For Just a Flash

I looked at a photo of Anders tonight that we have on our counter, and seriously, just for a flash of a second, I thought it was Jakob. And no one thinks they look alike!

Bedtime Disaster

Okay, tonight was the second attempt at having the two boys all by myself right at bedtime.

Last week Anna left the house at 7, and from 7-8 I was cruising.
Life was good, I had this under control...no problem.
I had Anders in bed, and was telling him a story, simultaneously I was holding a sleeping baby.
Jakob woke up at 8pm.
Crying.
Anders was not asleep.
I left Anders room to try to get Jakob settled, but I had no luck.
Jakob was beside himself.
Anders switched on the light, got out of bed, and started crying himself.
I had 2 screaming kids.
Anders moved to the gate at the top of the stairs to wail and kick it with his feet while crying for Anna.
Jakob was wailing too.
I had no milk for Jakob b/c Anna hadn't started pumping yet.
After 30 minutes of crying I put in a Winnie the Pooh video for Anders.

Jakob cried until 9:10 when Anna came home.
I cried until 10.


So, it felt like a majordisaster. My nerves were shot, I was wiped out after a long day, and simply put, baby crying really stresses me out.

You'd think I'd have learned.

Tonight. Round two.

Anna left at 7. I had a bottle.
Jakob slept until 8 and then right at the moment Anders really should be falling asleep, Jakob woke up crying for milk. But I had some this time. I still had to leave Anders room, go down, heat it, come back up, but by this time both boys were crying all over again.

Needless to say it really didn't get any better. Anna came home at 9.
My patience was gone, my fatigue was amplified, my good humor was erased.
I was not pleasant or a good partner when Anna came home.

I am not doing this again at bedtime.
At this point I consider myself a lousy parent of two kids when I am the only one attending to them, and it's bedtime, and I am not the nursing mother. I feel like a total failure.

Dreamin' about Playdough

Last night Anders was talking in his sleep.
He spoke in the most inviting tone one could imagine an almost 3 year old using.

"You want to try my hot dog?"

a pause and then

" Anybody want to try my hot dog?"

complete quiet and then he was back to snoring and breathing.

Today when I was telling him about what he said in his sleep,
without missing a beat and with just as much pride he told me,

"I was making a hot dog with my playdough."

Jakob Loves to Smile

If you smile at him, he'll smile at you. And when you talk to him, he is so observant, so curious, so happy to respond. It is such a pleasure to see how eager he is to connect and to articulate. His vocabulary at this point pretty much consists of "ga" and "ahuh," but quite remarkable for such a little baby. It's so interesting watching Jakob's personality develop. And now that his stomach issues seem to be a bit better, I think he is so much happier.

2 Month Photo

Here he is at two months. He grew 3 inches this month and now ranks in the 97th % for length, and he weighs in at 14 lbs, again the 97th %!! Fabulous!!

More about Jakob

Well, as you might have read, Jakob has a bit of a digestive issue. We thought we had it licked a few weeks ago, but it still remains. It's hard to figure out. We think it is linked to Anna's diet and his sensitivity to something she is eating, but honestly, we don't know. We have a 2 month doctor appointment tomorrow, and I am calling a homeopath this week too. The funny thing is that sometimes he is so fine, and other times he is absolutely upset and unsettled. At least he is not doing the screaming crying he was doing at 3 weeks. He mostly just spits up a lot, is gassy, and can't get comfortable. It's hard. Especially when it occurs between 11pm and 5 am. We had a couple of nights where we took hourly shifts. I am off now for 5 weeks, and will be the number one baby whisperer around this house! We'll see how it goes...cross your fingers. Anna still has to beging pumping, and we need to introduce the bottle to him. Let's hope he likes it more than Anders did. Anders hated the bottle. Stay tuned!

Happy 2008!

The highlight of our New Year's Eve was the dragon parade and being with family. Here's the group photo celebrating the eve of 2008.