11 Weeks... Hands!!

I can't really think of anything else that is of merit about you except to say that you have discovered your hands and you LOVE them!  Your mom posted about this when you were 10 weeks old, but I think it has grown to a full blow obsession at this point.  The other night you were in my lap and you have eight of your ten fingers in your mouth just letting the slobber flow.  And of course when you were done and needed to get all that slobber off of you who did you turn to?  That's right.  All over my arms.  But that is OK.  Such things to no bother daddies.

Well I guess there is your hair.  I mentioned that it was getting longer in the last post but it really is starting to fill in nicely now.  I mean look at it.  It is really hair and not just fuzz anymore!  When you were born you had a few random long hairs and those are still there, which just get crazy while the rest of your hair is usually manageable.

Then there is this -

Your head is supposed to be facing the other way!  So CUTE!!

I suppose I could also mention how you met your second-cousin Audrey Belle Clements.  For some reason we tarded out and didn't get any photos of the two of you together.  Your mom and dad and her parents were good friends until they abandoned us to go live on the other side of the state.  Thankfully they are close enough to persuade to meet at your Gramma and Grampa Compton's for a visit every once and a while.  Since Audrey is rolling over everyone thought it would be a good idea to put the two of you on a blanket on the floor and just bask in your combined cuteness.  Well cute it was!  Unfortunately you didn't show off your "trying-to-crawl" trick so no one really got to see that.

I hope that the two of you are good friends.  It made a big impact in my life being close to my family.  Not just my brother and sisters, but to cousins.  They are great to play with but they should also have the same values as you so you don't have to worry about pressure or temptation.  Just wholesome and exciting good times!  I remember many a summer day wasted with Audrey's dad.  And when I say wasted I mean it in the we-made-our-own-fun kinda way.  Ahh... memories...

*A note for those who are wondering - A second-cousin is two people who share great-grandparents.  Much like cousins have the same grandparents, second-cousins go one step up on the genealogical tree.  If you have caught on by now you would guess that third-cousins have similar great-great-grandparents.  And you would be correct.  Cousins-once-removed are different.  When a person's cousin has a child, that person's child is your cousin once removed.  That one is harder to explain.  But who cares, they are all just cousins to me!

10 Weeks... So BUSY!

So what has changed from 9 to 10 weeks?  Well just look at your position in that Boppy.  You are trying to sit up!  And the spitting.  I can't believe I haven't talked about the spitting yet.  It is SO un-ladylike.  It is not just slobbering, which would be cute and funny enough.  No you actually make noises with your lips and push that spit out like there is no tomorrow!

On a serious note, you are now officially on the records of the Church.  It was kinda funny I was looking up someone's number on the ward website the other day and your name wasn't listed by ours.  It was because you had yet to be given a name and a blessing.  A fact that we remedied this last weekend.

Fortunately for you (and us) we had some family in town for your Aunt Ali's reception, more on that later.  But above are all the men who stood in the circle (minus our Bishop) for your blessing.  To be completely honest I had been thinking about this blessing for quite some time.  There is always debate when it comes to blessings that you see coming as to whether you should think hard about what to say or completely let the spirit guide you.  I am of the impression that you prepare yourself and then let the spirit guide you.  That is what I ended up doing.  I wanted to make sure that I had thought of everything that I should say but not use the words from my head.  I think I did a pretty good job because my mind was blank as soon as the mic was put in my face.

We have notes from my mom and sister as to what the blessing said and I hope we can decode it to represent what was actually said.  Suffice it to say I think service was a theme.  And that is important.  I learned that a lot on my mission.  Having problems?  Do some service.  Feeling good? Share it and do some service.  Anything in between?  Service, service, service.  It makes everyone feel better, you learn so much from it and it brings many blessings.  So if you remember nothing else remember service.

I was very happy with what was said and I think that, much like a patriarchal blessing, if you live righteously and follow what you know to be right, you will turn out just fine.

Afterward we had some fun in the park just hanging out with family.  It was a little warm but it was still good fun and nice to not only see family, but hang out outdoors.

On to the rest of the weekend!

As mentioned your Aunt Ali gave you a new uncle, Uncle Kyle.  You may him better as DW from what P-Pa calls him.  You never know with your P-Pa, Kyle may not be DW and P-Pa may not be P-Pa.  The reception was wonderful.  Beautiful weather, great setting and tasty treats.  The only downside?  Daddy was asked to be the photographer.  It's not that I mind.  It is just work and your father follows the mantra of work smarter not harder (which sounds better than work less when possible).  Plus I didn't want to be responsible for taking lame photos.  But you know what?  I think I did all right.  Especially on the stills.  But this isn't about me.  Who is it about?

Oh, that's right.  All about you!

So Much in Common

Before I get to the happenings of the last week (and especially this weekend) I wanted to spend a moment talking about how similar we are.

You and your mom will share a lot.  You may be a daddy's girl.  That remains to be seen.  But even if you are, because you are female you will share a lot with your mom.  Somethings daddies just can't do.  And I will never have hair as long as you.  Proportionately your hair is about as long as I would ever really want mine, I just don't get around to cutting it as often as it needs so sometimes it gets a bit shaggy.  I digress with that example because it is a simple, silly example of how easy it will be for some people and maybe even you to say how similar you are to your mother and how opposite we are.  And that is not to say that you and your mom aren't similar.  You do have things in common.  As I type I can't think of any of the dazzling similarities we have come across between the two of you because your mom should remember them.  It's her job.

