We putz along...

We've somewhat settled in to a routine at this point and while not as euphoric as we were in the beginning, the transition to 2 has been much easier than I expected (so far). There's been plenty of acting out by Henri, and lots of guilt about who gets attention, and of course the sleep deprivation, but all in all it's been smooth sailing. Hudson is not as easy going as Henri was, but I'm finding his triggers (basically, any time he's not eating or snuggling on mom is reason to freak out) and if they're avoided he's fine. His naps are unpredictable at this time, and his bedtime varies by about 2 hours, but he's been doing some nice stretches of 6-8 hours at night so that forgives a lot. I don't have any pictures of them, but he has periods each day of being very chatty and smiley and he looooves to look at his sister's face. Today we had a great tummy time session where he worked very hard to keep his head up for extended periods of time and he kept practicing so maybe he's outgrowing his slug phase.

As for Henrietta, she continues to be wonderful with him. She gives him kisses and hugs (we have to watch that she doesn't smother him) and finds it hysterical and fascinating that he breathes (I tried to explain that she did as well and she thinks I'm delusional). If he's crying she insists that one of us sing him a "happy song", and shows a lot of empathy if he's in distress. She also wants to help with all diaper changes and is my gopher when I'm stuck on the couch. Basically, she seems to have accepted that he's part of our life without question and I'm super grateful for that.

Everyone knows that the second barely gets photographed and we're no different. Actually, no one's really been photographed since my phone is out of memory and it's enough of a workout to get the kids out the door without remembering my camera. But here are a few (and they're deceptive; Hudson really doesn't sleep that much, it's just when I have hands free and can look at him):

We went to a friend's 1st birthday party. Henrietta's first and she loved it. Lots of fun activities for the kiddos and amazing food for the adults :)

Candy corn bowling. I'd actually just introduced H to the concept of bowling the day before and it was a big hit

My gorgeous boys. He loves his daddy!

I've decided he needs to be dressed as exclusively in orange as possible. It really brings out the red in his hair.

TV bribe time for the kiddos

So I said we were adjusting. I didn't say we were keeping an organized house. But I've managed to corral most of it in here...

He's been getting up around 0630, so after a nice early breakfast he generally snuggles back into our bed

The beloved David and Kelsea came over on Monday and brought the cutest (handmade!) headband for Henri.

I snapped this because he was chatting and smiling up a storm. Obviously I missed...but he was being pretty cute.

So nothing too exciting. I'm trying to spend any spare moment (except this one, obviously) studying as I have ONE chance left to pass an exam which will allow me to take a final exam to get my masters...can you say stressed? We go for a walk to the park every day and now that I'm 6 weeks out we're extending the walks to make it real exercise (I'm counting having to carry Hudson for them as my weight workout). Having such a good eater has made the baby weight completely melt off but I have a TON of toning to do, plus lose the extra weight I kept on from Henri, so there's been much talk of joining a gym. In the meantime, this absolutely amazing weather is making memories of the summer seem much exaggerated and keeps calling us to abandon house and homework. My mother-in-law is coming this weekend (we're keeping it as a surprise for Henri) so hopefully we'll get in some adventuring with photo evidence.

September happenings

A sampling of Hudson's first month so far:

Henri checking out the playground at Lincoln Elementary School. It's changed quite a bit since I attended many many years ago!

Playing in the river behind the school

Probably should have stripped her down before we hit the water

The grapes were sort of ripe

Henri was very proud of her haul, so I made her some grape juice from it

Hi, Aunt Meggie!

If you hold him, he will sleep

Best family photo we've managed so far

Almost all the sisters. Allie came in on Saturday

He does like his mommy

 

Henri got to break into a new (to her) box of books. Much excitement and demands to be read to

Truly, he did more than sleep

My little thugs

Aunt Abi

The original Fisher Toys people continue to delight the generations

An awake picture!

Anna's field hockey game. Undefeated season thus far!

Allie arrived

Henri waving our banner and shouting encouragement

More naps

Getting better at the family portrait

League Champions!!!!

More interested in the grass by his head than the game

Singing. Very loudly.

