Monday: 12 weeks

 Joshua is 12 weeks!

He has a cold. :(  So he's been a bit grumpier, but we've still gotten some smiles.

He also got the next size of diaper today.  It was badly needed.

Isaac was doing Joshua's puzzle and put the S in upside-down (i.e. rotated 180).  It is very stuck.  So it's being returned to Grandpa's Garage to get unstuck and sanded.

Isaac wanted his puzzle to be stuck too.  His "I" sticks a little bit when put in upside-down, but I can get it out.  Nevertheless, his puzzle is next to Joshua's, ready for pick up.

Changing subjects, Isaac also played catch with a tree today.  He threw the ball at the truck and the tree threw it back.

Sunday: Happy Baptism!

Joshua was baptized today!  Our pastor always does a little talking about the name of the baby immediately after the baptism.  I was expecting something about the character of the Biblical Joshua, but he went a completely different way.  How Joshua is a version of the name Jesus, how it means savior.  How our prayer is that Joshua will come to know Jesus as his Savior.  There was more too but I've forgotten...luckily we get a DVD again.  I'll try to upload the portion.

There were three families in our small group that all had children baptized today, so we had a party.  It was a slightly crazy party, but fun.  Way too much food.  But lots of people were there and I didn't have to plan it alone or have it in my house. :)

Before the party...we completely filled the tables.  We had estimated 100 people and I'm not sure that many showed up, but there were at least 70-80.

The cake.  Most of the cakes were eaten. :)

Family picture.  Too bad Joshua had spit up and so has a very wet portion on his shirt.

The three couples with their babies.

Saturday: ducks

Joshua and I both wore ducks on our feet today.

Friday: wipes

Isaac's comfort objects are currently his "wipes". (They're burp cloths. But when Isaac we sick we separated Isaac's wipes from Joshua's and it quickly stuck.)

He was crying this evening and I suggested a song...Isaac knows it sometimes works for Joshua. The first song didn't help. Isaac asked for the wipe song and I thought, "great. Like I know a song about burp cloths." So instead I sang, "the WIPErs on the bus go swish, swish, swish." It snapped him out of his bad mood. Phew.

Thursday: sick

Urg.  I'm sick again...this time with a bad cold.  Yesterday I had a sore throat and a little bit of a runny nose.  At 9pm that's still where it was.  At 11pm I had lost my voice.  At 12am I couldn't sleep and was cold.  Throughout the night it felt like I would finally fall asleep, just to be awakened by Joshua: more my fault than his.

So Ben stayed home.  I probably could have handled it by myself, but it sure was nice to have extra help.  I took a morning nap.  Isaac loved getting extra Dad time.  We all also took really good afternoon naps, going down by 1:30 and sleeping at least two hours.

And now...I feel like it has morphed into just a normal bad cold.  Annoying and draining, but I can still function.

Someone really needs to invent a cold remedy that can be taken while nursing/pregnant.  Not being able to take the good medicine is super annoying.

Wednesday: brothers and napping

We borrowed a Baby Brother shirt for a picture.  You can't tell, but they were both wearing monkey socks too.

Then at nap/rest time I took a look in the monitor before getting in bed and didn't see Isaac.  We have two rules for this time: 1)stay in bed and 2)play with duplos, read a book, or take a nap.  I came to his room to chastise him and get him in bed and found this.

To be fair, he was in bed and he was playing with duplos.  I found it hilarious and left him to it.  Probably a mistake since he then didn't take a nap and feel asleep with Ben just before dinner.  We woke him up this time, but it was a hard choice.

Tuesday: 11 weeks

 Joshua was 11 weeks old yesterday.  (Remember I said that I didn't get anything done yesterday??  I didn't even take his pictures.  Which takes about one minute.)

We're starting to get drool and bubbles.  He's been holding his head up much better.