But about you and I being similar - it became clear to me that you and I are world class sleepers of the same order last week.  Sure the grunting in the morning and not wanting to wake up was a sign.  Your daddy (as of this posting) doesn't think the world should operate before the hour of 8AM.  It takes me a good half hour to get rolling along in the morning and it is only that short if I eat breakfast and shower.  That distaste for mornings used to extend to 9AM but working at 8:30 every morning and waking up at 7 has shifted my internal clock.  A sad fact of aging.  You my dear also take about as long to rouse yourself from your beauty sleep.

Speaking of your beauty sleep, you have been taking a lot of it.  Your mom and I knew that your sleeping was a sign of you being a great baby, but how irregular you were we didn't really know until you had been doing it for so long now.  You LOVE to sleep.  Most babies your age sleep for 4 hours at night.  Not you.  You do 6 easy. Most adults are told to get 8 hours of sleep.  Not your dad.  He could do that... well... in his sleep!  I am a full fledged adult (physically anyways) and I can still sleep for 10 plus hours if I wanted to.  It just doesn't fit into the busy schedule of responsibility bequeathed to us old folks.

Then there is this picture.

Before I shared a bed with your mom this was my go-to sleeping position.  Usually on the very edge of the bed, one hand down by my side and one holding the covers up under my chin lying on my side/stomach.  It has changed a bit since then, but look.  I think if you were a little more self-aware you would be pulling either the sheet or your swaddling cloth to cover you.  We had it cold in that hotel room.

Last but not least (for now) there are your hands out/up all the time.  I realized the other day that I frequently used to (and still will) sit or lie down with my arms on top of my head.  The crook of my arm rests on top of my head and my hand dangles freely.  I can only imagine you doing the same thing if you were ever still enough.  I will watch with great interest.

Brooklynn, I hope that you realize how much I want to be a part of your life.  How much I love you and want the world for you.  By now you have also probably realized how much I can babble on inarticulately.  But you are so wonderful and special.  I love you so very much and I can't wait for the interactive part of your life really get going.  I look forward to doing things with you, not just with you there.  I look forward to you talking, even if it is just talking back.  Be warned your dad's mouth can be just as smart as your own.

So until then (or at least until the next post), sleep tight!

9 Week Check Up. Time to Crawl!

Crawling?  No not really.  But that doesn't mean you don't try.  But since the doctor said that you were way advanced with your motor skills, it may not be far away.  You be the judge.

Pretty good, huh?  Just get those arms moving and you will have it down.  That was actually at the hotel in Logan the day before you turned 2 months, but it certainly is a milestone worth recording, no?

Now about the check up.  I will do the highlights.  11 pounds even.  23 5/8" long.  70% in weight.  95% in height.  The bad news - 37 1/2" in head circumference (40%).  You have no idea how much of a relief the check up was for me.  Almost daily we get told how cute and little you are.  And I don't want you to be too little.  Little, sure, but not too little.  I also don't want you to be huge, but that is obviously not a concern as you look nothing like your cousin Bryson.  So to hear that you are a healthy weight and a good height, well that is just awesome.  The whole head thing- well if that was a concern I am sure your mom would have passed along the doctors concern.  So I won't worry about it too much.

Two Months!

Again, I am catching up on posts.  We are back home from Utah but you hit a big milestone the same day your Aunt Ali got married.  You turned two months old!  Since the day was so busy we didn't get specific photos of you, but we did get a lot of you at the wedding.

You have no idea how rare it is to even get that much of a smile out of your P-Pa.

This was at the second reception we went to that day.  You were such a trooper.

So let's talk a little about the car ride to the wedding.  You were GREAT the whole ride there.  A few moments of fussing but who doesn't have that when you are in a car for 11 hours!  Even your mom got a little irritable.  It is a good thing we went from your Gramma and Grandpa Compton's house because when we got to Salt Lake City you were done.  Too bad we had another 30 minutes of driving!  But overall you did great.

The way back was a whole different story.  It is a good thing we split it into two parts because it took significantly longer.  We left from Jennie and Mike Beaird's place, which is an hour closer to home than where we stayed the first two nights.  We drove 5 hours to Boise stopping every several hours to keep you calm and fed.  The next day was more of the same.  You couldn't go longer than a few hours without us needing to stop so it took us 9 hours to get the rest of the way home.  What was interesting about the ride home was your sleeping habits.  You would fall asleep and then scream and cry in your sleep.  You would do this a couple times and then wake up and we would need to stop.  Everything would be all better as soon as you were out of the car seat.  Eventually we made it home and all was well.

8 Weeks and Slobbering

So I am over a week late on this one. But I am pretty sure this is about when you started to slobber.  Like a lot.  Uncontrollably.  It's not like it is a big deal, but you sometimes make a mess.  On occasion you slobber in larger quantities than you spit up.  Which isn't a very surprising since you don't spit up much if at all.

To get a little ahead of myself, we were in Utah and your Great Aunt Penny was watching you while we ate lunch at a pretty great burger joint and you were fussing a little bit.  To calm you down, Penny placed you across her lap.  When she was done she looked like she had an "accident."  There was a puddle of drool all over her lap.  She was a good sport about it and didn't even flinch.  And she isn't the only one.  P-Pa was holding you and you were slobbering and it was running down his hand like a river.  I offered to get a wipe but he said it didn't bother him in the slightest.

Since it has been so long since you were actually 8 weeks old I don't know that I have anything else to say.  So here is another cute picture of you. You are sitting up all  by yourself!