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.

Playdate with Nonnie

Kyle had a great "playdate" today with Nonnie. After playing at the house for a little while, we went to the playground (where we had a surprise visit from Grammy on her way home from the gym). As you can see, Kyle LOVED going down the slide. And lucky for me he finally figured out how to climb the steps to the top, so that I don't have to lift him up each time...I credit Aunt Ca's rigorous stair climbing "boot camp" for this accomplishment.


And it was only a matter of time before his eyes caught sight of the swings. Despite his very serious facial expressions, he absolutely LOVES swinging. But it's not usually a pretty scene when the swinging has to come to an end (flailing temper tantrum). Fortunately, Nonnie wanted to push him so I was able to veg out on a picnic table in the shade. And amazingly, he didn't flip out when it was time to go...I think he was on extra good behavior for Nonnie, or "Nun" as he calls her. Thanks for a great visit Nonnie!

Fun in Tewksbury

Kyle and I had a fun visit up in Tewksbury yesterday with Nonnie, Auntie Jayne, Uncle Mike and Great Grampy. After a very cautious start to the visit (where it took Kyle about 5 minutes to muster up enough courage to "climb" the 1/2 inch threshold from Great Grampy's driveway to porch), we had a wonderful meal at Great Grampy's country club. The weather was PERFECT, so we ate outside, which made Kyle a very happy little boy because he could watch people golfing, and more importantly watch all the golf carts drive by. He even got to go for a quick ride on a golf cart with Auntie Jayne (along with the guy who was parking them)...that was quite a thrill! And he loved watching the fish in the pond with Nonnie and Auntie Jayne.

The only low point of the meal came when Kyle became very frustrated that he couldn't get the wheels on his toy truck to spin so he angrily launched it across the table, knocking over a glass of water, which landed on Great Grampy's lap and then shattered on the patio. Whoops!

After dinner, Kyle enjoyed a walk in his stroller with Nonnie and Auntie Jayne. He also liked checking out Great Grampy's new car (which of course had everything that Kyle looks for in a car...license plate, taillights, wheels, etc). Kyle really enjoyed his visit with the Ruggiero side of the family! Oh, and this was Kyle's first long car ride since I had his car seat turned to the forward-facing position last week...he did pretty well on the ride up (was very mesmerized by his video), but not so well on the way home (although it was past his bedtime which may have had something to do with his fussiness). I'm hoping that being forward-facing will make him a much happier passenger going forward (pardon the pun).

Visit with Nonnie

Kyle had a great visit with Nonnie today! He was especially excited to show her his new issue of Car & Driver magazine, demanding that she identify every car/truck that he pointed to (and getting very frustrated if she dared to speak to anyone else during this "interrogation"!). He seemed quite satisfied with her knowledge of cars and their various parts. And as much as he enjoyed the visit, he also enjoyed watching her car drive away (as he doesn't get to see many cars "in action", living at the end of a dead-end street these days)...let's hope Nonnie's AC worked well on the drive home!

School Boy

Kyle had lots of fun today surprising Nonnie with a visit at her school! He was very "official" with his visitors badge and enjoyed all of the commotion that the end of the school day brought. It was probably the most people/activity he's ever seen at one time, but he wasn't at all overwhelmed by it. At one point, he ran out of Nonnie's classroom and joined the sea of kids heading down the hall, trudging along like he belonged...very cute.

And he LOVED going outside and watching all the school buses drive by...he probably saw about 15 total, up close and personal, and was in school bus heaven. Nonnie's arms are going to be very sore tomorrow though, because she impressively held all 30 lbs of him for about 15 minutes straight when the buses were driving by...my arms get tired after about a minute of holding him!

And of course he enjoyed his favorite parking lot activity of pointing out wheels, license plates, taillights, etc on random parked cars. But I think his favorite part of the day was just hanging out with Nonnie (and seeing/meeting all of her nice teacher friends). He should sleep well tonight!

Big Boy Bath!!

So after 17 months of baths on the kitchen counter in his infant tub, Kyle has finally graduated to the big boy bath!! I realize that we should have made this transition about 6 months ago, but we had such a quick/easy/happy routine down that we weren't very motivated to mess with it. But he has DEFINITELY outgrown the "counter tub", so it was time. He's now had two baths in the big tub and seems to enjoy splashing around in the extra space.

Perhaps another driver in making this change is the fact that he gained a whopping 1.5 lbs this past month!! He weighed 26 lbs 15 oz on his 16 month birthday, and 28 lbs 8 oz when we weighed him Monday at 17 months. This seems like a pretty big jump for this age, but I'm not surprised because he literally feels heavier to me each and every day...picking him up is like lifting a ton of bricks! And he's also become quite the little beggar. We can no longer eat in front of him without him begging for some. Like tonight, he ate a good portion of my black bean and tofu burrito. I'm happy he's a good eater, but I do miss the days of being able to snack on the couch in peace.