The Brandes: BABY!

I already emailed some pictures out the other day, so I guess this is superfluous. So what. What's happened lately? Caroline continues to grow. She's still on the small side, hovering in the 20% range, but she remains firmly on her own little growth curve even though she continues eating like a piglet. Where does it all go, you ask? I'm glad you did. Her mom and I view where it all goes on a daily basis, so we're not shocked. The phrase "...thru a goose" comes to mind. Anyhow, she had her 4 month well check the other day. She'll be 23 weeks Friday, so it's a bit late for her due to one postponement we had to make, then she had the flu (which was awful in and of itself, as all three of us got sick at nearly the same time). She was 13.5 lbs. I took her in for the visit, armed with Jessica's questions, and Caroline's doctor answered them all while holding Caroline to soothe her. After that was done came....the shots. One good tasting fluid to eat, then two needles in each thigh. Before the nurse gave them I rubbed her head while talking to her, and then when the nurse put the first shot in....Caroline's eyes flew wide open, there was a pause, then the deluge of crying until it was over and I was able to comfort her. To be honest, I couldn't stop laughing after I saw her eyes get so big. It was either that or cry with her. It's been pretty rough the past few days. When she gets her shots she can be very fussy for up to a week, including diarrea and irritability. With regard to diarrea and (in general) changing diapers, Jessica and I are both on the record that while yes, it's true that it's "different" when you are changing your own's dirty diapers...there is no escaping the fact that changing a dirty diaper, getting pooped and peed on while in mid-change, dealing with the mess, etc. is no pleasure cruise no matter if it's your own or not. Ah, it comes with the territory I guess, because when she smiles at you it makes things a bit easier. Some of those pics that make it worthwhile (already emailed out the other day):

At Dad's house before his birthday party...