Closer to 2.

Somebody hit the 21 month mark today! And that somebody has hair long enough for the world's most adorable pigtails now :)

Brooke seems so much older to me this month. And way, way bigger (imagine that, considering we have a child one-third her size hanging around now.) She's only 3 months away from being 2 years old, 3 months that I am certain are going to fly by. I know I haven't posted as much about this munchkin lately, but she'll have to learn to share the blog, along with all the rest of her stuff, from now on. Here's her monthly update:

~ I'd say the biggest and most obvious change to our little lady is her new status as Joe's big sister. Talk about the biggest adjustment of her short little life! While there are many times when she has to be patient and wait while we tend to him, she still gets an incredible amount of our attention right now. The boy sleeps like 18 hours a day, so she gets plenty of face-time. She has welcomed "Baby Joe" with open arms. She must be too young to realize that he's the reason she does miss out on our attention every so often; she doesn't seem to blame him or try to push him out of the way. She loves to help us do things in regards to Joe: get a diaper (even though we usually change him within arms' reach of the basket of diapers), bring him a pacifier, put on his hat, give him a bath, etc. And she really likes to hold him...for about 15 seconds and then she's "all done".

~ Brooke Mary is the proud owner of 3, count 'em, 3 new teeth. As of this week. 3 canines in 1 week = awesome. She's been getting up ridiculously early for the last week and I'm going to go ahead and blame her 3 new friends.
~ She asks herself questions and then answers them & tells herself she's correct. "Big one or little one? Big one, right!" Sometimes I'll start to answer her and then realize she's taking care of it all on her own. "Boy or girl? Girl, right!" Hilarious the first time I heard it.
~ She's starting to learn how to get dressed. She's much better at getting undressed, the first step towards successful potty training. She does struggle to get the pants over her feet sometimes, though...

~ Brooke has an incredible imagination. My most favorite example of this comes when she spends time "mixin' dinner" in her playroom with her fake food. Yesterday, she made me a "pizza" in a bowl, the contents of which were 2 cupcakes and a can of Coke. She also told me that it included "sugar and sprinkles". Clearly she knows her sugar-loving mother well. On today's menu: another pizza in a bowl made of a croissant, a red chili pepper, a can of sardines, and an orange hippo bath toy. Oh, and then she brought me some sprinkles for this one, too. It's little things like this that I hope I never forget.
~ Sometimes she pretends to sleep and will actually fake snore. She'll say "sweet dreams" and lay on the floor and start snoring. I think Elmo taught her this one.
~ We enrolled Brooke in 2 1-hour toddler classes down at the Rec. We're about 3 weeks in and this chica loves it! Less than half of the class is actually structured, it's mostly just a lot of playtime. But she's interacting with other kids her age, something she doesn't get enough of with a stay-at-home mom. She knows her 2 teachers' names, knows exactly which room is the classroom, and knows what comes next during the structured part of the class. I'm so glad she is enjoying this, as it's dirt cheap and a great way to ease her into a real preschool class in a couple years.
~ This little lady of ours has become quite the songbird. She sings all day long! She has an ever-growing list of songs that she knows (meaning she has at least 75% of the words down.) The current list: ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Wheels on the Bus, the Bumblebee song, and the Sesame Street Theme Song. Her favorite part of her toddler class is when we all sit in a circle and just sing songs. And even though she's one of the youngest in the class (age range is 18 months to 3 years), she's probably the loudest singer. In fact, she's one of the few kids that actually sings at all. She doesn't just sing; she puts on a performance, especially when it's her turn to pick a song. The other moms in the class laugh along with me as we watch the sass just pour on out of her.

This is the crazy toddler we live with. Adorable, sure, but still crazy.

Three Weeks.

Our beautiful little boy is 3 weeks old! Well, technically he was 3 weeks old yesterday, but I was a little too busy to get to the blog. Did I mention that I have two kids now?

Next Thursday, the little man will be a month old. WHAT?! That's ridiculous. I said it last week and I'll probably keep saying it - time is zoomin' on by with this kiddo! I swear I just pushed him out yesterday. I don't know how time keeps escaping us (maybe it's the two kids thing again.)

So what's new in the World of Joe? Not a whole lot.

~ He's sleeping like a champion. He usually goes about 4-6 hours between feedings at night, then another 4-5 hour stretch after that. He naps on and off during the day.
~ Joe loves to sleep on his belly. Loves with a capital "L". I wish it weren't so taboo to put him to sleep on his stomach overnight because I bet he would sleep even longer if I did. But that doesn't mean the boy can't nap that way!
~ He has now rolled over from his belly to his back twice during tummy time. He just gets himself up on his side and then the weight of his head just pulls him on over. I realize it doesn't really count as officially rolling over. But luckily for him it gets him off his belly, which he still doesn't love when he's awake.
~ Joe took his first real bath this week. Hated it - even submerged in warm water, it was way too cold for my buddy. He had a terrible case of baby acne flare up this week (you can see the bright red rash all over his forehead and cheeks in the pics.) It was terribly sad to look at, though it didn't actually bother him. Because of it, we had to be careful with bathtime - not a lot of soap and no scrubbing!

