Colin's road to being a big brother

We always knew that we wanted to have our kids close together. We wanted to get the diapers/strollers/sleepless nights/ and pregnancies over with as close together as we could. When we found out I was pregnant we realized Colin would be 19 months old when Audrey was born. We had 9 months to prepare a 19 month old for being a big brother. We had no idea how a 19 month old would handle being a big brother or what he would think of having a baby around.

At first Colin didn't think much more of my belly other than it being a nice pillow.



We started talking to him about babies and showing him babies and telling him there was a baby in my belly. He really liked my belly button, it becomes quite the outy when I am pregnant. He would come over to me, lift my shirt, and say baby. However, he would do that to himself and Paul sometimes also. We bought books that were about bringing home a baby and bought a baby doll so he would have a baby of his own.

This is one of our last days playing before Audrey came.



The day I went into labor my dad came over and watched Colin while we all went to the hospital. My mom stayed with him for the nights while Paul and I stayed in the hospital. She brought Colin to visit the morning after she was born.

This is Colin meeting Audrey for the first time.



He didn't know what to think at first. He kept saying "baby" and wanted to see her or know where she was, but he didn't want to get too close. You can see in the family picture at the top that he wanted out of the picture....it was too close!

Here is Colin welcoming Audrey home, a little shy at first....



...then got more curious.



He and Grandma made a card to give to Audrey to welcome her home.


After she got home he wasn't too sure what to think. He still wanted to know where she was and would ask about her. He would ask "baby" first thing after getting up from his nap. He was still a little anxious about getting too close. This video is the first time he voluntarily "touched" her.





He is showing some jealousy. If he is playing with Paul or I he doesn't want us to have anything to do with the baby. He gets upset sometimes when I am feeding her.

This pic was when Paul was playing with him and then she woke from her nap and Paul went to get her up. Colin was willing to let Paul hold both of them because he didn't want Paul to put him down.




Sure enough over the past 2 1/2 weeks Colin is really starting to warm up to her. He will bring her toys. She was in the swing one day and he went in her room and got her seahorse and took it out and put it in the swing with her. We bought an Elmo video. In the video Elmo always asks the baby questions and gives them kisses. I think he notices how much Elmo likes the babies and it has helped. He still sometimes will say "baby swing" if I am holding her and he wants me to put her in the swing. Here he is at the park, wanting to see what she is doing.



And now, there has actually been a couple different occasions where he has asked to hold her.




He may not be too sure yet but I know he's going to be a great big brother!!!

Snowballs

Yes, the date is April 29th, 2010. It is supposed to be sunny and 70s right!? But no, we've got snow instead. And not just a little snow. It's enough to make snowballs with. Colin was so excited when he saw it outside today. He started asking for his "boots" so he could go out and play. At least someone is happy about weather like this.

Audrey is 2 weeks old

Audrey had her 2 week Dr's appointment today. I was surprised at how easy it was to get out of the house. I thought it was so difficult to go somewhere with Colin when he was that age. It was so easy to go with just her vs with Colin or with both of them. The appointment went well, nothing too exciting. Audrey's stats are as follows:
Weight: 7lbs 4 oz. I think. That is what the scale said, and what the dr said but the paperwork I got sent home with says 7lbs 2 oz. So I don't really know her percentile. The paperwork %tile is 25% but I think that's for the 7lbs 2oz. She has gained almost one pound since we left the hospital, which is great. No need to worry if she is eating enough or often enough.
Height: 20.5 inches which is the 75%tile. So as the dr stated "long and thin".
And the best news, Head: 14 inches, 50%tile, average. So nice to not be "Huge".

The dr said her computer had Audrey down as a "male, married status: unknown". She changed it to unmarried but couldn't figure out how to make it female. We'll see if they know she's a girl by the next appointment. They poked her heel again for blood to do the genetic testing. And that was about it for the appointment. Easy enough, although we were there for about an hour.

Audrey's second week has gone pretty smoothly. She is still eating every 3-4 hrs. She is staying awake more. She has had a few bad nights where she doesn't want to go back to sleep after she gets up to eat. Those are not fun. It has only happened 3 times and only for one feeding. So far my mom has been here to sit with her during those so I could get back to sleep. I am nervous about what happens when she does that and I have to get up at 630am with Colin.

She had a few more outings this week. We went to the mall and REI shopping for some sandals for Colin. We went to the park and the aquarium but those will be their own posts with pictures. We took her out to her first restaurant....TGIFridays.



Her umbilical cord stump fell off so she had her first bath.


And just a few other cute pictures from the week.

Colin 18 months

This is another "catch up" post. It was one I had written at Colin's 18 month Dr's appointment. What is Colin saying at 18 months? He says: car, truck, snow(noo), Nala(aya), bath, please, baa(sheep), neigh(horse), book, apple, dog and rough, duck and quack, up, thank you, more, bubbles, moo(for cow and milk), banana(ana), yellow, mommy, daddy, papa, blocks, box, ball, bird, cat, cracker, cookie, elmo, oscar, eye, ear, nose, mouth, teeth, foot, shoe, ahir, nite nite, poop, fish, mouse, hello, bye bye, bear, dino, baby, belly, egg, owl and hoo hoo, blue, water, juice, no, my, yes, hat, boot, boat, brr, hot, tissue, stuck, wet, broke. He has put 2 words together but only a couple of times. he said "bye bye daddy" and "mommy cracker". He also knows the sign language for thank you, please, more, and all done. A little about his personality and interests. Right now he knows what he wants. If he wants something or to do something he wants it now. HE loves to read book after book. He will walk over, get a book, bring it to you, ask you to pick him up and get on the couch, and read the book to him. After that book is finished he will march back over and get another book. He'll do it over and over. He LOVES Elmo. This started around Christmas and is still going. He loves wearing his Elmo clothes. He loves to play outside. Paul took him out in the snow and now he can't get enough. The weather hasn't been very good but he wants to be out there no matter what. He loves his bath time. He has gone through stages of hating it but is definitely now in a stage where he loves it. He loves to snack and asks for "cracker" all the time. It doesn't necessarily mean cracker but that he wants to eat. He has a weird eating pattern. He will eat everything in sight for a couple of weeks but then won't eat for a couple weeks. He was really good with vegetables but that seems to be changing. He still loves his fruit and a new one for him is cantaloupe. He really likes to play with Paul and I. He wants our attention and hasn't been as good about playing by himself lately. His bedtime is at 7:20 and he sleeps all night and gets up between 6:30 and 7am. He takes a nap at noon for about 2 hours. This also goes through stages of being 1 hr 45 mins for a couple weeks and then it will be 3 hrs for a week.

