11/29/2009=4 months old!

I'm so behind on these posts, it's ridiculous!

But, here we are at 4 months! One of the big reasons that I've not posted in over a month is that we seem to be getting very little sleep here in the Simpson household. It seems that the little guy has decided to awaken frequently during the night. Yes, where once he slept from 7:30 to 5:30, his longest stretch now is, and this is if I'm lucky, 3 hours. And naps? Don't make me laugh! I wouldn't even begin to call what he does during the day that's sleep-related a "nap." Nope! I would refer to it as a hiatus. He will take a hiatus for 30 minutes every hour or so. So, I spend my afternoons rocking this big-ball-of-a-kid. Seriously, that's what I'm doing every afternoon. So, if you call and I don't answer, I'm on the rocking chair.

If this kid weren't so darn sweet, I'm positive that I would have sold him by now. He's has the best disposition, even if he's only operating on less than 2 hours of day-time sleep (he should be getting 4-6 hours of sleep during the day). So, my blog time and any personal time that I was getting in the past is now gone, gone, gone.

We do have some stats for you. This guy weighs over 18lbs!! At 4 months!! That puts him in the 95% for weight. He's in the 90% for height, too, although I don't have the exact figure for you now. And I'm not interested in wasting my coveted 30 minutes of no-kid time to go look for the paper on which I have his measurement written. Take my word for it: The kid's big.

Have I mentioned how sweet he is? I get comments and compliments all the time on his disposition. Annnnnd, he's rolled over several times, although I've yet to capture it on video.

That's about all I have for now. Gonna use the rest of my 30 minutes to do something productive...like, maybe, shower. Hubby'll appreciate that.

10/29/09=3 months

He's 3-months-old! I don't know specifics regarding his weight and height...I'll know those at the beginning of December. What I can tell you, though, is that he is a big boy! Someone asked the other day, "What is he? About 6-months-old?" People seemed shocked when I say that he's only 3-months-old. "ONLY 3-MONTHS-OLD?", they ask. To which I always reply, "Yep, he's a big boy!"

Andrew is the sweetest baby! I can't say enough good things about him! Several nights ago, he slept from 7:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m., God love 'em! I felt so refreshed. Of course the next night he negated all that with waking every 2 hours.

Anyway, here are some very recent pics of the little, er, big guy. Enjoy!

El Dia de los Muertos

Man, oh, man was I awesome this Halloween!

Ok, so Brian and I hit the usual Halloween stores to buy Jacob a costume. All the costumes were so....um...commercial(?). Is that the right word? They just didn't appeal to me. So, I decided to make Jacob's costume this year....I made this thing while in the throes of strep throat (I should win Mother-of-the-Year just for that)...stayed up past 11...(and I have to tell you, if I do say so myself, I did an awesome job!) What was he, you ask? Wait no longer:

Genius!! I'm not the crafty type, so I'm pretty proud of my work!

Andrew was a cow....but I don't have those pics available just yet. I will devote an entire blog to his first Halloween (it's only fair).

Anyway, we went trick-or-treating with Sara, Kelly (who, by-the-way, are now ENGAGED!!) and Mason and I have to say that I was sorely disappointed with the loot that my kid got. There were waaaaaay too many Twizzlers and waaaaay too few Reese's Cups. Where I come from, Reese's Cups are a Halloween staple, not Twizzlers. I mean, it's only going to be a few more years of this trick-or-treating business where Brian and I can eat the candy. So, I'll keep my fingers crossed for next year.

As a side note, Mason seemed to think, initially, that Jacob's costume was irrelevant. However, after witnessing all the attention Jacob's costume got, at the end of the night, Mason said to me, "I wish I was a Chick Magnet." Sorry, kid...not all parents can have awesome Halloween costume ideas like me.

Your thoughts, exactly.

Several weeks ago, I had a conversation with my 6-year-old nephew, Mason, about the fact that I am a vegetarian and that I'm raising Jacob to be a vegetarian, as well. After a lot of "why" questions, typical of his age, Mason looked at me quizzically and asked, "Why are you doing that to him?" Hilarious!!!

9/29/09=2 months old!

I had every intention of getting this post in sooner but I seem to continue to have computer issues. First, my computer becomes kaput and then Brian's power cord runs amok. So, here I am, several weeks later with this, my first of the monthly Andrew stats and updates.

Have I mentioned what a wonderfully sweet baby Andrew is? It's very hard not to compare your children to other children, much less your own children. I say this because Andrew, so far, couldn't be more different than his brother. Where Jacob required lots of bouncing on a red exercise ball to calm his crying, Andrew just needs to sleep or be fed. Where Jacob demanded constant attention and movement, Andrew is content to sit in his little rocker or swing and watch the world go by.

Where Jacob was difficult, Andrew is easy. And that's ok. I don't begrudge Jacob his intensity. I do enjoy it. He reminds me of an unrefined, unpolished Brian. And I like that. Andrew, though, has made what could be a very frustrating situation (a toddler and an infant) actually very pleasant. He's been an absolute joy.

So, here's my little mellow yellow on his 2-month birthday.

--He weighs a whopping 15lbs 6oz, placing him in the 95% for his weight. (Only weighed 10lbs 12oz 6 weeks earlier!)

--He measures 24 1/2 inches, placing him in the 90-95% for height. (Grew 2 3/4 inches in 6 weeks.)

