that's what friends are for...

Joshua is colicky, and it's hard on both Jacob and me. However, Jacob deals with it 100 times better than me.

Joshua was crying on the way home from my parents' house tonight.

Jacob reached over and grabbed his brother's hand. I looked back while we were stopped at a red light.

Jacob: "Don't worry, Joshua. I'm here. No matters. That's what friends are for."

He just about brings me to tears daily with how sweet he truly is to his family. (Also, he says "no matters," meaning "no worries," adorable!)

Then, he tells me that Joshua is only crying because it is dark outside. "That's what's the matter, mommy." Very true, Jacob.

These two boys are going to be buddies, and I am loving every second watching them grow closer even at such a young age.

Tonight we spent an hour in Jacob's bed together reading stories and laughing. Joshua was laughing, Jacob was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes, and I had tears of joy because I realize how special little moments like these are, and how lucky I am to have two wonderful boys.

Quick Update

I'm too lazy to mess with pictures today...but a quick update on the Lewis family...

Joshua: He just turned two months old on Thursday and had his well-visit on Friday. He weighs a whopping 14 pounds. Boy loves to eat. We were concerned because we've been noticing the past few days that one side of his head is getting flat. We now just need to make an effort to force him to look the other way so he can even back out. Apparently a lot of babies are getting a "flat head" because of being put to sleep on their backs to prevent SIDS. We'll be keeping an eye on his head to make sure it starts to even out. It's not too noticeable, but enough to make a mamma worry. He also slept through the night for the first time this past week...two nights in a row. But, last night he woke up twice again. But, we'll take what we get!
Josh is smiling like crazy, getting a really good grip, tracking objects extremely well, getting better head control, and starting to really look for Jacob. Jacob also seems to calm Joshua down. Joshua is not fond of tummy time, which is funny because Jacob loved it. He loves to be swaddled still (and Jacob hated it) and likes to fall asleep on his own (which Jacob hated). As much as they look alike, they are very different. Joshua still has his bouts with colic, which is hard, but we are getting there. He mostly cries for only two or three hours now instead of like six or seven.

Jacob: Jacob is such a joy, and so smart. I am amazed at how he puts things together and how his mind works. He just loves to talk and figure things out. He's been really into pretending to be other people now. He played pirates with my mom for a while the other night and was Smee. He was Mickey Mouse yesterday and made me Minnie Mouse. He has no problem using different objects and pretending they are something else. He's now getting the concept of introducing himself to other kids, so now he'll say "I'm Jacob," when he's playing with other kids he's never met before. He loves his little brother, and is great at taking care of him. Jacob has such a kind heart, and is getting quite sensitive when we tell him not to do something. He feels bad when he does something wrong or when someone else is upset. I can't believe we are getting closer to his third birthday. Crazy to think how old he is getting. He also is still saying he doesn't want to use the potty, but tells us every time he is going potty. Jacob is now counting to 14...we were stuck on 12 for a while, but looks like we are moving on!

Me: I've started working out again...man, it's hard! You forget what getting back in shape feels like! I'm just enjoying staying home with the boys, but also very tired and stressed at the same time. I am actually amazed at how easy taking both boys out alone has been. I thought I would be a mess, but Jacob listens extremely well, and it's been easy so far to run errands and do things during the day without freaking out. However, the other night we ran to Kohls and I forgot a pacifier for Joshua. Thankfully, Kohls sells them, so I took us straight there and ripped one open and popped it in. Crisis solved. Best $3 spent.

Bob: Bob was chosen for another training at school in Cincinnati in March. I'm proud of him and everything he is accomplishing at school. He's busy with teaching, and continuing to work his second job for insurance purposes. Although we enjoy having "extra" money (when I say extra, it's just that we feel like we don't have to live off of mac n cheese, haha), but I would LOVE to have him home every night again. We'll see when that can happen. Darn you, insurance. Whoever said teachers have good benefits is crazy.

Jacob, Joshua and I went to the zoo last week to just do the inside Oceans building. We were basically the only people there, which was nice. Jacob loved taking his time at each tank and really wanted to do the whole zoo, but it's so cold. It was great getting out of the house and having a change of pace despite the bad weather we've been having.

