Happy Easter 2012

We had a great day celebrating Easter this year. We went to church on Saturday night, so we had some down time with just our family on Sunday morning before Ben's family came over. I really love the idea of having lots of traditions, so I'm trying to start incorporating things for our family to do every year. This year we read the Easter story and then Lucy got to do an Easter egg hunt in the backyard. Those seem like good traditions to keep up each year, maybe we'll add a little something each year.

But before going to look for Easter eggs I thought I'd grab a couple pictures of the kids... here's how that went...

One quick picture with dad... such a happy boy

Lucy refused to take pictures at first, so got another one of the happy boy


Pulling on Hank a little too much


Lucy decided to be shy and not show her face


This is about as good as I got...


Easter egg hunt - we filled each egg with one jelly bean. Lucy figured this out right away and opened the egg right away and ate the candy... when we tried to hide the eggs again later in the day with no candy, she had no interest in it. Smart girl.


Woops, one of the eggs fell outside the fence...


Running to go get it!


Hank wasn't too in to the egg hunt, but I'm sure next year he'll be running after his sister looking for eggs too.


After having Ben's family over for brunch we headed to my grandparents to celebrate Easter and some spring birthdays. My mom wanted to grab a picture of all her grandkids...




We got a couple good ones!


Another Easter egg hunt...


And celebrating Lucy's bday with all the extended family!

Tummy Time

Hank has been squirming around a lot lately. His little moves must be getting him around - often we'll find him in his crib on the opposite side, facing the opposite way than we laid him down.

Here's a little video of him squealing and squirming - love this little man so much!


He was being such a ham during our monthly photo shoot that I couldn't help but get a couple extra shots, this time on his belly...


Love these smiles!


Squirming...


The stare down...

Hank 4 Month Update

Stats
Weight - 16 pounds 5 ounces (68%)
Height - 26.5 inches (95%)

This little guy is seriously a dream. He is so happy, he sleeps a ton, he eats great, he rarely cries... What a difference a couple months can make! I'm not sure what exactly has made him so great, but I think it's a combination of things:

1. He just is that way - after going through two extremely different newborn phases but parenting the exact same, I'm realizing that there are a lot of things out of your control as a parent. A lot of times the kid is who he/she is.

2. I'm a second time momma - I seriously have loved being a mom the second time around, and honestly it makes me excited to have a third kid some day (if we are so lucky) because by that time I think I'll really be a pro. I'm just not the type of person who likes new experiences, I hate the unknown. This time around stuff just doesn't stress me out as much, I'm much more accepting of the fact that everything really is just a phase and everything will pass!

3. I'm very strict about nap times! I know this may sounds silly, but I really think a well rested baby is a happy baby. And I totally notice a difference in Hank when we have a busy day out and he isn't able to nap as well.

This past month Hank was taking three 1.5-3 hour naps (usually they are around 2 hours) every day. He is a great sleeper, putting himself to sleep and staying asleep almost every time (still sleeping on his belly, sucking his thumb). If he wakes early from a nap it is almost always because he has a poop, which unfortunately seems to happen a lot! This past month I'm pretty sure Hank went through 3 sicknesses and a growth spurt, which all meant lots of poop (sometimes very green poop) and lots of changes in the schedule, but here is what a "typical" day looked like...

7:30/8am Wake and Eat
9-11am Nap
11am Wake and Eat, Playtime
12:30-2:30(ish) Nap
2:30-4pm Wake and Eat, Playtime
4-5:30(ish) Nap
5:30-7pm Wake and Eat, Playtime
7pm Bedtime (I try to sneak in an extra feeding here. I had been doing a dream feed at 9:30pm, but it didn't seem to help Hank sleep longer, so I stopped doing it, but it felt weird to have Hank's last feeding at 5:30, so the last two feedings are close together).
3 or 4am Night feeding

Hank has been doing 8-9 hour stretches at night, which felt AMAZING to me, but the doctor said given his size he could definitely do 12 hour stretches so I should push him to go a little longer at night. We'll probably work on this over the next couple weeks. His last nap is definitely starting to get shorter, and he is starting to be able to go longer between naps, but it still definitely feels like he is sleeping most of the day!

