"Baby Crying!"

I was enjoying catching up with my sister on the phone this afternoon when Luke started crying from his crib. Jack yelled, "Baby crying," as he trotted towards Luke's room. I quickly wrapped up my phone call and went into Luke's room, expecting to see Jack peering at Luke through the slats of the crib. That's not what I saw at all. First, there were blankets in the crib that I didn't put there. I can only guess that Jack tried to get Luke to stop crying by giving him a blanket first. Good strategy. Didn't work. So, Jack decided to get in and comfort the baby. As you can see from the photos, that didn't work either. Unfortunately, I am the only one in the family with the proper equipment to stop the baby from crying. But, how sweet is it that Jack tried?

I didn't say a word about Jack climbing into Luke's crib, but Jack decided all on his own that it is a very cool trick. I swear that while I nursed Luke, Jack must have climbed in and out of that crib ten times. He fell out once as he tried to climb out, and I couldn't do anything but laugh at his surprised expression. No tears. Jack doesn't cry when he knows he's done something that Mom told him not to do. (Sidestory: The other day Jack was standing on the kitchen chair. I told him to sit down. I doubt even thirty seconds passed before he fell off the chair. I chuckled on the inside when he just pretended nothing out of the ordinary had happened. He just got back up on the chair, but this time he sat down.) 

I'm not sure how to handle this latest development in our household. What do you do about the toddler who climbs into the crib with his brother? I'm open to suggestions! I've said it before, but I must say it again... it's never boring at our house anymore!

You have a lot to learn, brother.

First things first, this is a garbage truck. 

Do I look like my brother?

For those of you who have been asking me if Luke resembles Jack, here's pictures of the boys at about the same age. Jack is on the left. Luke is on the right. I'd say they look a lot alike. Poor little Luke has a lot more baby acne than Jack every had, but I'd say it's from all the lanolin I've been using. Jack may have been a little bit smaller than Luke, but it's hard to tell. Their noses and mouths look the same to me. The one thing I'm certain about is that both boys are loved by their mommy.

More Thanksgiving Pictures

A Captured Moment

If you asked Jack, he would tell you how wonderful his grandmother is. So would the rest of us, if asked, but this blog is about Jack and his brother. I'm not joking when I say that Jack wakes up asking if he is going to see his grandmother on any given day. Spending Thanksgiving with John's family yesterday, it was easy for me to see why Jack is so taken with Grandma Jane. 

She dances with him. Grandma has these little figurines that dance to Christmas music. They are cute, but Jack is cuter as he dances along. He was showing us his moves yesterday when he decided that Grandma should dance too. He ran to the kitchen to get her. When she danced, it made everything right in Jack's world. In toddler land, grandmas dance.  

She chases him. For several minutes and many trips around the house yesterday, Jack was happy that I was chasing him. Then he decided that it would be more fun if Grandma chased him. Grandma was busy in the kitchen, but she stopped what she was doing to chase Jack through the house. His giggles were just a little louder and a little more frequent when Grandma was chasing him than they had been while I was chasing him. 

She makes him delicious treats. I wouldn't know where to begin if someone asked me to make homemade whipped cream. Jane makes it every holiday to top some tasty dessert. (Yesterday it was pumpkin cheesecake... mmm!) Jack heard the mixer start up and went into the kitchen to investigate. The next thing I knew someone was telling me to get my camera. I'm so glad I did. I captured this moment between Jack and his beloved grandmother. I took 24 pictures of that moment before I decided I better rescue the rest of the whipped cream. 

Jack and Luke are lucky to have a sweet grandmother like Jane in their lives. Love for my boys twinkles in her eyes. It's no wonder that they are completely crazy about her (and so are the rest of us).

Making Connections

As a fifth grade teacher, one of the reading comprehension strategies that I taught kids was making connections to oneself, another text, or to something larger in the world. In the last couple of weeks I've been amazed to watch Jack begin making these connections at 21 months.

