Time is slipping away.

A great couple days with my brother and his family so far. Their almost 4 year old has an insane amount of energy but he's also happy to watch a TV show and relax while we all chat. It's amazing to see the growth physically and personality development that has happened since I last saw him in December. Especially in his vocabulary. We are not used to having a sponge in the house so we keep getting in trouble for saying bad words.. Whoops! This boy has a special place in my heart. He makes me smile. He's the perfect size now to play with Charles, our English bulldog. He plays fetch with him and follows him around the yard. It's pretty cute. Just once did he end up crying when he was trying to kiss Charles goodnight but Charles jumped into him. The newest addition is so sweet. Only four weeks old and you can tell he has such a different look to his brother but yet there are certain looks he makes that are the same. He has the "little old man" look. Not sure about personality differences yet. He makes little goat noises for a whine but doesn't really cry.

In comparison to Layla you can feel the strength in his grip, the kicking of his feet and the strength in his suck that she never had. Watching him hold his head up off his mom's chest at this age feels way too young for me but only because I never knew what "normal" was. 

It's funny watching my brother and sis-in-law rock Layla. They've got it pretty down where she'll calm down in their arms most of the time, which has been a great help for me. But after my brother's first half hour he was complaining about his arms being sore. So my sister tried and same thing. Obviously my arms have developed certain muscles that I can rock her for extended periods of time. I'm not saying I'm the hulk or anything. I definitely have my limits and have hurt neck, arms and back all the time. Though for her age she could weigh quite a bit more than she does.. Thank goodness she doesn't. It makes me think about what the coming months will bring. If the only way to calm her is to rock and she gets bigger and longer.. We're going to need to find some contraption to help. We saw online someone built their child (with SMA) a swing that had a flat bed for them to lay on. I think we are going to need to copy this idea soon. 

This morning I tried taking Layla in the bath with me instead of her infant tub that she is too long for. Didn't go too well. She gets really upset and afraid when she doesn't feel fully supported by you. I'm not sure what that is. I was hoping she'd like the feeling of being weightless and I could let her sort of float around the tub. Good practice for if we start hydrotherapy. Didn't work as I planned, this time anyways.

Well, it's beautiful weather and we're off to a retro car festival today. Should be a good time with the gang. I miss having these guys around all the time.