Saturday, July 31, 2010

Baby Blue Eyes?

I've been trying to coax more expressions out of Asher lately. He just sleeps so much, and when he's awake, he is fixated on eating and/or peeing and pooping! He does like to look out the window at the contrast of the trees and the sky, and has noticed the mobile above the swing. He always turns to locate Gregory when he hears him nearby. He likes to look in the mirror. But he just takes it all in - he's so serious! He still hasn't given us a real smile! Anyway, I am fairly convinced his eyes are blue - what do you think?

As I mentioned, Asher sleeps a lot, so this is how he usually looks to us:
From 2010 07 29b
And, he is already outgrowing his newborn clothes. The newborn diapers I made are long gone already and I have had to make bigger ones... and this was the first time he wore this brand new onesie, and it will be the only time! Love chubby babies, but I wish they didn't have to grow so fast!
From 2010 07 29b

Its hard not to compare your kids once you have two of them, especially when they are the same gender. Gregory and Asher have completely different temperaments, as babies anyway. Starting with his birth, I guess Asher is proving to defy my expectations. Those expectations are merely based on my previous experience of Gregory, though, so its no wonder! I have so much to learn! Here are some good comparison pics of the boys at about the same age - pretty easy to tell them apart by their hair color, though I do think you can see a likeness...
From G/A 5-6 wks
From G/A 5-6 wks
From G/A 5-6 wks

Dan turned 31 this past week, and we celebrated with a delicious ice cream cake. Last year, Gregory had just kind of gotten the concept of celebrating a birthday, and was none too pleased that it wasn't HIS! This year was a fair bit better, though he declined participation in singing Happy Birthday to Daddy. Clearly, he's still working through those feelings, but hey, its a lot better than last year!


In other news, we finally decided Gregory's fate for the fall: PRESCHOOL! He has been going sporadically (once-a-week-ish) to a small Montessori school and we decided that increasing to a regular three mornings a week would be perfect. This gives Mommy some sanity time, and gives him the chance to delve into more advanced learning. We love this little school because it is all of the opportunity and none of the pressure. Of course, when he gets there, the first thing he heads for is the number work, and at home he is always asking us to teach him to read, so we know he is ready for more stimulation and more challenge. He is already very good at sounding out a lot of simple words. This is what I walked into in the bathroom this evening...yes, it proves he has been watching far too much TV, but, hey, its educational!
From 2010 07 29b

Saturday, July 24, 2010

5 weeks

Asher is five weeks old today. Sorry for the lack of posting - its very busy with two kids!

After my mom went home, we had about a week to ourselves and then Grandpa Mike and Grandma Coralie visited. We went to the Minnesota Children's Museum. Greg and I had gone about 6 mths ago and he was not quite ready for a lot of it. What a difference 6 mths makes! He was totally into it! Gma and Gpa enjoyed getting acquainted with Asher too! I think there are better pics on their camera though - like ones with Gma!


Remember that we had gotten a huge birthday cake for Gregory but Asher ended up being born on the day we were going to bring it to the park to share with our friends? Well we finally got another chance, so he finally got to have his song and blow out his candle! He's official now...


And lastly, some baby pics. I was looking back at pics of Gregory from the same ages. The two of them do look a lot different, though I can see some similarities. Well, they ARE related... Asher seems to be less expressive than Gregory, or else I just have less time to sit and take pictures of him! Honestly, though, he sleeps a lot more, and is a much more mellow kid in general. I am not complaining, in fact, its amazingly wonderful! But I am still waiting for that first real smile! I think Asher might just have a little bit of a serious personality. We'll just have to see how he comes along! We did get him a pacifier and a swing. We are pretty against baby gadgets, but the swing allows me to set him somewhere safe and comforting when I have to tend to Gregory, like to take him to the bathroom or get him down for a nap. So far, so good! Asher seems to like it pretty well, but not as much as being held, of course. I mentioned he is laid back, well as long as he is being held! But even when he is unhappy, his complaints are just little squawks, not the screaming we experienced last time! Anyway, its getting late, so enjoy the pics, and I'll try to be more consistent with posts! They do grow and change so much in these early days!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Some Firsts

I know you all are desperate for more baby pictures! Its true, we haven't been taking quite as many pictures as we did with the first-born, but there are a few new ones! We have been busy trying to figure out this two-kid thing. Thankfully, my mom (Grandma Mary) was here for the last week lending a hand. We really loved her company and she helped us a lot with getting out and about, helping me strategize about how to handle dealing with both boys when I am finally on my own.

Asher has been having a lot of "firsts," like his first bath, and his first outings! He has been taking it like a trooper. Actually, he is pretty laid back. He doesn't complain much, and when he does, its usually just a little squawk and he is easily comforted by holding or nursing. The last couple of days he has started being a little restless in the evenings, and definitely doesn't like to go anywhere in the car during that time, but as long as he has the boob and the sling, we get through it without much drama. Its certainly nice to not have to exhaust ourselves with the baby-soothing rituals!

Gregory has been adjusting, slowly but surely. He ADORES Asher, wants to constantly lavish him with affection. I cannot fault him for that! However, he has also been pretty sensitive and demanding a lot of attention. Its hard because that translates into a lot of rowdiness, noise, and tantrums...not exactly endearing. I keep telling myself that he needs compassion and extra affection, but man its hard not to get mad when he is whining and yelling and throwing things. Not to mention the total lack of any level of cooperation! I have had a lot of less-than-stellar parenting moments with him and am not real proud of myself for that. I'm working on it...

That being said, today was the first day that we did not have a Grandma around to help, and thankfully, it actually went fairly well. Gregory went to preschool, and we actually walked out the door at the time we said we would be there, which made us only about 15 minutes late. That is NOT bad, if I do say so myself! Asher and I ran a bunch of errands, and then picked Greg up. Lunch and nap went reasonably smoothly! All in all, I think we will be ok!

Here are the latest pics, with some captions!