The courtship

I remember when we were in the hospital after just having Anderson, one of the nurses said that we were in the period of "courtship" with our new baby.  We already knew that we loved each other, but we were spending a lot of time really getting to know each other.  I thought that was so sweet.

We have thoroughly enjoyed our courtship with Brady this past month, and we are definitely in love!

Feb. 24- one month old!

Brady has continued to be such a good, easy baby.  Bless his heart, he likes to sleep (which is not how I described his big brother one month in!)  There are definitely times that he fusses because he wants to be held and snuggled, but he seems to really like and need two good naps (2-3 hours), swaddled and left alone during the day.  Some of those naps have certainly taken place in his car seat.  Ever since our first doctor's appointment when Dr. Christian said I didn't have to wake him up to eat during the night, we've been getting good 3, 4, or 5  hour stretches at night.  Two nights in a row last week (Wednesday and Thursday nights) he slept from 10ish to 6ish!  "Normal" the last couple of weeks has been awake and hungry just once all night.  Like I said, this was not our experience 20 months ago with Anderson, so I am fully appreciating this sleep!

This Fisher Price sleeper has been perfect!  It started right next to our bed, moved into the office that is connected to our room, and just last night into his own room.  These "SwaddleMe" swaddlers worked really well for Anderson, as well.

My favorite is having Ryan home all day on the weekends or having my mom come over to be with us for the day.  But the boys and I have sort of found our "groove" when it's just the three of us, too.  Anderson's routine is pretty set, but I still feel like each day is unpredictable.  We do our best to go with the flow, and if they are both crying for a couple of minutes, we just go with it.  This was more common the first couple of days, as Anderson would get upset when Brady did.  (I'm not sure if this was because he was stressed that his brother was upset or just ticked that I was giving Brady more attention.)  Either way, he has remained really affectionate towards Brady (or "Baby", as Anderson calls him.)  And after our few "transition"/ cranky days, Anderson really seems to be back to his easy, happy self.  When we hear Brady wake up and cry on the monitor, I say, "Do you want to go get your brother?", and Anderson says, "Yeah!".

Anderson is pretty content to play or bring me books to read while I feed Brady (thank goodness Brady took to nursing so naturally, allowing for some multi-tasking.)  Anderson does give Brady dozens of unsolicited kisses a day.  I love this.  Every once in a while I need to stop Anderson from loving on Brady too much (climbing over him to get the his head for kisses, for example).  Anderson just can't resist loving on Brady's bald, little head. :)

Snuggling with both boys-  did I mention Brady is chubby?? :)  He's about 11 pounds at one month.

Brady seems really close to smiling, and I can't wait!  He certainly looks at us sweetly and contentedly sometimes, and I wonder if that counts.  But I know a big ol' smile can't be too far off.

Here are a few other photos from this past month:

Brady's first sponge bath.  So far Brady does not like bath night.

The boys in their car seats

My mom has come to get Anderson for a Grandma and Grandpa date once a week the past 3 weeks.  This has given Brady and I some precious alone time.  He gets stared at more than he's used to on those days.  Here he is playing on the farm mat on our first "Mommy, Brady Day."



All bundled up to play outside on chilly February days.



This past weekend, Ryan and I took to boys out on a walk in the double stroller for the first time.  Brady was alert and happy most of the time.  Anderson liked his new seat-  we heard "Woo!" a lot as cars drove by.