Good Times

The sun is shining, the weather is cool, college football is on all afternoon, and everyone in the Brown house is happy. Could life be any better?

We braved an outing all together this morning to Target and to get Noah a haircut. He made sure all the ladies in Great Clips knew he was two, has a sister named "nanna" who he gives lots of kisses to, and then he roared like a dinosaur at them. I think that is his way of flirting. Here's a post-haircut pic of the big flirt with his new toy.





















Back at home we have a new game where Noah pushes me over and I propel him in the air like he's flying. Kimberly didn't put this on her list of new favorites, but I'd like to add carpet in the living room. I added a papasan cushion and now we have the perfect place to wrestle, fly, bounce, and land.




Good times.

Yard-O-Beef

Earlier this week I was walking along the isle of my new favorite money pit, Sam's Club (thanks, Alison), and what do I spot?


















Only the most glorious three pounds of greasy goodness I've ever seen. For anyone on my Christmas list this year, go ahead and prepare the skillet.

Go meat.

Bonding

No, this post has nothing to do with Gorilla Glue. This is serious bonding talk, the baby kind, from the daddy point-of-view.

We’re just about two weeks into life as a family of four. I’ve been on paternity leave and have spent most of my time the past two weeks helping out as much as possible by assisting with Anna, keeping Noah (and cousin Brooklyn) entertained, and lots of cooking and cleaning. The long days have given me a chance to reflect on the differences of Noah and Anna in their first weeks.

When we brought Noah home from the hospital as a 2 day old baby, Kimberly and I quickly settled into a schedule of “shifts” for bottle feeding, changing, rocking back to sleep and repeating. With Anna, Kimberly is breastfeeding and I find my role to be so much less than it was with Noah. I’m essentially the go to diaper changer, secondary burp master, and consoler of last resort when she hits her fussy period. There’s not a whole lot more I can do, at least until I finish my lactation consulting course.

I know I have heard many times in response to adopting the expressed fear of not being able to bond with the baby or child because there is not a biological connection. I find it so interesting that the opposite seems to be true for me, at least at the moment. Feeling this way I’m anxious for Kimberly to use that expensive pump just so I can get in on the feeding time and enjoy that bonding experience with Anna. I also think that Kimberly would benefit from longer periods of sleep if I could take a solo night shift.

I’ll revisit this thought as time goes on and let you know if the feeling changes once the bottle comes into play. I also might just have to post sometime on Gorilla Glue, that stuff is awesome.