Memories of Us

Friday Quick Takes

1.  I actually had to look at my iPhone to confirm that yes, it really is Friday before I titled this post.  I am officially in the new baby time-suck and am losing track of time.

2.  I have decided to get this for Will (and by extension Jake, though he won't use it for a WHILE) for Christmas.  It is also kind of a gift for ME since I'm the one who has to entertain him indoors all winter.  Anyway, this is the ONLY Christmas gift I have decided on thus far.  For anyone.  I can't even believe how the holiday has snuck up on me and I'm completely unprepared.  I'm just going to apologize in advance for the abysmal gift-giving that is bound to happen this year.  I better get cracking if ANYONE is going to get anything since I plan to do most shopping online.  I start hyperventilating even thinking about taking my little guys to the mall during the Christmas hysteria.  Plus, germs!  No thank you.

3.  Speaking of germs, my little family will be flying to Dallas in about two weeks to attend a wedding.  Just as I was with Will (though worse because this time it will be the height of cold/flu season), I'm stressing about airplane germs and wedding guest germs.  Especially since whooping cough is on the rise and Jake won't have had his first Dtap yet.  I'm trying to be cool and non-chalant about it since there is really nothing I can do.  Jamie and I are both in the wedding.  And honestly, I AM way more relaxed when it comes to Jake, having used up most of the new mom paranoia during Will's infancy.  But I'm still pretty scared.  I plan on just keeping him covered/hidden the whole trip.  And saying a lot of prayers.

4.  Jake is starting to look more and more like his own little self.  I'm excited for the newborn-ness to wear off and the baby cuteness to set in so I can appreciate what a handsome little dude he's bound to be.  Do you know what I mean?  Maybe not, since I see pictures of friends' new babies and they are seemingly flawless right from the start.  But my boys?  They came out looking they had gone through an ORDEAL.  And, you know, they had.  Nine months in my belly topped off by a pleasant little trip down the birth canal.  Heck, it was a full two weeks before I could actually appreciate how BIG Jake really is because he was permanently curled into the fetal position.  And then there's the splotchy, peeling new baby skin.  Plus, both my boys were born with stork bites, most visibly on their foreheads.  In short, newborns aren't at their cutest.  They are undeniably sweet and precious and miraculous and all things wonderful.  But it takes a month or two for the chubby glowy cuteness to surface.  And I can't wait to discover what Jake REALLY looks like.  Every day he just gets cuter.  His skin tone is evening out, his eyes are focusing, his facial features are smoothing out, his whole body is relaxing.  Already he looks so different from Will.  And yet very much the same.  Brothers.  I love it!

5.  Jake already has some awesome neck strength!  No floppy headed kids around here!  Both my boys were born already able to hold up their heads.  Which, considering the size of their heads, is pretty impressive.  Unlike Will, though, Jake doesn't really seem to mind tummy time.  Will used to scream his head off every time we flipped him onto his belly.  But Jake is just an all around chill little guy.  So far.

6.  Jake is a cuddler.  Unfortunately I don't get a lot of cuddle time during the day, what with Will wanting my attention like EVERY SECOND HE'S AWAKE.  And then, after Will is asleep, Daddy is home.  And I have to share. 

7.  This is how Will likes to wake up from his nap.  Woofwoof and at least one of his blankets always accompanies him downstairs.
This is how Charlie likes to wake up from his nap.
Which is to say, he doesn't.  Life is a permanent napping opportunity for him.  And he makes the most of it.

Big Step

First, I'd like to show you what was happening in our house during the 5 o'clock hour this morning.

Crawling backwards carries intrinsic risk.

We are very nearly sleeping through the night around here.  Which apparently means we wake up at 5 in the freaking morning now.  I have not yet adjusted my lifestyle to accommodate this new world order.  Jamie has been gone the last few days.  He's going to be REALLY excited about this development.  Because you better believe that getting up at 5 freaking AM is going to be a SHARED suffering.

He's woken up at around 1-1:30 for two of the last three nights.  He cries for a bit, wiggles around a lot, and eventually goes back to sleep.  It's not bad, and I'm hoping it won't continue much longer.  We did sleep all the way through one night so far this week.  I wish I had gone to bed early enough to truly appreciate the beauty of that achievement.  Sadly, it's hard to appreciate anything at 5 in the morning.  But seriously, he slept for 10 hours.  I can't reasonably ask for more than that.  So now we're going to have to start Operation Early Bedtime for Mommy. 

