We don’t remember when it started, but Carson now sleeps in Braden’s room every night. He sleeps on a blanket on the floor next to Braden’s bed, and he’s got another blanket to cover him. He’s using Braden’s super-thick pillow.

We think they got used to sleeping in the same room through their bunk bed at our cabin. Braden doesn’t mind at all. Now and then, he’ll sleep on the floor in Carson’s room.

Journal sleep

Our nanny this summer never put Carson down for a nap, and this year at preschool, Carson doesn’t have nap times anymore. So basically Carson’s last nap time took place in early June during his last week of preschool.

As long as he’s not cranky, this will be a big benefit to us when we’re on vacation. It’s hard to maximize the day when we have to return to the hotel in the afternoon so that Carson can nap for an hour or so.

Journal sleep

We were fairly certain that Carson is bigger than Braden was at two months old, but we were wrong. Despite being born bigger than his brother, Carson is only 13 lbs 13 oz. and 23.75 inches compared to 15 lbs 2 oz and 24.5 inches for Braden at two months, as we learned at Carson’s recent check-up.

Maybe it’s because Carson poops so much that he hasn’t gained as much weight? That doesn’t explain the height differential, though. Still, we have a feeling Carson will be taller someday.

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Kristin returns to work next week, with two straight weeks of night shifts. We’re thankful that our parents can watch both kids for us during the day.

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As mentioned, the “Bringing up Bebe” book has been a life-changer. We’ve now had three nights that Carson didn’t get up! That didn’t happen for several months with Braden.

Journal pediatrician, size, sleep, work

Braden turned three two Fridays ago (Feb. 3). We submitted his photo to Ch. 3 News (our CBS affiliate), and he liked seeing himself on TV.

We had a birthday lunch planned, but Brian had a bug and was sick all day. Braden had the bug first; he came into our room Monday night covered in vomit. On Tuesday, he seemed fine, but he vomited when he got to school, so Brian took him home.

Kristin was then sick on Wednesday and Thursday. Fortunately, Carson avoided being sick!

Anyways, we rescheduled Braden’s birthday lunch for the following Sunday at the Nitty Gritty. It was nice to have both sides of the family there. Braden loved his presents.

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We bought the book “Bringing up Bebe,” which is about French parenting. While we’ve only gotten through the first three chapters, we’ve already implemented the “pause” technique. Instead of rushing over to Carson every time he makes a noise at night, we wait to see if he’ll fall back asleep.

Indeed, the majority of the time he falls back asleep. The book says that parents are the ones screwing up the sleep cycle for their newborns by tending to them too often. Babies need to learn to fall back asleep on their own. In most cases, Carson just has gas/poop.

Currently, Carson only wakes up once per night for feeding; previously, he got up 3-4 times a night!

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Braden is very clever. Before, when he needed to reach something, he would pull a chair over. Now, to reach things even higher (like his animal crackers), he’ll use a broom.

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At Braden’s allergy appointment a few weeks ago, the doctor said that Braden’s dairy allergy is subsiding. Currently, we’re giving him just a little bit of real milk or even cheese each day. So far, he hasn’t had a negative reaction. We’re hoping to keep desensitizing him (as opposed to building up his tolerance).

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We had portraits taken of both Braden and Carson a couple weeks ago. Braden did surprisingly well; Carson had a few shots with his eyes open. We’ll order some soon!

Journal allergies, birthday, photos, sick, sleep

Well, we got about 3.5 hours of sleep last night. At 1 a.m., we asked for some formula, because Carson is insatiable (sounds like his brother). That helped a lot.

We suspected we were in for a long night, as he slept from about 6-9 p.m. We watched three episodes of “Mad Men” during that time. Brian ordered dinner from Falbo Bros. Pizza.

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Our pediatrician came in this morning and confirmed what his colleague said yesterday: Carson is a healthy baby. We’ll need to have a follow-up appointment two days after we’re discharged from the hospital.