He's often happy to play on the floor or in the bouncy seat watching Isaac and me.  This afternoon I put him in the infant thing we have in the basement but finally put the dangly things on it.  He loved it!  I was actually rather surprised.  He really wanted the keys and I saw a few smiles from him.  Sometimes I wonder if I put him down and leave him too much, but today I definitely wasn't feeling that.

Monday

Today I didn't really accomplish much.  At least not much on my to-do list.  I did one load of laundry.  That's it.

I also took two naps, visited Cheryl and picked up some blue fabric scraps, and fed my children.  Joshua didn't sleep well last night and so we both slept a lot.  (His arms!!  They are problematic.  I tried a new swaddle technique and while I think it improved how quickly he went to sleep, it didn't help him stay asleep.)

Saturday: apple cake

We tried a new recipe today...apple cake.  It turned out very good.  Isaac did all the apple slicing/coring/peeling.

Friday: Crane's

Ben had the day off (hooray!) and so we went to Crane's Apple Orchard.  Isaac was pretty excited about it.

Isaac's first apple pick.

He ate most of the apple...he had been so excited to go to the orchard that he didn't eat most of his lunch in the car.  He's never eaten a whole apple before, and did a very good job.

Joshua slept through most of it.  Isaac started eating a second apple.

The Golden Delicious (the first picture) were really hard to pick.  But the McIntosh apples just came off in Isaac's hands and he enjoyed it a bit more.

Then we went to the corn maze.  Joshua slept again.  Isaac disarmed lots of traps for us.  It looked as though he was opening doors.

We went to the restaurant afterwards and it was surprisingly not busy.  We got a table right away, and I'm not sure that has ever happened.  It was a nice day for the orchard...sunny and not too cold and not busy,

Thursday: pacifiers

Isaac is somewhat enthralled by Joshua's pacifiers.  Today he wanted to take a picture of them. (There were two on the counter.)

Then, after dinner, Isaac wanted to play with Joshua in Joshua's room, where Joshua was hanging out under his play thingy.  Sure!  (As though I'd ever say no to that.)  When I checked back 15 minutes later, I saw this:

The play thing moved, three pacifiers ("he might cry"...Joshua gets multiple ones often), and several rattles.  But no one was upset, so it was a great play time.

While they were playing, Hilldore Hospital ("Fixing toys that should have been thrown out since 2011") was in full force.  We were melting a crayon back together.  And yes, it was quite fun.

For the record, Hilldore Hospital has only had two recordable fatalities: a chicken (whose foot would not go back on) and a bubble wand.

Isaac also took this picture:

Wednesday: today

I put Joshua in the bouncy seat by Isaac during breakfast.  Isaac leaned over and said, "Hi Baby Joshua.  How are you doing today?"  (Exact words, but not exact pronunciation.)  Isaac actually did a really good job with Joshua today.

We went to the playground today and it was rather cold and windy.  Luckily, it was sunny so it was still nice.  As always, we had a fun time.

Isaac saw some football player miniatures from a kids' meal that were in our bedroom.  Ben said, "What are those?"  Isaac confidently said, "Golf clubs!"

Lastly, we have a cute one of Joshua.  Ironically, I was reading a book about how to get him to sleep better.

Tuesday

Joshua slept very well in his crib last night, only waking once between 11 and 6 to eat.  We were up at 6:15 which is rather early for us, but not really that early when I remember the schedule that Isaac was on.  Isaac woke up not much later anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

*******************
We had just parked in the church parking lot when Isaac got a call on his pretend phone.
"Hi.  CC.  Grandma.  At church.  Grandma's house.  CC's house.  {pause}  Grandma.  CC.  Ok.  Bye-bye.  Ok Mom, you can talk now."  I had waited for him to get off the phone, because I'd really like to impress upon him that you don't talk to people when they're on the phone.  While he obviously understands the rule, he doesn't put it into practice.

Monday: 10 weeks

Joshua is 10 weeks old today.

He moved to his own bedroom tonight.  We'll see how it goes.  I'm actually most worried about the monitor...it likes to unlink when it is in the basement and proceeds to beep.  I tried it out for most of the day in our bedroom and it was fine.