Jack loves picture books that have every photo labeled. I call them kiddie encyclopedias. Jack was recently thumbing through one of those books when he came to a photograph of an orange cat. He pointed at it and said, "Abra," which is the name of Grandma and Grandpa's foster kitty. Jack was making a text to self connection. He was telling me how that book related to his own life in a very basic way. I didn't think a whole lot of this event until the next event happened. We get lots of catalogs in the mail. We call this Jack's mail. He was looking through one of those catalogs when he came to a picture of Buzz Lightyear. Jack has never seen Toy Story, but he has a book that he calls Knock, Knock. When he came to the picture in the catalog, he said, "Knock, Knock." Jack connected one text to another.

I've always been interested in child development and so I've read lots and lots of books about the topic, yet I've never read anything about children at this age having comprehension strategies. I don't believe this is because Jack is the only child who makes these connections. I just think it's a neglected age group when talking about reading comprehension. I find it completely fascinating to see Jack turning into a reader. I feel as if all my years of education and educating now have more purpose because I am raising my own reader.

Sunday Funday for Jack

It was a beautiful day today. Unfortunately, since Luke is sick, I had to spend the entire day inside with him. Jack, on the other hand, got to go outside and play with his daddy's pile of leaves and his doggy. 

Luke- 2 Weeks

Yesterday marked the end of Luke's second week with us. It's difficult for me to believe that 15 days have already passed since the day he was born. I took Luke to the doctor on Thursday for his first appointment. I was shocked to learn that Luke not only regained his birth weight, which is the doctor's hope for two weeks, but he also gained a pound. Our growing boy weighed 8 pounds 3 ounces and measured 20 1/4 inches long.

Jack continues to adjust beautifully to life as a big brother. I'm so proud of him! I imagined that it would be incredibly difficult for Jack to understand that Mommy had another baby now too, but he has completely taken the change in stride. Extra attention from Grandma Jane and Daddy have helped Jack with the transition to big brother. 

I think I've been blessed with two "good babies". Jack was a cheerful, easy baby and Luke appears to have a similar disposition. Only hunger causes him to cry. If his tummy is full, he's probably asleep or possibly listening to all the commotion of Mommy and Daddy playing with Jack. 

Unfortunately, Luke caught a cold from Jack. His little nose is stuffed up and he has a little cough. It's sad to see such a little guy not feeling his best. Jack seems to be on the tail end of his sniffles, so hopefully Luke's cold won't last long either.

Airing Dirty Laundry

What does Jack do while I'm nursing Luke? He's content to read books for a while, but when he gets restless he tends to get a bit more creative. Take this photo for instance that I took with my cell phone. I don't mean to air dirty laundry clean underwear, but this is what Jack did this morning. That's my underwear drawer around Jack's neck, including Spanx on his head and socks on his hand. I swear it never gets dull around here. :-)

Daddy and Jack

Just two weeks ago, Jack would call my name from his crib when he was ready to get out. Over and over I'd hear, "Mommy, Mommy, Mom...my!" Since Luke's arrival, things have changed a little bit. Now I hear, "MommyDaddy, MommyDaddy, MommyDad...dy!" John has completely embraced this change in our lives. He spent the entire weekend with Jack. I think they'd both agree that the best part of their weekend was a trip to the zoo on Sunday. Jack had not been to the zoo since he was about six months old and too little to remember it. John came home with stories of Jack running excitedly through the zoo, climbing through tunnels for a closer look at the meerkats, and staring at the noisy flamingos. Luckily, John knew that the only thing that could ease the sting of not being able to go along would be pictures and videos to chronicle the event. Here's a peek at the fun my boys shared at the zoo. 

