Brrrr!!!

As most of you know, last week was cold here in Austin. Most days we get out for a walk around the neighborhood, but since the weather had been so yucky, we hadn't been able to for more than a week. One afternoon, we couldn't stand it anymore, so I bundled her up, and we stepped outside for a little bit. (The toboggan was one of mine.)

9 Month Stats

Branna had her 9 month check-up today (yes, it's late) and everything looked great. She's 20 lbs (75%) and 29 inches (95%). The doctor was impressed that she was talking and not just babbling. :) Everything else (like locomotion skills, eating habits, etc) is right on target or better.
Thankfully, she didn't have any shots this time, but she did have to get her finger pricked to get a blood sample. The doctor said that it's standard at 9 months to check for anemia and vitamin D levels. I feel like everything will come back fine, but we should find out the results somtime next week.
Her next appointment will be in April at 1 year.

This Week

For the most part, this past week has been fairly uneventful. Branna is back into the "normal" routine: playing, taking a few naps, and eating every few hours. She's still not sleeping through the night, but the last several days have been even worse, with her sometimes waking up every hour! I think it's probably due to the fact that she is cutting two upper teeth. Around 6 months, the bottom two teeth came in with no problems... in fact, I didn't even know she was getting the teeth until they were already protruding through the gums!

This round of teething has been a completely different story. She's been more irratable and wakeful and is definitely in more pain. Tylenol helps, but I don't want to give it to her all the time. Yesterday, I bought homeopathic teething tablets and they seem to be working. I hate that she's not feeling good, but I know it's part of being a baby. :(

Branna has also become more interested in Walker, our cat, in the last few days. She has always gotten a thrill out of "petting" Walker (i.e. grabbing and pulling her fur), but lately it's become more aggressive. I thought the first time that Walker fought back, Branna would learn her lesson, but apparently Branna is more determined than I realized... I guess that's just a preview of what's to come, as I am finding out Branna is definitely her own person with a very determined personality. :)

Can You Believe It?

Can you believe that Branna just had her 9 month birthday?! It just doesn't seem like it can be possible. And, it's amazing all the things she's doing now. She says 3 words: da-da, na-na (banana), and ma-ma. She is also signing a few words. She recognizes "eat" when I do it, but she will put her hands together for "more" and shake her hands to say "play".
I think she'll be walking very soon, too.... I'm a little anxious about that, since I have a hard enough time keeping up with her as it is! :) A few days ago, she started walking by on her own behind her walker toy. I can't believe how fast she's growing!

A Few Late Pictures

I wanted to post a few pictures of Branna's first Christmas, for those who haven't seen them yet. She had a great time unwrapping the gifts and playing with the paper. There were several times we had to take the paper away from her so that she would look at her gift. :)

Grandma Honey & Branna

PaPa & Branna



Mom & Branna

Getting back in the groove...

As it is with most families, the holidays ended up being a hectic time for us. For Christmas, we had our families come to us. Since our house is pretty small, we had our families come at a different times during the week. My mom, Jess, and Ernie came the Sunday before Christmas and stayed a few days, my dad and brother came Thursday for a night, and Branyon's family came just few hours after they left and stayed until the new year.
After resting for a day, we headed to San Angelo and Eldorado to visit with some of my family who couldn't make it out to us. We got to see lots of family and some friends that we hadn't seen in a while. Branyon also got to go deer hunting and he got a doe the day before we left!
The day after we got back home, we had to attend an astronomy meeting downtown. The American Astronomical Association was having there winter meeting in Austin and our advisor was planning on being there, so of course we had to be there, too. :) We attended 3 days out of the 5. Branna was very good the whole time, but again, it was a lot different than our "normal" day of just being around the house.
So, this is our first day back with our regular routine. I think Branna's still adjusting, but hopefully it won't take too long before we're back on track.

First Blog

So, I 've finally given in. After debating about whether or not to start a blog for several reasons, the main one being time, I've decided that not only will it help me mass communicate better but it will also help me keep up with Branna's precious moments. My goal is to write at least once a week and give the latest "Branna updates".
I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone and hope that you enjoy what's to come. :)