All the Sun For You

A mom, two boys, a husband, and a whole lot of adventure!

Category Archives: Bryson


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THIS Moment in Time (#32)

We’re all in my bed, finishing up naps. Bryson slept 1.75 hours in his crib before fussing and coming in to snuggle with us. I’m nursing him and he’s out cold again, which I just love!

Matthew stirs a lot in his sleep and will reach over and flutter his fingers, clearly reaching for something. Every time Bryson’s here with us and Matthew’s fingers touch his head, he then puts his whole hand on Bryson’s head, pats it a bit, and settles down with his hand on his brother’s head. He never opens his eyes. This just melts my heart every.single.time.

It just happened a minute ago:


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The Monday Snapshot – Tell Me About It (Ha ha! But it’s not Monday! I forgot!)

Matthew loves hanging out with Bryson in his crib after he wakes from his morning nap. If I forget this little ritual, believe me, I hear about it!

Matthew gets a little wound up sometimes, and can topple right out of the crib, so it’s hard to take pics and keep a watchful eye. But on this day, I got a couple of good ones that capture this little nugget of fun in our daily lives! (Matthew is telling Bryson about the light and sound device in the corner of the crib – apparently, it’s hilarious!)


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The Monday Snapshot – Need Some Happy

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a generally happy person. I’ve had my years of therapy and antidepressant/anti-anxiety treatments in the past, which let me just say were very much needed, but in general, I’m happy. I say things like, “things are what you make of them,” and, “everything happens for a reason,” because I generally believe it’s true. I don’t say those things to diminish anyone else’ situations and would never say them to someone I know is having a hard time, but I believe those things for myself.

I do.

But holy hell – our household has not been generally happy the past week. Matthew has been unbearably whiny and Bryson has been the sickest he’s ever been, ending with a decent (and our first ever) episode of croup. I couldn’t sleep last night because I thought I needed to get sick as I froze my ass off under several blankets, and this morning was worse. Just when I drifted off for a nap, Bryson woke up after a too-short nap. Then my in laws popped over (which I actually encouraged and enjoyed). By nap time, we were all spent. Bryson, still very much unhappy and sick, slept 2.5 hours in his crib without a peep, and Matthew and I slept in my bed for 2 hours. It was needed. I instantly felt better. We all did.

Poor Bryson is so stoic these recent days, but he got to bathe alone tonight which meant he got the whole tub to himself for the first time! And finally, FINALLY, I got to see my baby boy smile from ear to ear over and over again.

I needed this today. I needed someone else’ happy to take me back to my own happy.

I’m hoping I get a lot more of these smiles this week, but for now, I’ll take what I can get and make the most of it!


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THIS Moment in Time (#?) – I Spy

B put a new camera in Matthew’s room so that we can try to get rid of one of the monitors on my nightstand. The picture is perfectly clear, letting us see exactly what is going on. Poor kid… He’s going to have a hard time getting away with anything now. Ha ha!

And here’s our poor little guy with croup. He looks like he always does in these photos, but I really appreciate being able to see his chest movements tonight with the video streamed to my phone. The minute he wakes up, he’s coming into our room to sleep in the pack and play. I hate not having him with us when he’s so sick, but I wanted him to fall asleep in his familiar space.


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The Monday Snapshot – Back to Normal

We spent the weekend sharing two cabins amongst B’s immediate family (MIL, FIL, SIL1, SIL2, BIL, niece, nephew, the four of us). It was, surprisingly, a very fun, comfortable time. The only issue, and I truly mean ONLY issue, was our niece who is very mean, selfish, and manipulative with everyone, but specifically with Matthew. By the end of the weekend, Matthew had started mimicking her nasty behavior (being antagonistic, pushing Bryson over, claiming everything as his) and I was pretty upset. It’s hard when you spend lots of time with people who parent so differently from you, that you need to expend most of your energy running interference between the kids. My SIL does not correct her daughter, and claims that everything she does is “just helping.” Sneakily pulling a chair out from under a two year old is not helping. Running toward him and shoving him backwards off his feet and onto the floor, and then telling us that “he slipped,” is not helping. Calling Matthew over for a hug, and then kicking him in the face telling him not to touch her is not helping. This went on ALL weekend, and her mother stepped in only a few times. Other than that, she’d say, “I know you’re just helping him.”. Gah! So I stepped in, and B stepped in, and called both kids out on their behavior all weekend.

We’re home now, and we’re sort of “reprogramming” Matthew into the nice boy we took on vacation with us. We’ve heard fewer, “mine’s” out of him today, and he’s only pushed Bryson down once. We’re getting there.

And everyone is napping and sleeping in their rightful places again!

(Please don’t think that I think Matthew is perfect. He’s not. Just ask the neighbor boy he bit (first time for that – GAH!) last week and his preschool teachers who keep teaching him to NOT TAKE TOYS FROM HIS FRIENDS! Ha!)