Happy Together

Okay, I hate that Blogger turns photos for some stupid random reason. But this picture is too cute not to share - the first time I caught both of them smiling in one photo. It's so nice when everybody's happy!

Deja Vu All Over Again

It's weird how foggy your memory gets of those early days. For us, it's been just shy of 4 years since we experienced having a newborn around, so Ben's crying and fussiness seemed frequent. But looking back at the early posts with Rachel, we definitely had those "why-oh-why-is-she-still-crying-and-what-in-the-name-of-all-that-is-holy-can-we-do-to-make-her-stop" types of posts. Ben actually hasn't been too bad yet, for the most part, although there have been a couple of rough nights.

It just had seemed like he's harder to keep happy because he doesn't want to spend much time in the bouncer or swing or laying in his co-sleeper or playyard, so most of the time when he's not eating, he's either being held or is in the Baby Bjorn on either me or James. But I do remember the first 7 or 8 weeks with Rachel were pretty brutal, with lots of nights of very poor sleep. Although we're not getting tons of sleep, most nights we're getting some, enough (for me at least) to feel functional. I'm definitely not getting the kind or amount of sleep that I need to actually do well and have the patience that would be so beneficial right now, but I'm getting by.

I wish that we felt the same sense of wonder at every little thing that Ben does. I'm guessing it's pretty normal to feel that more with your first child, but we documented a lot of that on the blog, so we're more aware of it than we otherwise would be. To be sure, Ben is a great little guy and we're happy he's part of our lives now. We just need to be more specific about that here.

As you can see from the picture, he's a happy little guy when he's fed and clean and not having gas pains or tired. Those are a lot of conditions to meet, but when they're met, I can lay him on a blanket and look down at him, and he'll want to have a conversation. He gurgles and coos and tries to make all kinds of sounds already, and moves his tongue around. If you mirror his actions, you can see excitement on his face and in his eyes, and he'll wiggle and do more.

He's been smiling in his sleep since he was just a few days old, really, and he laughed in his sleep at just 8 days old! (What on earth does an 8-day-old baby find that funny, anyway?) A few weeks ago, he started to smile while awake, as in exhibit A above. He's becoming more interactive and will study faces like he's looking for answers to a great mystery in them. He seems like he's going to be a very thoughtful, contemplative person, so it will be interesting to see if that holds true.

Now if he could just learn to take naps and go to sleep at night when he's not attached to someone.

Lapsed

We've been looking over the archives of this blog and two things have stood out.

(1) We posted a lot more in the early days of baby #1.
(2) Things are not that different this time around (regarding lack of sleep and stuff like that.)

So.... we'll try to be better about that. But first, another Rachel post.

After the last day of this summer's day camp, the conversation was naturally around God and obeying and Jesus and the conversation wound around to the point where Lori found herself telling Rachel about how we ask Jesus to come into our hearts and change our lives. And Rachel wanted to do that. So Lori led Rachel through the little prayer. We're not sure if she's old enough to actually comprehend it or not, but it was heartwarming/exciting none-the-less.

Now to work on the anger. Because that didn't magically go away.

Ferocious Four

A typical stall tactic lately, especially at bedtime (or when already in bed) is to call for one of us because she wants to tell us "something." We'll come and it'll be something like "Tomorrow at Chuck E. Cheez-its I'm going to tell you something." (Yes, that's what she calls it.) Or "I love you."

Tonight, she was having a rough night of it and Lori and I were with her in her room. She was mad at both of us, but moreso me. Lori was between the two of us and Lori and I were sitting on the floor.

She tried to get around Lori and Lori blocked her and she said "Mom, I want to tell dad something ... " and as Lori started to move, she continued " ... and hit him."

It was incredibly wrong, but it was all I could do to keep my laughing stifled to point that only Lori could hear me.

Lori, looking curiously at me, quickly raised her arm, toll-gate fashion to block Rachel's path and save me from a beat down. (My hero!)

In all honesty, we are really struggling with Rachel. If we could give any advice to other parents, do not wait until your strong-willed child is almost four to have a second child. Especially if she is also empathetic and prone to be upset when others (like, say, a hungry baby) around her also upset. And don't wait until the week after her school gets out for the summer. In a northern state where it's not dark in the evenings until really late.