3.5, 1.75, and Newborn

3.5 years, 1.75 years, and newborn... The ages of my kids... I am so thankful for each of them... And it's time for an update. 

James

- He is an extrovert and gets overly excited around people.  He loves Anna so much, but sometimes he tries to love her too much... He wants to open her eyes and put things in her hands.  He has good intentions overall, but I absolutely keep guard of her when he's around.  He loves to hold her (for about 30 seconds) and he loves to hug and kiss her.  He enjoys showing her off.  When people come over, he says "come, I want to show you my new baby sister." He talks to her and always wants to rock her (which can get out of hand) when she's in her rock n play.  Overall, he's a good big brother... He just doesn't quite understand how big he is and how little she is.

- James has been going to a play school three days a week since Anna was born.  It has been great for him to get out of the house and be with people - he loves it there and his teachers say he's wonderful.  He thrives with structure and activity and that's not exactly what I can easily provide taking care of three kids with one of them being a newborn.  I'm so glad that he has this opportunity to go to school.

- James says funny things... Our favorite now is when he is emptying something (like a cup) - he says "I'm filling it down." - In his mind, it's the logical opposite of filling it up.

- He likes to be more constructive than destructive these days.  He has been doing floor puzzles for over a year now, but he enjoys doing them alone now.  

- He has started to enjoy games.  We have Uno Moo, Snug as a Bug in a Rug, and The Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game... He really likes all of these.  It's a struggle sometimes to play then with Luke, but we are figuring it out.  

- He really enjoys learning about the alphabet.  He sings the song all the time and he knows most of his letters.  I'm trying to work with him on wiring them when I have one on one time with him... He loves it when we sit down and do "school" at home.

- James likes the water...a lot.  We went to the splash park for the first time with Ray over the weekend and he could have played forever.  He was the same way at the pool a few weeks ago when we went with a friend.  He really likes the baby pool in our yard too.

- James got to go to VBS for the first time last week!  He enjoyed it so much - he kept asking each day if he could go back to bible school.  I know he was a handful for the volunteers and I'm not sure how much he learned about Jesus, but I know he enjoyed it and I'm so glad that he's growing up in a church where people love on him and he has a great time as he learns the truth.

- Overall, I can see where James is growing in all areas.  It's hard for me to see this since I'm with him each day as he challenges me.  It sometimes feels like a battle.  But I'm trying my best to be consistent and remind myself that I'm in this for the long haul.

Luke 

- Luke is really funny these days.  He cracks me up with the quiet things that he does.  He usually doesn't try to draw attention to himself and he's the opposite of James in that he does not care for crowds.  He's cautious when it comes to new people.  He only has a handful of people that he's comfortable enough around to fully be himself.  I love that he's so different.

- Luke is so so sweet when it comes to Anna.  He's always quiet and gentle in his approach to her.  He will gently rock her if she's in her rock n play.  He will very gently hug and kiss her.  Most of the time, he just admires her when looking at her.  When I nurse Anna, he often comes and sits right beside me and brings books for me to read to him.  I love how he cuddles and likes to be close.  I'm still very cautious of leaving Luke and Anna alone together - I keep a close eye - but I'm not as afraid of Luke doing something to her as James.

- Luke has started talking a lot.  He says lots of two word phrases... mostly things that involve a color and a noun... "red car" or "blue ball."  He picked up on speaking much faster than James - probably because I talk so much more now than I did when James was little.  

- Even though Luke has a gentle spirit overall, he is in a destructive stage which often clashes with James.  Luke likes to knock down towers that James builds or puzzles that he's put together.  I find this stage somewhat frustrating.

- Luke loves to use his fork and spoon when he eats... He insists on using them sometimes.  He won't eat directly off his high chair tray... He insists on a plate.  We kept thinking he was saying "play" at meal times for a long time because he'd say "Pla!  Pla!" and he would cry and scream and refuse to eat.  But then we realized all the poor child wanted was a plate.  Once we realized that, he happily ate like a civilized man.

- Luke gets to stay home with me and Anna when James goes to school.  It's nice to have him at home with me.  Often times, I try to get things done around the house during this time and Luke happily entertains himself with all the toys - I think he enjoys the time without James around because he gets to be the big man in the house.

- Luke is in the stage where he gets frustrated because he can't say exactly what he wants to say and that makes this stage hard on me too.  But he's growing so much daily and he's so sweet that I can't stay irritated for long.

Anna 

- Anna is 3 weeks and 2 days old.  She weighs 9 pounds and 6 ounces as of this morning.

- This sweet girl has been the most amazing addition to our family.  She is so so so easy.  Even now at 3.5 weeks and staying awake a bit more during the day, she's easy.  If she's upset, it's easy to calm her by wearing her or nursing her.  Shes's been awake the whole time I've been writing tonight, but she's been happily nursing and just hanging out in my arms and on my chest.

- I love that she loves to be worn.  Luke fought it for the first several months.  Anna has never really complained and she typically falls asleep quickly.  I use a wrap or a ring sling to wear her these days.  I prefer the ring sling most times because it's so fast and easy and it's easy to get her out if I want to transition her to my chest or the rock n play.  

- She nurses a lot.  I don't keep track of it at all.  She nurses to eat and for comfort and I don't care how much she eats.  Since you can't overfeed a breastfed baby and more nursing means a better supply, I don't put limits on her at all.  She sleeps 3-4 hour stretches at night.  

- We swaddle her at night and she sleeps in the rock n play.  During the day, I don't swaddle her unless we are napping together in the afternoon because it makes her move less and we both sleep better that way.  Even if she's already peacefully sleeping in her rock n play at nap time, I pick her up and move her to sleep with me because I love cuddling with her - there's absolutely nothing like it. I love smelling her head and touching her soft hair.

- She made her first little coo sound this morning.  It was so precious.

- She is growing so fast and time is flying.  She can't fit in most newborn clothes anymore.  I'm so thankful she's doing so well.

As A Family...

- The boys share a room and go to bed at 7:30 or so each night.  They both nap daily from 1:00-4:00.  Anna and I usually nap during this time too.  People ask me "how do you handle three kids all day long?!"  My response - "Nap time!"

- We stay at home pretty much all day every day. It's just too much for me to try to take all three of them places solo.  I thought that this would drive me crazy... That I'd feel isolated and like I was on lockdown...but I haven't felt like that yet.  I plan to invite people over occasionally for play dates.  And soon I'll be able to start working out at the gym again.  And in the fall, MOPS and bible study will start back, so that will be wonderful.  

- When Ray is home on the weekends, we try to make the most of our time by having fun family time,  We have gone to the zoo, the splash park, and lots of extended family gatherings since Anna was born.

- Ray is my nighttime parenting hero.  Sometimes people think that dads can't help when the baby is breastfed... But Ray handles Anna's diaper changes and he also takes care of James or Luke if they happen to wake up in the middle of the night.  This helps so much.  We didn't think about this with James and I was so sleep deprived when he was a newborn.  Now, with Anna, I feel great.

- Our church is amazing and has been providing us 3 meals a week.  We will get these meals for a few more weeks.  It's an incredible blessing to only have to cook a few days a week compared to each night!  It helps the transition so much.

- Overall, moving from a family of 4 to a family of 5 has been so much easier than I had anticipated.  I thought it was going to be chaos and stressful.  But it has been easy overall and we are so thankful.