~ He's still the world's most mellow baby...until after dinner. Like lots of newborns, he has very fussy evenings. We're talking 2-3 hours of major fussiness and cluster feedings (i.e. I feed him as often as he wants to try to soothe him.) It gets very old very fast. I'm not worried that it's colic; I remember going through the same thing with Brooke. At least it happens while the husband is home so I can have a break from the screaming and pacing and shhhhing for a few minutes. Of course, no one soothes a munchkin quite like Mommy so I'm taking the brunt of it.
~ A few more firsts this week: first trip to the zoo, first time downtown (celebrating Papa Dan's birthday at his office), and first Oktoberfest! (Yep, we took our baby to a beer festival. He's German, so it's perfectly acceptable. He had a great time and looked adorable all bundled up!)

2 Weeks!

First, let me get the cliches over with... I really can't believe Joe is already 2 weeks old! Time seems to be flying by, yet I swear it's like he's been our little man forever.

OK, now that that's out of the way, hooray for 2 weeks! Joe is just the calmest little kiddo, a lovely change from his very outgoing, very high-maintenance big sister. He spends most of the day sleeping, but also has long periods of alert time. He just looks all around to see what's going on.

He eats about every 2-3 hours during the day, stays awake about an hour, screams b/c he has a bellyache, then naps for a while. Repeat. He's a great eater, very efficient, keeping feedings under 15 minutes total. I don't let him go longer than 4 hours between feedings during the day, in an attempt to keep his days & nights in order. He seems to have figured it out a little bit, giving us long chunks of sleep throughout the night at times (5 to as many as 8 hours between feeds!) But he tends to start his "nights" a bit early and then is ready to start the day nice & early, too. This has resulted in Mommy going to bed at 9 to get a jump start on sleep (when I don't have too much to do) and letting Daddy hang out with him for a couple hours.

Our little man is such a big guy! He's been in size 1 diapers pretty much from the beginning (we went through the little pack of NB's they gave us at the hospital - that was it.) He also started out in size 3 month clothes, and some of those are getting small. He wore a 6M Polo sleeper yesterday...and it wasn't all that big on him. At least I have somewhat of an idea of how fast he'll grow (if he's anything like his sister) so I can plan ahead better this time around!

He has finally made some progress as far as diaper changes go, i.e. I've been peed on much less frequently this week than last. I swear, last week was like a circus in this house. His first few days home from the hospital were hilarious - we felt like the world's most inept parents. Talk about a big boy vs. girl adjustment! In true boy form, he would start peeing within seconds of his diaper being opened. No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't keep him from peeing on himself and everything else around him. (I may have used my hand to shield his face from the stream once or twice....that's love right there.) As soon as we finally figured out a way to prevent a complete outfit change with each diaper change, he stopped doing it. It's like he figured out how to control himself when the cold air hit him. I feel like a rebel now b/c I don't cover him up while I clean him. I fully realize the showers are nowhere near over (the pediatrician said he'll figure it out at about 4 months old) but at least I feel like less of an idiot this week.

That's about it, I guess. Once we get out of the sleep/eat/poop cycle, these updates might be more entertaining :)

More pictures for you - lots of firsts over the past 2 weeks!

First trip to the doctor. He enjoyed it about as much as Brooke always does. But he's the picture of health, so it was worth the torture to get his first A+.

 First shopping trip. Off to Target we went, looking for baby stuff of course!

 First time hanging outside! We stayed in the shade the whole time, but it was still bright enough to show off his cool shades :)

 First sponge bath! My little buddy wasn't such a fan. As I've said before, the boy hates to be cold! Thankfully, his umbilical cord stump has fallen off and his circ site has healed, so he'll be getting his first real bath tonight. Hopefully the warm water will keep him happier!

 First captured smile! Dreaming something sweet, I'm sure :)

Tummy time.

Our pediatrician emphasized one thing at Joe's appointment last week: tummy time, tummy time, tummy time. She pretty much yelled at us in advance, as if to scare us into doing it as often as possible. We've taken her words to heart and given our boy a healthy dose of the dreaded activity each day. Most of the time, it goes as expected - deafening screams until we pick him up. A few days ago, it ended a little differently...

That was the most exhausting thing he'd done all day. All 3 minutes of it. He was out cold after this for about 2 hours. Do you see how high he lifted himself up, though? Ridiculous for a 9-day-old. He inherited his sister's freakish neck strength.

Later that night, his big sister joined him during tummy time. You know, for moral support. In fact, at one point, all 4 of us were lying on the floor as we cheered him on.

Family tummy time...I love that this is my life now. Love.

One sweet week.

One week with our big man! And what a fantastic week it has been. Joe has made such a fabulous addition to our family. We've already adjusted to life as a family of 4, almost as if he's been around forever.