Growing Pains

For the most part, Luke's transition into our family has been pretty easy. Jack is doing better than I ever could have hoped with his new baby brother. But, I'd be lying if I told you that there have not been any growing pains. Take, for example, what happened to my toothbrush this morning. All moms know that once you're a mother, you never get to use the bathroom by yourself anymore. I saw Jack grab my toothbrush and run into the closet, but I was a few paces behind him. By the time I caught up with him, he had cleaned John's dirtiest boots with my toothbrush. Lovely. While the doctor was discharging me on Sunday, her orders were not to lift Jack and no exercise more vigorous than a brisk walk. I don't know what she would have thought of me sprinting down the hill and climbing over the fence one week postpartum in an effort to catch up with Jack who suddenly decided he'd like to try out the neighbor's trampoline. I think Jack likes the new and not-so-improved mother who came home from the hospital a little distracted by another baby. Her distraction makes it easier to rifle through the jewelry drawer that is totally off limits and pull Dad's computer from the nightstand. It seems that the words no and stop are easy to ignore when you know Mom can't get to you anyway. Growing pains only come after a growth spurt, and undoubtedly our family has been through one of those. Hopefully the growing pains are only painful for a little while. 

Newborn Photography

Since I delivered Luke at a different hospital than I delivered Jack, not everything was the same. One of the differences that I did not like was that Luke's hospital did not offer the newborn photography sessions that Jack's hospital did. So, I set out to take a few for myself. Here's the results.

Welcome, Luke!

Luke Marion Seaton joined our family on Friday, November 5, 2010 at 7:31 pm. He weighed 7 pounds 3 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. 

First photo with Mommy

First photo with Daddy

Jack stayed with his grandpa and grandma while I was in the hospital. They brought him to visit on Saturday morning. It was very sweet to watch Jack interact with his new brother. Jack spotted Luke as soon as he walked in the door, and his interest was piqued. He wanted to show me each of Luke's body parts. It was so cute when he started to look for Luke's feet. One foot was exposed while the other was not. Jack said, "More foot?" 

I was relieved that we have spent so much time talking with Jack about gentle touches because he certainly wanted to touch the baby. I really think that all the books that we've read recently about babies were quite helpful. I would suggest that to all of my friends who plan on adding to their families soon. This one as well as this one were especially helpful for us. John and I were also talking about how much it helped Jack to have a baby doll of his own for the last couple of months. 

First photo with Jack

First photo of our family of four

Proof that Luke has a dimple just like his big brother

By the time Sunday rolled around, Luke and I were more than ready to go home. John came to get us around 1:30. We spent the afternoon getting things around the house ready for a baby while we waited for Jack to come home too. Grandpa and Grandma brought him home and the fun really got started. Jack spotted the baby in his bouncy seat and ran over to take a closer look. He spent more time talking about Luke's eyes and nose and other parts and then he decided that he would rather just give Baby Luke lots of hugs. Talk about heartwarming! Pictures below :-). Grandma must have been busy this weekend between caring for Jack and cooking for us because she stocked our refrigerator with lots of yummy stuff. Thank you! 

Ready to go home from the hospital

A hug between brothers

Checking out Baby Luke with Grandma

Grandma and Grandpa with the boys

More hugs

Our family of four. Poor Luke!

A little happier

It's such a relief for many reasons that Luke has finally arrived. Of course I'm glad to not be pregnant any longer, but mostly I'm relieved because everything went better than I could have ever hoped. I worried about Jack feeling abandoned during my hospital stay, but he had the time of his life at his grandparents' house. I worried about how Jack would react to his brother. So far, he's showing only excitement although I know that could change as time goes on. Having Luke on Friday was great timing. Grandpa was able to help Grandma with Jack for the weekend. John was able to spend a lot of time with me and Luke at the hospital since it was the weekend. He also took time to take Jack to a car show on Saturday. Since he has Monday and Tuesday off too, I've got lots of help settling in. I'm definitely feeling like the luckiest woman in the world! Thank you to everyone for your Facebook messages and phone calls. It made this special event in our lives seem like an even bigger celebration.