cute! He even smiles in his sleep.

Speaking of sleep, Braden “talks” a lot now at night. What he does is he makes a lot of “ahhh” noises. Unfortunately, this makes it harder for us to fall asleep, especially because we’re worried he may wake himself up and want to feed again. Last night, for example, we each got maybe four hours of sleep due to a combination of incessant feeding and baby noises.

Journal sleep, smiles

Last Saturday we went to Kristin’s maternal grandparents’ condo so that Braden could visit his great-grandparents. As we always do, we waited until he was hungry (almost all the time anyway), fed him, then zipped over to Monona.

With the snowfall, the roads were a bit slippery, and en route we encountered a two car fender-bender and a car that lost control on the on-ramp. Brian joked that he wanted Kristin to take her car and drive ahead as the “scout car.”

Amazingly, Braden slept the entire time we were there (or, at least 90 percent unconscious). All in all, it was quite the moment for four generations to be together at once.

Journal family, four generations

We didn’t watch that much TV before we had Braden, but now we are watching a lot more. It’s about the one thing we can do while either feeding him or simply holding him when’s he awake (he doesn’t like to be put down).

Last night, for example, we watched two episodes of “The Simpsons,” part of “Taxi Driver,” and back-to-back episodes of “Lost” (we’re all caught up now). That’s about four hours of TV–yikes! That doesn’t even include the TV we watch in the morning or in the middle of the night.

Maybe as a change of pace, tonight we’ll sit around and read the Bible.

Just kidding.

Journal TV

Brian celebrated his 29th birthday today. We decided to eat at the Nitty Gritty since it was so close, despite eating there every year (we had been hoping to go somewhere else).

Braden began feeding around 5:40 p.m., and after 30 min. or so, he was done, and we quickly packed up and left. He fell asleep in the car ride over, and slept the entire meal (a little less than an hour long).

As soon as we got home, he woke up and told us he was hungry!

Sadly, we went to bed at 9 p.m., the earliest we’ve hit the hay for either of our birthdays in a long time.

***

Braden is now 9 lbs. Apparently, within the first three weeks, babies can be insatiable. So hopefully, his relentless hunger will subside soon (and subsequently, we can sleep more).

Journal birthday, feeding, sleep

We’ve been noticing since this past weekend that Braden really likes stretching his legs out. Before that, he kept them tucked in close to his body, but now his likes to straighten them out. When he’s sitting, it gives the illusion that he’s trying to stand up when he unfurls his legs.

Maybe this means he’ll start to walk sooner?

Journal Braden, walking

When we got engaged back in 2001, we couldn’t believe how many found out before we could tell them. We actually start asking how people knew so we could trace to the original source (e.g. Person A told Person B who told Person C who in turn congratulated us).

The same goes for Braden’s birth. It’s amazing and very sweet how many people have sent us a note (e-mail, phone or in person) of congrats before we could officially tell them.

***

In other news, Braden had his two-week appointment this morning (can you believe he’s already two weeks old?). The pediatrician says he is in perfect health, and for that we are grateful. He’s already grown from 19.5 inches at birth to about 21 inches (Brian predicts Braden will be 6’2″).

We swear he is starting to smile! We’ll capture it on film (so to speak, since everything is digital now) soon.

Journal congrats, pediatrician