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-two 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.
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-four months- |
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.

He is so beautiful. I love the photo of the two boys together...such BROTHERS!!! Miss you so much lady and loved reading this update.
ReplyDeleteI love reading your updates! Especially now that we are expecting our second little one, I love hearing how families have adjusted to two kiddos. Our first does pretty good sleeping and napping now, but we definitely had some low points in his first year... I'm more than willing to seek out advice so that *hopefully* our second will be a better sleeper. What sleep books did you read?
ReplyDeleteIt's so fun seeing them together. Miss you guys too!!!!
ReplyDeleteHas she gotten past the bad naps? Brenik just did this week! Hope he keeps it up. I put him down for his last nap and he kept sleeping tonight... Had to pump! OUCH!
ReplyDeleteThe first three months are a total blur but at this point I strongly believe that if you can make it through those first 3 months you can make it through anything! The book we're swearing by right now is BabyWise and the blog Chronicles of a BabyWise mom, that blog is AMAZING!
ReplyDeleteNot quite yet. But she slept through the night the past two nights and yes, I woke up in pain and had to pump, too!!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear that things are going well! I love those squishy thighs :) Fun fact: we have that math diaper, too!
ReplyDeleteCloth diapers the second time around is AMAZING! I feel like diapers a free! haha
ReplyDeleteBoy, we were on it with cloth diapers this time around . . . until Phoebe started crawling. And now we use training pants as much as we can but have given ourselves permission to forget where the cloth diapers are. That's a disappointing development, but we've learned to give ourselves grace where we can and to be okay with letting certain things slide :)
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