Sorting through the Kincaid Khaos

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Friday, December 23, 2011

When I look at the pictures I upload on Facebook or posts that I post to the blog, it's easy to see that the newcomer of the family takes up a lot of the posts. They just change so fast that first year and it just seems to go by in the blink of an eye. They are constantly learning new things and I want to catch every moment of it. It seems that already having a kiddo makes me feel that way even more. I know how fast they grow, I know how quickly they change.

Anyways, though Paytin takes up most of my posts, Brayden makes me smile and laugh just as much if not more. Next month he'll be 3 and a half years old and if I really stop to think about that, I'll be drowning in tears in no time.

Two nights ago Mike and I looked through all our past Christmas pictures, and I literally watched Brayden "grow up" right before my eyes. How have we had him for three Christmases already? How did he transform from my chubby little baby to my handsome little boy so fast?

So, I was waiting to post a post about him on his 3.5 year mark, but I was feeling it this morning, as him and I got up a little bit before Paytin and Mike and I sat on the couch next to him and he simply said "I want to cuddle you" and got up and came and sat on my lap with his blanket....

Things about Brayden right now:

first and foremost, loves his Paytin. He always tells her that she's pretty or looks like a princess, and tells her even more how "chubby chubby" she is :). He loves to hold her, and loves even more to play on the floor with her, and kisses her goodnight each and every night. He talks to her all the time, worries when she cries, and holds her hand in the car. He took to the "big brother" role in everyway I prayed for and then some. She simply adores him, even when he hugs her just a bit harder then she would like, even when he gets right in her face all excitedly to make her squeal, even when he gets in her crib with her (after I've told him not too a thousand times) because he wants to play with her before I get her up from her nap...
he has always been a pretty timid Momma's boy :) While I have adored and will continue to adore as long as I live how much he loves me and wants to be with me, he is quickly becoming the fearless little boy Mike and I had hoped he would be. Of course we want him to have discretion about when to be fearful, like of moving cars, roads, strangers, etc. But in the little things, he's been all boy lately. Leaping off the back of the couch, riding a laundry basket down the stairs, riding the dogs, etc. There have been a few things in the past few weeks where Mike and I have looked at each other and said "what is he thinking?!" It's fun to see him experiment and try out new things and put himself out there more.
One of the things he's been working on, is not being scared of the dark so much. When we would get home after dark, if I didnt hold Brayden's hand in the driveway from when I got him out of the car, till he got inside, he would simply freak out. He was scared of the dark and the "moners" (monsters). But it just wasn't always feasible for me to be able to hold his hand while trying to get Paytin's carseat out of the car. So we worked on it, after some talks about Jesus being with us when it's light and when it's dark, and that as long as we're close to Mommy, even if not holding her hand, nothing can get you, he's been great about it! Still cautious which is a good thing, but not so scared.
He loves his dogs and in particular Brutus. Brutus has a special blanket at the end of Brayden's bed and he sleeps there with him at naptime and bedtime everynight. I love having dogs, and I've always been an animal lover. There just isn't much better than a kid and their dog :).
He is the pickiest of all picky eaters. But is getting better about that too. We often make him at least try new foods/things he doesn't like before he eats his dinner and through that he's found out some foods just aren't that bad.
His heart amazed me while we did the Toy Drive for the Sheriff's Dept. Let me just say, more than any family we helped, more than any toys we could give a kid, I really think I got the greatest gift by being able to see Brayden's heart grow through it. In the beginning, he had a hard time understanding all the toys we were getting and storing in our garage weren't for him, but after a veyr serious conversation about the presents under our tree and the fact that other kids didnt have any, Brayden was SO excited that his "friends" were getting these toys. He helped us pick them out, he "played" with them to make sure they were good enough for his friends ;) and he was truly excited knowing that other kids were going to get presents for Christmas. I really look forward to him being a part of in the years to come and see his awesome heart in action.
He's been completely potty trained going on 4 or 5 months now. He is about 50% at night time though, so we still do pull ups then.
He still loves his hot wheels cars or his big cars he has. Those have to be his favorite toys still to date and he loves to race them and line them up and organize them and take them to naptime with him too.
He still loves his blanket to pieces. It has to go to bed with him and naptime with him everytime, but he doesnt take it with us when we're going in the car unless we're going for a long time.
He wears size 3T everything, a couple 4t shirts and wears a size7/8 shoes.
He is VERY excited for Christmas and has seen Santa a couple of times. He tells him every time that he wants "a plane from the Cars movie with Finn" (that means he wants the plane from the second cars movie :) )
He is quite the Daddy's by these days too. Loves to wrestle and fight, and be throw in the air, and all the fun things that Daddy's do :) He always wants to help Mike (and me) around the house and specifically likes to help Mike fix things. He's obsessed with Mike's job and that he fights the bad guys and still tells him to "be careful" when he's leaving for work, all the time :)

Ok, both kiddos want me now, even though there is a million more things I could say about our sweet and caring Brayden who teaches Mike and I more about life and the people we want to be than we could have ever imagined :)

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

6 month craziness

Well, my baby is 6 months old and I can't believe it. A half year has flown by since our little beauty joined our family and we're all the better because of it. Unfortunately, the 6 month pictures just didnt happen this time around. I was ok with this considering I just snapped some pictures of her a few days prior (that I havent put up yet) and her post is late this month too. She just happened to turn 6 months old during the most crazy time of our lives as of lately and we all just have to roll with it!

