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!

5 Weeks!

Luke had his 1 month checkup yesterday and he's doing great. He's up to 11 lbs 10 oz, so he's gaining well (gained about 2.5 lbs over the last 4 wks). Hopefully this will soon lead to better sleeping at night!

Kyle's 2nd Birthday Party!

Kyle had lots of fun at his birthday party today! But similar to last year, the cake was his least favorite part of the party. Have you ever seen a 2 yr old so devastated by the sight of cake?! Despite Uncle Jon making the coolest "car cake" for him, Kyle wouldn't even take a bite. He did perk up a bit when he discovered that there was a picture of a car on his plate under the cake. Oh well, maybe next year he'll figure out that cake is yummy!

Unlike last year, Kyle now definitely "gets" the concept of presents. When he sees a gift bag or wrapped present, he wants at it IMMEDIATELY! So we hid his presents out on the porch until it was time to open them. And after he opened his first present, he promptly "knocked his knuckles" together signifying that he wanted more, more!

Amazingly, Luke slept for the entire party...I actually had to wake him up at the end so people could meet him! This was wonderfully liberating for me, because I feared that I'd be holed up in my room nursing him the whole time. This was one of his longest naps ever, coming off a night with his longest chunk of sleep ever (4.5 hrs). So hopefully this good sleeping trend continues!

Overall, it was a great day, despite the painful absence of the most important person in my life...these milestones and celebrations are all just so bittersweet without Jared here sharing them with us. But thanks to all of our wonderful friends and family for your important roles in our life and for making today so special.

One Month and Smiling!

Happy 2nd Birthday Kyle!

Welcome Luke!

This is a few weeks overdue, but Luke Jared Berube made a safe and healthy arrival on August 24th, measuring in at 9 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches. My labor and delivery were MUCH easier this time around...had my first contraction around 2am, went to the hospital a little after 10am (even though my contractions weren't that close together or regular, but they were long and intense), was 4cm when I arrived at the hospital, got an epidural around noon (instant relief!), and Luke was born at 2:15pm after less than 5 minutes of pushing! On the other hand, my labor with Kyle was 27 hrs and I pushed for an exhausting 2.5 hrs! My recovery with Luke was also much quicker than with Kyle...I felt almost back to normal physically after just a couple days. I guess Kyle did all the damage the first time around!

We're all doing as well as can be expected at this point. Kyle LOVES Luke and shows no signs of jealousy. He thinks he's funny (especially when he's crying!) and loves snuggling up to him. His gestures of affection can be a little rough though, so I have to watch him pretty closely. Kyle is going to be a great big brother...he already is!

And I'm doing pretty well, despite several weeks of sleep deprivation (Luke would much rather nurse all night than sleep). Needless to say, these last few weeks have been extremely bittersweet. There are just no words to describe how much I miss Jared, and the incredible void and sadness I feel without him here with us. It just feels so wrong and empty to be experiencing all of this without him. But I know he will live on through our boys, and I hope they grow up to be just like him...he's truly the best person I've ever known and I will never stop missing him and the life we had built together. But I am just so thankful that Luke is healthy, despite all the stress he endured in utero these last 6 months. I feel very blessed to have my two precious little boys.