We got to head to VT for a weeks visit which was relaxing and stressful and wonderful and cold. So glad we got to spend that much time with Abi (she lives in Guam) and can't wait till she's back again. Then last night Steve's softball team won their championship game so there was rejoicing all around. And even more rejoicing here when Hudson slept for 8 straight hours last night. Repeat performance would be appreciated! As for the littlest, he's not so little. 11 pounds, 22.5" and in the 85%. His head is so big the doctor measured twice and he's waaaay off  the charts. Makes me feel better about having a C-section, and hopefully it indicates some brains :) We don't have to head back for another month which is lovely, and this time the pediatrician just said "I assume we're doing the same vaccine schedule as Henri" and didn't even attempt to lecture me about it (finally!) so looks like we're cleared for another month of fun :) Also, I made a pan of brownies with the best mocha frosting ever (the whole recipe uses 4 sticks of butter so you know it's good) and fortunately I was able to pass off most of it to the team last night, and Steve's found a home for the rest of it for tonight, because this stuff is addictive. Looking forward to actual fall weather soon!!!!

A few photos of the boy

So sorry about the lack of posting. There are quite a few pictures on my camera, I just haven't transferred. And as you can see, what I have brought over I didn't bother to fix up in any way, so my apologies for the crummy quality. Anyway, Hudson is almost a month old. Crazy. Time went fast with Henri but it's flying with him. And I'm actually sad because he's the last and I really am trying to savor these moments. It's easy to do so when he's asleep in his swing like he is right now. A few hours ago in the store when he was screaming bloody murder and Henri was giving a forbidden "ballerina" performance on a display shelf while freaking out that she'd dropped her zebra and the nosy woman behind me in line wanted their complete demographic information while simultaneously offering suggestions to make Hud happy? Those moments can't go fast enough. But all in all we love him and are pretty happy he's here. The past few nights he's been improving his sleep to 5-6 hour stretches. I'm looking forward to the 10 I used to enjoy, but I think 6 is pretty decent for a baby. Unfortunately he totally takes after me so he loves to stay up till midnight and then sleep till about 2pm with snacks. This would be fine except Henri goes to bed at 8 and is up (enthusiastically) at 6:30. She then takes a nap about the point Hud wakes up. So, that paper that was supposed to take a few hours to type is still only 3 sentences in. Eh, I have 1 week left in the semester :)

Anyway, he's becoming a little person. Not much seems to impress him (note the facial expressions below) but about twice a day now he gets very interactive, smiles a lot in response and is doing his best to talk. He's very ticklish and likes to have his neck kissed. He's also not great with his head control and is very content to snuggle on any available chest which is directly opposite of Henri who wanted to bounce from the moment she was born and face outwards. We he go for his 2 week check up tomorrow (2 weeks late...blame it on MD availability and us being gone last week) and I'm excited to see what he weighs. Some days he feels like a ton, other days I worry he's not gained an ounce. I'll try to get some more pictures posted soon, he really is the cutest tree frog you've ever seen.



First day home

Mom's great at getting him to snuggle down and sleep

Papa's good with the snuggle, too, but Hudson wasn't too into sleeping

Very contemplative

Not too much impresses him

He looks concerned here, but he loves his owl which was a gift from a client's baby to him. Maybe it's the bright orange feet? Anyway, it buys me 10 minutes of peace to lie him next to Owl and let them chat.

He's not so good with the sitting up yet. I had him propped but he flopped and seemed quietly interested in his new pose so I let him be. He fell asleep.

Do you know how impossible it is to get a decent picture of Henri at this point, let alone one in which the two of them look decent??? Forgive the unmade bed, the obvious signs of a recent fit on Hen's part, and the lighting. Its a miracle both are even in the frame together.

 

And speaking of Henrietta; she is a fabulous big sister. So much more amazing than I ever dared hope. I'll probably write about it soon, but I am so so proud of how well she's acclimated to having Hudson in our life, the willingness to help out with him, and just the fact she's yet to do any serious injury to the child. Here's hoping she likes him when he becomes mobile....