Ear infection haiku

A tug is our clue
Brayden's third ear infection
Antibiotics

I realize haiku is an usual way to broach the topic of Brayden's third infection, but hey - it's past my bedtime (8p these days), and I'm feeling a little whimsical. It started a couple days ago when Brian and I noticed Brayden touching his ear. Flashforward to today when Dr. Pat's earscope revealed his third infection. (sigh)

Brayden is a real trooper so it's not unusual that a light ear tug was our only hint. He doesn't cry when he lays down or get cranky or eat less. But no worries, Brian and I are experts on Brayden's little signals so we consider ourselves lucky that he has such a good temperment. We'll let you know when things are all cleared up (again!)

What do a laptop, feet and snow have in common?

New firsts for Brayden!

We’ve posted a lot of pictures lately of the little man so I figured an assortment of videos was in order. Each week brings something new in our lives. In this blog post, you’ll see videos of Brayden playing with his newly discovered feet, learning from his laptop and experiencing snow for the first time. We hope you enjoy them!

Heart Throb

Happy Valentine's Day!

As we all know, Brayden is a fun, loving baby so Valentine's Day is just another opportunity for him to be his cute, smiling self. Brian and I plan on raising him to be quite the little gentleman, and that's what inspired his Valentine's outfit. And since it's never too early to start, Brayden brought chocolates to all his teachers in daycare. He knows how to sweeten up the ladies!

Baby's 1st Valentine's with a cameo by Avery.

Future Mr. Right!

Thank you. And you. And you.

Today, the Jewell Family Blog hit an exciting milestone - 2,000 page views! Thank you to all our friends and family who follow along with our family's adventures. And since no post is complete without a cute picture of Brayden, here he is wearing a totally appropriate tee shirt from Uncle Ryan in honor of Brian.

My Dad's Tattoos Are Cooler Than Yours

Super Bowl Baby

Brayden celebrated his first Super Bowl on his first trip to Nana and Grampa’s house. We had planned to visit many times before but one thing or another got in the way. Luckily, the football stars aligned, and we enjoyed a fabulous day of fun rooting for the Packers. My mom, dad and brother, Ryan, had the whole house baby ready with a jumper, swing, toys and more. Brayden was so excited to play with everything!

There are lots of great pictures in the album below but here are two absolutely perfect shots. In this first picture, Brayden is gripping the chair of his swing in anticipation as the Packers line up for a big snap…

And just a few seconds later, Brayden throws his arms up in as #87 Jordy Nelson catches a touchdown pass to put Green Bay up by 7 early.

I think we have a little football fan on our hands!

Here are the rest of the pictures from our great day. Enjoy!

		Super Bowl Sunday VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Five months old!

Brayden turned five months old on February 1. He is growing into such a sweet, good natured boy with an adorable smile. He now weighs 14 lb. 13 oz. and is 26 1/8 long and grows by the day. Brayden had a follow up appointment with Dr. Tammy today that went well overall, but we still have a couple weeks left of the breathing treatments until he’s all the way better.

Here are some pictures of life recently. The gorgeous hand-knit blanket was sent by cousin Wendy. She calls herself a beginner, but I’m sure you’ll agree her knitting skills are top rate. The other shots are happy moments with Nana and his “Future Fishing Buddy” Grampa Bob and us. Enjoy!

Five months of fun VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

From the desk of Mom

We've made a couple changes to the blog to make it more interactive and accessible.

1. You can now easily comment on posts! From the "Comment As" drop-down menu, select either Name/URL or Anonymous. Both work. And with Name/URL, you only need to type in your name, you don't need to put in a URL. So please comment away!
2. The blog now has a mobile template so you can view it using your smartphone (e.g., iPhone, Blackberry, Android) or any web-enabled device. Now you can keep up with the Jewell family while you're on the go!

In other news, Brayden is getting better by the day. We have a follow up appointment with Dr. Tammy on Thursday, and we'll keep you posted.

Baby giggles

There are few sounds in the world cuter than a baby giggling. Brayden laughs out loud now, and it just melts us. Whatever has happened to you today, prepare to feel a little bit sunnier after watching this.

I’ll take “Baby Ailments” for $1,000, Alex.