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As of 10:30 a.m., we’re still waiting for Kristin’s doctor to get here and let us know if we can go home today. She was supposed to be here between 8-9 a.m., so we’re wondering if she had to do a delivery.

Journal hospital, pediatrician, sleep

Braden has really improved on the Angry Birds game. He’s better at controlling the direction of the bird, and he knows which birds change when you tap them mid-flight.

He plays it wherever he can–our tablet, Kristin’s iPhone, Kristin’s dad’s iPad, Brian’s iPod touch, etc. Brian recently gave Braden his old cellphone to play to Angry Birds, but that didn’t stop him from still asking for the other devices.

Speaking of the tablet, Braden is getting more adept at using it. We’ve already mentioned he can unlock it, but to see him move apps, add shortcuts, load YouTube, etc., is quite the sight.

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We can’t get Braden to stay in his room all night. Several months ago, he began coming into our room when he woke up in the middle of the night. We initially let him do it, but unfortunately it became a habit. Now if he comes in the middle of the night, we take him back to his room, much to his disappointment. Otherwise, if it’s close to time to wake up, we let him stay.

It’s harder to put Braden to sleep, too. He wants us to stay in the room until he falls asleep, but we simply don’t have the patience for it.

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Poor Kristin. Like Brian, she had to deal with an accident in the bathtub. It started with Braden passing some gas, then he had some diarrhea. He said, “Mommy, mommy, look!”

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We’re amused when Braden repeats things in a list. For example, we may say, “Braden, do you want any milk?” He’ll respond, “No, I don’t want any milk.” We’ll try again with, “How some juice or water?” He’ll then say, “No, I don’t want any milk. I don’t want any juice. I don’t want any water.”

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We finally got Braden to wear his new shoes, which we bought a couple of months ago. His Converse shoes were getting a bit tight, and these new shoes are so much easier for us to put on him.

Journal bath, sleep, talking, video games

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

Back in mid-August we wrote that Braden reached 11 hours of continous sleep. Well, it took about a month, but he finally reached that milestone again, having slept from 7 p.m. Tuesday to 6 a.m. today.

We have mixed feelings about Braden going to bed so early (from his previous bed time of 8 p.m.). When we’re at home, it gives us more time to get things done or relax. When we’re out, though, we have to get home by 6:15 p.m. or so to make sure he gets in his routine (and he starts getting fussy then).

We can’t have Braden sleeping much past 6 a.m., either, because Kristin needs to feed him before she goes to work.

At least we’re sleeping!!!

Journal sleep

Braden has proven that he is part Kristin: he has begun scrunching his nose, especially when he smiles. This is a Plummer trait going up three generations, and it has now reached a fourth. We’ll try to get a picture to show you.

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Braden reached 11 hours of continuous sleep the other day! We think feeding him solids has helped. He has now slept five straight nights without interruption. Brian said he’s actually groggier now in the mornings because he’s not used to the sleep.

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We are taking Braden to West Towne Mall for professional portraits on Saturday. We’ll share those pictures when we get them.

Journal photos, sleep, smiles

As previously mentioned, we took Braden to Kristin’s family’s cabin up north near Summit Lake (about an hour north of Wausau) last week. We took Braden to the beach (he ate some sand), to the lake (he didn’t swim much) and on the boat (the lifejacket seemed to annoy him). With all the family there, we had plenty of babysitters.

Unfortunately, Braden slept poorly, especially Wednesday night. That made for some groggy mornings for us.

Check out the photo album called “Maywood.”

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Did we mention that Braden is teething? He has two lower teeth coming in. Now when he bites you, it hurts!

Braden does NOT like it when you try to look for his teeth–in fact, he will swat your hand away (very cute). You can only see them when he cries.

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We are trying a new system for putting Braden to sleep. Instead of rocking him, we are just letting him cry himself to sleep (Kristin’s book, which she follows religiously, suggests this method). We let him cry for five minutes, then console him, then 10 min and one minute, then 15 and one, then 20 and one and so on. He actually fell asleep after the 15-minute mark last night.

Journal sleep, teething, vacation