Molly has taken off with her physical skills (I always think of Napoleon Dynamite when I talk about 'skills' haha) she is crawling - both belly off the floor and a very fast 'army crawl'. She sits well with no support and can go from sitting to crawling and visa versa. She is finally enjoying her food. We're still doing the 'baby led weaning' thing. Last night she fed herself shepherds pie - her 1st taste of meat and she seems to love it. She has the amazing ability to fart like a grown man and has some pretty good burps to match!! She is 16lbs 9oz (as of last week) so still a tiny dot compared to her brother at the same age.

We have babbling too!! finally!! her favourite is 'babababa' but there is also the predictable 'dadada' and 'mamama' which, although I like to think are aimed at her us- her parents, im pretty sure it's just a noise at this point!

As for Samuel, my dear sweet Samuel. Well, he is a horrendous ball of two-year-old pent up frustration for the most part. He hates socks, shoes, using the potty, eating vegetables, going to bed, when Molly touches his toys. Just about everything sends him into a tantrum - yay! However, he still of course has his sweet moments. His speech is coming along really well and he is now using personal pronouns. My aim is to get him to recognise all letters and numbers 1-10 and colours by April. I think he'll do it. He is already almost there. He has me in fits of laughter with the things his little brain comes out with. All those neurons joining and strengthening makes for some comical outbursts. Every time Molly makes a bee-line for 'his' toys he will scream 'mummy, quick...pick her up...oh noooo! no molly! please....DONT LICK IT' hahaha...he will also sit at the table at dinner time and say 'so...ummm...shall I call Sam?' I say 'yes, why not' and he will call 'Saaaaaaammm' and then say 'oh...he's right here' hahaha...silly boy!

This video is a bit pointless as you cant really see. But he insits on wearing the lower half of his Halloween costume (some dragon legs with dragon feet) at ANY opportunity!

This video was taken about 10 days ago, just when Molly had begun to try and get up on all fours. She is now MUCH better at this and does it several times a day. Almost exactly on the same time scale as her brother. He got up on all fours 8 days after he turned 6 months. Molly was 4 days after. We still haven't got to actual crawling yet, but she seems to enjoy 'rocking' back and fourth.

As for other news: Im offering solids at least once a day. She still isnt terribly interested although she will usually 'gum' something each day. Last night she had toast with yogurt (yes, lovely combination I know!) and she gummed the toast to death haha!

Here's Molly this morning being her usual jolly self! she has settled into a great routine now. Wakes at 6:30am and then plays with Sam on the floor until around 7am when she has her milk, at around 8am she will nap for 45minutes. More Milk at approx. 10:30ish and then there is another nap around 11am - this nap is the best of all as Sam goes to bed at this time too and they both usually sleep for 2-3hrs!! NICE! At 3pm she will have another bottle and another nap at around 3:30-4ish for half an hour or so. Then its another bottle at 6pm and at 6:30-7ish she is down for the night! easy peasy!

In no particular order here's some excitement from the last few weeks: We 'started' baby led weaning. Molly is 24 weeks...so, I suppose it's maybe 6 months..or not, I don't know how you're 'supposed' to count it. Anyway, absolutely NO food has made it down Mollys gullet yet. She likes to squish the heavily over priced organic avocado in her little fists, and smear it all over the table. She has shown little to no interest in ingesting any. To me this is a sign that she probably isn't ready for solid food yet and i'm not surprised. That's fine, and one of the many benefits of baby-led weaning - SHE will decide when to eat. SHE will decide when her instincts are telling her she needs more than breastmilk. We are one of the only cultures that see it as a good idea to strap a baby to a chair and force pureed 'diet' foods into its mouth, when the babies natural instincts kick in and the food gets thrust back out, it's scraped off and forced back in. Babies are not in charge of what, when and how much they eat. Baby led weaning gives the control back to the child and that in turn has many benefits. When I think of all the time and effort I spent making purees for Sam and how I would have to feed him before I could enjoy my (then cold) meal it just makes so much sense to me to allow Molly to eat at her own pace, and eat 'real' delicious foods instead of pureed carrots etc (bllergh). She will be able to enjoy meal times with us, watch us eat and learn while I enjoy my HOT food!

We took Sam to the Children's museum in Phoenix, he LOVED it. He is such a clever little boy - but then I'm his mother, of course im going to say that haha. He already knows 3/4 of the letters of the alphabet, some names, some sounds and some both. He talks up a storm now and copies EVERYTHING Bryan says. I cant actually write on here what profanity left his mouth this afternoon...but lets just say it wasn't particularly pleasant and Bryan got told off!!

