Making Gains

Joergen had his first doctor's appointment this morning, and we were so happy to learn that he has already gained back (and exceeded) his birth weight! He has been a great little eater and even had a couple of 3-hour stretches between feedings last night, which was a nice little gift to Mommy. We also had a great visit yesterday from Saint Suzanne, who took such good care of us when Liam was born. It was so nice to have her back! We have been keeping Liam's schedule as normal as possible, so he's been spending his days at Miss Doreen's this week while we are home with Joergen... and dare I say, it has been kind of relaxing! Daddy is off work all this week, and we've been really enjoying spending this time getting to know our new little guy. So far, Joergen has been a pretty chilled-out baby. But there are definitely some things we had forgotten about, such as...

• the number of diapers a newborn goes through. Geez!


• how much a baby sleeps (SO not complaining about this one)


• how many clothing changes are required on a daily basis, and


• how much babies hate to be naked

Liam continues to be an awesome big brother. I can't believe how different he seems to me now that Joergen has arrived! He just seems so... big! Somewhere in the last two years, I must have missed the part where he changed from "baby" to "big boy", but I find myself just watching him in amazement at the sweet, funny, independent child he has become. And I love that all week, he has come running through the door and up the steps yelling "Joergen!", just excited to see him and have a chance to hold him!

This morning, Liam learned the word "gentle", which he was practicing (or at least trying to, anyway) by pushing Joergen in his swing: Looking forward to having both boys together all weekend-- should at least make things interesting!

Home!

Joergen and Mommy were discharged from the hospital today and were definitely feeling ready to come home!

The guy who wheeled us out of the maternity wing was kind enough to snap a photo for us:

What a difference this homecoming was... Joergen slept the entire time and was not fazed a bit. When we got home, he just continued to sleep soundly in his carseat while we grabbed some lunch.

Liam got home from Miss Doreen's a couple of hours later and couldn't wait to come see his little brother. He was happy to see that all of Joergen's wrist and ankle bands had been removed-- he called them "boo-boos", and they made him sad. Peeking into Joergen's bassinet:

Liam of course wanted to hold him, so we sat down (after a serious handwash!) and he got to take his turn. Be still my heart!! What could be better than this?!

After unsuccessfully trying to get me to leave Joergen with him unattended (seriously-- he tried to kick me out!), Liam settled for joining his little brother for a "nap". I spot a faker!!

It's so great to all be under one roof!

It's a Boy!

It's the second time we've used this title for a blog entry, and we couldn't be more excited to introduce our little Joergen Timothy to you all!

So I finished my last day of work Friday and was feeling good-- "certain" I would have plenty of time over the next few days to rest up and prepare for Baby 2's arrival! Baby 2, however, clearly had other plans. Around 10:30 pm, I started irregular contractions and assumed they were more Braxton-Hicks... but by 11:30, although still irregular, they were getting so painful that I knew something was up. I woke up Anthony, called my BFF Jen to come over to stay with Liam, and contacted my doctor. We left the house around midnight, and by the time we pulled into the parking garage at the hospital at 12:20 am, contractions were less than 3 minutes apart and I could no longer talk through them. Short story shorter, we heard the words, "It's a boy!" just a few contractions and one push later!

6 pounds, 15 ounces, 20.5 inches, and an awesome mop of dark, dark hair. Love at first sight!

Joergen is named after Daddy's Danish grandpa, pronounced just like Jordan only with a hard "g" in place of the d. His middle name is after his godfather, Uncle Tim.

A very proud papa (and my awesome labor coach!) holding Joergen for the first time:

Introducing Joergen to big brother Liam later that morning. Talk about a moment Daddy and I will never, ever forget. Liam's eyes were as big as saucers, and he just couldn't stop smiling and whispering, "baaaay-beee!" with the sweetest, quietest sense of awe.

Daddy showing Liam how to hold his little brother:

Peaceful and content:

Grandpa's 60th birthday weekend getaway in Baltimore with Nana was cut short (seriously, who would have thought I'd go early?!) so they could come meet their newest grandson. Sorry, Grandpa! We'll make up that celebration with you this summer, we promise!

Joergen's arrival and the recent news that Uncle Tim and Aunt Jackie will be having a boy in early August means that Nana and Grandpa will have gained 3 new grandsons in just 9 short months. Can only imagine what kind of trouble Augustin, Joergen, and Baby Boy G-willie will get themselves into together...!

