two months old.

at two months old, brady has really started to come into his own personality.  the last couple weeks we have seen tons of smiles and he's started to coo...and we have also witnessed a bit of a temper :)  i have said "good thing he's cute!" about a hundred times this week alone.  he continues to be a really happy little guy when he's full, rested & dry.  if you look at him and say hiiiiiii he breaks into a huge gummy smile.  i love that he's making consistent eye contact, too.  and he continues with his hilarious expressions.  however, just last week he decided he wanted nothing to do with nursing and began a little routine of back-arching and screaming incessantly whenever he was held to the teat...really awesome trick, brady.  now please bring back my sweet quiet little nurser :)  i'm onto his game though, and have told him a few times that he is not in charge - and so we continue to work on nursing much to his chagrin.  in fact, he hasn't had a bottle since that fateful night last week when his first tantrum occurred.  my aunt ellen & grandma price were in town the next day and the three of us spent the week telling him who the boss was (mama!).  he's doing a lot better, and i'm figuring out what to do to help remind him that nursing is how he gets to eat - and that the work is worth it - but i think he just got too used to bottles which we were giving sometimes once a day but at least a few times a week.  we of course will go back to using bottles once this nursing strike is over, but for now he is nursing exclusively.  i think i'm in for it with his little temper though.  for an eight week old, he sure has a set of lungs!!!!  bring mama some more wine!

otherwise, seriously - he is a dream baby!  when he's happy, he is HAPPY.  he grins and coos and waves his arms around and looks around the room and plays with his playmat hanging toys.  when i go to get him out of bed in the morning, he grins at me really big and makes the 5 or 6 o'clock hour much happier.  bradykins has been sleeping anywhere from 5-7 hours straight the first part of the night.  one night he went 9 hours between feeds (wasn't asleep for all of that though).  i am so grateful for this, as i am not a girl who functions well on little sleep.  i have a low threshold for crabbiness when i'm tired - and maybe God knew i couldn't take the sleeplessness for long.  instead i am dealing with a maniacal eater but at least i'm rested for his antics ;)  he weighed in this week at 9 pounds, 5 ounces and i'm excited for his two month appointment in a few days to see how long he is.  he seems to have really stretched out a lot in the last few days...hardly fits on my lap and has nearly catapulted himself onto the ground when i'm sitting with him laid back on my legs!  he looks so much longer next to his puppy dog in the picture above.  compare with one month old here.

some of the nicknames we call our boy - so i can remember: peanut, little mister, buster, bubba, bradykins, babykins, little snookums.

i made this little collage a couple days ago and DIED at his cuteness.  these iPhone pics were all snapped within seconds of each other, and his vacillating moods are captured quite well i think.  we are constantly laughing at how quickly his facial expressions change!  so many people tell us all the time, "he's so expressive!"  i like to think he gets that from me :)

my sweet happy little bug, i love you so much i can't stand it.  i could just eat you up!  thank you for bringing so much JOY to my life the past two months.  i honestly don't know what i ever did without you.  we love getting to know you, and your daddy & i love you and each other more deeply every day.  thanks for coming to be part of our family.  we can't wait to watch you grow & learn & take in the world with us.

happy two month birthday!!!