Miss Molly Mookins got her English passport! meaning she is now officially a 'dual citizen' like Sam. She wont be able to be deported when we go home haha...and no, I seriously wouldn't put anything past the government of either country. I can seriously see them trying to deport a baby!! What a wondrous thing it is for my children to own two of the most valued passports in the world. It will mean, when they are grown up they can live and/or work ANYWHERE in the whole of Europe or the US. There are not many people than can do that with out mounds of paperwork and visa applications. I would assume it will make them valuable employees of any large businesses that require travel between such countries as they will save everyone lots of time and money not needing any travel paperwork!

Just a photo of my beautiful girl. She is such a sweet girl. Almost NEVER cries. Im so glad we have her, she is already Sams best friend and the 1st thing he asks about when he wakes up. I hope they will be close when they grow up.Bryans dad left last week after joining us for a week in sunny Tucson. Unfortunately Bryan had to work for much of it but we were able to get out and have fun at the weekend with a trip to Mt Lemmon and Sabino Canyon. I wouldn't wish the horrors of Tucson on anyone but I'm pretty sure he enjoyed his time with us.

I think I have the only baby that doesn't coo or babble, but growls. Please excuse my un made-up face, my spots and exposed bra strap (I was at home all day - you're lucky im even out of my PJ's!!) and admire my beautiful baby girls delicious growls. Its funny to think that one day she will have a sweet, girlie voice.

How did it get so late so soon? Its night before its afternoon. December is here before its June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get s

What a busy month. On Friday we got back from spending a month in England. It was SO wonderful. The children really get so very much from being there. There is space to run around and you don't boil to death, there are enough people to lavish them with the attention they deserve, there are animals and trees and most importantly for Sam there are hundreds of his beloved 'Choo-choo's'. Sam spent a great deal of time with my dad in the meadow watching the trains go by and playing with Lola. It makes me realize how truly limited their life is here in Az. Its too hot to go out, there is barely anything to do and no family around. I really hate this place for them.

That brings me to my next point. Bryan has got an assignment for an unaccompanied tour of Korea for a year. For that year, the children and I will go back to England where im sure they will flourish and I will get to have a life and family to talk to. To compensate for a year away from family the airforce allow you *some* say in what base you go to afterwards. We have picked Germany as our number one spot and I really, really hope we get it. However, we all know how the airforce likes to do as they please, so we can only hope.

As for milestones, Sam is almost potty trained. We haven't dared to leave the house nappy-less yet, but the time is close. He has zero accidents during the day at home although he is still in a nappy at nap time and bedtime. Molly is growing slowly but surely, she is finally just over 14lbs and will turn 5 months old next week. She can roll both ways and has been doing so since the 25th August, she is much more steady with her head control and can do baby push-ups while on her tummy. We will introduce solid foods in October when she hits 6months. We will be doing baby-led weaning and I cant wait. I'm hoping it will help her to gain a little more weight as Ive been researching some baby-friendly calorific foods like avocado, sweet potato, bananas etc etc all of which she should be able to feed herself.

Thought id show a video of Molly's newest trick (she's been doing it for around 3 weeks now) - She can roll front to back. No indication of rolling the other way though, just yet. Almost time for our trip back to England. I cannot wait. I have compiled a list of what I will need in my 'carry-on' for Molly alone and it's A LOT! there will definitely be no room for anything I need! Can't wait to introduce my darling girl to the rest of her family and I can't wait for them all to see how much Sam has grown in 15 months (10 cm to be exact lol)

I've been thinking about our up and coming trip home to England and wondering if Sam would remember my dad as the last time he saw him he was just 15months old. Lately Sam has enjoyed looking at photos, namely our wedding photos and I was shocked to hear him say 'oh look, there he is' and I said 'who?' and he said 'Granan' meaning 'grandad'. He was pointing at my dad. I got him on film telling me who 'granan' is. He also thinks the picture of Dustin is 'Sam' haha!

Ive been trying to teach Sam his letters, he is getting there. He wasn't in the most co-operative of moods this morning but you can see that he knows some. He is almost able to sing the alphabet too.

What a truly amazing day! Bryan has had issues at work, Sam has been hideous-firstly he drew with pen all over the front door AND the wall. Then he poo'd and wiped it all over his toys AND the wall, then he bit the top off of a pen filling his mouth with ink (thankfully they are kids 'non toxic' pens, but still!) Molly has been fussy all day and feeding every hour and a half and not sleeping at all. The house is a wreck and Ive felt like driving off hahahaha JOY

Molly was 8 weeks old this week, she weighs 10lbs 3oz (tiny little thing) she eats around 3oz of breastmilk every 3 hours and her feeds takes forever as she likes to have half, then pause for some burping and a little break then 10 or so minutes later she will take a little more, then we have to have another break! VERY different from her brother who was packing on the pounds at this age and would drink as much as I let him haha!

