Week 26 - A Little Peek...

Week 26 is here. Its 2013, the Year of My Brother. Can you believe we're this close to him being here? And he's growing like crazy as usual! Right now he's a little bit under 2 lbs, and is 14 inches tall! But hey, don't let that impress you, check THIS out.

Guess who is tall enough to ride a rollercoaster now? ME! Yep, that death-defying machine known as the Grovercoaster was calling my name, and after getting measured up by the park people, I got a cool wristband with "38" on it so that nobody would hassle me about my height. So yeah, take THAT baby brother! Sure, you're growing faster than me right now, but lets see you try to sneak on the Grovercoaster. Guess what? Not happening. You've gotta earn that right buddy. I did, and I have the wristband to prove it.

Moving back on topic to Baby Brother now - even though I'm quite the fun subject to talk about! Most of his moves this week are of a fluid nature. Yes, that was a bit of a play on words, so stick with me here. My old apartment has amped up its self-cleaning system, because it constantly replaces the amniotic fluid every hour now. That's one clean swimming pool! It needs to be cleaned too, because Baby Bro now has a fully functional set of oil and sweat glands. I don't know why the oil glands need to be around, but there's DEFINITELY a reason why he needs sweat glands. No, its not to cool him, its for ME! That's right - he better sweat his Big Brother Andrew, because since I outrank him, he has to do as I say. Hey man, seniority is a GOOD THING, so you better listen to me!

And speaking of listening, his ears are developing new pathways now, which means better hearing. That means there's no excuse not to hear what I say and follow orders. I fully expect that he uses these ears for GOOD, not evil. That means no eavesdropping little guy!  For now, just concentrate on listening to some music and moving to the beat. And for heaven's sake, develop some rhythm like daddy! Its one of the few things he actually does right.

Now I know all of this sweaty, oily, hearing fun sounds interesting to you, but there's a really big development this week that I haven't told you about yet. His eyes! As you remember from last week his eyes finally have some color to them, but NOW his eyelids have finally separated. Because of this, he can see differences in light and dark. I can only assume he's doing this deliberately to spy on me. I'll have to counter his spying with some Nightvision goggles or something. I must operate under total darkness if I have any chance of plotting and planning to catch him by surprise on his Zero-th Birthday.

Since he can open and close his eyelids at will, he has also developed a pretty regular sleep pattern. He must have found my old alarm clock with his open eyes, because he is awake and asleep pretty consistently. When is he awake and active the most? When mommy is resting, of course. He waits until she relaxes and then, BOOM! A swift kick to the ribs and/or bladder. I take great pride in this. I can only assume that he gets this from me.

Alright, I've gotta cut this short. Its time to potty and grab some chow. In that order. Don't forget to vote on the baby names over on the right side of the page. Seeya next week!

Andrew Joiner, Big Brother