Living in the 'burbs

While the commute can be a beating, Paul and I truly love living in the suburbs.  There's so much fun stuff to do, and most importantly, most of it is free!  On Saturday, we took full advantage - we started with the Art Walk in McKinney (where it appears I didn't take a single picture).  Henry loved being out and about, but was out cold within minutes of being loaded in the car.  

We pushed on, though, and decided to enjoy eating outside.  Walter enjoyed the weather as much as we did!

Henry woke up without a fight, and loved eating outside while watching the other children play in the fountain/splash park.

We didn't really come prepared, but I decided to strip him down to shorts and a diaper.  We figured we could take him home sporting a diaper if he got really soaked.

While he looks really brave here, running towards the water, he did NOT like it once he got wet with freezing cold water.  He came running back at a full sprint.  I could not stop laughing!

 

After a full morning, we went home so Henry could get a good nap.  Turns out all three of my boys got a nice afternoon nap in...

After naptime, we decided we needed a froyo date.  Fortunately for Henry, there's froyo right across the parking lot from a play village.  What little boy doesn't want to eat ice cream and then go play on a caboose?!?

Surprise, surprise - Walter slept through the entire ordeal. :)

And just to give a brief update on both my boys, Mr. Walter has exceeded 4 hours of sleep TWICE so far this week. Hallelujah!!  Sunday night, we got 5.5 hours out of him, and last night, we got 6 hours and 20 minutes!!!!!  He may have gone a little longer, but I got up to check on him when he coughed.  While I was up, I decided to go ahead and feed him so I didn't climb in bed only to be woken up right as I entered a new REM cycle (selfish, I know).  So proud of this little guy!!  His Mama may start to feel more like a human before long!

Our current excitement with Henry is his new love for the word, "No!" He's been shaking his head yes and no for months, but just started saying "No!" on Thursday.  Poor kid decided to let me know he'd learned the word last Thursday when I asked him to go to the bathroom so we could get his bath.  Telling his Mama "No!" and walking the opposite direction did not turn out like I think he imagined it would.  I've now spent the last 5 days trying to teach him "No sir" and "No ma'am" - I'll let you know when that finally catches on.

1 Month!

Walter was 1 month old last week. I cannot believe it.

 He was not a fan of his rocker. At least not when he's sitting in it on his own.

Beginning last week, he finally started to wake up for longer stretches.  So far, he's incredibly content and doesn't have many demands.  If he's crying, I know he's hungry, his stomach is upset, or he's tired and needs a pacifier so he can go to sleep. Fortunately, these are issues that can easily be solved pretty quickly!  He doesn't have any "tricks" yet, but he did accidentally roll over on Saturday when he got highly agitated during tummy time.  I tried to explain to him that he's too young to be rolling over, and it seems he listened since he hasn't done it again. And yesterday, as I was getting ready to take him to the doctor, I got my first legit smile out of him.  Of course, I immediately teared up.  There's nothing like getting eye contact and a huge toothless grin from your child.  So sweet!

Walter's 1 month stats are:

Weight: 9 lbs 4 oz. - 22%

Height: 21.5 in. - 36%

Head: 15.3 in. - 86%

Summary - my child has a disproportionately large head.  Here he is after I finally got him to calm down post-shot.

And only because I can't have a blog post without my oldest, here are a few pictures of the boys after church on Sunday.  Henry was exceptionally excited and crazy, so we couldn't get one without Paul in the picture playing referee! :)

Allergic.

Yesterday was a day for baking. There were a few bananas that were past the eating point (Paul and I won't eat a banana unless they're slightly green), so banana bread was in order. And while the mixer was out, why not make some chocolate chip cookies? Henry helped me dump in ingredients and was fascinated by the mixer. 

 

He's not an adventurous eater, so I wasn't sure of he would even try cookie dough on the spatula.

Kid didn't even hesitate. It's like he could sense the deliciousness....

As you can see, I didn't give him much.  This is a good thing because within minutes, the poor kid was scratching his hands and eyes. It appears, like his mother when she was a child, Henry is allergic to raw eggs. Whoops!  I could always eat things where the eggs were cooked, but give me any kind of batter, cream pies, etc., and I was miserable for hours.  I mean, seriously, look at his right eye. Poor kid!

So the baby has been on Tylenol and Advil all week for his fever, and once he's finally better, I'm drugging him up with Benadryl.  That stuff is amazing!  Within 30 minutes, he was running around and was no longer swollen.  Granted, he was way off balance and went to bed super early, but his swelling and itching disappeared.  I'm so glad to live in the 21st century and have access to all our medications - they're miraculous!!

 

Walter wasn't phased by all the excitement.  In fact, he seemed to find it exhausting. :)

Here's hoping my youngest didn't inherit my allergy genes......

Blessed.

Sometimes, I think we expect our hearts to feel full when everything in the world is going right.  A lot of times, however, I've found that those moments pass and I realize later that I forgot to stop for a second and soak everything in.  Or I was more concerned about every hair being in place, not running one second late, etc.  

Today has not been a day where everything is going right.  Henry is sick, sick, sick.  He has a fever that has seemed to go down to normal for maybe 1 total hour in the past 24.  After the Tylenol has kicked in (and his fever drops at least a few degrees), that child still manages to have a smile slapped on his face.  Even if he is supine on the couch with his favorite stuffed animal watching "Melmo" on the DVR.  The only thing he has not been a big fan of is Walter having any of my attention - that makes feeding times a bit challenging.  Walter seemed to pick up on this, and decided today was a fantastic day to start cluster feeding in the afternoon while Paul was still at work. Figures. :)  

But I am not complaining - this is my dream job.  And it's a tough one.  Days like today make law school, the bar exam, research, motion practice, etc. seem easy.  Those things have an end date.  Those things may nag you a little in your sleep, but they certainly don't scream at you from a nearby cradle.  Or through a monitor that has little red lights screaming at your sleepy eyes as well.  Those things also tend to come with Rules, Blue Books, learned traits/habits, and guidance from a partner, as opposed to tantrums, inconsolable sobbing without any logic, or attempts at communication that you just can't understand no matter how hard you try.  Those things also give you at least a minute or two here and there to use the restroom in peace.  But there is no way I'd trade a single, difficult second for the two littlest loves of my life.

And then there's the big love of my life. He got about 7 hours of interrupted sleep (see reference to the cradle and monitor above), but got himself out the door for work by 6:45 am.  He also managed to look quite handsome.  When I texted him at 2:00 that Walter chose today to be particularly hungry, he got himself home before 4:00 to help me out.  He had plans to run, but Henry's fever started to spike right as he was getting ready to put on his shoes and strap Henry in the jogging stroller.  So what does a father do when his workout plans get foiled?

 So Mama snuck downstairs for some peace with this guy. 

So despite some difficult moments, today I've felt especially blessed.  Blessed to have two beautiful children.  Blessed to have an infant that only cries when he's hungry and only sometimes fusses when his stomach cramps up.  Blessed to have a toddler that can manage to smile, laugh, and race me to the front door, even when he's running a fever.  And especially blessed to have a husband that loves his children as much as I do.