Joshua's baptism is tomorrow. We are so excited for our little guy. It still amazes me our whole family is here and we are now enjoying things as a family.

He puked letters

Jacob was up all night last night screaming. I thought he had an ear infection, so I went in there and stayed with him most of the night. He woke up every 15 to 30 minutes screaming in pain and reaching for me, but still didn't get much sleep. Finally, by the morning, he was so exhausted he fell asleep on the couch and slept there until 9:15 when I woke him up to go to the doctor.

On the way to the doctor, Jacob starts screaming. And crying. When he cries, I know the next thing is puke. Yup.

Puke all over his shirt, pants, car seat, back of the passenger seat in front of him, floor, side of the car, and everywhere. Poor guy.

I called the doctor's office and rescheduled, turned the car around and drove home.

His clothes are currently in our front yard. Still. It's been that kind of day.

We came inside and he seemed to be better after a little while. So, I made him some soup for lunch. ABC soup. Where the noodles are shaped like letters.

Fast forward to 4 p.m.

We are on our way to the doctor, again. I thought ahead and brought a change of clothes. Bob was home, so he was driving.

Then I hear screaming. And crying.

I grabbed the blanket off of Josh's carseat and threw it over Jacob's body. He threw up his red popsicle.

And, the letters. Whole letters. His puke was full of the damn alphabet.

Sorry, Winnie the Pooh blanket we have had since Jacob was born. You are now in the trash at the doctor's office. There was no hope for you, covered in red and ABCs.

Jacob has the flu and an ear infection...his third since Christmas. So, they are starting him on a new medicine in hopes of totally clearing the infection and we have a follow up at the end of the month to check his ears. I'm praying we aren't headed towards tubes in his ears.

TGIF

Normally, I don't really care it's Friday. This whole SAHM gig is great in that I really don't care what day it is! I mean, really, my day doesn't change a whole lot if it is Tuesday or Sunday - I still get up every morning and take care of the little man (now little men) from morning until night. I enjoy our routine together.

Enter the world of an infant. Now, I am thankful it is Friday and Bob is home tomorrow to help out. We have been stuck in the house from the snow and freezing cold temps, and we are all stir crazy. Plus, Bob hasn't been home since Tuesday night because of work, so I've been on my own for three days without help. It's not too bad, except the fact my house looks like it exploded. Toys are everywhere, the dishes are kind of done, but not really, and my counters are filled with random things I haven't gotten around to putting away. I've done some laundry this week, but it's sitting in our room waiting to be put away. So, finally, TGIF, and I finally have another set of hands to help me out either take care of the kids or help clean up this destroyed house! At least you can tell Jacob has had fun with how many toys are all over the house. I went to get a Diet Coke from the kitchen and stepped on Batman, a rattle, and four race cars on the way.

Jacob has now memorized the entire book the Big Road Race. It's not a short book by any means. He doesn't even need prompting on the pages to remember what comes next. He has the big words down, and even the sounds for each car correct. I would LOVE to get him on video doing it, but he only does it whenever he wants to and I never have my camera by me at the time. Bob hasn't even heard him read it yet! He amazes me with his memorization.

He has also decided that he can go to the Kleenex box, get a tissue, wipe his nose, and then...stuff the tissue back in the box. You have been warned, future visitors!

The other morning we were sitting at breakfast and he has been getting the concept of husband/wife lately, so I told him he was my son. He looked at me, smiled, and said, "No, I'm no sun. I'm a cloud. You just kidding!"

Joshua is doing very well. Eating and sleeping like a champ. He stays awake for long periods of time, and is very alert. He is funny though, because he definitely doesn't like to be held as much as Jacob did. And, he grunts like crazy in his sleep, which always makes me think he's awake when he's not. His cry is so quiet that if I don't check on him constantly I could miss it! He's a lot like Jacob was as a baby, and very different at the same time.