We took a big step yesterday.  Here's a picture of how the nursery used to look.

And here's how it looks now.

Look at how much room is in there now!  I feel so liberated!  I know Will probably could still enjoy his swing in a non-sleeping capacity, but he certainly associates the swing with sleep.  I thought it best not to send mixed signals and to just put the thing away completely.  You know, the thing about kids is that, first they need a lot of stuff, and then they need a lot of STORAGE.  Seriously.  I'm running out of closet space.

You might have noticed the dog bed in the nursery.  Charlie was hanging out a lot in there and we had a spare dog bed, so I tossed it in there one day (because space isn't already tight in there).  It is now Charlie's default bed.  I don't know if it's because the nursery is usually dark, or because it's a little on the warm side in there, or what.  Or maybe it's because Charlie knows it's the baby's room.  Or maybe it's because he knows there's a lot of sleep that goes on in there, and Charlie is all about the SLEEPING.  Here's what nap time looks like in the nursery.

He likes to sleep in there at night too, but we don't usually let him.  When he sleeps deeply, Charlie dreams.  His legs start quivering and he starts whimpering and yelping soft little dream barks.  And then, when he wakes up and repositions, he HAS to shake his head, which is SO LOUD what with the ear flapping and dog tag jangling.  So, once he becomes noisy, he's out.  And really, I should probably kick him out when I put Will down for bed because I know I'm going to have to go drag him out later.  But Charlie KNOWS the bed time routine and stakes out his spot in ADVANCE and then looks at you with those EYES.  Plus, I like the idea of him being in there watching out for Will.  I used to have nightmares (and still do sometimes) that someone would sneak in Will's windows and steal him away.  Seriously.  I check the locks on his windows A LOT.  But Charlie goes ape-shit anytime someone approaches the house.  So, his being in there gives me comfort.  Such a good dog.  We love him.

Little Man

My baby is 6 days away from being 8 months old.  That blows my mind.  It has gone by so quickly.  I look back and wonder how on earth that much time has passed.  It doesn't feel like that long.  It makes me stop and think, "Did I miss anything?"  I mean, I know I was there for it all, but was I THERE?  Was I appreciating my time with him enough?  Was I present?  Was I treasuring his baby-ness?  Was I soaking it all in to the fullest?  I pray that I was, that I have.  But it seems these 8 months have gone by in a blink and I suddenly have a little boy on my hands.  To be honest, though, I don't really miss the time that has gone by because 8 months is pretty fantastic.  He just keeps getting better and better.  He's more vocal, more affectionate, more expressive, just MORE.  And being his mom is more fun every day.

  Babies are so sweet and tiny in the beginning, and I treasure the memories of my newborn baby boy.  I wouldn't go back to those early days though.  He's just so AWESOME now!  He rocks my world every day with the new things he does.  He's so clever and adventurous and strong!  And CUTE!  The cute factor definitely develops over time.  It grows with every smile and funny face, with every laugh and happy squeal.  We have those in spades around here.  The cute factor is off the charts.

And I truly love to watch Will interact with Charlie.  It is quite obvious that Charlie views Will as one of us.  I think he actually looks to Will for comfort and affection at this point, like he's a little master.  He seeks Will out.  If they are in the same room, Charlie chooses to lay or sit within reach of little man.  Even though he knows things like THIS will happen.

Will has a thing for Charlie's dog tags.  And the other day Charlie was resting on Will's pillow when it was time for a bottle.  I put Will in his spot and turned Sesame Street on.  Charlie didn't move a muscle.  And the best part of all was that Will reached back and started playing with Charlie's ear.

Swoon.  That picture turns my heart to mush.  I love that they are so close.  Honestly, I love that WE are so close.  Every day I feel like I know him better.  He talks to me.  He hugs me and clings to me like a little monkey when I hold him.  He lifts his arms for me to pick him up.  He gets excited when I sit down to play.  I walk into his nursery when he wakes up from a nap and a giant smile spreads across his face the moment he sees me.  I pick him up and kiss both his cheeks, back and forth a bunch of times.  He loves it.  His little face almost can't contain the smile.  It has become our thing.  My little buddy.

Oh how I love him.  I am truly blessed.  My cup runneth over.