--He's in size 2 diapers and will go up to size 3 by the next diaper buy. He wears 3-6 month clothing and has slept for up to 8 hours on a couple of occasions. Mainly, though, he sleeps in 6 hour increments. He smiles and coos and gurgles all the time, except for when he's being recorded.

--He still isn't photographing well, a trait he inherited from his father, but he is so adorable!

Here's his 1-month post:

Andrew gained over 2lbs in 2 weeks, up from 8lbs 11oz to 10lbs 12oz. His height is 21 3/4 inches.

--He's wearing size 2 diapers and is sleeping well...between 4-5 hours at night. He enjoys being held and rocked but doesn't demand these comforts. The best way to describe him at this point is content.

--Jacob enjoys giving him kwess (kisses) and hugs and will tell me how nice he's being to Andrew. So far, so good between the brothers.

I intend to continue on with these monthly posts. I find it hard to believe that it's closing in on a 3-month post. Times a'flyin'.

Whatta Weekend!

Lots to blog about from the weekend, so let's get started.

The weekend kicked off with a trip to the Transportation Museum to spend "A Day Out With Thomas." For those of you who don't have a train-obsessed 2-year-old, Thomas is the "Very Useful Engine" of Thomas the Train. The "Day Out With Thomas" consisted of a not-worth-the -money train ride,a tantrum-y toddler and a sweaty conductor who kept touching my 8-week-old's hands. The trip was educational, though, in that I've learned not to participate in another "A Day Out With Thomas" event.

The trip was worth it for Brian, though, because we stopped in Lexington, NC to dine at some po-dunk BBQ restaurant. He dined on BBQ, of course, and some slaw that had the appearance of raw hamburger meat. We spent much of that visit conversing with the waitress who was all-too forthcoming about her kid with apraxia (google it). Anyway, this woman had been ridden hard and put up wet, for she was only 2 years older than Brian and me but appeared to be in her early to mid-40's. But don't worry...per Brian, it was some good eatin'! Yee-Haw! Can't wait to head back to Lexington, NC at the end of October for the BBQ festival. Just can't wait!!

When we returned home, who should be waiting for us but Grandad and GrandPaula! Our days were spent running up and down the stairs, taking walks, rockin' in the recliner and playing with the trains on Jacob's train table. And, most importantly, Andrew chose to be a little bit more photogenic this weekend. Way-to-go, Andrew!

Jacob went to the movies for the first time this weekend. Can you guess the flick? Freakin' Thomas the Train. He was transfixed for the first 20 minutes of the movies; refused all offers of canny (candy), popcen (popcorn) and lemonyade (Sprite--you were thinking Lemonade, weren't ya? Fooled you! Anything other than milk and water is "lemonyade"). After that, he spent time waving at Grandad and GrandPaula, walking up and down our aisle, squealing and drinking his Sprite. He even pulled out the big guns and did his loud, fake laughing. Fortunately, there was only 1 other family in the theatre. Their kid made several loud sounds during the movie, too. It got to be kinda annoying so I shushed him and gave his parents dirty looks. Kid's gotta learn.So, that was our fun-filled weekend....We've got much to see and do in October...stay tuned!

Beach

We packed up the car and headed for the coast this past weekend. Don't most kids sleep in the car? Not mine. Both didn't fall asleep until we were 10 minutes away from our destination. Seriously. It's a 3 1/2 hour trip and they fell asleep after 3 hours and 20 minutes. So, it didn't make for a very pleasant arrival for Jacob. He said his tearful, tired hello's and then headed off to bed. Andrew's lack of a nap paid off for me, though. He slept from 9:30 that night until 6 the next morning! Woo-Hoo. 8 1/2 hours of uninterrupted sleep...glorious!


We celebrated Bart's birthday. He turned the big 5-1. Brian got to gorge himself on deep-fried seafood and Jacob got to enjoy carrot cake, doughnuts and mint chocolate ice cream. Neither of them gets these delectables very often so needless to say they ate enough to last them for some time. I learned that Texas Pete Chili doesn't have meat in it, so I had two awesome chili dogs. Yum! Andrew? He didn't get anything special to dine on this time...but soon enough.....Oh, upon seeing Andrew, my Grandmother described him as "thick." I suppose that's a pretty accurate description.
Jacob enjoyed himself playing with truck, cars and trains. Big surprise, huh? We planned to surprise him with the electric train set that Grandma and Grandpa had. It blows smoke and makes noises. I tell you, I expected the kid's heart to burst out of his chest.It didn't. Why? Because after Brian and Bart finally got the thing put together, complete with a hurried trip to the store for some C batteries, the thing went around the track once and then broke. Yep. It broke. Wouldn't go no mo. So, Jacob spent the rest of the weekend manually moving the train around the track. How devastating!
Jacob still isn't sure about the beach. He was more amenable to it this trip than in previous trips but he still isn't ready for the all out sand-in-your-pants romp in the ocean. Someday.


The trip home? More of the same. I swear these 2 didn't fall asleep until we were in Greensboro. Weird. Oh, well. Jacob and I did have fun goofing off in the backseat while Andrew squawked. Good times.

Happy Children?

I was recently asked by a family member if I had any happy children, in light of the recent pics of my children crying. The answer is an unequivocal maybe.

I say "maybe" because Andrew is only beginning to express pleasure. Mostly, he still has the deer-in-the-headlights look about him when I attempt to photo him.

This is a pic of Jacob on his first day of school: