today i am…

One month old!!

So lets’s be honest, Charlie is honest to goodness a second child.  I don’t photograph his every waking moment, heck I didn’t even get his big “weekly” moments like I did with Jay.  We don’t jump the moment he peeps and if we are being honest with the few dozen or so people that read this blog sometimes we let him fuss… a lot. We know it will pass and that he will survive, all lessons that we learned the hard way with Jay.  By the way, we also put him down. I know gasp- he isn’t held all of them time!  Another lesson learned the hard way with Jay.  However, second child or not, my little Squishy is one month old today and that’s cause for cupcakes and photos!!  We even pulled out the blocks for the occasion:)  Every time I make the effort to have a “photo shoot” with either of my boys, regardless of the pain it might end up being, I am so glad I did. I know I will cherish them for years to come.

Stats: will update this when we can get somewhere with a working scale… the battery in ours isn’t working

Weight-  Charlie is growing like a bad weed, this little one is not going to be in the 10% like my other little guy.  I think he has hopes of being the big little brother.  He has already outgrown outfits that Jay was wearing past five weeks old and when people comment on how tiny he is I find myself laughing because I think he’s so big and compared to Jay he is!

Height-

A few other things of note for posterity’s sake…

*Charlie is on a pretty consistent “schedule” of eat, play, sleep.  He is eating every 2.5-3 hours during the day and 3.5-4 at night.  The 4 hours at night has been a little less frequent over the last few nights than it was and he has been taking longer to go back to sleep after his feedings but that has more to do with his cold than anything.  His congestion is pretty bad at night and it is easiest for him to breathe when he is in more of a reclined position (half up rather than on his back) so we have been pacing or rocking and using the frog position that he likes so much until he falls asleep the last few nights.  This isn’t all bad since frequently I log some pretty good Squishy cuddles by the light of the Christmas tree.

*Other than eating, sleeping and pooping, all of which he does pretty well, there is not a whole lot to report.  He still likes to be warm but not swaddled up tight.  In fact he prefers his hands to be on the outside of any blanket he is under or wrapped in and will fuss until they are out.  He has taken to the swing and likes the sound and mobile to be on while he is in it.  He also really enjoys Jenny, Jay’s stuffed giraffe sound machine. We keep it in the cradle for him, that is of course when Jay doesn’t notice it and take it back to his room (btw- Jay never really took to a sound machine so it’s not like he is being deprived in any way).

*Jay has more or less taken to Charlie at this point.  He still occasionally has his moments of jealousy but has come to realize that baby brother is here to stay and therefore is making the most of it.  Frequently, he gives Charlie hugs or asks where he is.  He also wants to help feed him, share his snack/juice or play cars with him.  He also is the first to notify us if Charlie is crying and we need to get him- “Baby Charlie cying, Mommy/Daddy- Baby Charlie cying”- this statement is frequently accompanied with a furrowed brow and much concern which in itself is just too sweet.

I think that about covers the highlights.  It really is hard to believe that he has already been a part of our family for a whole month now, especially when I can’t imagine a time without him.

cheese

I will admit this isn’t a stellar photo of myself. I am sporting a nice case of bed head and am still in my jammies but I think that the two adorable boys and the husband foot (it makes me laugh that he didn’t move it for the photo) all but make up for my short comings… I love that all of my boys are in this photo, that my big boy posses for them with an adorable “cheese” face and that my squishy is well, squishy.

Happy Friday to you.

brothers at play

Jay included Charlie in his play-time today and for the most part, Charlie didn’t mind

Jay went to his room to get his blanket so he could lie on the floor with Charlie
No, Jay isn't actually asleep. He stayed like this for all of 5 seconds

jay’s first solo

Jay loves the book “Frosty the Snowman” and asks for us to “read” it to him multiple times daily. The book contains all the words to the song, so Kristen and I sing the book to him. Tonight at dinner, we realized that not only was he asking for us to sing it, he was attempting to sing it himself! So here you go, grandparents, enjoy the song!