I am amazed at how many things you can fit into one morning with little ones in the house. And, I don't mean productive things...I mean how many different activities go into the hours between Jacob's wake-up call this morning of 6:30 and nap time of 1:00. Those hours have been filled with reading a zillion books (today's favorite, "Everyone Poops," which we read probably 14 times), playing cars, chasing each other through the house, eating two rounds of lunch (because one just isn't enough), pretending to cook, playing catch, learning how dominoes work, playing a new Dinosaur Train memory game, and helping me do some laundry and dishes. And by help, that means that Jacob took the piles of clothes I folded and followed me into our bedroom and threw them in the dirty clothes. Of course, I said thank you and waited until he left the room to move them. He likes to help!These days have been very busy, very crazy, and make me long for warm weather so we can burn some energy outside. Jacob desperately wants to take off running all the time. But, with the snow, we had to skip Gymboree today and settle for running laps through the house! Having two kids at home though is so much fun, and even though I'm extremely exhausted and running on four hours of sleep every day for almost a month now, I'm enjoying all of it - even more than I thought I would. I think I was preparing myself for it being so very hard, that it seems easier for me now, if that makes sense. Of course, it's hard...just not as hard as I was preparing myself for!

Poop in the Carpet

Today has been a great, exhausting, and hilarious day rolled into one.

Great, because both boys are so much fun and I love the special moments throughout the day where I get one-on-one time with each of them. I was able to give Josh a bath while Jacob napped, and that's always some great one-on-one time with a little baby. Jacob and I were able to read a ton of books, play cars like crazy, and dance through the house while Josh napped. Also, took my first trip with both of them by myself.

Exhausting because I have been up since 5 a.m., and have had no help at all since Bob works until midnight. Jacob took a monster nap this afternoon, so he didn't go to bed until 9:30, and Josh is still awake at 10:47. Poop.

Speaking of poop...that brings me to my hilarious part of the day. Jacob did take a monster nap, and woke up with a dry diaper. I put him on the potty and he peed. He told me he wanted to wear underpants. Fantastic.

Dinosaur underpants went on.

Dinosaur underpants were peed in. Jacob kind of had a look like he understood what was going on. I asked if he wanted a diaper or underpants (yes, we call them underpants. Not sure why not underwear, but whatever Jacob wants to call them is fine). He told me he wanted underpants.

Striped underpants went on. I started cooking dinner with Jacob running around in the kitchen. He went on the other side of our island. I noticed he was kind of quiet. He then ran past me and into the pantry.

Me: Jacob, what are you doing?
Jacob: Just peeing in the kitchen.
Me: What? Where did you pee?
He walks over to the other side of the island and points at the floor, where there is a small puddle. He turns and smiles at me.
Me: Let's go change your underpants.
Jacob: No, it's fine.
Me: You're wet though. You can't have wet underpants on.
Jacob: It's fine.

He clearly does not care about being wet. He had pee down his leg and on his sock, and he seriously did not care one bit. Just wanted to go in the pantry and look for some food. Thank goodness he told me he peed, otherwise who knows how long that little puddle would be there.

He again chose to wear underpants instead of a diaper. I figured, sure, why not?!

Blue underpants go on.

Dinner is ready and I go to put him in his seat. He smells like poop.

Me: Jacob, did you poop?
Jacob: Yeah. I'm all done.
Me: Let's go change your underpants.
Jacob: No. I'm all done.

Clearly doesn't care about the poop in his pants. Didn't give him an option this time. I grabbed a diaper.

Now, there's no real easy way to get poopy underwear off of a 2-year-old. And, it wasn't solid poop. So, I tried the best I could. Poop fell on the carpet. Jacob stepped in the poop.

Oops. Now time to clean the carpet and Jacob.

Thankfully it was one of those days where this was entertaining and funny to me instead of driving me up the wall that I'm cleaning up pee and poop non-stop for the evening.

Potty training is definitely not in our near future. Just waiting until he's ready!