Bryan is TDY to Alaska at the moment, he has been gone for 2 weeks and we have another week left. There have been some stressful moments, like when I was feeding Molly and Sam decided it would be a wonderful idea to stuff toilet paper down the toilet and flush it 6 times resulting in toilet water an inch deep over the bathroom floor. I really enjoyed putting my hand down the toilet 1st thing in the morning, its a real recipe for a great day let me tell you! Other than that though, we're plodding along. I for one, cannot WAIT for Bryan to get home. It will be nice to be able to go for a wee without taking 2 children, it will be lovely not to have to plan showers strategically around when both children are napping (a rare event in itself) and then rush like crazy in case one wakes up

Here is Molly in her pretty purple nappy that Auntie Karla got for her! She loves her baby gym but can only go under when Sam is in bed having his nap as he thinks that he has to be under there with her...and even ON her if at all possible! Daddy left today for a few weeks to go and play war games for work..booo!! will I survive 3 weeks without him?! I think so!

Sam loves his baby sister. When she cries he lovingly tries to shove a juice cup in her face. He diligently prods at her face pointing out her 'eye's' and tries to get his pudgy fingers in her little mouth to assess her biting abilities.

The differences between Molly and Sam is astounding. It's hard to believe they come from the same genetic stock. Sam was a content baby, he loved to eat and piled on the pounds quickly. He was happy to sit in his bouncer and didn't care who held him. Molly on the other hand is fussy, she makes each feed a trial and will frequently only settle if she is being held by me or in the sling...on ME! She is much more 'delicate' and ...well, girlie haha!

Generally things are going well, she is drinking expressed Mummy milk during the day and 'on tap' mummy milk at night. Its just what works for us. She will drink around 2oz every 3ish hours and likes to be carried or sleep on my chest the rest of the time. The nights are not too bad, she only wakes a few times and thankfully Sam is sleeping through!

Molly is the queen of fussiness. She cries a lot more than Sam ever did. Our evenings are usually spent pacing the floor with her or trying to work out what the problem is. This week Bryan goes back to work (well, tonight) and the AirForce-being the lovely things that they are have decided to put him on the night shift (12hrs) -just what we need after me having major abdominal surgery and a new born...grrr!! so I will be pacing alone for the next week at least-JOY!!

Molly had her '2 week well baby check' today and she is over her birth weight WOOHOO!! I had been wondering if she was breastfeeding enough and/or for long enough and it would seem she has. Her weight today was 7lbs 12.3oz! She is growing well too and has grown half an inch in length in the last 2 weeks. Of course her head is on the 98%tile which I would expect as she seems to have inherited the 'giant headed gene' from my side of the family! Sam has it too!

Here is a video of her when she was just a few hours old, thought I would post it now, even though its 'outdated' as when ever I have a moment to take another video of her lately, she's asleep!!




As for Sam, he is coping a little better this week. Less tantrums and crying and more 'normal' Samuel behaviour. He has developed a HUGE fondness for the word 'NO!' which is now his standard answer to absolutely everything, even if he wants to say 'yes'. He spends much of his time in his playroom (actually a cupboard!) which is where he is in this photo-with his beloved 'choo-choo's' and 'diggers'. Also, as you can see on the floor-he has developed a love of 'money'. He tips out his money box and fills his pockets with the coins.

New Arrival

Its been a long time, a busy month...life changing even!

Around the time of my last Blog entry we discovered that our second baby was in the breech presentation. All my stress and effort went into trying to get the baby to turn so we could have another wonderful, med-free delivery. It was not to be, even after spending hundreds on acupuncturists, chiropractors etc etc baby Brown number 2 decided that 'head up' was the way to be. At 37 weeks an ultrasound scan reveled that the cord was wrapped twice around the baby's neck and therefore poor baby just couldn't turn.