A proud, tired, and very happy mommy with her awesome little boys:

So very grateful for our family, friends, and good health!

Our Little Helper

Despite the leprechaun grin on St. Patrick's Day...



...Liam really has been quite the little helper around here! We have been busy with final preparations for the baby's arrival, and Liam has been excited to be in the action. He's been painting:



and measuring (he now carries around his own little tape measure-- he loves to "measure" every surface and pretend to count out how many inches it is!):



and hammering (his knee? Not sure what he was going for... but we have definitely retired the big hammer in favor of his little plastic Handy Manny hammer, "Pat". Much less risk of damage!):



Daddy has been awesome about teaching Liam all about tools and giving him little ways to "help" with all his projects around the house. It's funny to see the sense of importance it gives the little guy! I also think it has helped him with understanding that there will soon be a baby living with us. He even gave the baby all of his furniture (and got new big-boy furniture for his room), and will walk into the nursery and say "Shhhh! Baby sleep!"

Helping is not all about tools, though, as he has taken a recent interest in helping to unload the dishwasher. His "job" is to put away all the utensils, and considering he can barely see into the drawer, he does a pretty impressive job! Believe me, I tried to help him, but he led me by the hand to the other side of the room and told me to "stay" so he could do it himSELF, thankyouverymuch.



I have just over a week to go until my due date, but doc thinks he or she could be here any day. I had my first Braxton-Hicks contractions in the past week and am definitely not looking forward to the real thing (but very much looking forward to a sweet little baby on the other side!)

Silliness

One of the things I love most about this age is the complete and utter inexplicable silliness that comes along with it.


Obviously it would be fun to take off all clothes and insist on being carried around in a laundry basket!


Since this pic probably doesn't make sense, it's a photo of Liam taking the stickers from his birthday card from Uncle Tim and Aunt Jackie and putting them on my face while I tried to rest a little after a long day at work.

Randomness at its best! How I'd love to understand the inner-workings of his little mind...

Overheard

Daddy: Liam, do you want to have a brother or a sister?

Liam: Both!

(Mommy thinking: Nooooo!)

_________________________

Ash Wednesday morning, 6:30 am

Quiet noises coming from Liam's room. Mommy in bed thinking, Is he awake? What is he doing?

Mommy cracks open the door to Liam's room to find Liam looking at his Irish counting book

where page 1 is "1 St. Patrick". In the picture, St. Patrick looks a little like this:

So Liam is sitting in his bed, looking at the picture of St. Patrick, and singing the Alleluia that our church folk choir sings for the Gospel Acclamation! "Ale-ale-ale... luuuuia"

Must catch this on tape...

2 part II

Some highlights from Liam's 2nd Birthday...


Liam woke up early and was excited to get the day started. This picture pretty much sums it up!



Yes, Mickey ("Douse") and Nemo ("Melmo") are his current faves!

After a fun day with his friends, Liam brought home a special present from Miss Doreen: Mr. Potato Head with all the fixin's! This kept him completely engrossed for at least 20 minutes while Mommy made dinner :)



After dinner, Liam opened some presents. An awesome birthday train from Grandma and Papa, who also sent him some cool new jammies (which Liam tried to put on immediately!)...



An inflatable horse (donkey? What is that?!), which Liam has named "Deuce", from Aunt Vicki and Uncle Dick. This thing is pretty cool, and Liam loves it (he may or may not have run out of the bath on Tuesday, jumped on Deuce totally naked, and bounced his way down the hallway... he has also covered Deuce with a blanket and insisted that he sleep next to his crib for the last two nights!)



A new Cars potty from Mommy and Daddy, which he has actually used but we will spare you the pictures of!



Before bed, Liam did some reading from his new Nemo book, in which he is the star! (PS- check out the new carpet!)



I only caught the end of this, but here is a quick clip of Liam trying to sing along with Nana and Grandpa when they called to wish him a happy birthday:



I took Liam in for his 24-month check-up this morning, and although we got stuck with good ol' Dr. Dinosaur (hadn't seen him in almost exactly 2 years, which was not a bad thing!), he had a good appointment and took his shots like a champ. He has hit the 3-foot mark in height and weighs 33 lbs, 85th and 95th percentiles respectively. So grateful for good health! Since all of Liam's 2-year molars have come in, we're going to start thinking about getting him off to his first dentist appointment, too. He's growing so fast... and will be a big brother before we know it!