Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Nothing Much Going On Here...

Just life with three boys. Jake's getting cuter each day, Drew is quite possibly getting more ornery each day, and Zach's just being Zach. Jake's arrival had meant that Zach and Drew both have had to work on gaining a little more independence. Drew has been working on figuring out how to do things like put on his own underwear and pants, get his own shoes and jacket on when it's time to go somewhere, go potty and wash hands all by himself, etc. One of Zach's new things is getting his own breakfast in the morning (mostly just on mornings when I'm busy nursing Jake or something) and helping Drew out when necessary. On Saturday morning Mike was at a meeting and I got a phone call, so I headed upstairs where I could hear better. Zach and Drew were playing on the main level. After a little while, I heard the toilet flush, and then Zach and Drew came upstairs to show me how Drew had his pants on his head. They were just being silly. When I hung up the phone a few minutes later, I found out that Drew had pooped, and since he's not real proficient with all things that go with going potty/poop (getting pants on and snapped/zipped, wiping, reaching the faucet and drying his hands, etc.), Zach had helped him wipe, get his pants back on, and wash and dry his hands. And all of this was done while I was on the phone and hadn't even asked Zach to help. I spend so much time with these boys, and lately, in my somewhat sleep-deprived state, my patience isn't always great, and I get pretty frustrated with them. However that whole bathroom situation was one of those moments that makes me so proud as a mom- to have the boys work together like that and have Zach just step up and do something nice to help his little brother. This afternoon I was nursing Jake and Drew had to potty, and Zach went into the bathroom for something and came back to me and said, "Mom! Drew got his underwear and his pants back on all by himself, so I'm going to give him two pieces of money for doing that! He did so great!" I love that Zach was excited about Drew's success.

Drew has been somewhat of a pill lately, something I attribute to both his personality and the fact that he is about a month shy of turning 3. I don't know why they're called the terrible two's- it should be the terrible three's, I think. Drew just continues to be very stubborn, and he definitely knows what he wants and how he wants it, and if it isn't done that way, he'll let you know how unhappy he is about it. We've checked out books from the library like Bossy Bear, The Very Grumpy Bear, and The Very Grouchy Ladybug, among others, so we can talk about being nice and behaviors that are okay and those that are not. We also have been talking a lot about using a calm voice to express himself instead of screaming or yelling. Hopefully after enough of these talks it will all sink in. The other night one of my friends (that Drew doesn't know very well) tried to talk to him, and he said, "I don't feel like talking right now. Talking is boring." A little rude, but I'm just glad he didn't yell it at her! Today was a great day with no yelling, I think, but it helped that he was at Grandma Linda's for most of the day! :-)

On the positive side, Drew is still Mr. Imagination. Most of the time I'm still called Mater, but lately we have lots of different characters that we play. In a span of an hour or two, we might play any combination of Cars (the movie), Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (the T.V. show), Bob The Builder (another T.V. show), Toy Story (the movie), or The Muppets. So I go from being Mater (Cars) to Daisy Duck, to Wendy (Bob the Builder), to Jessie (Toy Story), to Miss Piggy. Mike, Zach, and Jake all have characters in each fantasy as well. Drew is generally the main character in each one, and he makes sure to ask anybody who talks to him to please call him _______. It can be pretty funny, but sometimes I get confused as to which fantasy we're in each time.

Jake's doing well with sleeping; some nights I get 4 or 5 hours straight and then a couple more hours after that. I'm trying to put him in the bassinet more than the swing now so that he gets used to sleeping flat on his back rather than all curled up. He's smiling lots and having more awake time, too. I had him weighed yesterday and he was 11 lbs. 10.6 oz. No idea what percentile that is or anything, but it seems like he's gaining weight well. He will be 7 weeks old on Friday, so in just a couple more weeks he'll have his 2 month check-up already!

Now basically just a bunch of pictures.

Jake just hanging out, wide awake.


Drew enjoying some tea. I just think he looks so cute drinking from his little mug.


Tummy time!


Cashed out in the car seat, until I buckled him in. He really doesn't love that car seat.


Jake really likes his activity gym. Zach loves to lay under there with him and talk to him. He's a very attentive big brother.


Some sweet snuggles from Zach. This may be what has surprised me most about having another baby. I didn't expect Zach to be so enamored by a new brother or sister.


Foudy thinks the activity gym is for her benefit, too.


We had a little pizza party with our friends BJ, Susan, and their kids Anna (on the left) and Lucy (between Zach and Drew). It was lots of fun.


Mike and Zach tried giving Jake his first bottle on Saturday afternoon. It didn't go very well; he took less than an ounce. Mike tried again with a different bottle on Sunday morning, and that time Jake did much better. We'll have to keep trying that every now and then.


Jake and I tried out a new position in the Moby Wrap. He looks pretty cute here, I think.


Snugglin' with Dad.


Jake was so happy this morning. I was glad I had my phone nearby to take some pictures of his great smiles.





Then this afternoon he was totally cashed out.


He had more smiles tonight, but we missed them with the good camera. We did get this cute picture, though.



That's it for now. It is way past my bedtime!

2 comments:

zinncaulfield said...

Great pics, love it! Hang in there!

Jen O said...

Your stories remind me SO much of our house, but w/ 3 girls intead! Reading about how you describe Zach and Drew is identical to Lauren and Reese! Rest assured, the terrible 3's gets better.....once they get closer to 5! 4 wasn't much better than 3 for Reese. But the last 4-5 months she's really grown up!