When Carson has poop, he will go to the bathroom without telling us, and usually in less than one minute (seriously), he’s done. We think part of the reason for his speed is that he holds it (usually throughout the school day) until the very last moment.

He signifies that he’s done by saying in a monotone voice, “will … you … wipe … my … butt?” Sometimes we don’t hear him (e.g. we’re in the basement and he’s upstairs), so he really has to yell.

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For Braden’s birthday party this year, we rented out a gym, per his request, so that he and his friends could play football and basketball. Brian refereed the games.

In the football games, the kids were more organized than in the basketball games, which saw almost zero passing and kids arguing with Brian on every call.

It’s obvious Braden really, really likes playing sports. He also received two more footballs as gifts.

Journal birthday, potty training

Carson promised us that once he turned four years old, he would stop using diapers. True to his word, he’s finally done with them forever. Hooray!

Our first celebration was at preschool, two days before his actual birthday. On Saturday, we had pizza and cake with Kristin’s parents, Marcie, Parker and Josh at our house (which took place after Braden’s basketball game). Afterward, the four of us went to Lake Geneva for a weekend escape. It was a surprisingly busy travel weekend, as most hotels in a 1.5-hour radius were booked or had limited selection.

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In January, we bought Carson a real bed that he helped pick out at Steinhafel’s. It’s a very tall single bed, and Carson has some difficulty climbing into it. We also got a mattress protector in case of accidents.

We still need to get him a nightstand.

Journal birthday

Some of Braden’s friends in his after-school program collect football cards, so naturally Braden has been collecting them, too (an easy gift idea for him). Unfortunately, Braden’s friends have been taking advantage of him during trades, as Braden gives up good cards for so-so cards. Brian had to teach Braden not to be taken advantage of and how to conduct fair trades. In one instance, we asked Braden to reverse a bad trade that happened, and to our surprise, Braden did so successfully.

Braden also follows his friends’ lead in rooting for any team other than the Packers. Braden says he likes the Patriots (to Brian’s dismay) and the Bears and Lions (to Kristin’s dismay). At least through the football cards he’s starting to learn teams and players, though he still can’t watch an entire football game (e.g. he watched around 10 min. of the Super Bowl).

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For Braden’s birthday party this year, we went bowling at Ten Pin Alley. This was the first year we let Braden really choose the invitees (vs. just inviting the entire class). He picked friends from his class, his after-school program and his old preschool class (both of whom are in Carson’s class now).

It was really cute to see all the kids huddled in front of each lane. They also all wolfed down their pizza, cake and soda. Most of Braden’s gifts were either football related or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles related.

Journal birthday

Over Christmas break, we somewhat successfully migrated Carson to underwear. He’s willing to pee on the potty, but he still prefers to poop in diapers (or unfortunately, his underwear). The good news is that because he’s “potty-trained,” we were able to move him into the toddler class at preschool (the same class that Braden was in).

Drop-off has been getting progressively easier. Brian and Carson look for the snail in the fish tank every morning, then hug each other goodbye. Carson is one of the youngest in his class; some of his classmates were Braden’s classmates.

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Carson is talking so much more now–his sentences are so cute. However, it’s a struggle sometimes to hear him, because he has begun whispering for some reason. And usually he responds to yes/no questions by nodding or shaking his head.

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Now that Carson’s using the day bed, he often comes into our room in the middle of the night to sleep in our bed. Occasionally he’ll go into Braden’s room and bug his older brother. Carson still sleeps like a baby: on his stomach, with his legs tucked in, sometimes sucking his thumb.

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We submitted Carson’s photo to Ch. 3 for the “Look Who’s 3” segment. He did like seeing himself on TV.

Journal birthday, preschool, talking

On Monday, Feb. 3, Carson started preschool at the same Montessori school that Braden is attending. Kristin previously took Carson on two “trial” days, but this week, he was on his own. First, it was an odd feeling (like traveling back in time) to bring a lunch for him–required for the toddlers–but something we haven’t done for Braden for two years.

Carson did cry the first three days when Brian tried to leave. However, Thursday and Friday he walked right up to the teacher and didn’t make a fuss at all. So, hopefully that means he’s adapting (we’ll see come Monday).

The two brothers will only be at the same school for one semester (plus the summer), as Braden will start kindergarten in the fall.

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That same Monday, Braden turned five. We went to his class at 11 a.m. to do the annual celebration; we brought zucchini muffins for his classmates. Several of them thought it was amusing to see us two days in a row, as we hosted a birthday party for Braden at Madtown Twisters on Sunday and invited his classmates, about 10 of whom came.

