Alexa is a FANTASTIC big sister! She says, "I want him" (translation: I want to hold Jack) a bunch of times each day and is actually getting quite good at being gentle with her baby brother. She showers him with kisses & hugs and "check on baby Jack" whenever she hears him cry. Alexa has not displayed any signs of jealousy over the amount of time we spend with Jack or even with my breastfeeding. We've had at least one playdate each week with Bobbi & Kyla and have still been going to Babytime at the library so that her schedule/routine isn't too disrupted. We even managed to go to the zoo for about an hour & a half this past week! Alexa's communication skills continue to thrive - she is speaking more clearly and with better sentence structure each day - and we're working on her gross motor functions, like running & jumping. As I watch her do other things (like using a spoon, she is getting pretty great at it), I'm amazed that she once was a 'helpless' as Jack is! I can hardly believe that we will be celebrating her 2nd birthday in about two weeks!!!
Newborn Jack is very different then newborn Alexa. He is a sweet boy who loves to cuddle, eats frequently, and has mixed up days & nights, lol. We love his big gorgeous blue eyes and are impressed with the neck/head control he is beginning to have. We went to the pediatrician this week and discovered that he now weighs 8 lbs 10 oz (a great 11 oz gain in 1 week!). While we were there we discussed with Dr. Jacob a few issues we've been having with Jack, mainly that he spits up after every feeding and when he cries he gets Angry! It's not that he cries more frequently than Alexa did, it's the severity of his cry :-/ We're tracking his behaviors because Dr. Jacob thinks he may have acid reflux. There were a few days earlier in the week when I about lost it because I couldn't take the crying/grunting (for him - he seems like he is in such pain) and the consequences (for the rest of us - Alexa was unintentionally being 'ignored' which makes me feel guilty)... but now that we've kept him upright as much as possible the temper tantrums, if you will, have been minimal and we're all a bit happier because of it. He is still spitting up after every feeding, so when I speak to the doctor next week she may prescribe infant Zantec (sp?) to see if that helps. We're gonna have to do some research before we give him anything though! Any information that any of you readers can pass along on this matter would be much appreciated.
Other than Jack's health concerns, things are truly going great! Sure we're tired, but we're happy :-) We enjoyed 2.5 weeks with Daddy [on vacation] and the kids & I survived our first 2 days without him (he returned to work on Thurs). We made our first trip to Perry as a family of four and Jack got to meet a ton of my extended family!! And we have accomplished my biggest goal of having alone time with each child each day. In my opinion, we are doing a pretty darn good job of balancing two children ♥ Who knows how we'll do when we eventually have four, lol :-)
As for me, minus being sleep deprived, I feel completely 'recovered' and wish I didn't have to wait three more weeks to be cleared to workout again! I've lost a little over 20 (of the 35) pounds I gained, and I cannot wait to lose the rest and to tone up. I miss ZUMBA like crazy!!
For your viewing pleasure - Here are some movies we've taken in the past three weeks:
I knew there was a reason that the only person I wanted to take care of Alexa while we were in the hospital was Noni... look how much fun they had making cupcakes together!
Jack's 1st Bath (at home)
We had a scripted banter towards the end of my pregnancy, in which I would say to Dan, "Guess what?" and he would respond with "Jack has the hiccups!" This happened every evening between 9 - 10 pm and it actually continued the first few days after Mister Man (what I've been calling Jack) was born!
Alexa learning how to interact with Jack.
Alexa being a cheerleader.
Jack attempting to roll over - not a bad go at it for a 5 day old!
"Koala music"
It is overwhelming (and redundant) for me to worry about posting pictures both on FacebookFB to share photos and the blog to communicate lengthy stories/updates as well as movies. I suggest that you frequently check my October 2010 album on FB for pictures (the captions will inform you of what is going on in the photo). Also, you can go to the Jack - Professional Pics album to view the photos that our awesome photographer, John Caputo, took when Jack was just 6 days old! We'll be doing a second session with John later in the month. Our goal of the first session was to mainly get just Jack pictures; ones in which he was sleeping and easily pose-able. The goal of the second session will be to get whole family photos, awake Jack pictures, and a few creative portraits too.
Common things you will hear Alexa shouting (amplified through a megaphone that a bank teller gave her) around the house these days: Go Bucks, TBDBITL, sousaphone player dots the i, drum major, Script Ohio, O-H-I-O, Brutus Buckeye, We're from Ohio, O-H-I-O Stadium, and Ohio Stadium home of the Buckeyes :-) On that note, I'll end this post with the newborn photos we had taken of both Alexa and Jack in the hospital. They are proudly on display in our OSU kitchen :-)
Until I have time to post again... GO BUCKS and Ciao.
