I cannot believe that 3 months ago today this little man joined our family!
coming home from the hospital
3 months old
He is so fun and getting so big! He is now over 10 pounds and just over 22 inches long! We went to the Doctor a couple of weeks ago for his 2 month check up (it was scheduled a little late) and other than the fact that he has a clogged tear duct, a constant stuffy nose that he has had since the day we brought him home and his hip still pops he's doing great! He was also such a trooper with his shots. He was upset but got over it quickly!
His Doctor gave us Amoxicillin for him to try in hopes it would make his nose better! She was pretty doubtful about it. He has what's called neonatal rhinitis. Some babies are just born with horrible stuffy noses and there's nothing you can do about it. You just have to wait it out until it clears on it's own. I tried sucking it clean many many times. (Nate was to worried about doing something wrong and wouldn't try) It seemed like I would get a lot out but you couldn't tell when he would try to breath again right after. We also went out and bought a humidifier hoping that would help. It didn't! We got saline spray for his nose hoping it would make it easier for me to suck out and him to get rid of the rest on his own. That sometimes worked but not for very long. Our neighbor also gave us some Vicks Vapor Rub for babies. That seemed to work the best out of everything we tried but still not as well as we would have liked. So finally with the Amoxicillin and it actually worked!! For about a week after he finished his prescription he would get maybe one bad stuffy nose a day but it would only last a couple of hours! Now, his nose is totally clear! I can't hear him breath anymore! It's so nice for all of us.
Braxton at 3 months is:
* Smiling so big! He is such a happy baby and is almost always in a good mood! He loves to share his smiles with everyone! He hasn't quite got down the laughing part yet. He opens his mouth so wide and sits there for a second like he wants something to come out but nothing has yet!
* Cooing! He's quite the little jabber jaws already! Especially after just waking up in the morning and from naps. My favorite is when he coos and smiles together!
* Almost ready to roll over! He can get really well from is back to his side but is still working on going from back to stomach! He came so close the other day! We'll keep him working on it.
* holding his head up on his own! He is such a strong little boy and can hold his head up all by himself! Sometimes it takes him a little bit to get it steady (I call him my little bobble-head)! Once he gets it steady he can hold it up for a couple of minutes before it gets to heavy!
* starting to drool like crazy! He always has spit bubbles on his lips or a soggy shirt below his chin.
* finally starting to notice the little bears above his swing and the lamb and stars above his bouncer. He loves to watch them and gets so excited when he sees them move. A couple of weeks ago Braxton was in his bouncer and unfortunately the batteries were dead so it wasn't vibrating! He was so into the lamb and stars that he didn't really care though. He was so intently watching them when Chloee came along and bumped the bouncer causing it to bounce which caused the lamb and stars to move. Braxton got so excited! He started moving his hands all over and got the biggest smile on his face!
* trying to grab for things. Going back again to the bears above the swing.... On Monday night he was in his swing hanging out (he didn't want to be held or set down) and he tried for a good 3 minutes to grab those bears above his head - with breaks in between of course. His arms were everywhere, up and down and side to side and hands open and closed! He was trying so hard to grab them even though there was no possible way he would be able to reach them and even though he had no full control of his arms and where he wanted them to go! He still tried and it was so cute to watch!
* getting so excited! He kicks his legs and waves his arms around, tries to bounce himself and smiles! I love when he gets excited!
* learning to recognize mom's and dad's voice. If we've left him with Grandma for a little bit and come to pick him up, when we start talking he gets all wide eyed and tries looking around for our voice. It's so fun to know that he knows who we are and that he knows our voice.
Braxton loves:
* ceiling fans and light fixtures
* trying to follow Chloee around with his eyes. Their going to be best buds!
* looking at mommy's bridal picture in our bedroom and mom and dad's engagement picture hanging above the chair downstairs. He could stare at both those pictures forever it seems like! He also LOVES pictures with Christ. I love to hold him in front of them and just watch his face! So sweet~
* to be snuggled! And mom loves that he loves to be snuggled.
* to be holding something in his hands whether he's awake or asleep. He always seems to find either the ribbon on his pacifier holder, the edge of the blanket or the neck line on my shirt and whole fists them! If he can't find something to hold then he'll just hold his own hands!
(The problem with holding the ribbon of of his pacifier holder is
that he is really good at pulling it out and then getting upset!)
* to have his hands close to his face while sleeping - if he isn't holding something that is.
* also to hold his chin up with his fist!
* to eat his hands and fingers. He tries to see how much of his fist he can get in his mouth
* to have his feet free! He will do whatever he can to get them out of a blanket, socks or P.J.'s!
* his little kiddopotamus blanket! And so do mom and dad! He sleeps so much better when he is snuggled tightly in it! Thanks Emily and Brad for the idea.
* his mommy and daddy and of course Chloee as well as his wonderful Aunts, Uncles, and cousins and Grandmas and Grandpas! He has such wonderful family support system that all love him so much~
Braxton has big blue eyes like his parents - big like his mom and blue like his dad. He also has his dad's nose and his Grandpa Bryan's chin. He also is total Nuttall in the fact that he loves to have his tongue sticking out! Braxton was born with a ton of dark hair. Well, that hair has lightned quite a bit and is thinning out a lot. He is also starting to get a fuzzy spot on the back of his head from all of his laying and moving his head around.
Now Braxton is usually eating 5 ounces every 3-4 hours and if finally getting better about his spitting up! He usually is awake a lot more during the day! However after to many days of being awake to much he makes up for it by sleeping a ton! He still gets the hickups all the time but it usually doesn't bother him. He isn't such a fan of being tickled yet. Nate and I both try and he kind of scowls at us! He doesn't understand it yet! Braxton watched his first movie yesterday! I've put baby Einsteins on before but only for the music because he wouldn't watch them. I tired for fun yesterday laying him in his boppy facing the TV and he watched almost the whole thing. He got a little fussy just over half way through it though because he was so tired so I turned it off and rocked him to sleep. Braxton luckily isn't stranger aware yet. He'll let anyone hold him. It's so nice. I would be totally fine if we can skip that stage!
Braxton has been such a joy in our home - he is such a happy baby! We really lucked out and my mom loves to remind us of that, which I am glad for. He has taught Nate and I so much! He has strengthened our marriage so much and taught us both to be so much more patient and loving! I am slowly figuring out my priorities and that my house doesn't have to be clean all the time! Also, when it's not clean I don't have to let it bother me. A little mess is okay - Braxton should come first! And Nate is getting so good at getting up with Braxton at night and they love to hang out together. Nate gave Braxton his first bath last Thursday and did a great job! Nate is such a wonderful husband and father!
Between Nate and I working full time and going to school full time family time with all three of us together is hard to come by! We are also learning to take advantage of all the little times we have together because some days that's all we get! I have been blessed with such a wonderful cute little family and I'm so excited to continue to watch us grow together!
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