Two to Four Months

-two months-

When Gabriel was a baby and I heard that mamas could put their babies to bed awake and they'd actually fall asleep sweetly on their own, I thought it was all lies... It is actually possible! Like I've mentioned before, sleep was downright awful with Gabriel so we vowed to humble ourselves, seek out advice from parents we respected who had good sleepers, and read different books. Well, truth be told it's working. Going to sleep is a piece of cake for this kid but we're still working on transitioning through naps. Over the last couple months we have have made progress, have moved past the 25-30 mark and get at least 1 super good nap during the day. The last couple months we've encouraged him to keep sleeping by going in to rock him while humming amazing grace until he settled down (still awake, just calm) then we'd lay him back to bed, kiss his head and hope he goes back to sleep. Some times he did, sometimes we needed to do this 2,3,4 times. It was a lot of work, sometimes with tears but since getting to Japan we haven't felt it necessary and our hard work is paying off. At two months he seemed so incredibly close to sleeping through the night. He had slept through the night once and an hour from it a couple times but typically woke around 3am-4am to nurse before getting up at 7am. This continued right up to 4 months.

Brenik is a great nurser, sometimes he chose to be a major flirt instead- he'll latch, take a little drink, then start cooing up a storm. I couldn't help but smile at him and giggle which just fed the flirting frenzy. Sadly though at this point we're confident that Brenik has a sensitivity/allergy to any and all forms of dairy as well as eggs. When I consume any of it he gets eczema on his cheeks, elbows and inner thighs. It's been hard for me to wrap my mind around not eating any of these foods for 1-2 years. I wish I knew more about all of this but medical care is a bit finicky here for us so it's most likely going to have to wait until late spring. Speaking of nutrition, at his 2 month appointment he came in at the 90th percentile for both height and weight, as if that should be a surprise. Poor kid didn't handle the immunizations nearly as well as Gabriel (Gabe held his ears looking super concerned the whole time about what was happening to his brother), and desired to be held for most of the following 24 hours. His full tongue inclusion tie still is no issue when it comes to nursing but we're at a point now where we wished we had known more about it when he was born because now we both feel strongly about getting it clipped... and we're in Japan. I think what hit me was that kids who have a tie as sever as Brenik's won't be able to lick an ice cream cone, so sad! Obviously there are other more serious reasons but that one for some reason struck a cord.

-four months-

His eyes are blue! BLUE! How did that happen twice in a row? Yes I have blue eyes but with Chris' brown I thought we got lucky with Gabe. Oh man, at two months I was thinking that I was finally going to have a baby with rolls on his legs, but that didn't last long. He's tall and at 2 months seemed a lot more sturdy than Gabriel, Gabe was strong but always seemed long and lean, but now I feel like their builds are comparable. At two months despite little tummy time (when he wasn't nursing, burping, or getting a diaper changed he was sleeping...) his upper body strength according to the doctor was a few months advanced. Still no rolling over but he's a crazy wiggle worm! I never know where in the crib he's going to be after a nap or in the middle of the night. One evening my heart sank because I couldn't find him. He was of course there but moved really far down and to the side of the crib- not where I was looking or expecting to find him in the dark.

Little man was officially out of 3 month cloths  at two months and out of 6 month clothes at 4 months, he's currently wearing 9-12months. I love seeing all of Gabriel's old clothes again, some are looking pretty loved though and probably won't be seeing a third child. There are also pieces that didn't work well with Gabriel but I held on to them assuming they'd work for another child... nope. Those pieces are obviously out. Last year I forgot all of my clothes when packing for Japan, this year I forgot Brenik's jackets. I remember pulling them out and putting them aside a month-ish before leaving but I guess they never made it to a suitcase. Taking bets now on what super important item I'll forget next year when we travel.

We are having so much fun having a baby again but are also really looking forward to Brenik being old enough to play with Gabriel. We see glimpses of it here and there and Gabriel is definitely ready. Poor Gabriel gets sent to his room more times for being too rough with Brenik than anything else. Gabe's love for his brother so obviously grows daily. When we're out and about and the Japanese talk to Gabriel, he eventually gets around to pointing at 'Bren-kin' and talking about him as if he's showing off his brother. Yes, he calls him Brenkin and we now do so as well, it's going to be that family pet name I'm sure. If you ask Gabe to say 'Bren' and then 'Nik' he does just fun but putting the two together always so lovingly becomes Brenkin.

Brenik has been such a God send to us during our time of transition here in Japan. Through all the crazy, stress, and high emotions he has unwaveringly been a true delight always filled with so much joy and laughter. I cannot put into words our thankfulness that the Lord chose and gifted him into our family, he truly makes it better.