Sooo…strike what I said earlier about the “happy, healthy boy” thing. Granted, Brayden tends to be a pretty happy boy, but we’ve yet to achieve the healthy part. The steroids cleared up the croup but not the underlying problem. A doctor’s appointment on Friday revealed a second, worse case of RSV and a double ear infection. This round of RSV has really affected his respiratory system so Brayden will be on breathing treatments with a nebulizer every six hours for the next two weeks. In typical Brayden style, he tolerates the treatments well but doesn’t hesitate to voice his opposition from time to time.

Although Brayden has been sick since about mid-December, I don’t want you to get the impression the poor child lies around miserable all day. Although he’s on a medicine cycle that rivals most 85-year olds, Brayden has plenty of fun time too. Here’s a collection of the cute times from this month including dressing up for a (disappointing!) Saints playoff game with Mom and Dad, wearing a UNR Wolf Pack beanie from Grampa Bob while watching the bowl game, enjoying a visit with Uncle Mark and looking cute in a “Stud Puffin” onesie from Uncle Ryan and Kylie.

		January 2011 Fun VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Q: What do Barry Bonds and Brayden have in common?

A: Steroids!

Quick croup update - Brayden is doing much better after yesterday's first dose of medicine. The steriods calm his airway, help his breathing and accelerate the healing process. He'll be on it for three days, and then he should be a healthy, happy boy.

Just in time to go back to daycare Monday where he will likely catch something else horrific...ick.

Rice cereal with a side of croup

On January 1, 2011, Brayden turned four months old. His official four-month appointment was on the 10th, and that gave us the green light for an exciting first – eating rice cereal! But before we get to that, Brayden is now 14 lb. 7 oz. and 25 1/2 inches long. I know I said he was that long during month three but apparently I am not a good baby measurer!

Brian and I went out after the appointment, promptly bought some Gerber rice cereal, baby bowls and spoons and got ready for Brayden’s big introduction to solids. Here’s a little video of the experience. As you can see, Brayden wasn’t 100% sure how he felt about the whole mushy food thing but he was a good sport.

Unfortunately, things took a turn by the time we woke up Tuesday morning because Brayden woke up with what we thought was a cold. Flash forward to last night (Wednesday) and I was in the pediatric after hours urgent care with him because he was getting worse. Turns out the little man has croup. Daycare strikes again… (sigh) Brayden’s croup sounds terrible, and he is so uncomfortable. Brian and I are watching him like a hawk and doing everything we can to soothe his little body. We’ll keep you posted when he starts to feel better.

Fur brother, where art thou?

We teach Brayden that our cat, Avery, is his big fur brother. We always considered ourselves a family of three (Brian, Avery and me) before Brayden arrived, so it's only fitting that Avery be elevated to older sibling. On this particular day, Avery decided to indulge two of his favorite pastimes - observing Brayden and playing with Brayden's toys.

In this first picture, Avery stealthly tunnels under Brayden's play mat.

Then, he pops his little head out the front and supervises Brayden's tummy time.

Here's a close up of Avery's covert mission.

Now just wait until Brayden can take off in pursuit of Avery! That will be a fun day!

Elf in Training

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were a lot of fun in the Jewell household. We celebrated with my mom, dad and brother on both days, and shared in the once in a lifetime experience that was Brayden's first Christmas. I went a little crazy and cycled him through five outfits on both days but that's OK because we have a limited window of time to dress him up like this! Plus, we had a couple last minute additions (thanks Rizutto family!) to his holiday wardrobe that couldn't be missed.

Christmas Eve was dinner and family time together. The video below captures a special moment from that night. Christmas morning was a yummy brunch, Jewell family Christmas drinks (Brian's best batch ever!) and presents. Brayden is having so much fun with all his toys every day! Thank you to everyone who sent him gifts; Brayden is so blessed to have so many who love him and think of him and his future every day. We are so grateful to have you in our lives.

		Brayden's First Christmas VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

About seven years ago, my Babcie (my mom’s mom), knit me a sweater for my first born child. On Christmas Eve, Brayden wore that sweater for the first time. It was a special time for us while we remembered her and my recently passed Dziadzia (my mom’s dad). They are always in our hearts.