Day 1

So, Bob has been off from work for a while. Since Josh was born while he was on Christmas break anyway, we had a bonus week and a half off together. Then, he took two weeks off when school was back in session, so we had been home since school let out for last semester. Tuesday, he went back to school. He went back to his second job last week, but that doesn't impact our day as much, and it was only like 2 days last week anyway. Tuesday was my first day back as a stay at home mom, and first time with both boys all day long without any help. (Today is actually my first day REALLY back, where Bob is also working at night and I am on my own from the time the kids get up to the time they go to bed. Unfortunately, some days Bob doesn't get to see the boys, but it's only temporary!)

I wanted to write down how my day was today, and compare it to a day as Josh gets older and see how things change and how easier it probably will get (or harder, depending on what these boys get themselves into).

7 a.m. Jacob up. Change his clothes because he peed through (we are a long way off from him being potty trained at night, I'm sure). Get him milk and powdered donuts (our treat for our first day back to a regular schedule). Started the dryer. Gave Jacob medicine since he has a double ear infection.

7:30 a.m. Joshua up. Make bottle and feed him. Jacob plays, eats and talks with Josh and me.

8:30 a.m. Josh asleep. Jacob and I build a train track, play trains. I wash bottles. We play cars.

9:30 a.m. Josh wakes up. We play cars in Josh's room. Get Josh dressed for the day. Josh has tummy time.

10:30 a.m. Josh has a bottle. Read "The Big Road Race" four times during bottle. Jacob eats a granola bar. Spits out said granola bar because he has a cold sore. goes and gets crackers. Walks around eating them, dropping them, and leaving a giant trail of crumbs. I clean up said mess. Play time as a family. We play blocks, which are transformed into Mater's junkyard.

11:45 a.m. Lunch. Jacob carries everything he can from fridge to table while I make lunch. He claims he is cooking just like Remy from "Ratatouille." We eat, and Josh falls asleep around noon.

12:20 p.m. Clean up lunch, put Josh in bed. Play junkyard with Jacob. Get him into bed. Read "The Big Road Race" again.

12:50 p.m. Jacob asleep...on his own. Miracle. (We have had to lay with Jacob every nap and bedtime to get him to sleep. But, since we have brought Josh home he is fine with going to bed on his own and doesn't even protest or cry or anything. Just falls asleep. It's like a whole new world!) Pick up empty cups and bottles. Check Facebook. Brag about getting an hour to myself before Josh would need a bottle. Josh wakes up at 12:50 because he had to poop. change diaper and hold Josh until he wanted a bottle at 1:45. Fed Josh, changed diaper. Wouldn't burp and was very gassy so held him until 2:40. Read blogs while he slept on me. Put him down at 2:40.

2:44 p.m. Jacob wakes up. Four minutes to myself. My own fault though. I didn't even pee yet! Got Jacob from his room (since he never gets out of bed on his own) and set him up on the couch with a drink and a popsicle while I folded laundry. Watched some Dora. Josh woke up screaming - he had spit up a little and it was caught in his nose and throat. Took care of Josh and then played junkyard again with Jacob.

3:45 p.m. Bob gets home from work. Catch up on our days really quick. Give Bob 600 instructions on how to take care of two kids while both are awake at the same time because I'm paranoid about leaving them while I take a shower.

4:15 p.m. Take a shower. And by that, I mean I ran through the water with a little soap and could have sworn I heard a baby crying the entire time even though both boys were fine.

4:30 Start to get dinner ready. Jacob wants to help cook. Insists on wearing his chef hat and apron he got for Christmas. We get him ready and I move his little table into the kitchen. We make some Shake N Bake together. We had a great time - he helped set the table and everything.

5:30 p.m. Dinner time.

The rest of the night was family time, picking up, bath time and everything else, but wasn't my day at home alone. I must say, Day 2 has started out much rockier. Josh woke up at 5 a.m. for his bottle. It was my turn, so I got up with him and put him down at 5:45 a.m. Jacob woke up for the day at 5:50 a.m. But, it's been a good day at we even went out together for the first time just the kids and me. We ran to Meijer to mail some pictures and get some milk. Josh slept the whole time, but it is such a process to get them both in and out of the car and through the store! I think I was more tired than normal just because I'm technically still not suppose to be lifting them, but I needed to get out!