2 Months!

Hi everyone! Brandon here. I have been 2 months old for over a week now! We've been very busy and haven't had time to finish this blog posting since then.

I am such a big boy! At my 2 month check up last week we found out I am 11 lbs 6 oz (50th%) and 24.25 inches long (75th%)!

Here's what I've been up to in the last few weeks...

I practice my smiles a lot! I smile without even being smiled at now, which just delights my mom and dad!

I love to be sung to! It almost always makes me smile. You should hear my parents sing, though. Sometimes I'm smiling at them and not with them...

Here I am (sleeping) in St. Joseph, MO with mommy's friend from High School Megan and her son William. Megan and William live just 2.5 hours from us in Nebraska, so we met up half way between for lunch and shopping. I don't remember much from that day as I stayed in this position for most of it.

Another smile! It is pretty hard to capture on camera as the camera flash makes me look confused... or angry. Don't I look like a tough guy?

My Mimi and Papa came to visit! This was the 2nd time I've seen my Mimi but the first time I met my Papa. Here we are by one of the many fountains at Country Club Plaza in KC.

This is the first time my Papa held me.
I think this is my Mimi and Papa's favorite fountain because the statue is holding grapes. They said something about the goddess of wine...

We took a few walks in my neighborhood while Mimi and Papa were here. I love going for walks in my stroller! The bumpier the ride, the better!

Another fountain in Country Club Plaza.

This is at the Frontier Trails Museum in Independence, MO. We learned about Lewis and Clark as well as the Oregon and Santa Fe trails.

This is at the dinner table. Maybe it was the garlic bread...

Happy on the deck with Mimi! Here's my fist! I love to wave it around, look at it, and suck on it!

I love bath time! Actually, I love anytime I can be naked. Getting my diaper changed is a highlight of my day. I always start smiling when the clothes come off. This makes my parents worried about the future for some reason.

I have so many expressions!

This is one of my favorite things to do! I hold on to someone's fingers and pull myself up to stand!

Looking pensive in my bouncer. Mommy and Daddy don't know what they would do without my bouncer. I get to sit in it at dinnertime and they bounce me with their feet while they eat! I stay happy most of the time...

See you again soon!

Exercising and my cool hat

Here I am doing tummy time on the ball! Yes, my mom is an OT.

My neck and arms are getting so strong!

The ball also comes in handy when I am fussy. I don't like the rocking chair...that's boring. But I love to be held while Mommy bounces on the ball! We actually have another ball that is kept in my room. One night she said she bounced on it for about 45 minutes total throughout the night! That was a couple weeks ago when I was really fussy. I'm much happier now. Actually, I've had a few really great nights! Last night I slept for 8 hours, just getting up once for 15 minutes to eat. Mommy says that makes her very happy. Maybe that's why I was so fussy before...I've heard it said that if mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

On another note, I am not balding (although it looks like I have a comb over in these pictures). I have very light blond hair coming in under my dark hair. You just can't see it in the pictures!

How do you like this outfit? Do you like my matching hat? Daddy thought I looked too cute (and maybe a little funny), so he took tons of pictures of me!

I could be a chef!

or a painter!

showing off my smile!

Ok, Daddy, I've had just about enough of this photo shoot.

I mean it! No more pictures!

A Reward for Enduring the Fussiness!

Brandon is now over 6 weeks old, and he is finally smiling at us! It is a well needed and deserved reward for enduring his fussiness and for all those sleepless nights. I tried to upload a video of him smiling, but it wouldn't work. Maybe blogger is smarter than me. Maybe I'll get it to work later. Here are some pictures anyway.

In other news since the last update, Brandon's Babcia stayed with us for the week while KZ went to Indiana for work. It was great to have the extra help, especially because Brandon has been going through a fussy period. Here you can see that Babcia is good at rubbing his back! She did a lot of walking and bouncing him too.

Krzysztof's Wujek (uncle) Martin came into town last weekend for a visit to see Brandon. He lives in Boulder, CO. Here is Brandon trying to give his Wujek a kiss!

Here are some other cute faces...

Who is the handsome guy in the mirror?

It's me!

I'm pretty cool.

What's over there?

I'm trying to talk!

Getting bored...

My devious look.

Here is Brandon all snug in his miracle blanket (http://www.miracleblanket.com/)! It's the best thing for baby Houdinis who can get out of a regular swaddle.

Thoughts on My Identity as a Mom

I don't know when it happens exactly, but a transformation takes place when becoming a mom. I say I don't know when it happens because I don't think it was at the time of Brandon's birth that it happened to me. Even before that when I was walking around with my big belly I had a sense of pride about who I was becoming. I enjoyed the pleasant smiles people would give me as they noticed my growing middle. People did not just see me; they saw me and my son. Despite the challenges and discomforts, I was proud to carry around my baby inside me. I loved feeling him move and knowing he was always there.

