Almost 10 Weeks

Nicholas had another fun-filled week at camp and speech therapy.  I’m glad that he’s had a fun summer despite having a new brother in the house.  I think next summer will be a little more enjoyable for everyone when we’re not so limited in what we can do.  This summer has just been way too hot for Daniel (and me)! 

We are venturing into the world of big kid legos.  We were hesitant to buy them any sooner than now.  You may remember the Urgicare Visitof 2011.  But, Nicholas seems to be doing well.  I’m trying to get him use to cleaning them up and keeping little pieces out of the carpet now before Daniel is mobile. 

Daniel is continuing to do well at sleeping during the night.  His vaccinations threw him off for a couple of days, but he has slept until almost 4 AM or later four nights in a row.  Nap time got thrown off a bit too with our busyness and his fussiness over last weekend.  I’m still sleep training him during the day, but I still give him a little grace here and there.

Daniel likes to “play” a lot more than he ever has.  He likes to lay on his play mat and bat the toys with his arms while kicking the toys on the other side at the same time.  Playing usually wears him out after a while, this helps when putting him down to sleep.

This is the position he wants to be in.  He also likes to look in the mirror.

Happy Baby!

I realized that I had not taken any picture of the boys in for a few days, so I did a few photo sessions today.  I made sure to let Nicholas have his own as well.  He’s doing better with his jealousy, but no one’s perfect.

Nicholas is entertaining Daniel.

He likes to stare at these toys and kick his feet.

Nicholas picked all his own poses.

Well, tomorrow is Evan’s birthday.  Will we actually celebrate it with him tomorrow?  Nobody knows.  His work has had a project the last two weeks that has required more overtime.  Hopefully, most of it will be wrapped up, so he can enjoy his day.

2 Month Check-Up

Daniel had a doctor’s appointment this morning.  I wasn’t looking forward to it since it involves him getting shots.  But, he had a great appointment.  He is 10 lbs. 14 oz, which means he has gained almost 4 lbs. since he was born.  The doctor says that he looks great and is growing well.   Then came the shots.  He was less than happy and cried.  He does have the cutest little Snoopy Band-Aids on his thighs.  He is sleeping now. 

We did hit a milestone yesterday though. Daniel surprised me when we were doing tummy time on his play mat on the floor.  I put him in position and was reaching for a little pillow for more support.  But, it was too late.  Daniel was on his way to rolling over on his back.  I thought it was a fluke, so I set him back on his tummy, but he did it again.  I have to confess that I made him do it several times.  That was the reason I called Nicholas down from his rest time yesterday.  I knew he would enjoy it. 

I took a little video as evidence.  I should have showed it to the doctor today.  She put him on his tummy to see if he would do it, but of course he wouldn’t.  If I haven’t learned by now, kids don’t usually perform when you want them to perform.

We're laying low today, so Daniel (and I) can rest today.  We have another busy week coming up.

Brotherly Love

It has been hard for Nicholas to have a little brother.  Nicholas has struggled with his new role for several weeks.  We reassured him of our love for him, but it was hard for everyone.  But, in the last week or so, he seems to be handling it a lot better.

Today I called Nicholas down from his rest time to show him something that Daniel could do.  He ended up “playing” with him for quite a while and Daniel didn’t seem to mind.  As a bonus, Nicholas wore Daniel out so much that he took a nap when they were done.

Nicholas is reading to Daniel

More reading

Nicholas is making the toy squeak.

Somebody is getting sleepy . . .

. . . and sleepier.

I really do hope that these two become best friends.    If today is any indication, we're off to a good start.

Watch Me Grow: 2 Months

We had our 2 month post placement visit on Monday.  Our social worker came to see how things were going.  She can tell that we have bonded to Daniel and he has bonded to us.  And, she is completely right.  We (including Nicholas most of the time) love Daniel.  He just makes us smile.  

He slept until 5 AM on Sunday night!   That was the most sleep we’ve had in a row in a while.  He didn’t do as well the next night, but last night he slept until 4:30, so we are making progress.  He continues to do well taking naps in his bassinet.  Most of these naps are at least 2 hours long!  Our routine is starting to fall into place and it has made things so much easier.

He can bat toys while lying on his play mat.  Also, if I put my hand on his stomach and back, he will sit on my lap and hold his own head up.

Nicholas has been doing much better lately as well.  I think he sees Daniel as much less of a threat as he did.  I think he realizes that he gets to do a lot more than Daniel and how much Daniel relies on Evan and me right now.  I even heard him say that he likes being a big brother.

