Jill's Smith Family Adventures: Brody is 6 weeks old!

I can't believe it! I know I missed the post last week. Things were surprisingly crazy with Ben out of town at the beginning of the week.

Anyway, a lot has happened since my last Brody post. He turned 1 month on the 11th (seriously how does the time go by so quickly) and had his first doctor's appointment. I was so worried he wasn't gaining enough weight, but he was 8 lbs 9 oz and was 21.5 inches. Percentile wise that is 50% on height and 25% of weight, so he is still technically a tall and skinny kid - definitely our kid! As he grows I can tell his face is filling out more and more and he is looking more like the person he is going to be. Ben last night commented that he just looks so much like a boy. I must admit I agree.

Brody's fussiness I wrote about last time has subsided. Now he is just my happy baby again. He is such a good sleeper at night. If it weren't for him needing to eat I am sure he would sleep through. Unfortunately his schedule that was so routine has gone away a bit. Mostly depending on how much he gets to eat. If he has a full meal he will go 3-4 hours, otherwise only 1-2. Sometimes though, if I know he ate just an hour ago (and I do this only at night when I am exhausted) I can plunk in the paci and vibrate the bassinet and get another 30 minutes to an hour of sleep. The sucking is definitely soothing for him.

My confidence/comfort with the second child is starting to show. Brody gets put a lot of places Cadence didn't. Cadence lived in the swing, crib, bassinet, or in my arms most of the time. And I couldn't really leave her to run from one end of the house to the other. Brody gets put on the bed if I am working in the back of the house. Left in the bassinet for shower breaks (Cadence had to be in the bouncer in the bathroom with the cover zipped). Left up on Cadence's bed during Cadence's morning and bedtime routines. Even sometimes left on the floor in the family room while I am jinning in the kitchen or on the computer.

Cadence has also become a lot more interested in Brody over the last two weeks. When he is up on her bed, she has to climb up to see him and touch him. She is very gentle and loves to pet his head and give him kisses. He was on his back playing with his activity gym and she wanted to lie next to him. This morning she held him in her arms for the first time. It is very sweet to see the sisterly love.

Oh, the pediatrician also gave me the go ahead for sunscreen and swimming for the little man. So on Friday we went to Big Surf! Great fun. My comfort level with him in the water is very small so mostly Ben held him while I played with the girls. Ben did discover that while holding Brody's head, his swim trunks floated the rest of his body. Not surprising to me given that his head is most of his weight and body right now...I did get a few dirty looks and comments from some ladies at the park, but we had a really fun time with all the kids. We even ran into the Binghams! Which made the experience even more fun because Chloe played with Austin, Ben chatted with Jason, and I got mom talk time with Selia.

Over the next month I will begin the search for a daycare/school for Brody and may begin to look at future preschools for Cadence.

Oh and tonight Ben fed Brody his first bottle. Little man drank it up like it was liquid gold. Oh wait, it kinda was!

As always, here are pictures of the little man from the past two weeks: