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Here is a video of her when she was just a few hours old, thought I would post it now, even though its 'outdated' as when ever I have a moment to take another video of her lately, she's asleep!!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