Below you will find Daniel’s 2 month pictures.  It was much easier to pose him this month. 

8 Weeks

I am so glad that it is getting a little easier for me to get out with both kids because we have a lot to do this month.  Nicholas had his first camp session this week.  He kept telling us all Monday morning that he was so “es-cited” to go to camp.  He ended up loving it.  They made crafts, had a snack, sang songs, went to different stations and played outside.  Wednesday was just as much fun.  In a couple of weeks he will go back again for a different theme.  Evan and I had the chance to spend Monday afternoon semi-alone (we had Daniel with us).  We even got ice cream, but don’t tell Nicholas.  As we suspected, Nicholas fell asleep quickly both nights!

Speaking of sleep, Daniel has been doing better at taking naps in his bassinet.  He had a two hour nap this morning and I just put him down for another nap.  He is also smiling a lot more and even laughing.    While this stage is still tiring and not always easy, I am enjoying all of Daniel’s new developments.  Nicholas is enjoying it too.  He claims he taught Daniel to stick out his tongue.  I’m going to let him believe it.

Daddy's arm must be very comfortable

One of his many interesting sleeping positions

Two activities that we have been missing this summer are violin lessons and swimming lessons.  Nicholas’ violin teacher is at a music program out-of-state for most of the summer.  Her mom is taking over lessons, but we just haven’t worked out our schedule yet for him to take any with her.  Today he went and got sized for a new violin.  He moved up two sizes.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to schedule a lesson or two for this month or the next.

He loves his wolf sunglasses that G.G. got him.

Swimming lessons is much like violin – where do we fit them in?  They are almost every day, which is hard with some of our activities.  We’re going to try and get him in the last two-week session, but if not, we’ll shoot for the fall.

I did a little photo shoot with Daniel to try and get some pictures of his smiles.  He cooperated a little.  Then I answered the phone and he started laughing.  I knew as soon as I put that camera down that he’d be more free with his big smiles.  Enjoy!

I feel like this is a face I may see a lot more of as he gets older.

7 Weeks

I have been struggling to blog lately because life doesn’t seem too interesting.  Sure, we have a baby in the house, but it seems like much of his day is the same.  Nicholas has a lot of activities coming up, but other than yesterday’s festivities, we haven’t done anything too newsworthy

Yesterday we went to my aunt’s house to celebrate the fourth.  They have a pool where Evan and Nicholas spent a lot of their time.  I, on the other hand, only ventured outside for a few minutes at a time.  I preferred the comforts of the air-conditioned house.  Daniel also remained inside, finding rest in many loved ones arms.  I was happy that I was able to eat, watch Nicholas swim, and talk without having to take care of Daniel the entire time.  As much as I love him, it was nice to have a bit of a break.

Poppy and Daniel napping 

Taking a breather from swimming

We have been working on sleep training for Daniel lately.  I try to put him upstairs for the majority of his naps during the day.  Most days he cries a little, but soon falls asleep.  Other days, are not so smooth and easy, but he’s getting there.  Also, at night, we get him ready for bed around the same time as Nicholas, so he has been going to bed in his bassinet each night as well.  He usually gets a feeding between 10 and 11, which helps him sleep until close to 3 or 4 AM.  So, basically, I only have to get up once in the middle of the night.  I am looking forward to the day where he sleeps all the way through though.

Nicholas will be headed to day camp next week.  He’s pretty excited and so are we.  He’s still struggling with not being the only child, so it will be good for him to have a few hours of activity outside of the house.  He’s also enjoying his speech therapy each week.  I’ve noticed him trying very hard to remember to say his “L”s correctly.  We didn’t have it this week due to the holiday, but he’s looking forward to continuing with it next week.

We’ve still managed to get in some summer school these past few weeks.  He impresses me with his math ability.  I wondered if the workbook I had purchased was too hard, but he’s been doing addition, counting coins, and working on which numbers come before and after.  I hope he never loses the love of learning he has right now.

Other highlights include:

Daniel turns 7 weeks old tomorrow.

Daniel actually lasted through the entire church service this past Sunday.

Nicholas tried on all of his long-sleeved shirts the other day and has grown out of 75% of them!

Nicholas won his first prize from the library’s summer reading program.  He has the chance to win two more prizes before the summer is over.  We’ve been able to go to the library at least one a week.

And, that is our exciting life.  Here’s some pictures to make this post worthwhile:

Tummy Time!

Tummy time is more fun with your big brother

He's really starting to notice his toys.  He even bat at a few of them with his hands.

There's that big brother again!