1 Month Picture

No idea how much this kid weighs, but he's growing plenty. Here's his one month picture:

And the comparison to Kate:

He's formed his own rhythm. We are doing "bedtime" around 7pm when we put Kate down. He's waking at 11pm, 3am, and 7am (give or take a half hour) to eat. I am loving the 4 hour spread, but unfortunately feeding and burping (a la Kate) take about an hour, and then sometimes it takes a bit longer to get him back to sleep. But, I'll take it.

Our nanny comes by on Monday and Tuesday to get used to him, and the house, and us, and so Kate can meet her and get a little used to her. Kate mostly won't be around when she is here but there might be the occassional time that I can't get out in time to drop Kate off at school in which case the nanny will take her. This is also the week that I start back teaching my meditation group, so we'll slowly start getting used to me being out of the house. Next week I start back at work in full, and the following week Daddy P and I are both back. So, the next three weeks will have a lot of change and adjustment for us... I hope it all goes well, but I am nervous just about the unknown... I started pumping today just to get used to it. We will see how the week goes!

My Birthday

I have had a stupendous birthday so far.  Other than waking up a lot to feed a little one... when my daughter woke at 6am this morning and barged into our room (damn that whole lack of sleep begets lack of sleep) Daddy P took her back to bed so I could get an extra hour of blessed sleep.  Yay!

When they came to woke me up the sweet smell of chocolate cake was in the air!  I was informed that Daddy P held Jacob the entire time so Kate made the cake herself.  That explained the completely empty container of vanilla extract in the sink that was a previous full bottle of vanilla extract.  (I guess we have a future vodka lover on our hands...)  Yay cake!

I was sung happy birthday in my room as I got dressed.  Yay!

I got flowers first thing this morning from my sweet sweet sister and flower-expert brother in law. Yay!  So, this one is a little funny.  I was getting dressed and Daddy P had Jacob and heard Kate in the den saying "Who's that man??"  Apparently she was the only one who heard the knock on the door and was standing at the front window to see who was there.

We walked over to eat breakfast at my favorite breakfast place.  Yay!  

And Daddy P gave me the best present of all:  permission to drink coffee.  I got to sit at my favorite breakfast place and sip coffee.  It was awesome.  Yay!

And, this might sound really really silly... but, I got to tidy up.  Daddy P held the kid while I tidied and did things I hadn't been able to do while watching a baby.  Sad, but true.  Yay?  :)

3 1/2 weeks: the plagues

Kate has been sick with the stomach flu and the doctor charged us with the fun task of keeping the kids apart. Meanwhile baby Jacob vacillates between sleeping well at night and sleeping well during the day. Last night I managed around three hours sleep.  Oh, crying has begun. More later.

Baby Toddler Update

Baby:  have an appointment with a lactation consultant on Tuesday.  Hopefully that will help us to figure out this whole screaming thing.

Toddler:  bought Jane Nelson's toddler book.  I have her general "Positive Discipline" book and love it but we felt we needed more specific toddler aged help... spurred by her behavior today including hitting me, throwing Daddy P's phone, and knocking over a table.

Two days of pain, screaming, and tantruming.  I am hoping tomorrow goes better.  My goal for this week is to take a nap a day.  Last week I didn't get any naps in at all due to Daddy P spending time working, and then generally fussiness of baby, and it's really showing.  I'm totally beat.

Hm, what else...

Oh, baby is now in his own crib.  Last night was the first night.  We bought another camera so now we have a motion camera in each bedroom and the monitor switches between them every 8 seconds.  Love it.  Can see if the toddler is still in bed and if the baby is breathing.  :)

Ah and my toddler news includes Kate running away in the parking lot today and opening the front door and bolting.  Yes, I am officially scared.  Just is so hard watching her struggle so much with this adjustment.  I know it will all work itself out but for now it's taking its toll on everyone... at least she loves her brother (although Daddy P and I are in the doghouse).  She still wants to rock him, bathe him, and tonight asked to cuddle with him in bed before going to sleep, so she's not holding him responsible for her lack of attention which makes me really happy and relieved.  I would, however, appreciate it if she held Daddy P more responsible so that I am not the only one getting hit and kicked...

Daddy's New Job

We drove to Belton on Thursday to check out the University and see where Daddy P would be working.  Kate was really excited to see "his school" but confused because she expected the students to be smaller than they were.  As a small miracle, Jacob actually slept in the car going and coming.  This might not seem like a big deal, but as a nice contrast, he cried and fussed today until about 3:30pm and has cried on every car trip until yesterday.  We were very lucky.  It would have been a long drive (an hour) with a screaming infant...

The town itself isn't much -- if you have ever driven through Texas than you can put it together in your mind.  It's very much like any other small Texas town:  lots of houses with tires and trash in the yard, lots of fast food and bbq joints, a lot of folks who look like they live somewhere with lots of fast food an bbq joints.  This is mostly relevant because I'd started to cobble together this little fantasy of moving to Belton, but in my mind (and telling of my fantasy to Daddy P) the town looked more like small town Connecticut, or small town Vermont.  It was probably a good reality check.

But, everyone we met at Daddy P's work was very friendly and open and kind.  I'm a little curious to see where they live.  I know some live in Salado (a town fifteen minutes south that is teeny and just a road lined with galleries and antique stores, hailed as an "art town") and one guy lives in the suburbs of Austin. 

He starts his new job in mid-August, and it will be a big adjustment.  Right now we are very used to having him home to play (wait, to "play") with us.  I depend on him heavily to help watch Kate and juggle life right now so it will be interesting to see how things go in less than a month!