We have been busy getting in the groove with Seth and Evan! Evan is now five weeks old, and Seth is 33 months old!! We were just talking about how quickly we progress from counting our little ones' ages in days to weeks and then months and then years. Well, we'd like to slow everything down a bit because we are having so much fun with our two little guys!

Evan and I spent the first few weeks of his life inside the house due to the terrible weather we had! So much snow, cold and ice that I definitely didn't want to take Evan outside. It felt good to just snuggle inside the house and focus on nursing, sleeping, and cuddling. Seth spent the first three weeks after our moms went home at daycare full-time. He loves daycare, and he definitely needed the physical activity and stimulation since we were otherwise inside the house. Jason would take Seth to daycare on the way to work and pick him up on the way home (it's so nice our daycare is right on campus, and they can just walk over there). This gave Evan and I lots of time to bond and nurse and sleep! When Seth came home, I had much more energy to spend time with him. We were all always so excited to see each other. Seth has continued to be such a fabulous big brother, always running right over to "Baby Evan" (what he calls Evan now, never just Evan) to give him a hug and kiss. Seth has this cute way of saying "Hi Baby Evan, hi" that melts our hearts!

Starting this week, Seth is going to daycare just in the mornings. This will be the plan for the rest of the school year. It gives him time to see his friends and have social time, but then Jason brings him home after lunch. I am getting in the swing of being with both boys on my own - Seth is very patient if I need to nurse Evan while we are playing. We have some time to play before I put Seth down for his nap. Recently at daycare, Seth has not really been napping. We don't want him to give up his nap yet! I think it is because the nap room at daycare has multiple kids in it, and in his bedroom it's just him! Yesterday at home, Seth did not nap, but today he is napping as I write. This is a good thing, because we definitely notice a difference when he does not take a nap!

As the weather warmed up (I know it's still winter, but it feels totally different), we ventured out more with Evan. We took him to the dining hall for the first time, and we've gone a few times since. Everyone from school was super excited to meet Evan, and Seth was happy to introduce his new baby brother. Seth likes us to still refer to him as a "little guy" as opposed to a big boy - we think this makes him feel that he is on the same level as Evan, which is totally understandable. He likes to say "I'm just a little guy, but I'm still Baby Evan's big brother!" We've taken Evan to one of my doctor's appointments, where he was a trooper. We've gone on a playdate with one of Seth's friends, and we also took the boys on our first family walk! It was very cute - Evan in his stroller and Seth in his stroller, with Seth alternating between strolling and wanting to get out and walk.

We also took Evan for his one month visit to the pediatrician, where everything went well. He has gained tons of weight - up from his birth weight of 7 pounds to 10 pounds 10 ounces! He is in the 77%ile for weight, which is awesome! He went from 19.5 inches to 21 inches, putting him in the 30%ile for height. Since our pediatrician felt that breastfeeding was definitely firmly established, we've started giving Evan one bottle of pumped breast milk each day so that we will be used to taking a bottle if necessary. He took the bottle like a champ - no problems! And we were also able to start with the pacifier as well, which has helped to calm him to sleep.

We are tired and happy. Lots of visits from the grandparents, and many friends are starting to come over to meet Evan. Everyone has been so generous with love, support, and gifts for Evan and Seth that we feel so grateful. In two weeks, school goes on a three week spring break, and though Jason usually has to work through spring break, he is going to take Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off each of the three weeks so that we can have some time to relax and take some day trips.

Jason posted the last few weeks of new pictures on our website, so definitely take a look. In closing, here's a list for both boys of some memories from the last few weeks:

Evan

• We love the way he crosses his little hands while he is nursing. When he is awake, he likes to move them around in these big, sweeping gestures.

• The tops of his earlobes, which were folder over when he was born, are starting to spring back into a more normal position. His ears are so cute - they still have lots of hair on them, very common for babies.

• He lost his umbilical stump after a couple weeks, and he is all healed from this and from his circumcision.

• He was born with a full-ish head of hair, though nowhere near as much hair as Seth was born with. It has started to fall out, so that now he has no hair on the top and a ring of hair around the back, kind of the Friar Tuck look. So cute.

• He is a great nurser, and there is nothing like that milk-drunk look when he finishes and tucks up his little legs.

• He likes to cluster feed in the middle of the night, just like Seth did.

• He loves to snuggle and loves to takes naps on us, though he is doing a good job taking naps swaddled in his playpen as well.

• He likes his baby swing for short periods of time.

• He likes to fall asleep on Jason in the Beco carrier.

• He is doing pretty well with tummy time, though he definitely is happier when we flip him back over.

• He is getting good at lifting his head up some on his own.

• When he is awake, he has these bright blue eyes - we are calling him "bright eyes" like my mom used to call me.

• He loves to track us with his eyes, and he is always very interested in what his big brother is doing!

• We love his little baby noises, breathing, and the way he lifts up his head and neck in his sleep just like Seth used to do - we coined this little move "horsey monkey" because it reminds us of the mannerisms of both animals.

Seth

• So many cute sayings:

  • "Let's make a deal" - he loves to negotiate with us
  • "Let me show YA" - very funny how he likes to say YA for You
  • "I have a good idea" - likes to take ownership of his ideas, like using the hose in the sink when we rinse his hands since he can't reach the faucet
  • "Then I realized..." - he uses this phrase appropriately!
  • "A lot of things!" - when asked what he's been doing
  • "Did you ever know/see that?" - when he asks you to remember something that you've told him

• The way he reverses phrases, like:

  • "Lead liner" for line leader
  • "Talkie-walkie" for walkie talkie

• When we ask him questions, he often says "No fanks (thanks)"

• He loves the dinnertime ritual of holding hands and saying "blessings on the meal... yay!" (tradition from Uncle Brian)

• He likes to reminisce with us about how he used to talk when he was a baby - like saying "mao" for cat and "milky" for milk

• He loves silly word-play games - he likes it when we do things like "Head, Shoulders, Knees and...Monkeys" and we take turns substituting silly words

• He likes to play games now, like Simon Says, Mother May I, guessing games, and more formal games that we have, especially his Dr. Seuss matching game

• He has definitely had a growth spurt lately - big appetite, and he is definitely heavier and taller

• He likes to practice counting to twenty - once he gets past ten, he likes to say things like "eleventeen, thirteen, fourteen, twenty-teen!"

• He has his favorite cartoon shows that we watch together, especially Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That, Curious George, and Super Why. He loves to talk about them, draw scenes from them, and pretend that we are all characters from the shows.

• He always want to be near Evan, and wants to hold him in the Boppy, up on his shoulder, play with him on his toy mat, etc. Though initially he wanted Evan to be able to grab items, he seems to understand now that Evan can't do these things yet. He repeats things we say to Evan like "it's okay, sweetie!"

• He has started talking about his favorite friends, and is a very accurate reporter about what happened at daycare, even if it involves something he shouldn't have done.

Life is so much fun!