Catching Up

We have been busy! The last few days have been full of fun, as well as challenges. Brody is 8 weeks old TODAY, and all morning he was smiling at me! =) Yesterday he gave me a few smiles in the morning as well. He is so adorable already and that smile just lights up my heart! I can't wait to see them all the time!

I have been working really hard on trying to get this routine down. Some days have been great, and others have been so exhausting!!!! Of course the good days are the best (and the ones I try to focus on), but I am even grateful for the really tiring, fussy, screaming days because then I get to hold him all day and love on him. I am trying to enjoy that because I know all too soon the days of holding him will be gone. Dave and I are still working on learning all that we can about little Brody and trying to make him feel as good as possible. I've been afraid that he isn't getting enough fat and calories in his milk (even though he is a great eater) to tide him over for the time he is supposed to wait. The BabyWise book suggested setting a schedule for 2 1/2-3 1/2 hours so I picked the low end so I can work him up to the higher end. Well, many times during the day he is screaming for food at an hour and 45 minutes or two hours. Poor thing. I used to wait to feed him because I thought he was just getting used to the schedule, but now I am thinking it's because he is not getting enough calories to sustain him. I am working on eating more food, & more often (very difficult when you have such a needy baby!), as well as starting to put some rice cereal with his milk in bottles to see if that will help. We don't want him to lose weight or not get what he needs to grow properly. His doctor said to let her know how this goes, and also mentioned that the rice cereal would probably help with all the spit up. All the things you have to work through as a new parent to a newborn!

Dave and I are still loving our little boy....Dave even mentioned to me just a few hours ago about how much he loves Brody and how he LOVES to look at pictures of him. That melts my heart!!! =) Every day I fall even more in love with him as I learn more about him and his personality! He makes us smile constantly!!! =) Thank you, God, for such a wonderful addition to our family!!

Here are some things we have been doing this week:

DENTIST

Tuesday was Dave's dentist appointment. I went along so I could visit with my friend Marsha while Dave had his teeth cleaned. They just love all over Brody when I take him up there! In fact, my hygienist, Christy, even brought a gift for him this time! They are so sweet to our whole family! I think God used him to help a lot of patients smile that day! =) This particular event was extremely important and exciting to me: Brody took his first bottle from me!!!!! WHAT A MILESTONE!!!! I was SO happy about that! Now I know that whenever I am out in public he will be able to have the option of a bottle if the other isn't possible. What a relief! =) Way to go, Little Buddy! You are learning more and more everyday!!! We are so proud of you! =)

Me feeding Brody the FIRST bottle he would take from me!! =)

Marsha and I with Brody

PLAYTIME WITH MOMMY & DADDY

Brody is so good at pushing off with his legs and standing on his feet! He's a strong little boy!

Mikey the monkey is telling Brody a story.

Ralph the Elephant and Red Head the Caterpillar are entertaining Brody.

Tummy time with Daddy

More play time with Daddy and Brody's animal friends.

You can see him holding onto his little monkey in this picture.

Bernard and Mikey are his two monkey friends.... (Dave has a GREAT imagination if you can't tell already! He's the expert in that area...)

They were tuckered out after all that playing!

BRODY'S NEW HAT

On Tuesday, Dave and I got to go to the Boardwalk to get Brody's Christmas outfit for pictures. We also wanted to find him a hat or two that actually FIT his big ole' head.....it DOES get a little chilly down here in winter despite being in the south! =) Not only did we find the most adorable outfit for him (stay tuned for those pictures....hopefully we will get them taken in the next week or two.....), but also were fortunate to find him some mittens AND two hats! One was a little skull cap and the other one has ear flaps. They are both adorable! I never knew mittens for infants had no thumbs, but I guess it makes sense. I was wondering how you would get their little thumbs or fingers into the correct holes! These just look like thick socks that you put over your hands. Too fun! I'm sure he will HATE them, but they will have to be worn! =) Anyway, since I love the hat so much, I had to get several pictures of him wearing it. I thought he looked so stylish with it on!

Asleep at the Boardwalk with his new hat.

This picture is one of my favorite of us together....Dave did a great job taking it! =)

I wanted to show off how blue his eyes look with this blue cap on...they are normally much darker looking.

Even THIS was too cute to pass up! =)

NAP TIME

We went from almost NO NAPS for 3-5 days to sleeping at every possible second the last two days! I was really worried that I totally threw him off last week with the routine I started because he would NOT go down for a nap....he would SCREAM forever (if I would have let him!)! At the MOST he would only sleep like 20-30 minutes before waking up. I felt like a terrible mother and thought I had done something to him. I don't know what happened, but today and yesterday he is almost impossible to wake up at certain times during the day--even during nap and eating time! I am so glad he is getting his naps in though! He is awake for long periods of time when he is not napping though, so we have gotten to play with him more without all the screaming and crying. That makes for a much more pleasant bonding time! =)

How precious is THIS?? =)
Oh, and don't you just love his mohawk? It does it on its own now with no help at all.................... =)

I promise I didn't originally place him in the crib this way...his crib is elevated on the "head" end because of his reflux and so he slides down (and it's barely a slant so I am still not sure how he could slide this much). He also wiggles all over so he is NEVER in the same place he started out when I go get him!

I don't think I have EVER seen him THIS calm before on the changing table! He is usually squirming and moving all over! See, I TOLD you he was hard to wake up! =) I love this little pose of his though... he's just so relaxed. And, look at those cute little chunky legs! =)

I still love this little position of his even after all this time....and yes, we use his burp cloths as blankets when in a pinch! Not sure why though--blankets are one thing we have a LOT of! =)

Today's afternoon nap...sleeping so peacefully with his little baby noises! So SWEET! I love listening to him!

Notice that he DID have his blanket on to begin with and over the course of the hour and a half it's now gone!

GYMBOREE

Yesterday was Little Gym at and believe it or not, he was actually AWAKE for most of it (well, except for the first 15 minutes or so....). I even got to give him a BOTTLE (YAHOO!) while we were there. Even though I had to just watch what the other kids were doing during that time, it was nice to see the kinds of things we can be doing at home with him (especially as he gets older).

Tummy time wasn't as interactive as I would have liked.... =) Not so sure I'D want to sleep with my forehead on a mirror, but apparently my son did not care!

" Hi, Mommy! I'm awake today!"

"This is fun....I love looking at all the other babies in the room and seeing all the bright colors!"