Cheryl and I went shopping for some more clothes for the boys today.  I felt like I was more picky than normal...but I've figured out what I like and don't like a bit more.  I don't like hoods for babies.  I don't like fleece.  Isaac does need elastic pants.  Isaac does like zipper sweatshirts.  Isaac does need fleece pajamas though because he throws off his covers.  But we still found plenty that fit all those criteria.  Isaac is rather excited about his new monster pajamas.  They were still in the drier when Ben put him to bed, and I was expecting to hear something about them while I gave Joshua his bath.  I didn't, but figured Ben just did a good job persuading Isaac to wear something else.  When I went in the room to turn off the light later I noticed that Ben had forgotten to change Isaac into pajamas.  I would have left him in his clothes but I knew his pull-up wouldn't last the night. :(

But lest you think Ben's the only crazy one in the family, I realized that I held an entire conversation with Cheryl about robots only referring to them as "Ee-oos," Isaac's term for robots.  I didn't realize this until several hours later and was a bit embarrassed.

Sunday: boom

This morning I was eating breakfast on the couch in my robe.  Isaac had finished quickly, and so was hovering about.  Then he climbed on the couch and grabbed the collar of my robe.

"So you don't go boom."

He held onto it for several minutes.  Apparently I was in significant danger of falling over this morning.

Saturday: toilet training

Ugh.  Toilet training has gone down the toilet the last several days.  Today I think Isaac had about five accidents.  Five!  He hasn't had that many in months.  And I know...he's a boy, he's still learning, and while all of that is true is doesn't make it any less frustrating for me.  Especially when he doesn't seem to care after he has an accident.

He still gets a treat if he goes to the bathroom.  Lately he's been asking for two mini M&Ms.  (He's supposed to actually go to the bathroom to get the treat, but I just haven't cared enough lately.)  He's also been saving them for later.  I'm not sure when later is, but he's collecting quite a stash.  I'm rather proud of his self-control.

Friday: quilt show, hunger

Nursing hunger has finally set in.  I was a little surprised; I haven't felt absurdly hungry much.  I've been normal hungry and munchy, but the last two days I've been hungry.  Super hungry.  But hey, I'll still be nursing full time through Thanksgiving and Christmas.  That's even better than being pregnant during those holidays.

Cheryl and I went to the West Michigan Quilt Guild's quilt show.  It was larger than I was expecting, and full of good quilts.  The one below was my favorite (Modern Art in Quilt Form by Sue Cortese).  The quilting was amazing.  (The boys did very well too.  I'm always surprised at how long five 2x2 duplos can entertain Isaac.)

Thursday: check up and EE

Joshua had his 2 month check up yesterday.  He's doing well with no problems.  He's 23.25" long (50th percentile) and 11.3 pounds.  Oh, I just looked at Isaac's numbers.  He's actually just slightly smaller than Isaac...which surprises me since he was born a bit larger and doesn't seem to spit up as much.  But then, he also eats a lot faster too so maybe doesn't get as much food.  Shots were traumatic and so he slept the rest of the day.

This morning we were waiting for the library to open and listening to VeggieTales songs.  Isaac had earlier asked for the EE (monkey) song and I had no idea which one that was.  There are no monkeys in VeggieTales.  We got to track 4 that starts like this... "Good morning, George, how are you?"  And Isaac said, "EE song!"  Ahh, I got it.  Curious George is a monkey.  Therefore, all Georges are monkeys.  (Annette and Liz, I'm sorry to break such terrible news to you.)

Wednesday: 33 months

Isaac turned 33 months yesterday.

He had an amazing start of the month in regards to toilet training...he only had a handful of accidents and was figuring out by himself when he needed to go to the bathroom.  He's had a terrible end of the month.  But since he's done this several times I expect we'll get back on track before too long.