Joe is doing so, so well. He is the most mellow little guy. He really only cries if he's cold or if he has an upset tummy (unfortunately, he has the same belly issues his sister had.) Otherwise, he's just so chill. He loves to cuddle and just kind of melts into your arms/chest when you hold him. He doesn't mind hanging out on his own, though - time in the swing has been successful and he seems to love riding in his car seat.

He had his first pediatrician check-up today. He's perfectly healthy! Now, most infants lose a little weight in their first week...not my baby boy. He gained 3 ounces. He is now 10 lbs 5 oz, up from his birth weight of 10 lbs 2 oz...and up from 9 lbs 14 oz which was what they weighed him in at when he was 24 hours old. So, really, he gained 7 oz in 6 days! Holy moley! Looks like I have super-milk once again. Overall, he checked out great - not a single problem to report. The pediatrician was not at all surprised by his size or development...mostly because she's seen Brooke and knows we make giant babies. He will be seen again at 1 month, at which time I'm sure he'll be just as far off the charts as his big sister always was.

Speaking of Joe's big sister, Brooke has adjusted wonderfully to her new role. The novelty of having Baby Joe around all the time has not worn off...yet. When she wakes up in the morning, she can't wait to see him. She will be playing or eating and just randomly remember that he exists: "Where Baby Joe go?" If she sees a pacifier lying around, she instantly thinks he must need it and brings it to him, even if he's eating. (Side note: when Brooke sees me feeding him, she says he's "drinking milk from Mommy's belly". I haven't corrected her, and I'm not going to. It's much cuter this way!) So far she loves Baby Joe and hasn't asked to send him back :)

Mom & Dad are doing pretty good as well. We have each gotten a decent amount of sleep considering we have a newborn & a toddler in the house. The husband is back to work this week, and we miss him at home! He has been such an incredible help this past week. Despite all of his help and that of our family, there's a ton of stuff to get done with 2 kids! My recovery hasn't been as quick as it was with Brooke, mostly because I'm trying to do too much every day. In an attempt to get better faster (i.e. stop taking the pain meds), I'm forcing myself to sit and rest more. We'll see how long it takes.

Our little boy has already brought such an incredible amount of joy & excitement into our lives. He's just so precious, melting Mommy's heart every minute. 

More pictures and stories of life with 2 under 2 to come soon, I promise!

Blessed.

The Reeder family has a new little blessing to introduce you to.

Joseph Carson Reeder was born Tuesday night after only 13 hours of labor. This little man is already melting our hearts! His big sister thinks he's the bee's knees, always talking to and doting on "Baby Joe". He makes our little family feel complete. More pics to come :)

Forty-one.

I'm not doing a 41 week survey. I'm sick of doing them and you are likely sick of reading them. And, also, it's mega depressing to have to do one that says I'm a week overdue and still not close to going into labor. I keep saying that the husband and I must sound like complete lunatics because these babies listen to us for 9 months and then decide it's safer to just stay inside. I've been telling the baby that we're actually super fun and that it's much easier to stretch on the outside, but he/she isn't listening.

I've been wondering a lot of things this week. Like how long I'd really stay pregnant if inductions weren't available. When would I really go into labor? Would it be another week or two or even three? (Um, it's possible. I know.) I wonder if this induction will go better than the last, i.e. faster and easier, or if it will also take several days. I wonder if I'll be in a lot more pain this time, because I can honestly say it wasn't that bad the first time around (knock on wood).

The one thing I'm not wondering about is how I'll feel when this kiddo comes out and is introduced to me for the first time. I'm fairly certain I know the answer to that one. I'm beyond excited for this week and can't wait to finally have my family all together.

Oh, here's your weekly update: I'm still pregnant, I'm still contracting like it's my job, I'm still eating sugar like it's in short supply, and I'm still fielding stupid comments & getting stared at on a daily basis. I'm ready to have a baby, a beer, and a break from these head butts to the lady parts. (You're welcome.)

Still pregnant.

Yep, still pregnant. Super pregnant. This morning, Brooke walked out the door and said "Bye Big Mommy." She came up with that one all on her own, having never heard this before (well, unless somebody has nicknamed me "Big Mommy" behind my back...) So clearly I'm still bustin' at the seams here.

But not for too much longer! This time next week I will definitely be un-pregnant and Baby Reeder will have entered the world :)  I had an ultrasound today to check on him/her and make sure all is well inside this belly. After getting a clean bill of health, we decided the baby would be fine to stay inside through the weekend. So I have an induction scheduled for Tuesday morning (9 days overdue, in case you aren't counting like me.) It's likely going to take a long time again, as I'm going to have to start with at least one round of Cervadil before starting contractions with Pitocin. But everyone is hopeful that this one won't take nearly as long as Brooke's did since my body has been through it before. I'm predicting a September 7th birthday for our second born :)

Keep your fingers crossed for us!