Grandma Carol and Grandpa Bill were just in town for the weekend. Colin had fun and loved all the attention. On Friday morning he decorated cookies with Grandma.







After cookies was Costco, then nap, then Discovery Gateway(childrens museum), picking up Grandpa from the airport, and then dinner at Redrock Brewery. Even after having such a long day Colin did great at dinner. He loved walking around the restaurant and everyone thought he was so cute, especially in his cute sweater. He shared dinner with Paul and I and ate really well.

On Saturday he dyed easter eggs with me.






He learned from this that he really likes hardboiled eggs. On Sunday he had so much fun finding Easter eggs and opening them up and finding the crackers inside. He also found his Easter basket which had some cd's, sidewalk chalk, candy, and Fridge Phonics in it. We went to church and Colin went to the nursery for the first time. It was during nap time and he fell asleep. His naps were pretty messed up for the day.







At Colin's Dr's appointment his stats were as follows
Weight: 23.5 lbs at the 25%tile
Height: 31.2 inches at the 25%tile
Head Circumference: 20.5 inches and the percentile is still off the charts, but ever so slightly "less" off the charts.

Audrey's first week

This was a journal entry that I had originally written on 4/21. I think these first few posts are going to be some catch up from what I have already written down in the journals I started.

I can't believe she is already one week old. It has gone so fast. It has been so busy already. You were born on a Monday, we stayed in the hospital until Wednesday. You slept in the nursery while we were there and the nurses brought you to me every 3-4 hours to eat. They determined that she liked the swing but didn't like the pacifier. I disagree, it was useful from the beginning. We found out on Wednesday morning that she was slightly jaundice. We had to take her back to the hospital 3 times for bloodwork to make sure it was clearing okay. We put you in the sun for some sunbathing.


The first night with her home was kind of tough. She would sleep okay, but not in the crib. Paul and I took turns holding her for hours. Grandma Paula has been here helping with Colin and keeping the house together. It has been a big help. Audrey has mostly been an easy baby so far. She eats every 3-4 hrs but is only eating one side right now. She cries when she is hungry, but that is about it. We haven't really heard any cries for any other reason. She is happy in the swing, bouncer, or with the pacifier. We have been working on trying to spend more time awake during the day. The jaudice kept her pretty sleepy in the beginning. She has been out of the house a few times already. 3 times were for blood work. We also went to the dr's office for a weight check. She was 6lbs 8oz at 5 days old so had gained 2 oz since leaving the hospital. We went grocery shopping and to Costco. I love the carseat canopy that Grandma made. It helps keep her so much more protected when we go out places. You can kind of see it in this picture. I will have to get a better picture of it at some point.


We went to the mall on Monday. It was the first time using the double stroller. It went pretty well. Yesterday we went and had newborn pictures taken with Heidi. Audrey did great. She slept through most of it, which is the goal. She peed on the second photographer but didn't poop on anyone or any of the props. She did much better than the rest of us. We were all exhausted from the 3 hour shoot. I know we will get great pictures from it so it will be worth it. We have gone out for a few walks with the dogs. Audrey tends to sleep in the stroller, but I think she likes the walks. Everyone comments on her beautiful dark hair. I'm curious to know if it is going to stay that way or if it will lighten up like Colin's did.
Here are a few more pictures of her first week.
Meeting Papa


Meeting Grandma


First picture with mommy and daddy


Her dark hair!


Meeting Denice


Meeting Uncle Billy

We have a blog!

I have come to the realization that my memory is bad. And by bad, I mean awful. I have been trying to think back of things about raising Colin and I don't remember the details. I really wish that I had written more down. So I decided that I was going to start journals for both of the kids. I would write in them on a regular basis and then I or they would be able to look back at them for stories and details of their lives. I started them, they're going well. It's been 2 weeks, so they each have a couple entries. However, I got to thinking about it. They don't have pictures, they don't have videos. There is a lot of things that I will want to write about that will involve both kids and I don't really need to have two different journals to write it in. I read quite a few blogs about parenting and kids. I love how these women have taken this and been able to use it as a scrapbook of their lives. I think I realized that this is a great way for me to start to keep track of things better. If I like it, maybe I'll start to let our family read it. It would give the grandparents and everyone good updates on what Colin and Audrey are up to. So, I guess this is my first post. Hopefully the first of many. Hopefully the first of a great scrapbook for our family. Now I just need to figure out where to start. I think that I may go back to some of what I started in the journals and put it in here. And I hope that I have the time to keep up with it. I read blogs of moms with 5 kids, or single moms working full time. If they can find the time, I should be able to also.