He has started to really like snacks.  I've consistently told him no snacks if he doesn't finish his meal, but that doesn't seem to sink in.  (He doesn't always get snacks if he does finish his meal, lest you think he's eating all the time.)  He also seems to think that food goes from his mouth to his toes to his stomach.

I think nap time is slowly on it's way out, although we're not going to stop with rest time.  He does pretty well if he doesn't get a nap.  If he does take a nap I usually leave a light on in his bedroom at night for a bit so that he can read.  I still like 8pm bedtimes, but if he is still a bit awake and willing to read/entertain himself for a bit that's ok with me.

I'm not sure there's too much else that's new.  He still loves Duplos and running, is usually willing to help out around the house, and is quite happy.

picnic

On Sunday Isaac wanted to go on a picnic with Aunt C.  It sounded like a good idea to me, so I had him pack a lunch.

He packed two containers of popcorn, three carrots (he might have done more but I stopped him), three grapes, Cheerios, Crispex, Crasins, 4 hearts and lemon water.

He then had too much fun playing on the playground to eat much. :)

Monday: 9 weeks/2 months

Joshua is 2 months old!

Let's see...talking - he babbles once in a while, but not really that often.

Sleeping - sometimes he does a good job, getting up three times to feed between midnight and seven and then going right back to sleep.  Sometimes he doesn't do such a good job.  His naps are inconsistant; some days he takes good naps, some days he will only nap in my arms

Attitude - it's pretty easy to get smiles out of him.  Usually I'd say he's a pretty happy baby, although last week was pretty rough.  I'm wondering if he had a growth spurt or it had to do with me being sick.

Favorites - my arms with a pacifier.  It almost always calms him down.  He also likes the play thingy that I put in his crib (that he doesn't sleep in).  He will sometimes be content to look at it for ten minutes before getting cranky.  He likes to get his diaper changed.  The swing isn't too bad.

Dislikes - Sitting.  Both arms in the swaddle when he doesn't want them in.  Being done eating (even though he is the one to decide it is time to be done).  Dad when he wants Mom (sad but true).

Sunday: surprise!

Brat, as in bratwurst, is spelled b r a t, not b r o t, which is how I always have spelled it. Ben blew my mind when he told me today. I like my way better, but I guess no one is consulting me on the spelling.

Saturday: feeling better

Today I think I can finally say I'm feeling better. I went to bed last night fully expecting to call the doctor first thing in the morning, but the fever broke (again) during the night.

To shake things up a bit Isaac and I put Ben to bed a little before Isaac's bedtime. Isaac asked Ben if he had to go to the bathroom. Then he prayed... "Dear God. Today. Amen." ( we usually start with thank you for today.). When we mentioned it didn't have much content he just said, " short prayer." Guess you can't argue with that. Isaac then turned off the lights and closed the door.

Friday: still sick

urg.

The fever returned yesterday night, but I woke up in sheets that were soaked.  I was hoping that was that.

I felt pretty good all day.  Then, around dinner time, I thought I could skip the Ibprofin.  Wrong.  Fever's back.  How dumb.

Joshua's been especially grumpy today, being very insistent that he needs to nurse more frequently.  I don't know if my milk supply is low or if something else is wrong.  Or if he's just being a normal baby.  There was a fifteen minute stretch today when both boys were inconsolable and I didn't know why.  Isaac doesn't do that to me!  For that matter, Joshua rarely does it either.  Isaac wanted Cheerios, but I couldn't understand him and he wouldn't point.  (I told him no.)

Thursday: still sick

Today was the worst day by far.  I thought I was better at 4am when I fed Joshua, but at 5am I woke up so cold.  So cold that I decided that taking a hot shower was my best option.  In the middle of the night.

The Tylenol that I took at 6am finally kicked in around 7.  I had a doctor's appointment at 9:30.  I still had a low grade fever. The doctor wasn't really sure why I have a fever; the mastitis symptom had all cleared up.  But she put me on an antibiotic.

