Happy Halloween!

Kyle enjoyed trudging up and down Lowell Ave tonight as a 2nd generation monkey (Alex and Rachel were the originals). He didn't really get it though...instead of accepting the candy, he demanded to go inside the very first house we went to (fortunately, it was Viv and Hank's, and they were nice enough to give him a toy to take along with him, which he preferred carrying over his pumpkin!). He enjoyed holding hands with Nonnie, picking up leaves, and watching his Scooby Doo and Dalmation cousins do REAL trick-or-treating. And there was even a Superman sighting up the street!

Luke was a little trooper too, sleeping the whole time all bundled up in his stroller (if I had my act together, I would have got him a pumpkin hat to wear instead of his non-festive Red Sox one).

As is the case with just about everything these days, it was fun but a very muted fun. The huge void in my little family is so much more painful on days like this. But it just makes me that much more thankful for my two precious little boys. They are my world and I love them more than anything.

British Buddies!

We were treated to a visit yesterday from our British friends...Meg, Jamie and Emilia (and baby-to-be!). Kyle enjoyed trying out his not-so-subtle moves on an unsuspecting Emilia (i.e. approaching her from behind and rubbing his face on her hair). She was a good sport, and they even shared a brief conversation about cars. I tried to get a picture of them together but missed the milisecond window that they provided. Hopefully their trip home last night was uneventful!

On an unrelated note, Kyle has been VERY into his bellybutton lately. He loves pointing to it and saying his approximation for "bellybutton". And amazingly, he just discovered something else down there during his bath last week (not sure what took him so long!?). So now, after he points to his bellybutton, he points to his diaper area and says "ya ya". And since I was unprepared as to what to call it at this early age, I am going with "ya ya" (since he did NOT like when I tried to just call it his diaper). And a more anatomically correct term might be a bit embarrassing when he DEMANDS that I identify it in public!

And Luke's sleeping has once again taken a turn from the better! I probably shouldn't say that, because it seems when I post about it on this blog, he goes in the other direction. But he has been napping very well during the day since my last post, and still doing well at night. Let's hope I don't jinx it!

8 Weeks and Not Napping

Ah, the newborn weeks (is 8 weeks still considered newborn?). Unfortunately, the new and improved Lukey Pookie was very short-lived. In fact, it basically ended with my post about it. He's still doing okay at night (one 5ish hour stretch followed by several short ones), but he will NOT sleep during the day. Let me clarify...I'll nurse/rock him to sleep fairly easily, put him in his crib swaddled/asleep, and then he wakes up about 10 minutes later. And I do this over and over again all day. VERY frustrating. Oh well, he obviously needs to sleep so I just have to keep trying and hope that he figures things out soon.

And Kyle's sleep is also frustrating. He's always slept well at night (7 to 7ish), but his afternoon nap has just been getting shorter and shorter. And it was never that long to begin with. Like today, I put him down at 1pm, he screamed for about 15 minutes (which is also a new, aggravating twist) and slept for 30 minutes. And then woke up screaming. I decided to try something different today...I went in there after he woke up crying, rubbed his back and told him that he needed to nap more and then left the room. He cried for a few minutes but did fall back to sleep right away. For about 10 minutes. Ugh.

These next few years would be some much easier if my kids would nap well for me. I REALLY need those sanity breaks during the day, since I don't get them in the evening anymore. But it doesn't look like that is going to happen. Certainly not for Kyle anyway. There's still hope for Luke. I just need to be very disciplined about getting him on a good schedule early on.

Oh, Kyle had his 24 month well visit last week. He weighed 33 lbs and is 36 inches long (both are around the 90th percentile). She said he's very proportionate and doing well, although she did discover that he has a double ear infection (he's had a cold this last week but I was still surprised, since he's never had one before). So he's on antibiotics for the first time, which will hopefully clear things up.

Visit with Grampa!

Kyle and Luke had a fun visit with Grampa, Auntie Jayne and cousin Rene today. Kyle enjoyed having Grampa read him stories, and showing Auntie Jayne how cute he looked in the NYC shirt that she gave him. And Luke was happy to meet Grampa for the first time, and enjoyed smiling with Auntie Jayne :) It was a great visit with great relatives!

The New and Improved Lukey Pookie!

If anyone's looking for Luke these days, he's either in his crib or swing sleeping! Yes, after 6 weeks of not sleeping very much, he has been a sleeping machine these last 3 days. He's been sleeping in his crib from 11pm(ish) to 11am(ish), waking of course every few hours to nurse, but going right back to sleep. And then during the day, he's been doing the same thing in his swing. I basically just change his diaper when he wakes up, get LOTS of super-cute smiles, nurse him, and then put him back in his crib/swing when he falls asleep on me. Newborns are so easy ;)

Needless to say, what a WONDERFUL turn of events this has been! I'm not sure what to attribute it to, or how long it will last, but I'm enjoying every minute of it for the time being. And he especially likes his swing now that Aunt Ca enlightened me to the fact that there are two recline positions (and unknowingly I've always had it in the more upright position, including all the months that Kyle used it).

Speaking of Kyle, he's having a sleepover at his cousins until tomorrow. So I've had a VERY productive day today. These last few days have definitely been the best/easiest since Luke was born...hopefully they continue!

Kyle and Luke's First "Photo Shoot"

Today, after taking Luke's weekly (6 week!) photo, I was feeling ambitious and decided to try to get a "formal" picture of both boys together. Kyle LOVED the photo shoot!! Having Luke perched on his lap for the first time was quite a thrill for him. And Luke was surprisingly smiley too. Of course things went downhill quickly, but I got a few cute ones.

And yes, Luke is 6 weeks old today. These 6 weeks have been incredibly difficult on so many levels, to say the least. But it feels good to have 6 of the toughest weeks under my belt. He is now pretty consistently doing one 4-5 hour stretch of sleep per night, followed by a few 2ish hour stretches. So I'm getting a little more sleep these days, and I'd be getting a lot more if it didn't take me so darn long to fall asleep each time.

Currently the most frustrating/exhausting thing on the Luke front is just the hours and hours spent each day rocking/nursing him, trying to get him to sleep. And stay asleep! He'll nap for 10 to 20 minutes, but then wakes up for some unknown reason...SOOO frustrating! I don't think he's taken a noteworthy nap since his 3+ hour nap during Kyle's birthday party! Hopefully he'll figure it out soon, because it's become quite challenging for me to just do the basics each day (i.e. eat, shower, etc). But he's such a sweet/smiley little boy (just like his brother) and I love him to pieces!