Here's the quick facts about Pay at 6 months old:

finally a better sleeper. I get 2-3 decent naps out of her a day as well as a good 10-12 hours from her at night (2-3 times waking to eat)
loves food, surprise surprise. She started baby food just a week or so after turning five months and seems to love it all. She's eaten pears, apples, banana, prunes, carrots, peas, avocados so far. She isn't a huge fan of cereal, neither was her brother. She loves these mum-mum biscuits I found. They are essentially rice cereal in a more solid form that she can chew on and dissolves in her mouth. She holds it sometimes, but mostly likes mom to hold it for her so she doesnt jam it down her throat ;). She also likes to BITE pieces of it off so I have to regulate her.
she loves to nurse still and I still do baby led feedings with her. After thinking about/starting to try a "schedule" I just realized it wasn't really her thing. She's super happy go lucky just doing things on her time and that's ok with me. I will try to cut another feeding out of her nighttime because she is so healthy (ahem, CHUBBY) and doesnt need it.
is starting to not be swaddled to sleep and doing GREAT! Adapting to it much quicker than Brayden did and honestly not having a problem with it at all minus not sleeping quite as long.
still likes her pacifier to sleep and in the carseat, but no other times (which I love!)
loves to have her hands in her mouth all the time, sometimes her thumb, sometimes her fingers, sometimes the whole fist and other times just sucking on her palm. haha.
she loves toys now which is a blast. She wants to play with them, hold them, reach for them, get to them, etc. I dont remember Brayden liking toys as much as she does right now, but I could be just not remembering all that well.
she's a big girl, seriously only an inch or two shorter than her almost 11 month old boy cousin and weighing barely a lb or so less than him. I dont have her measurements yet, her appt is this coming monday.
she wears 6-9 month clothing, and some 12 month pants (they are long on her but fit her waist pretty well). She's finally starting to fit into one or two pairs of her 0-3 month shoes (but aren't all shoes like huge for tiny babies?)
her torticollis is almost indistinguishable most days thank the Lord!
she still has a small cyst in her chest that doesnt seem to bother her and that the doctors are keeping an eye on.
her hair is growing slowly but surely.
she rolls both directions regularly now and only once has put them together to do a couple rolls across the room to get what she wanted.
She is working very hard on sitting up, but doesnt love it. She can sit on her own for maybe 30-60 seconds at a time and thats it.
she has found her feet a couple times but cant get them in her mouth because of her chubby gut. it sure is funny to see her try.
she normally eats breakfast and dinner of baby food but now has started to get a snack during the day because she's getting hungrier.
she no longer sleeps in our room at all and sleeps only in her crib at night, sniff sniff (her doing, not ours, if we had our choice she would still be in our room).
she likes her swing, hates her bumbo, and is tolerating her carseat better. She's a bit too big for her playmat so she usually just rolls around on the carpet with Brayden :).
she is a talker and a screamer when she's happy, and also when she's not. She'll let you know what she wants when she wants it :)
she still thinks flirting with Daddy is the best thing in the world and is pretty sure Brayden palying with his toys with her is the second best thing ever.
she now likes to chew on her hand for awhile and then wipe it all over my face and try to grab the inside of my mouth (hard), seems to be a term of endearment since she gets so excited when she does it.
loves to watch the dogs and is super confused by them but happy to have them
loves to spit bubbles and spit all over you, another term of endearment that gets her giggling like crazy
Daddy let her eat almost a 1/2 carton of chocolate pudding when I wasnt looking last week...yeah...I guess that's what Dad's are for ;) (and no, she didnt get sick at all, just very hyper around 1 am, haha)
likes to be carried in her carrier for the most part, but still doesnt love her moby wrap.
always has her toes pointed in a ballerina like stance when sitting down, cracks me up all the time...

ok...I really could keep going on forever, I shall stop now :)

oh wait, she's wearing size 3 diapers now and has been for almost a month :)

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

My Song or Your Song

I want to blog this, not that there's a chance I would forget it, but its too cute to not make a point of sharing it on here...

Brayden has this thing about songs. Mike and I have no clue where he got it from or how he learned it, but its truely hilarious. We listen to music a ton, in the car, at home, on pandora, on our ipods, etc. Especially now that we haven't had cable for a few months, we listen to it even more. And Mike and I both like a good variety of music too. Anything besides opera or vulgar songs, you'll probably hear us play. I thin its funny that on our different playlists there might be a country song, then a worship song, and then some sort of maroon 5 or red hot chili peppers song. I digress.

Brayden has this thing about songs. Whenever one comes on, he has this need to classify it as Daddy's song, Mommy's song, Brayden's song, or Paytin's song. We haven't neccessarily found a rhyme or reason to who gets what song, or why it's their song. But something we have found, is that it's rare we get to "share" songs and that we are expected to sing and dance to our specific songs. But heaven forbid I try to dance to Daddy's song, or sing a long to Brayden's song. It's really cute and super endearing and I love how excited he gets when its a song for me and I'm busy doing something and he comes running to me telling me it's my song and requesting me to sing or dance :)

Anyways, something for the record books!