Categories Jay

the tree- update

The tree is up and in the house! It’s not fully decorated yet but the lights are on and I could sit by it for hours.

Jay was thrilled to “help” Daddy string up the lights and could hardly wait to rip open the boxes that held them. His helping turned into using the light strands as car roads but he was thrilled none the less and was so excited when the “kissmas tee” came in the house, his squeals and giggles were infectious.

I didn’t think that it was possible to enjoy this time of year anymore than I already did; boy was I wrong! Seeing it through your child’s eyes makes it a thousand times better :)

Jay stopped long enough to give Charlie a little cuddle

we got our tree!!

We got our tree, we got our tree!!!

Yesterday Jamie, the boys and I headed out to pick up our Christmas tree. This is pretty much one of my favorite days of the year- I LOVE getting our tree! It’s outside waiting to be brought in after it falls a little- can’t wait until it’s in the house and strung with lights :)

helping Daddy to carry the tree

what Charlie did during the tree hunting
family of four- CRAZY isn't it??

2 weeks…

Charlie,

Two weeks ago Thursday you surprised everyone by coming 10 days early.  You were ready to be in the world and weren’t going to wait on anyone; not even for your Mama to pack her hospital bag.  In hind sight, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.  Your Daddy did a great job of packing everything that we needed while we were at the hospital (he sent me photos from his phone to make sure that he had everything right) AND I have already had two precious weeks with you- what more could I ask for?

I am over the moon for you little man; you are precious beyond words and continue to take my breath away daily.  As I write this you are snuggled in on my lap and along with the soft Christmas music I can hear your tiny baby snores… bliss.  Wrapped in two blankets and bundled in your southern miss hat you snooze and I am amazed that you are mine and that I get to be your Mama.  It has taken a while for us to get to know you; you are so different from your brother and so alike at the same time.  You love to be snuggled up, the cozier the better- hence the two blankets, but you don’t want to be swaddled tightly like your brother did.   You like to have one or both arms out of your blanket and near your head (this is a Daddy pose little one and I think it was passed down from Pepere).  Your cry is louder than Jay’s was and you make these brief little hiccup noises and grunt a bunch where Jay sounded more like a pterodactyl when he was your age.  You are a great eater, nursing almost every two hours during the day and less so at night (I thank you for this) and growing like a bad weed.  You weighed in at 8lbs 12oz when we were at the doctor today, having gained 14oz in 2 weeks- wow, little one, wow!  You have a round little face that I recognize from my baby pictures, soft squishy lips and the same button nose as your brother- you are cute, I mean really cute :)

Being a family of four has taken adjusting to.  It hasn’t been a smooth process and we are nowhere near over the adjustment period but we are continuing to work out the kinks as we go and taking it one day at a time.  Jay was a bit jealous when we first came home from the hospital and mostly chose to ignore your existence but he is warming up to you daily.  He refers to you as ‘baby Charlie’ (I really need to get that on video- it’s precious), brings us a paci when you are crying and hugs and kisses you from time to time- although the hugs are more like head locks at this point.  We are working on the concept of being gentle with him- I promise; hopefully it will catch on soon. I can’t wait to see how your relationship will continue to grow and I hope that you will become fast friends.

I can’t cuddle you enough and don’t want to blink because I am afraid that when I do I will open my eyes and you will be a toddler (it happened with Jay- I swear) and I don’t want to miss a minute of this tiny squishy phase.  But at the same time, I love seeing you grow and change before my eyes, what a miracle.  I can’t wait to see what your personality is going to be like and already can’t imagine all that you are going to do with your life.  I have big dreams for you little man, big dreams indeed…

I love you more with each passing day and am so excited to see what tomorrow will bring.  Thanks for coming early to meet us, I love you.

Love,

Mama

p.s. Your two week stats from the doctors visit today are as follows, you know for posterity’s sake…

8lbs 12oz, 21 inches long- and both are in the 50 percentile- but anyone that has been able to cuddle you knows that there is nothing average about you ;)

a sneak peak from Charlie's "newborn shoot"- precious, isn't he?? more to come soon :)