Sophia weighed a pound more than Brandon when she was born, 9 pounds, 7 ounces, as opposed to Brandon's 8 pounds, 8 ounces.  After two months, the difference has disappeared and their weights and lengths are just about the same. These are pictures of them taken in the same clothes on the same blanket at the same age.  Only their faces are different, and not remarkably so.

Brandon at Two Months

Sophia at Two Months

FEBRUARY

Time passes so quickly.  Sophia's now three months old and Brandon has graduated to big boy's underwear.  Sophia continues to voice her disgruntlement at slow service when she's hungry; Brandon's learned the magic of asking "please?"  If one 'please' doesn't work, he'll string together several, each one more pleading and loud than the one before.

Brandon continues to oversee Sophia's care and instructs adult caretakers to feed her if she's crying or, if she's just eaten, burp her or give her the pacifier.  Brandon has also been known to demand that we take her to another room if her noisy fussiness interferes with his own quiet time.  It appears they're developing a relationship as well.  There have been some instances where Brandon's attention and voice can silence her crying when parental efforts fail.

MARCH

April is just around the corner.  Brandon enjoys listening to music and likes to perform as well.  He'll often hold an imaginary microphone as he dances and sings, mostly for his own entertainment, although we may watch as long as we remain silent.  He also finds instruments interesting.  Recently he cleared out the cupboard where I store cooking utensils and carried the dutch oven and lid to the family room.  The din of banging on the Lincoln Logs container and kettle lid while seated on the pot led him to request earmuffs.  I found a pair, but he complained that he wanted blue, not red, and insisted that we go to the store to buy some.  We didn't, and I was threatened with a spanking.

Sophia now turns from her belly to her back, often during the night.  Thus, to the need for Dawn to rise during the wee hours to feed Sophia has now been added the necessity to respond to the sound of Sophia wailing to be returned to her stomach.

Brett lives to race.  It's his passion.  And sometimes it's his nemesis.  My custom has been to visit him in Orlando in March, shortly after the spring racing season begins, so I can be a spectator at local events.  This year when I arrived he was already off the bike and recuperating from a nasty wreck.  The picture below was taken 10 days after the accident.  As soon as he can turn the pedals again, he'll be astride "Apollo," the new bike built for him by his team's sponsor, Olympus.

APRIL

Brandon still can't be bothered to stop playing long enough to have a picture taken.  Seeing the camera, he turns away saying, "Not now, Grandma, later."  This day I got lucky.  The weather was warm enough to take a walk outdoors.  I promised we'd go out if  I could take a picture (or two or three).

JUNE

The sound you just heard was time flying by.  May has come and gone.  Brandon and Sophia are maneuvering to establish their hierarchy.  Whatever Sophia's playing with, Brandon wants whether it's his toy or hers.  As long as she can get an item from her hand into her mouth, Sophia's not fussy about the object, although Brandon's brightly colored toy cars are a favorite.

It's been interesting to compare the developmental differences of the two.  Brandon held his bottle from the time he was six months old; at nearly eight months, Sophia expects you to do it while she twiddles her hair.  Brandon walked at eleven months and then learned to crawl; Sophia turns fluidly from belly to back, and just as easily flips back again.  She's been sitting alone since mid-May and has now taken some cautionary hand/knees moves.  She's just learning to pull up, but doesn't realize that letting go means falling down.

Sophia found her voice and uses it when she's frustrated, hungry or just unhappy with her current situation.  While the pitch hasn't broken glass yet, her use of it gets immediate attention.  We've begun using sign language as we did with Brandon: "eat," "more," "bottle."  Hopefully she gains some control of her hands quickly and will sign her demands rather than scream.

Last weekend the family went down to Matt's folks to celebrate Father's Day.  When it was time to return home, Brandon announced he was staying.  Daily reports from Nana and Pappap's indicate the child is having the time of his life, as are Matt's mom and dad.  Dawn and Matt have called to check on Brandon, and Dawn said when she asked to talk to him, he responded (via Nana) that he was busy and would talk to her later.

As I recall the story, evidently Nana cajoled Brandon into talking by offering a reward: talk to Mommy, get a cookie.  He took the phone, explained to Dawn that he wanted her to stop talking and be quiet for just a minute while he put the phone down.  In the quiet, Dawn heard Nana ask Brandon where he was going.  "To get my cookie," he replied.  He returned shortly, cookie in hand, to resume the conversation.