Braxton Lately

The pictures below just about sum up what our little Brax man has been up to the last little while:

Braxton has this wonderful talent we like to call...NOT SLEEPING!  The three photos below are very deceiving. These pictures are all from his "crash" from pure exhaustion and it usually isn't when he should be sleeping. As a mom who is 9 months prego, has another wild child running around and usually has a lot of energy, I have been really struggling with this no sleeping thing.  After Christmas break we finally decided to try a sleeping medication that the Dr. had been throwing out as an idea for a few months now. I was so optimistic about the outcome and let's just say...nothing really has changed! He goes to bed around 11 every night...wakes up anywhere between 1 and 4 and when he wakes up is up for 1 to 2 hours trying to get comfy, laughing, or wants a bottle. Then he wakes up around 6 and there you have it. We get him ready for school, he goes, he falls to sleep on the bus on the way home, and wakes up and won't take a nap. :) Fun right?!

 We are stumped right now on how to help him and about two weeks ago I had to come to the reality that he may just never sleep through the night ever!! This may be it. So even though Marc and I are exhausted we have just accepted it and I am still wondering what will happen when his little brother comes in 3 weeks! Yikes! haha We pray for a miracle every night...kind of funny how parents pray that our children will sleep...but despite this talent we LOVE this perfect boy more than words can describe! We get to learn so much from him and I feel so blessed!

 

Another trick that our Braxton decided to pick up is loving on his little sister! Truly he loves to give hugs now and loves to play with her! It's the cutest thing! One downside is he doesn't know when to stop and doesn't understand boundries...that's when the wrestling comes into play. haha Millie actually loves to wrestle back...on her terms (she's a girl after all ;) They will be having so much fun and then Brax decides to strike and then the squeals come. ha I try not to laugh too much but it really is funny to watch take place. I am just so glad that he likes to play with others even more school has helped him so much! We just need to really work on his intensity and strength when playing with other kids.

 

We have also been having to got to Doctor lately. Not so much from sickness but all of his specialist appointments and random appointments. They just happened to land mostly in the month of January. He is getting so much better about going to the Dr.! Don't get me wrong...he still cries sometimes at just the sight of the scale or nurse but that is way better than crying when we pull into the parking garage. haha If we can keep him occupied, he will stay calm so that I can talk with the Docs and give them info. He is such a tough boy and I don't blame him one bit for being so angry...in three years he has seen the inside of a Dr office/ hospital probably more than I did growing up! His ENT did walk in to the appointment the other day and I guess was having a bad day. Instead of Braxton crying at the sight of him, he got all overly excited and ran up to him and wanted to be held. He gave him the biggest two armed hug around his neck and just lit up Dr. Sewell's day! He is the best boy and will light up anyone's day if they are feeling down or lonely! We are so lucky! 

He still LOVES mirrors and once he gets his hands on one it's over! He will walk around with that thing until he loses it. ha I love when I clean out from under the couch about every other week because that's where all of his mirrors usually end up. It's like Christmas day for him! :)

He is still eating the about same diet...pureed foods and pudding haha He wants to eat our food more and more though and we will let him try it but chokes daily so we try to be careful. I have to keep my floors clean so he doesn't pick up random things and eat it. I also have to watch Millie because she likes to try and share with him (such a great little sister) but she doesn't understand he will choke. ;)  He is starting up feeding therapy again so maybe that will help a little!

My intentions for this post weren't to sound like a whiner or to complain but to be real! Braxton is growing up and we are so proud of all of his little accomplishments and the fun, loving, energetic personality he has! But not knowing much about his syndrome and what the next day will bring is sometimes VERY hard that's just the reality of it. We are becoming better parents and people for having the privilege of raising this AMAZING little boy! It's all about keeping a gospel perspective and trying to become better ourselves so we can be more like Braxton. We are so blessed to have you Braxty boy! We love you so much!