Introduction

Hi All - friends and families and anyone who wants to follow a new mommy's blog... or a mommy of two babies. :)

I decided to start a blog to track Sophie and Jack's development, and stop posting one sentence updates to facebook all the time. I probably won't be able to completely rid myself of FB updates, but hopefully this will ease the updates. I also chat a lot and share a lot of Jack and Sophie with the family, so I thought this would be an easy way to share our lives with our family. I am obviously a first time blogger, but I feel like our days are SOOOO crazy, that I feel like  i have enough to talk about for hours. So ... here goes.

Yesterday, Sophie turned 5 weeks old and Jack is 15.5 mths. Daddy and I constantly strive to remember what Jack was like in these early days, so I thought maybe an online diary - or blog - would help us remember. We are always comparing her to him... and its only been 14 months. How do you forget so much so quickly?  Did he cry like this? Did he eat this often? Did we go anywhere with him? Did his eyes change colors? When? Did he hold his head up yet? When did he first sleep through the night? When did he start eating cereal? etc.

I feel like a remember the first 4-6  weeks being a little hazy, and things seem to fall into place here and there for us. But of course, we have a different x factor with Sophie than with Jack... and that x factor is named Jack. :) I think the second time is easier, there's just more going on. We worry less about Soph, and we have lots of options to try with her. We can remember living in 2 hour increments, which it feels like we are doing. Sophie eats every 1-2 hours, and tiny nurses. She eats for only about 10 minutes, and then drowses off to sleep. I love nursing her and i know its best for her. I love the bond we have created, but i cant help but feel "in demand" all the time. I try to remind myself that when she's 9 mths and walking around busy as bee like Jack, i will want this cuddle time back. She is slightly balding... which Jack did as well. She fusses a lot when awake and especially in the evenings. The evenings can be difficult with the two cranky kids. She loves to be held constantly- is that the girl in her? She just began sleeping more at night- within the last 2 days has swapped from 3-4 hours intervals to 6-8 hours for the first stretch. Then smaller increments (4 hours) the second half. Meaning she wakes about 1 time in the night to nurse. I think thats really good. She is sleeping in her own crib at night, so that mommy and daddy can get more sleeping without grunting noises. Sophie has been to McD's breakfast several times, and we even went to breakfast at Chef's House recently. An experience... but we made it.

Jack is walking around constantly exploring his world. He knows what is going on around him, understands lots of commands and words. He loves his family. He can pick up his toys, put things back, "help" put laundry away, say "uh huh" and shake his head no, get his shoes, understands go for a walk, knows "mimi" and "papa" and "pappy" and "grandma" and other family members. He often says what we call a "super yes" where he over enthusiastically says "MMM" with a smile on his face, meaning DEFINITELY YES. His favorite word is car, but we have also noticed other words like Cry (his nickname for Sophie), Hot, Shower, Doggie, Quit it (when talking to the dogs) and probably more that we cannot distinguish. Jack knows several words in his picture book, including car, truck, flower, airplane, duck, ball, shoes, potty, brush, bike. Jack falls asleep in our bed, around 830ish at night, and then we move him to his bed. Seems that lately he is able to sleep in his own bed through the night. About 50% of the time, he wakes mid-night, about 3 or 4 am and Daddy brings him into our room to finish the night. The last couple of nights he has slept from 830pm to 730 am.

Jack takes well to Sophie. He rarely seems jealous and is a helper most of the time. He brings her binky and blankie and clothes to us for her. He "cuddles" her by nuzzling his head against hers. He only seems jealous when his "favorites" - Mimi or Papa- hold Sophie and he is gradually doing better with that. He also did not like Mommy rocking Sophie in his rocking chair. I would say generally though... he does well.


Daddy and Mommy are adjusting to the two kids. Although its tough, its 100% worth it. Its a loving job. Daddy is a good helper- helping Mommy with household chores and diapers and even trying his best to comfort Soph. Even though it appears she prefers Mommy and mommy's milk as her 1st choice for comfort. Mommy is getting a decent amount of sleep with Sophies longer sleeps at night and trying to nap during the day. Mommy isn't a great sleeper anyways, so the mid night disruptions aren't too horrible for her and she can easily bounce back. Mommy is a busy person, so she keeps the kiddies busy too. We rarely stay home all day and do nothing... because Mommy would go crazy.

Daddy and Mommy are both accountants... although Mommy is a temporary stay at home mommy. I love being home with the kids, but I envy the people that can do this full time, all day, every day. The kids are hard work, and sometimes its nice to go to work and not be screamed at, pulled at, whined at, chasing after someone and demanding a nursing session. I have control there and I can just sit all day long if I want to. But that would be boring... right? :)

Hopefully that introduces you to the family... now the day to day fun begins. We can never stay ahead or on top of things, and there is always a challenge or a new mess or someone crying... so here goes it.