What's it like with two?

I get this question a lot. I'd say the beginning was pretty tough. Caretaking for a toddler while sleep deprived was challenging and remembering the ins and outs of caring for an infant took time. Andrew's sleepy time is starting to lengthen and I'm getting used to my routines. Once you accept that there's a lot of time involved in moving the kids in and out of the car and/or shopping cart and/or stroller on errands, it's not so bad to go out with them. It's still an easy time when Andrew sleeps a lot and doesn't require much extra entertainment, nor does he move around much. Sam is learning how to be gentle with his brother and what not to do. The hours during the day just seem to flit away and now I'm just trying to figure out where time for me fits in. 

Andrew updates

Andrew continues to flash beautiful dimply grins and is now accompanying them with coos and giggles that are ever so cute. He has also rolled over another 4-5 times and this last time just hung out on his belly a while sucking two fingers. He loves to watch his brother and track him around the room. His hair continues to grow (it's about 2 inches long now?) and he turns 3 months this week. Last night he slept 8 hours in a row - a godsend for tired Mommy! He's just a delightful little baby and I can't wait to learn more about who he is as he grows.

My shadow

Sam has been extra upset about my leaving recently and I was trying to decide if he was in a mommy clingy stage or not. Then I realized that while he often happily plays independently during the day, he's been doing it within 5 feet of me at almost all times. If I go downstairs to do laundry, he follows me down and plays down there. If I go in the bedroom to change Andrew's diaper, Sam picks up his toys and joins me a minute later. When I start to cook dinner, he sets up camp at the end of the kitchen and plays with spoons, spatulas, pots and napkins. He doesn't fuss about my leaving like he did when he was little, but there's some definite following action going on. So I suppose he is in a mommy clingy phase. 

Andrew teeth

Sam loves talking about our family and including everyone, whether it's pointing out in his toy cars where Daddy, Mommy, Andrew and Sam sit, doling out imaginary water cups or offering snack food. When we were brushing teeth the other day, he said Daddy should brush his teeth, and Mommy, and then he said Andrew should brush his teeth. It occurred to me that we had never informed Sam that Andrew didn't have teeth...why would he know that? So we had a discussion about babies not having teeth yet. :)

Brush those teeth!

Ruth got Sam to brush his teeth!

He rolled over!

Last night Andrew rolled from his back to his tummy for the first time. I was about to call it a fluke, but this morning, he did it again as he lay on his playmat. Not that he ends up too happy finding himself on his tummy mind you....

Discovery by mouth

Andrew has started to grab things with his hands and make a slow progression to his mouth with them. It's hard to tell at first since he spends a lot of time waving his arms around and dropping things, but toys make it to his waiting gums too often to be just a coincidence!

2 month stats

Andrew's 2 month stats are:

Weight: 12 lb 4.4 oz (50%)
Height: 23.25 in (50%)
Head circumference: 39.25 cm (25%)

Smiley guy

Andrew continues to be very good natured and has been flashing more and more winning smiles. He gets a wry wrinkle near his eye, a smile crooks out of the right side of his mouth and then it just spreads until he has dimples in both cheeks! It's so joyous to watch. :)

Chatterbox

The week after Christmas Sam said his first "sentence" with three words - "Apple juice please." Since then he has been more and more willing to put two or three words together at a time and has been echoing more new words each day. Not only does he repeat after me, but he breaks out words I didn't know he could say, like "dishwasher" and "rice cooker." He's such an observant little toddler and I delight in seeing all the knowledge he absorbs.

Stomach Flus are no fun

We spent a wonderful Christmas visiting family and friends in the Bay Area. Then two days after Christmas Sam came down with an awful stomach flu and was miserable for several days. It's taken a week and a half for him to return to his normal eating, drinking and sleeping habits - poor kid! I don't know that there's anything that can prepare you for parenting a sick child. It is sad, scary, tiring and frustrating all in one, but I think it's the feeling of helplessness that is hardest. Luckily only Christine also got the flu, Dave and Andrew were spared. We are quite happy to find Sam is back to his old self now.

Sleeping like a champ

Andrew appears to be our champion sleeper. He can sleep through just about any racket his brother can create (with pots and pans at his disposal, he can make a lot of noise) and even slept through a mariachi band. He's starting to do longer stretches at night, and will do a 4 - 6.5 hr stretch each night. A week ago he slept from 12am - 6:30am for the first time and I woke up more energized than I had been in a long time. I'm hoping this trend continues...

Top 5 comments

Here are the top five comments we hear about Andrew:
1- Wow, look at that hair!
2- What a head of hair!
3- He's got great head control
4- He's a strong baby
5- He's such a quite/calm baby