It was super cute to watch all the boys crowd around Braden as he opened his presents. Many comments were about how much they wanted the same toys. And of course, the kids had a blast going through all the gymnastics equipment and bouncy fort.

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We gave Braden Braden a Nintendo Wii game, and he picked it up super quickly. It’s fun to watch him play and see his level of hand-eye coordination.

Journal birthday, preschool

How fast a year goes by! Carson turns one today, and we’ll have a family celebration this Saturday at our house.

We thought at this point he’d be fully walking, but he can only do about eight steps before falling. That means he’s about the same level as Braden was at the same age, despite Carson standing sooner than Braden did.

This week, Carson stopped breastfeeding (the last of the frozen milk was consumed yesterday) and has started drinking regular milk. So far, he doesn’t seem to be having the allergic reaction that Braden did, fortunately.

Kristin took Carson in for his shots and to have blood drawn. In both cases, he didn’t cry or put up a major fight, like his older brother once did.

We’ve tried to feed Carson vegetables, but he completely ignores carrots, cucumbers and the like. He’ll still eat corn now and then.

Carson dances more than Braden ever did. Sometimes when he hears music, he’ll start bouncing around while sitting. It’s really cute!

Journal birthday, feeding, walking

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

We can’t believe it–Braden is two years old! We took him and Kristin’s parents to the Nitty Gritty for lunch (he was the first name on the board), and the staff sang him “Happy Birthday.”

Afterward, we all went back to our house for vegan cupcakes that Brian found at the Willy Street Co-op. Braden loved the frosting! It’s obvious he has his mom’s sweet tooth.

Braden also celebrated his birthday, along with Chinese New Year, on Friday at Brian’s mom’s house. By the way, Friday the 11th marks his Chinese birthday (Brian’s is Thursday the 10th).

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Braden prefers to pick out his clothes in the morning. In fact, if we pick something else for him to wear, he gets upset. So far, he’s picked shirts and pants that match (fortunately).

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When Braden gets gassy, we take him to his own toilet, where he’ll sit down, read a book for a while then grab some toilet paper (too much) to “wipe.” He has yet to poop for us, though he has peed in his toilet.

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Brian read Braden a bedtime story the other night. On a page where Braden was “counting” the objects on the page by pointing to them, he got up to eight (Brian was counting outloud the whole time) and paused (so did Brian). Then Braden said “nine.” Brian couldn’t believe it, though it may have been a coincidence that he made a noise that sounded like “nine.”

Journal birthday

Just unbelievable that Braden turned one year old today. We re-read the blog entries from last February and enjoyed taking a stroll down memory lane. We learned how naive we were (e.g. we thought Braden ate a lot back then) and certainly don’t miss the 3-4 times per night we used to have to get up.

We also realized that even though we didn’t record every detail (e.g. the first two hours after Braden was born, the first night at our house, etc.), we still have them in our memories.

In just one year, he learned to crawl, stand, almost walk, climb up stairs, get himself down from places, cough-talk, self-peak-a-boo, do ‘so-big’ with his arms, wave good-bye, high-five, kiss, say da da, feed himself, use a remote and cellphone, flip pages from a book, throw, dunk and much, much more.

We’re fortunate that he was only sick once (back around Memorial Day), though he was a bit congested in January. Maybe his immune system is too strong, as evidenced by his sensitivity to dairy, eggs and nuts (hopefully temporary).

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We had our family over for a party in our condo’s community room. Braden was a very good boy–he ate, acted cute, played, opened his gifts (sorta) and even walked a little for everyone. We are appreciative of the nice gifts he received, though Braden’s favorite was the container of puffs that he likes to eat.

Props go to Kristin for doing most of the preparation for the party. She even baked a non-egg, non-dairy cake for Braden, and he really seemed to enjoy it (he really has nothing to compare it to).

We promise to upload the photos soon.

Journal birthday

Braden turned six months old this past Monday–wow, does time fly. The day before his birthday (Sunday), we started him on solid foods. Most of it ended up on his face, as he wasn’t sure how to eat something other than milk. Braden has gotten progressively better at eating throughout the week. We’ll show some video of him eating soon.

To recap the last six months of his development, Braden has learned to:

• Smile and laugh
• Roll over
• Sit
• Grab objects (and put them in his mouth)
• Fall asleep on his own
• Eat
• Not be afraid of taking a bath

Plus, his bottom two teeth are coming in. We can’t wait to see what the next six months bring us (hopefully more sleep).

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Check out the photos from July. Included are photos from Concerts on the Square, the Madison Mallards and the Dane County Fair.

Journal, Pictures birthday, new skills