Bits About Brynley: EIGHT WEEKS!

Brynley turned 8 weeks today! As you can tell, she is really starting to fill out and look more like a baby rather than a tiny newborn, although we still get asked how old she is when I have her in my Baby K'Tan carrier and everyone seems shocked when they find she's older than 3 weeks old. I don't think she's that small, but maybe when she's all bundled up in the carrier she looks smaller.

It seems like we've really gotten into a good routine lately. We're on the go a lot after her feedings, which I was hesitant at first to go anywhere too soon after her feedings because I didn't want her stomach to be upset, but then realized she can be just as fussy after she eats if we just stay home and I hold her the whole time too. It was quite the challange at first, timing her feedings and taking Ryder to school or picking him up. She literally cried the entire drive there and back, and you can imagine the anxiety I had while driving! She's gotten much better in her carseat now thank goodness, and I'm starting to think she may even like her seat.

We do a lot of floor time and I love the way Brynley gazes up at everything. She's really starting to see so much and I think she's even started noticing Tucker. She probably wonders what on Earth that furry brown thing is when he comes over and gets near her. This week, Brynley's face has really started to clear up finally! We noticed around 5 or 6 weeks she started getting these small milk bumps that kinda looked like pimples. Ryder never got any breakouts so I wasn't sure what to do. I read some things that suggested leaving them alone, as they will clear up on their own and the cause could be anything from my milk to being kissed or just having sensitive skin. I have sensitive skin, so I'm not surprised there ha!

I just love this sweet girl and I swear I get more smiles out of her than I did with Ryder. From day one that boy was a Daddy's boy and he would give Scot all of his smiles, so it just melts my heart that she gives me so many sweet smiles! I get tears in my eyes everytime. We have our fair share of grumpy grumps too, but I think we are really phasing out of that fussy butt stage (or as Ryder says "we don't say butt, we say bottom" haha). She has also been giving me lots of coos and really seems to be "talking". She does the "eew" sound a lot! After she's been fed and changed, she gets really happy and that's usually when I get most of my smiles and coos. She also gets excited and starts raising her eyebrows big and does these little kicks that are so cute! I never get tired of hearing her girly voice.

I'm really enjoying this stage and I think either we're getting more sleep, or just getting used to the lack of. I think these smiles really make up for it though! The time change put us through a doozy at first, but we've kind of gotten used to the 4:30am feeding rather than the 5 or 5:30am, and it gets Scot and I out the door to get to alternate going to the gym and back before both kids wake up. I'm really hoping that Brynley is starting to phase out that feeding altogether though, because she really never finishes her full 4 oz bottle.

Brynley has really started being able to use her Bumbo chair for short periods of time through the day. With Ryder I think we started letting him use it too late, when he was starting to want to be mobile and not contained in his chair, so we wanted to make sure we got her used to it before then.

Her eyelashes and hair are really starting to get so long. For her hair to be so blonde, she sure has a lot of it. I was one bald headed toe-head for the longest time until I ever got hair, but Scot had, and still has so much hair, so she got lucky! We both have really long thick eyelashes, but I hope she doesn't get my bushy eyebrows haha.

We've also been supplementing some with formula here and there. I'm still not fond of the stuff, but know that one day soon I will probably stop pumping. Brynley really doesn't have much interest in nursing anymore, and I guess I've kinda lost interest too. I knew this day would come, which was why I got so emotional back at the pediatrician's office when she told me Brynley's weight needed to improve fast or I'd have to start bottle feeding or giving formula. Anyways, that's a whole other blog post in itself, but she seemed fine with the formula except she hasn't had a BM in 2 days after we gave it to her. That kind of freaked me out at first, but then I remembered that was the only change she'd had. It's hard to believe this sweet face will be 2 months old on Sunday! We've come a long way since the day she was born and have already created so many sweet memories. I am soaking each moment in as we welcome each coming week!

Happy 8 weeks my Brynley Bug :)