General update

I know I've been kind of...gone...lately. I'm still here! It's just that my computer is often being used by a certain 2 year old who is obsessed with watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse episodes on YouTube. And because I have two kids now. And because we have this new bedtime thing going on (read below). And because I'd have to type one-handed a lot.

Without further ado, here we go...

Ben
He's doing great. He's a sleeper! He sleeps like a rock, too. Colin can be chasing Rocket all over the house yelling and bumping into Ben's swing and it doesn't wake him up in the least. He's awake for a few hours in the morning, but other than that he pretty much sleeps all day long, with an hour or so of wakefulness here and there. We do have to wake him up and make sure we change and feed him every 2 hours during the day so he knows the difference between daytime and night time, but he's doing pretty well at night. There's a rare occasion when he wants to be awake for awhile at night, but he's getting better at that. He wakes up about 2-3 times to eat and get his diaper changed and he can usually fall back asleep. He's sleeping in the Pack n Play next to our bed now. We're hoping to transition him to his crib by next weekend, although I'm going to miss not getting out of bed all night long since I've been nursing him in bed.
He smiles at us and he's so easygoing. He'll let anyone hold him, he doesn't mind car rides, he's only fussy when he's hungry or gassy (sometimes when he's tired), he nurses well, he lets us change his diaper without getting too angry, he doesn't cry when he gets a bath, he's tolerant of Colin's loving...I could go on and on...Colin
Love him to pieces, but good gravy he is a challenge sometimes. He's so tenacious. Bed time has (always) been a struggle. We had a bed time set at about 8:00, but then he'd be in his room (and out of his room) playing and making a racket and whining and making request after request after request and just not settling down. So we decided to make his bed time later. So now it's more like 9:00 which is WAY late in my opinion, but he generally falls asleep faster. Sometimes he even says good night to us and walks into his bedroom no problem and goes to sleep.

Long story short, we're learning to ignore whining and learning to stand our ground. Last night he asked for me for at least 30 minutes---could have been an hour--and no matter how desperately I wanted to answer his pleas "Mama I waaaant you." "Mama bum way wiff me pwease." "Mama buva me up." I stayed tough and didn't answer them. Breaks my heart, but I've been playing his game too long.

The good news is he is starting to entertain himself in the morning while we sleep longer. I get up, turn the Disney channel on, and go back to bed, and he's content for an hour and a half or so. That's awesome.

Despite his tantrums, he is polite. He says "no thank you" and shares with us all the time. He "saves me a spot" on the couch, he runs to give us hugs and kisses before we leave, and he's so much fun.

Kevin
He's pleasantly surprised at Ben's sleeping skills and still trying to throw Colin off his throne. Or at least learn how stay calm and manage through. He did something super sweet for me yesterday. He used his Christmas money to buy me a gift certificate to the salon/spa I go to :) I'd be just as thrilled if he bought himself some new t-shirts (for real. I would be so happy). But hey--now I have to spend this gift certificate and I'm thinking I need some highlights.

Me
I'm healing up great! That whole process is a lot quicker this time around. I'm wearing my largest sized non-maternity jeans today! I almost feel ready to start running again (slowly, of course!) but I'll wait until my 6 week appointment when I get the go ahead.