And now, I still enjoy going places with him. I love how people try to peer over the side of his car seat to get a glimpse of him. I am no longer just some woman in the check out line of the grocery store. I am a mom. My identity has changed, and it will forever be changed. The way others view me has changed, as has the way I view myself.

This all leads to the following quandary: What happens to my identity when I go out without Brandon? I have been out several times without him, both by myself and with Krzysztof. I got so used to having Brandon always with me - feeling him move during the pregnancy and more recently seeing him move and feeling him in my arms - that now it is strange to be without him, almost a little empty. When I am out without him, I feel like I want to yell to everyone around me that part of me is missing, that they are not seeing all of me, that they are not seeing who I really am. (I also feel like yelling that the reason that I have a little pooch for a belly is because I just gave birth 6 weeks ago, but that is another blog post...)

Don't get me wrong; my true identity is in Christ alone, and that has not changed. If anything it should grow stronger as I now have a taste of the great love God has for us as a parent. But my identity on this earth has forever been altered as all my experiences from here on out will be filtered through the lens called motherhood.

One Month Old!

It's my one month birthday today! Can you believe it has already been a whole month? Mommy says this month went way faster than last month when I was in her tummy! For me it seems like I was born a lifetime ago...oh wait, it was!

This week I got to try out my bathtub! I like being in the warm water.

How do you like this look?

Check out my big diaper! This is one of my cloth diapers.

Here is my gangsta look.

You can see my birthmark on my right hand. It is a triangle. I'm going to have to learn that I can't show people my birthmark without showing them my other fingers too.

Aren't I cute?

Not as cute here, huh? Mom, how many times do I have to tell you I don't like doing laundry! You tried this before, and I still don't like it! Do laundry during my nap time!

This is my Dziadzia (pronounced "JaJa").

And this is my Babcia. They are visiting and enjoying being my grandparents!

Bye bye until next time!

First Birthday as a Mommy

I had a great first birthday as a mommy! It was a little different, though, in that I couldn't be totally selfish with my time and do what I wanted to do all day. There was now a little one to feed, change, and keep happy. Welcome to motherhood where your time is no longer your own!

My day started off with my husband making me breakfast in bed, which was fabulous. These roses are from our yard. We don't spend much time outside, so I figured they would be put to better use inside the house. The rose bushes are not the fruits of our labor...they came with the house. Neither of us have much of a green thumb when it comes to roses, so it's amazing we've gotten them to bloom more than once this summer.

Here I am with my not so happy son. We are headed out for a late lunch since Krzysztof got off work early. We were a little worried about how it would go since he was not in the best mood.
But he was perfect! We ate outside at this awesome tapas restaurant, and Brandon slept the whole time.

This is the great dinner Krzysztof made for me...a 12 oz. filet, sauteed portabellas, and asparagus! And a 2005 Rafanelli Zin we bought at the small family winery in Sonoma a year and a half ago...they would only let each couple buy one bottle of it because it is in such high demand, and it was amazing!

Look closely under the napkin. How do babies always know when it is dinner time? Brandon always seems to wake up and/or become fussy right when our dinner hits this table. I've heard from other parents that many babies do this! Maybe they don't want to be left out of a family dinner. This time he was fussy and hungry. We didn't want our good dinner to get cold, so Krzysztof rigged up a way to keep everyone happy with the bottle propped on his belly. We had a nice quiet dinner!

Krzysztof is enjoying the quiet, happy baby cuddles after he gets to do the feeding...he doesn't often get to see that side of his son. More often than not he sees a dirty diaper and a fussy baby in need of vigorous bouncing. We are getting some pretty strong arm muscles from all the bouncing!

Another snuggle picture....one of my favorite things to do.

Milk Face

Hi Everyone! As you can see by the name of this posting, I have a new nickname! You see, I love to eat (and I eat really fast like my daddy and my Papa)! I frequently have milk all over my face, which is pretty cute my parents think. Maybe you have to be a parent to appreciate a look like this. Speaking of eating, here I am drinking from a bottle for the first time! It was great! It's a much more efficient way to eat actually. You can drink a bottle in like 1/4 of the time it takes to eat regularly, and I like efficiency.

Daddy had fun feeding me! So, I'm sure you all realize that in order to supply a bottle for dad to feed me with, mom has to pump. What a weird process that is! I overheard my mom's reaction to the experience as being amazed and yet horrified that you can get a bottle of milk that way.


I like to snuggle with my daddy!

Here I am looking cute with some crazy hair!

Check this out! My first time sunbathing...well kind of. Mom and dad sat in the sun and I stayed cool under my umbrella (or should I say parasol). Dad had the good idea to anchor the parasol to the ground with tent stakes. Pretty crafty, huh? I'm laying in my travel bed. This cool bed folds up so it can be packed in a suitcase.

I like to snuggle with mommy too!

Kisses everyone!