More little Brooks

Everybody hands up!

Very first bath. Delia loves to help with everything.

"Ooh! Cold!"
Nothing smells better than clean itty bitty baby.

Brooks: "I'M HONGRY!"

White Christmas 2010

Mama and Daddy came up the night before to spend Christmas morning with us. We woke up to Brooks' hungry grunting, and then Delia's shouts of "It's snowing!!" What?? Daddy says the last time he saw a white Christmas, he was 7 (or was it 9?). Either way, it doesn't happen very often!

We tried to explain this significance to Delia, but she wasn't interested in going out in the snow the least little bit. She was content to sit by the fire in her new flannel pjs and play with her new Dora dollhouse. Fine by me!

The big fat flakes falling made it look like a snow globe outside.

It didn't last too long, but Daddy said if it covered the ground, we could call it a white Christmas.

This is as close as Delia and I got to it.

Christmas snugglin'.

Delia loved her princess tent and even slept under it that night (in her new princess sleeping bag). Grady did all of Delia's Christmas shopping - good job dad!!

Southern Living's breakfast pizza recipe, with some red and green peppers to make it Christmas-y. Yum! (If you are in Mississippi, turn to page 45 of the December Southern Living to see a full-page ad designed by Blufish Design for Good Earth Pottery! Too fun!)

Mummy baby.

Delia loved her new nap mat from Nana!

The best thing under our tree.

Merry Christmas

The First Two Weeks

A pretty good summary of the past month: YAWN! Brooks is sleeping anywhere from 2-5 hours at a time, but nothing really consistent yet. New baby + Thanksgiving + Christmas + no sleep = not much time devoted to the blog (or Christmas cards, Christmas cooking, etc.). So here are some pictures from the first 2 weeks at home!

Nana, Papa, and Grandma 'Manda all came to help out during the first 2 weeks. We couldn't have made it without them!

Delia is thoroughly enjoying the title of "Big Sister," and is posing in her "Big Sister" shirt here. She has happily taken on new responsibilities and a helpful big girl attitude, which includes things like, "I don't need my potty seat - I'm a big sister!" and "I don't need you to wipe my booty - I'm a big sister!"

Big yawn, little man.

Brooks sleeps a lot, and I believe if I had documented it, he probably set a world record in poopy diapers per 24 hour period those first 2 weeks.

Hmmmmm. To burp or not to burp?

Grady says that like Ricky Bobby, Brooks doesn't know what to do with his hands. They are always wiggling around.

"Hmmmm. What to have for dinner... milk or milk?"

There go those hands again. Uncontrollable!

"They keep jumping in my mouth!"

Taking advantage of the porch swing with Nana and Papa on a warm day in late November.

Passed out with Dad. By the look on Grady's face, Brooks may have just let one rip. His toots shake the house and regularly interrupt Delia's play: "Mama, what was THAT?"

Sweet face.

I can't believe all the goodies that people are sending Delia! This super soft hat came from our friend in Florida, Ms Ann! Delia is definitely adjusting well to our new addition. Thanks to all of our friends for the gifts, meals, and babysitting!

Comparison

Get used to it, Brooks. For the rest of your life as a child, you will likely be compared to your sister more often than you will like. Here is the first official time.


All week we have been saying that he looks SO much like Delia did when she first came home. After more analysis, I have to disagree.

Thanksgiving Day

The first two pictures below are from Sunday afternoon. Delia and I went to the MSU-Auburn Volleyball game, and then we went and ran around on Scott Field. The other pictures are all from Thanksgiving Day.

Big Sister

Watch out for George Teague!

When Brooks gets sleepy, he passes out immediately. In this case, I think the urge hit about 0.2 seconds before the photo was taken.

Great ending to a great day.

Hands Up

I tried to spend lots of time with Delia last weekend so she would not feel left out during Brooks' arrival. So, I took her to the football game on Saturday night, the volleyball game on Sunday afternoon, and the basketball game on Monday night (yeah, I know...lots of sacrifices by this great dad). Both the football and basketball games played this one song that is a favorite of the students. All I knew about the song was that there is a line that says, "Everbody hands up," where all the students raise their hands. Apparently, Delia was paying attention because she started singing this last night. A quick online search for those lyrics brought up the song, and you can see below what ensued.

I cut the video off about half way through. She continued to "dance," albeit at a slower pace, for the remainder of the song.

Delia the big sister

Delia stayed with her long-time friend, Silas while we went to the hospital on Thursday. Right after Brooks arrived, I (Grady) went to pick her up for a few minutes.

Here she is, in her pajamas, checking out baby brother for the first time through the nursery window.

This "Big Sister Bear" happened to arrive around the same time as Brooks. Maybe having a new baby ain't so bad.

I also took Delia to the MSU football game on Saturday night. The Bulldogs lost a heartbreaker, but we were invited to watch the game from a skybox, which was a nice treat. Delia was a little disappointed that we were not outside "at the game with the people," but she still waved her pompom and sang "Go State!"

And, she quickly warmed up to the skybox life when the attendants brought around the free halftime ice cream.

Presents, ice cream, football, and visiting grandparents? Yeah, this new baby thing is alright so far.

Welcome, Brooks Dixon

We went into the hospital around 1pm today, and Brooks arrived at 5:53. He weighs 7 lbs, 3 oz. and is 19.5" long. Everyone is doing well.

Delia got to come see little brother in the nursery for a few minutes. She was excited and nervous about the strange surroundings of the hospital. She focused primarily on the "bobo" on his belly button, on the fact that Melissa was silly for eating food in bed, and that Brooks was silly because he was sleeping naked (she must have missed the diaper). As we left, she explained to me that Brooks is little, like Baby Cameron (her cousin), and that they both are "little like butterflies."

The 39th Week

Recent quotes from my loving family:

Delia to me this morning: "You don't have pull ups."
Me: "No, I have big girl panties like you."
Delia: "You have biiiiiiiiiiig girl panties," as she reaches her arms out as wide as they will go.
So, we go to share this with Daddy. I say "How big are mama's big girl panties?" and she holds her arms out again and says "As big as the hallway."

Delia to me regarding pictures with Santa at school: "You can't sit on Santa's lap. You're too big."

Delia to me regarding the potty: "You can't sit on my potty seat. You're too big."

Grady to colleague: "My wife has been 'contracting' for 2 weeks now, but she appears to be getting bigger. They should call it 'expanding.' "

Today is the 19th day of contractions.

Starkville's Festival of Trees was this past week. We didn't make it to the auction and party, but we made it to "Cookies with Santa" on Saturday morning.

Delia told Santa she wanted a baby doll and a car for her baby dolls to ride in.

Our friend Mandee decorated this tree that won first place!

Bird themed tree...

upside down tree...

Mississippi State tree...

and some impressive gingerbread buildings!

Delia really liked the trains that were running through the gingerbread village.

In baby news, we are on day 17 of contractions. Fun fun.