Blessed in Texas: April Showers and "Supermom" Powers

Well, it's now April and my last blog post was in November, so clearly I have failed at this blogging thing. Despite the title, I am less a Supermom than just a Super Happy Mom. In fact, I think it's actually a case of a Superbaby. Brady has been brightening our days for 9 and a half weeks now, since February 15th, and I don't think we could ask for a more accommodating and happy baby. I'm thinking I'll save the labor story for my next post as that is it's own example of Brady's considerate behavior...more on that later. For now, I'd like to just share a little bit about what we've been up to for the last (almost) 10 weeks.

Brady has been growing like a weed which makes this breastfeeding Momma ecstatic! He was 21 inches long and 8 lbs 5 oz at birth. By his 1 month check-up with the pediatrician he was 23 inches long and 10 lbs 14 oz, and by 2 months, he was 24.5 inches and 12 lbs 11 oz. He's currently 95th percentile in length and 75th percentile in weight, so we feel pretty confident he'll be a major league ballplayer, even if he does have to play for the lowly Baltimore Orioles. I think he looks dashing in orange, so that's cool with me. Besides growing, Brady also enjoys:

1. Eating: For the first week, we didn't really eat on a set schedule, but since he was a week old, B has been eating about every four hours. He generally takes about an hour to finish each meal (give or take 15 minutes), which is a little slow but I don't mind. It's a great bonding time for us and he's clearly getting the nutrition he needs since he is gaining weight so well. Best of all, my little considerate baby skips his overnight meal and generally sleeps about 7 hours through the night. I'm a little afraid to admit that in writing because I do not want to jinx it...but hopefully that little trend will continue.
2. Staring at windows: In our family room, we have four large windows on a wall that's painted a dark color, and Brady has been transfixed by them since the day we brought him home. These windows and any other light sources (lamps, TVs, computer screens, etc.) entertain him way more than Chris and I do. We'll sing, dance and make goofy faces at him for 15 minutes earning ourselves a lot of confused expressions and a few cute smiles; then we walk away and catch him cracking up at the light fixture over his changing pad. Seriously, Brady?? Thanks for telling Mommy and Daddy we're less funny than inanimate objects.
3. Smiling: See above. We'd like to pretend we're responsible for all his smiles, but those damn lamps are tough competition. We have been lucky enough to capture a few pictures of his glorious gummy grin, but we have to be sneaky since B is a bit camera shy. He tends to get very serious every time one of us whips out the camera or iphone.
4. Tooting: Telling this is probably a "mean mommy move", but my sweet little boy farts like a fully grown man after a weekend at Chili Fest. While my parents were here visiting, they actually argued over which one of them had passed gas and it ended up being Brady at about 3 days old. I can totally see him being the kid who farts during class and blames it on the innocent little girl next to him, bahahahahaha!
5. Sucking on his hands: Yep, just this week Brady discovered his hands and boy are they TASTY! If he's not nursing, sleeping, or enjoying his pacifier, he's busy shoving his entire fist in his mouth. This wouldn't be so bad for now since we're mostly at home and he's not exposed to many germs, but man, the smell! Ugh, his little hands smell like old spittle, and that's just gross. I'm constantly washing his hands with baby wipes and wash cloths trying to freshen the fragrance of those little fists, but I'm realizing that as a mother of a little boy, the "smelly battle" is one I'll be fighting for at least the next 18 years. Spit-scented hands will smell like roses compared to the aromas of his teenage years, I'm sure!

Other than that, Chris and I have really just been spending our time falling in love with our little boy. Once you've checked out the following pictures, I'm betting you'll be in love too ;0)