On the 21st of April we had a scheduled cesarean section and Molly Cate Brown was born. She weighed 7lbs 12oz and was 19.5 inches long. A HUGE, HUGE surprise as my 'motherly intuition' has told me I was having another boy-obviously my 'intuition centre' in my brain is broken! I was beyond thrilled though. A big boy and now a baby girl. We have the 'perfect family'. The cesarean went amazingly well. Our wishes were respected and Molly was placed 'skin-to-skin' within minutes, we also received no hassle after declining the Erythromycin eye ointment and the hepatitis B vaccination. We also refused the 'hospital policy' of 2hours 'compulsory nursery time' and the 'compulsory infant sponge bath' and none of this was met with any disapproval. We got the obligatory 'contaminated baby' sign on her isolette due to the lack of bathing, but that was good as everyone who touched her wore gloves!! Molly was jaundiced within a day or so of her arrival. This was no surprise as her big brother had been too. But here in America it seems like it was much more of a big deal. Where as with Sam I was told 'just feed him and put him in the sun' Mollys jaundice was met with blood tests and eventually phototherapy during our last night at the hospital. She HATED wearing the little sunglasses and that night was truely miserable. Bryan and I were both deliriously tired and poor Molly didnt want to sleep at all. It all paid off though and Mollys bilirubin levels decreased enough that we were allowed home after 3days.

Since being at home things have been a little insane. Sam is struggling to accept he is no longer the only child in the house and has been rather naughty since Molly came home. He loves 'baby Molly' but hates just about everything else-including me most of the time.

Molly sleeps well, and eats pretty well although breastfeeding is still a struggle but we're managing.

Just Sam at dinner time being a bit chatty. Ive been trying to catch him singing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' but when ever he sees the camera he stops. His version is so funny and starts with 'Winkle Winkle...'

We went to Disneyland last weekend and had a wonderful time, the early rain made it so it was empty and we didn't have to wait to ride on anything. I wont post pictures on here though as you've all probably seen them on Facebook.

Today is Sams second birthday. We had a big party planned and had invited lots of guests. Sam woke up early and we opened presents and cards. When he went down for a nap Bryan and I spent almost 3 hours blowing up balloons, preparing food, decorating, cleaning. Everything was ready-all that was left was to cook the pizza and ice the cakes. The house looked great, everything 'Thomas the Tank Engine' themed. Party bags were ready to give out and Bryan even got a dozen helium filled balloons as a center piece for the table!

THEN...Sam woke up, he felt hot-not great news. I hoped he was just hot from being asleep under the covers THEN came the dreaded sound....a puking toddler. He vomited all over his bedroom floor! We only had 45 minutes before guests were due to arrive *****!!!! We had to make a decision. I decided that I wouldn't be happy if someone didn't tell me and had Sam over to a party and he got ill, so to do that to others seemed just wrong. We called all of guests and told them. So, a lovely party turned into...a not so lovely party. We tried to have fun still, Sam had a birthday cake and we sang to him, he even ate some so he cant be THAT ill.

I think we made the right decision though, one of my friends that was due to come just had a baby two days ago and I'd feel absolutely awful if the baby got what Sam has.

Anyway, here is my little man on the 21st Feb 2010, 21st Feb 2009 and 21st Feb 2008 ♥

Here is Sam at the ball park with his friends, you will notice (if you look carefully!) that Sam has a ball down his shirt. He is obsessed with making 'boobies' with anything vaguely ball shaped that will fit down his shirt-I wonder where he got that idea?!?!


Our new pushchair/buggy/stroller (what ever you wish to call it!) arrived today. Its a 'Phil and Teds' double buggy, while the new baby is an infant it will be in this set up-with Sam in front and baby lying flat behind him. As the new addition to the Brown family gets older he/she will go in the seat Sam is in-but It will be moved to behind the main seat (hope that makes sense). In other words, Sam will ALWAYS be in front as he is the bigger child, at 1st it will be in the attachment (as shown) and then he will move to the main seat and the attachment will go behind haha...that sounds complicated-but it's really not. Its so easy to push. Its a 'jogging buggy' so I can go jogging with both children to lose my 'baby pudge' ...but I HIGHLY doubt any jogging will occur, probably just our bi-weekly visits to Starbucks for cake and coffee hahaha.

We've been looking after Nellies dog while she has been away this week and Sam has loved every second. I know he'd love it if we got a dog (and Bryan would too) im the only one that knows it would be a bad idea!

Sam has a vocabulary of over 200 words now. He can make me understand what he wants 90% of the time. I try and catch his words on camera, but of course as soon as the camera goes on his interest in talking is over. The latest valuable addition to his repertoire of words is...'BOOBIES'. Three guesses who taught him that one!! He now finds hilarious to say 'mummy, boobies please'

Today Sam wouldn't go down for his usual nap. Infact, he some how opened his 'child proof' baby gate and appeared downstairs. This is a disaster for Sam who usually likes and NEEDS his sleep. He very often sleeps for 3hours during the day. So, its almost 4pm here now and we are both suffering. Sam is acting like the world is coming to an end and I have had enough. Bryan has escaped to work (lucky him) so im willing the time away until I can put him down for the night (around 6:15pm is probably the earliest). The count down is on...just over 2hours of hell to go wooohooo!!!