The Tylenol never quite made it the whole six hours it needed to...so about 40 minutes before I could take the next dose I'd be shivering in bed.  The medicine kicked in pretty well in the afternoon and everyone took good naps.  It did not kick in so well around dinner time and I ended up calling the doctor.  I'm now taking Ibprofin too.  I'm still hot and clammy but don't technically have a fever.

I'm not sure I've ever been taking so many medications at once...six all told.  I should probably write down when I'm should take the next dose so that I don't mess it up.

still sick

Everyone slept until 8:30 today!  I couldn't believe it; Isaac never sleeps that long.  It took me a while last night to feel better, but by the time we officially woke up (versus the several unofficial wake ups) I was feeling pretty good.

Then we went to the playground.  The weather was perfect.  Warm but not too warm.

About 10 minutes after we got home I had a terrible feeling that my fever was back.  I got some things arranged and then took my temp...yup, 102.4.  Blah.  So Isaac got some extra screen time this afternoon and then Dad came over for a few hours to help out.  And I have a doctor's appointment in the morning.  On the up side, it is nice having a two year old that is willing to help you out.  He even tried to open the medicine bottle for me and wanted to give me the water bottle with the cap off so that I didn't have to do it.

Tuesday: three things that make me happy

1. The things that come out of Isaac's mouth (or out of my mouth in response to him).
1a. Isaac, don't pet the cat with your hammer.
1b. "Mom, if I push this button the car will turn into an airplane!"  "Oh yeah, is it an airplane now?"  "Yes.  We're going to eat grapes and peanut butter and jelly."
1c.  Flurry is calmly sitting on the table.  Isaac has quickly run around the table 20 times.  "I'm trying to get the kitty cat!"  He kept running for another several minutes.

2. I have a plugged duct/mastitis again.  They're slightly different things, but people seem to use them interchangeably so it makes it a bit hard to tell you what I have.  I'm in the middle of the chills part of the fever, but Tylenol takes away almost the whole thing.  I'm also happy for hot showers.  Hot showers during a fever are second to none.

3. Joshua's smiles.  Pat wonderfully came over to babysit while I got groceries and new pants.  (Two pairs of pants wasn't cutting it.  Also, I got groceries in about half the time that I do if Isaac is with me.)  When I got back he gave Pat a whole bunch and then me a whole bunch.

Monday: eight weeks

Joshua is eight weeks old!

I can definitely tell he's getting bigger.

And he smiles rather easily...although they're still hard to catch on camera.

Isaac picked out matching socks for them today.

We also went to visit Brian and Amy over lunch...it was wonderful to see them again!  Isaac had a great time playing with the new toys and fell asleep in the car on the way home.

I think we're also about to start giving Joshua a new bedtime.  Up until now he's stayed up with us, falling asleep in our arms and then going into the fake car seat.  It's been nice.  But lately he won't sleep in it and only wants to be in my arms.  He doesn't want to be in Ben's arms.  Just mine.  While I appreciate the thought, it is also annoying to have my "me time" taken away so completely.  So tonight I gave him a bath, fed him, and put him to bed.  And we haven't heard a peep.  (This is actually pretty normal when putting him to bed.  I hope it keeps up.  The problems come later during the night.)

Joshua was up several times last night.  Isaac was up once too...he wanted to know if he could go outside at 4am.  But everyone slept in until 7:45, so there was at least some sleep.  Nap time went much better today too.

Isaac and I were having a rough time today though.  I feel like I spoke sharply to him way too much.  Sometimes it was appropriate (no, you don't throw your plastic wagon down the stairs) and sometimes it wasn't (I could have let him play while cleaning up a bit more).  Anyway, the result was that some duplos and his barn went in time out for the day.  Later he was talking to us..."I have a really big problem."  I said, "You should look in a book!"  and then Ben told him the super-dooper computer letters were "L-I-S-T-E-N and that next time you should listen to Mom."  We have obviously been watching too many kids' shows.

Saturday: duplos

Isaac loved playing with Ben today.