Things I am not looking forward to

I like this picture of the Mason monkey because you can really see how blue his eyes are. It's crazy to have this little blue eyed boy, he looks just like his daddy.

Things are bumping along around here. We are currently down to just one kiddo as our big boy went out to the family cabin with his Nana, Pa and aunt and uncle. Without us. It's great for him, because he is having a blast with lots of Skyler only time. It's a bummer for us because nothing sounds better than being on the lake with sunshine and our boy. Sigh. It's all in part to preparing for this upcoming week when Andy will be gone the entire week for business in New York. Leaving me and the two kids to fly solo. To say that I am terrified is an understatement. So having Skye off my hands for a couple of those days will be helpful. Still, I miss my big boy and I wish I was there with him. I also wish that I didn't have a week of solo parenting ahead of me. Not all wishes come true apparently. So aside from the fact that I blog less in general now, I likely will be completely AWOL this next week as showering will be a monster accomplishment, let alone finding internet time.

How we keep ourselves entertained

Pinching ever chubbier cheeks

Attacking the oldest child with cheap water toys

Bestowing the gift that is super Nintendo gameplay

Like father like son

Seeing how many children we can fit our arms around

That's how we roll around here.

MM: Month One

Well Mason man, you are one month old today. It's official, since you came out at 11:39 and it's now a little past 3:30 pm. What can I say about you at one month? I am still just starting to get to know you, especially now that you are starting to be more wakeful during the day. You have been a pretty easygoing baby up to this point. That is not to say that you are no longer mellow, but in comparison your presence is much more noticeable.

You sleep most of the morning hours away, after waking up around 6 or 7. You are pretty good to us, falling asleep around 9 or 10, waking around 3 am, and then sleeping on from there. I have to say that I feel much more rested in your first few weeks than I did with your brother Skyler. But perhaps this can be accounted for my already being used to sleep deprivation. I no longer take the night hours for granted.

You are starting to push up when we hold you on our chests, working on those neck stabilizer muscles. I welcome this activity because it means you are working hard at getting control of your neck and bobble head. Life is so much easier when you get these skills under your belt, for all of us.

You are a sweet little bug, and everyone is quite infatuated with you - your brother included. He likes to coo over you and hold your hand. He has tried to help us feed you and has even inserted himself into a diaper change or two trying to wipe your bum. I think this will be the only time in your lives where this will occur, let alone be cute. I look forward to seeing your relationship develop, especially once you become more aware of him as a person and not just a helpful/pestering presence. Happy one month Mason man!

Hodgepodge

I don't currently possess enough motivation, or brain cells, to create a coherent post. So here's random for ya:

- I am still in wonderment in how very different our boys are in looks. Skyler is brown like me, and Mason is (so far) white like his daddy. White skinned and blue eyed. Genetics are a funny thing.

- Pumping is going better, but I am still going to be so glad to be done with it. The question is when? Pumping will be easier, and make more sense, when I go back to work (at 12 weeks). Just wishing there was a more efficient way to do all this.

- Not sure if it is just me, hoping it's not, but I am still working to find room in my heart for two little people. Don't get me wrong, I love both boys dearly, but it's a different kind of love. I have known Skyler for two years now and love the person I have come to know him as. Mason is a love for the sake of loving, I don't really know him yet. This and the process of watching Skyler struggle daily with sharing "my mommy", it can be heartbreaking. This gets easier, yes?

Mmmm, Coldstone

Life in the land of two

Time for a little catch up, apparently having two kids means less free time for blogging. Who would have thunk? It's been a good kind of busy though, a hectic yet manageable time suck. As we enter into this third week of fourdom I am starting to feel a little more in control of things.

The breastfeeding/pumping thing does not hang like a lead weight over my head anymore. We resolved to use formula when necessary and I scaled back my pumping sessions so that I didn't feel like I was hooked to the machine round the clock. Surprisingly this still means that Mason only receives one small formula bottle a day, if that. As his appetite grows this likely will change, but I am comfortable with this balance. It leaves me feeling a lot more sane and has allowed me to enjoy this time much, much more.

Skyler has become a tantrum throwing toddler tornado. Not sure if he possessed all this energy prior to Mason and it just simply wasn't as noticeable until thrown into comparison with a slug-baby newborn...but now it seems like he is all over the place. He is still sweet and completely wonderful with his new baby brother, but he also seems to have a much shorter fuse than before his arrival. We used to see tantrums every couple of days, a really bad meltdown once a week or so. Now, we are enjoying tantrums regularly throughout the day, at little or no instigation, and there have been some epic meltdowns. This has been pretty trying, but then again I suppose they call these the terrible twos for a reason. And he did just get a new brother thrown at him, so I am going to cut him some slack...for now.

Mason continues to be a very mellow baby, we so don't deserve this. Skyler was a pretty easy baby too, but Mason seems even more laidback than his older brother. This may be in part to his being the second baby and our feeling more relaxed about the situation. Generally though, I think we just got a very sweet baby boy. He sleeps away the majority of the day, and up to this point I have been waking him up to feed him during the night. Since we went in for his two week check up today and found that he is a nice healthy ten pounder (13oz over his birthweight!) I will now be following his lead for feedings overnight. He only cries when he is hungry, or getting his bum wiped. I am feeling pretty blessed with this one.

Here's some recent photos as well:

Skyler getting in some morning snuggles with Mason man

Encountering pop-its for the first time. He was encouraged to throw!

Daddy smooches

Mama and Mason

Blue eyes