Brayden photos

OK, for all you Brayden fans (yes, my family reads this blog!) here are some new pictures of Brayden. I tried to take our "typical day" in pictures yesterday. The only thing I didn't really record was our trip to Walmart and his nap. Other than that, here is my day with Brayden Lee!

Brayden arrives around 7:15 AM. We pack Umpa's lunch and then they have breakfast together and 15 or 20 minutes of play time.

And Brayden has to say good morning to Joey, the killer cat. At this time Joey let's Brayden know if it's going to be a good day (he'll stand to be patted) or a bad day (he'll turn around and bite Brayden). Sigh...
When he arrived, I had everything prepared to have Brayden help me make chicken soup in the crockpot. I get everything chopped and set out for him. The chicken is already in the pot.



Next, it's his time to "wash dishes" (use the kitchen sink sprayer and clean the dishes off). Once we get them in the dishwasher, he puts in the soap (tablet) and starts the dishwasher for me. Often we sweep the kitchen floor afterwards, but didn't do that today.

We like to go some place each day he's here. It's not normally shopping, but today it was a trip to WalMart. I found three sweatshirts for him for $1 each, and these sneakers for $1! He also got a great "race car" umbrella (another $1). Cost for five items - $5. Cost for the smile on Brayden's face when he got to try out his new umbrella? Priceless!

While we waited for the rain to stop and the temps to go up a little, Brayden played with his blocks in the family room while I cleaned the kitchen. At his last doctor's visit, the doctor asked if he could stack up THREE blocks! LOL! I said heck, that kid's not only stacking up 10 blocks, but they're tall skinny ones!

After our trip to WalMart, it was time to play outside. It had rained that morning, so there were little puddles in the chairs and on top of the tables. Brayden LOVES puddles, so he gets one of his cars and brings it out to make the car go through the puddles.

See those steps behind Brayden? Unfortunately, about 20 minutes later he fell off those steps and banged his head on the cement. UGH! Poor little guy. He decided it was then time to come in and get some lunch -- spaghettio's, cheese stick and juice today.

Next comes nap time (YAY!). I'm as ready for a rest as he is. Today, he actually slept THREE AND A HALF HOURS!!! Because of the bang to his head, I actually went up and check on him three or four times because he normally sleeps two hours at nap time. Guess he was just tired!

Jeff (Umpa) came home at 4:00 and went up and woke Brayden up. After a quick snack (crackers and juice) they headed outside. Brayden loves to ride the lawnmower with Umpa, so they decided to mow today. Brayden is wearing his "mowing hat". He BEGS to go on the lawnmower, but never, ever smiles once he's on it!

Next, Jeff decided to combine two of things Brayden loves - puddles and riding the lawnmower. They drove the mower to the front of the house and went through the puddle fast enough to make big splashes. Shortly after this, Brayden was riding his tricycle through the puddle and when I looked up, he had his legs up in the air like Umpa did!

Finally, at 5:30 Mary arrived to pick up Brayden. He's always so happy to see Mama! Behind them, you can see the 20 tomato and pepper plants Brayden and I transplanted last week.

Events of the day: Brayden climbed up into the high chair by himself today! But even bigger than that, he put his shoes on all by himself! He was so proud of himself that he insisted on taking them off and putting them on about 20 times throughout the day.

That's my day with Mr. Brayden Lee. :)