In addition to three bottom teeth, Carson’s two front teeth are coming in, though there seems to be a bit of a gap in between. Still, his almost-five teeth are helping him eat. Carson is now at the point that he is eating at least two containers of baby food, plus other things like puffs (which he feeds himself), at lunch and dinner.

Carson drops a lot of his food, and if we’re not quick to clean it up, he enjoys crawling to the dinner table and eating food from the floor.

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Braden is really getting into Christmas. He likes to point out toys from catalogs and from TV commercials that he wants. He also knows there’s a Santa Claus.

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Carson loves to stand. He will crawl to an object, such as the Ottoman, and pull himself up. Braden never stood this much. We wonder if Carson will walk sooner than Braden did.

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Just recently, Carson started doing the scrunchy nose that’s prevalent on Kristin’s side of the family. It’s super cute!

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Brian realized that it’s been at least a few months since he was able to hold Braden long enough that he would fall asleep for his afternoon nap. Now either Braden skips his nap, or we have to drive him around in the car.

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Braden has pooped on the potty a total of maybe two times in the past four months. Kristin bought him a Jake and the Neverland Pirates ship that Braden loves and gets to play with only if he uses the potty. It’s not working.

Journal standing, teething

The other day, Brian handed Braden his milk, and Braden took it while responding “thank you.” It was so stunning that Brian thought he imagined it. Fortunately, Kristin’s mom was there to witness it as well. Unfortunately, we have been unable to get Braden to say it again.

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Braden can now stand up with needing the support of an object (wall, table, chair, etc.). If he’s in the crawl position, he inches his hands toward his feet and then pushes himself upright. He likes to stand so much that he refuses to sit while taking a bath. (As an aside, it’s fun to watch him stack his toy sports balls on the shelf/ledge of the shower, especially when he’s on his tippy toes.)

He’s also able to walk more quickly, almost running (but not quite). One thing we’ve enjoyed doing is to chase Braden. In the past, he’s crawled away (either on the floor or up the stairs). Now he walks very quickly away with a big grin on his face, and when you catch him, he lets out a big squeal. So cute!

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We considered taking Braden to an Easter Egg Hunt, but we still felt he was too young. Instead, we “hid” an Easter Egg basket under his high chair and planted him near it to see if he would find it. Indeed, Braden found it rightaway and started pulling out all the eggs and fake grass from the basket.

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Poor Braden had a small cold, which he probably got from Brian. Braden’s obviously too young to understand how to blow his nose, so we had to give it a light squeeze with a tissue paper; Braden hated this. The cold went away after about a week, fortunately.

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We think Braden likes (cheeseless) pizza. We made some homemade pizza the other day, including a pepperoni pizza for Braden. He picked off the pepperoni, then licked the sauce off before eating the rest of the pizza. It’s only slightly less messy than when he eats spaghetti.

Journal sick, standing, talking, walking

We are working hard to get Braden to walk. As we and our family have noticed, he can stand for about 8-10 seconds at a time, but only because he forgets that he’s not holding on to something (very cute).

Usually we sit a couple feet from him while he’s standing (holding or not), and he can take a few steps toward us. The other day, Braden set a personal best with eight steps before falling face forward onto us. Wish we got that on video!

We were told by another parent that the one-year-old mark is a magic number, and that he’ll just suddenly be able to walk after that. We can’t wait, as it will (hopefully) make life more convenient not having to carry him everywhere.

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Braden now knows how to get down from places. For example, if he’s on the couch, he reverses himself and slides off feet first. He has transferred this skill to the stairs, so now he can go both ways. Babies are so smart!

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We’ve been ordering off the kids’ menu at restaurants now. It’s neat to see Braden eat burgers, chicken tenders, etc. He no longer likes carrots, and we still can’t get him to like strawberries or blueberries. And when Braden gets sick of an item or is full, he gets mad and slaps his hand onto the table. He’ll also drop the item to the floor–so damn cute.

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Braden is still pretty bald, but he’s been growing a lot more hair on the back of his head. We swear some of it is blond!

Journal feeding, standing, walking

What a difference a year makes. At the end of 2008, we were eagerly awaiting Braden’s arrival. Now, he’s almost 11 months old!

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Braden is standing a lot more frequently now without having to lean against anything. We think most of the time he does it inadvertantly, but there are a few occasions where it seems he is purposely trying to stand by himself.

Another cute thing Braden is doing is now when he lies down, he put his hands behind his head like he is relaxing. We’re just waiting for him to cross his legs …

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Braden’s first Christmas went well. We thought he would tear through the wrapping of his presents, but he was surprisingly uninterested in opening anything. He is, however, enjoying his gifts.

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We took Braden to the UW basketball game on Thursday. Fortunately, he was a good boy, not crying or being overly squirmy. He fell asleep with about 4 min. left in the game, then slept the entire walk back to the car. Braden had not been to a sporting event since the Brewers game that Brian took him to back in the summer.

Journal going out, holidays, standing

Yesterday, while Brian was sitting on the ground, Braden grabbed Brian’s arm to stand up, then he let go and stood for seven seconds! It was an amazing sight to see. Braden’s legs are getting stronger, and his balance is getting better and better.

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Braden had his nine-month check up last week. He has not been gaining as much weight as before because he’s been crawling and climbing so much. In fact, he went from the 95th percentile in weight down to the 83rd! If you take a close look at him, his cheeks aren’t as pudgy as they once were.

Braden also got his H1N1 shot at the appointment. He has to get a booster shot in four weeks (or, as  Brian likes to joke: he got his H1 shot last week, and he’ll get his N1 shot later).

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Braden really enjoys climbing the stairs, which he can do in only 30 seconds. The first time he ever did it, he was out of breath. Now, he’s not even close to being winded. He’s in good  cardiovascular shape!

Journal new skills, pediatrician, standing