Sunday, January 22, 2012

Snow

Yes, that is the Christmas tree.

Sam's first time in snow!

This boy won't take a morning nap in his crib, but he'll sleep 
just fine being pulled around the yard in 25 degree weather.

Ben wasn't very interested in sledding or snow angels,
but he loved pelting Daddy with snow balls!

Friday, January 20, 2012

Ben and Avery dancing

This video is a few months old, but I just cleaned a ton of videos off my phone, including this one. It's too cute not to share:

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Growth Chart

Sam got this bear for Christmas and I decided to take a picture of him with it every month, to see his growth.

One Month - 12/14/11:


Two months - 1/14/12:


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

All about Sam

Sam had his two month check up last week.

Weight: 12 lbs. 12 oz. - 60th percentile
Height: 23 1/4 inches - 50th percentile
Head circumference: 39 cm. - 50th percentile

I can't believe he's two months old. It doesn't seem possible he's that old, but it also feels like we've been doing this forever. He had his first immunizations and he was not happy with the experience. He ran a little fever afterward (which is normal) and was a pretty grumpy guy the rest of the day (which is also normal after shots, but not normal for him). Luckily both the fever and the grumpiness vanished by the next day.

We are slowly learning more about Sam's personality. So far he's a fairly serious guy. He's been smiling for a few weeks now, but they're rare, so I haven't been able to capture one on camera. Usually he just stares at you like he's sizing you up. Unless he's tired, hungry or wet he's pretty calm. Not a lot of fussiness for no discernible reason. And the sleeping! Let me tell you about the sleeping! I've put off writing about it, because I feel superstitious and DO NOT want to jinx it, but Sam is an awesome sleeper. He usually only wakes up once or twice a night and he's given us a solid seven hours of sleep on more than one occasion. In addition, all on his own he fell into the routine of taking a long afternoon nap which coincides with his brother's. It's honestly more than I dreamed possible because Ben was such a horrible sleeper for so long. Now, that's not to say I'm not tired. After all, I do have a three year old who's still not the best sleeper and almost always wakes up once or twice a night, and a husband who snores. But I am so, so, so grateful that Sam sleeps well. And I try to remember that on the nights he doesn't sleep so well.

So Sammy's doing great! He rolled over for the first time at 31 days old - no joke! I wouldn't have believed it if I wasn't right there, but all three of us witnessed it. It was another few weeks before he did it again, but he can roll from his stomach to his back pretty reliably now. He's had a cold for the last week and he finally seems to be on the upswing. I'm glad, because baby coughs are so sad.

Here are some recent pictures:



Saturday, January 14, 2012

Oops

Scene: Ben is trying to build a train track out into the air without supports. Unsurprisingly, it didn't work.

Ben: My track fell apart! That was crappy.

Me: What?!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Freaky...

So, as an addendum to my post about wanting Sam to like me better than Heath, I have some evidence to back up my (hopeful) claim. Here's some SCIENCE:

Heath was born June 2nd and Ben was born September 2nd. Obviously being born on the 2nd of the month has drawn them together.

Now get ready to have your minds blown...

I was born September 14th and Sam was born November 14th.

IT'S GONNA HAPPEN, PEOPLE!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

He's soooo Heath's son

Scene: Ben and I are watching PBS Kids and they mention "picnics."

Me: When it gets warmer we can start having picnics again.

Ben: With our friends?

Me: Yeah!

Ben: I have picnics with people at my work.

Me: Where do you work?

(Pause)

Ben: At the Apple store.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Playing favorites

Fairly recently my mother reminded me about one of my biggest complaints in childhood. I had actually forgotten about it, but as a kid it always really bothered me that I didn't have a "partner" in our family. My parents had each other. My brothers had each other. I felt left out.

Remembering that feeling made me realize that I was feeling the same thing watching Ben favor Heath all these years. I've felt left out of my own family. And having to take care of a newborn 24-7 hasn't been winning me popularity points with Ben. When we first brought Sam home Ben reverted back to his worst bout of favoritism. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with me, to the point of crying even when Heath just went to the bathroom. As he's getting more used to our "new normal" it's gone back to an almost tolerable level of favoritism, but it still stings. Especially since I can't spend one-on-one time with him while Heath's at work anymore.

It makes total sense that Ben would favor Heath. Heath has more energy, he's loud and fun and he sings silly songs all the time. Ben and Heath also have a lot of similar interests and a similar mindset. I'm reserved and prefer reading or coloring or playing quiet games to running around like a crazy person (which is often what Ben and Heath do). I think (and hope) that I'll be the one Ben turns to when he needs quiet in his life, but I really can't imagine a time when I'll be his favorite.

And that's where it gets tough for Sam, because I'm really hoping he's "mine." I know it's a possibility that he'll gravitate toward Heath... But I'm openly and un-apologetically stating that I want him to be an introvert and prefer me. It's completely unfair to put those hopes on him, but I'm already the odd one out because I'm female. I don't want to be the only introvert and the un-favored parent in the family, too.


Sam's only seven weeks old and he doesn't even recognize us on sight yet, so I still have a few months before he could even feasibly pick a favorite. And who knows, he might not pick one. Not all kids do and some go back and forth during different phases of their life. But if he picks Heath it's going to be very tough for me.