When he's not sleeping, Hank's little personality is starting to show. As I mentioned, he is super low key and extremely happy (as long as he has napped well!) He smiles and coos a ton, and I've been able to get him to laugh more and more. He loves squealing/screaming, grabbing on to anything in his reach (this is unfortunate when my hair happens to be near his hand) and blowing raspberries. I've also noticed a new found love for his sister. Hank now loves to watch whatever Lucy is doing and she often makes him smile.

He rolls over, belly to back a lot (typically in his crib when he is not wanting to go to sleep) but we have not seen him roll back to belly yet. He squirms around a lot, and can definitely turn in a full circle and move forward a bit while wiggling. He also has gotten pretty good at sitting upright although he definitely can't do it on his own, but he's getting close!

On the go - Hank still doesn't love to sleep in his car seat. If he is in it long enough he will eventually fall asleep, but he protests a lot and won't sleep that long. If we are out (which does not happen a lot) I usually try to carry Hank in the moby wrap still - he usually will sleep pretty well in that, although he is starting to get more and more picky about where he will fall asleep.


The crib shots were a little hard to get - Hank has a tendency to lean forward when he is sitting up right, as you can tell from the next series of photos...





woops! maybe I should have put my camera down and grabbed my son...

And teddy didn't stand a chance...


Anything in this boys reach goes right in his mouth


Unless of course his thumb makes it there first...


I've taken way too many photos so I think I'll end here without a comparison shot of Lucy, but let's just say they are still twinsies.

Random Brother And Sister Moments

These pictures are a little old, but wanted to still get them up on the blog. These are just some random pictures of Lucy and Hank from over the past month...

Breakfast with my babies...


Lucy never sits in the high chair but today she decided to!





Snack time at the kid table - Lucy wanted Hank to sit with her...





One morning I was changing Hank in the other room and when I walked back into the kitchen where Lucy was eatting breakfast, she exclaime: "Look Momma - a mouse!" Here is her creation...


I couldn't help but crack up laughing and at the same time be in awe - it was adorable! Lucy had created a mouse out of her cheerios and banana... I love this new imagination phase we are entering.


Once again I had turned my back on these kiddos (what was I thinking) and when I turned around Lucy was "changing Hank"...

Train Ride

A few weeks ago I decided we would have a fun outing at the mall. I felt like such an awesome mom - I packed up both the kids, we played at the play park, ate chick-fil-a and Lucy even got to ride the train. Things went pretty well, except Lucy refused to go to the potty while we were there and I was so exhausted and ready to leave that I didn't force it and she ended up having an accident on the way home. Shoot.

We got a few pics on the train. I obviously didn't shower or get ready that day... ok, who I am kidding, I usually don't shower or get ready most days.



We definitely had fun, but for right now, in this season of life, I'm learning that staying at home isn't such a bad thing. Hank sleeps well in his crib, not so much on the go. Lucy goes to the bathroom really well at home, she's more hit and miss on the go. I don't have to pack a million different things. I don't have to stress about schedules. I don't have to stress about running after Lucy while holding Hank. Being home is nice - I never thought I would enjoy not leaving the house so much!

Hank 3 Month Video

There's nothing really special about these videos, but I like being able to look back at videos as well as pictures on the blog, so here is some footage of Hank at 3months. In the first one, you can see him kind of rocking back and forth - I'm guessing how he gets rolled over in his crib, although I've never actually seen him doing it. The second one shows off a bit of Hank talking.

Hank was sitting on my bed the other day and the way he was sitting reminded me of one of my favorite shots of Lucy so I took a couple of him to compare..




And here's baby girl...


This boy is loving his thumb lately... I was trying to get some pictures, but he had something else in mind!

Irresistable #2

Shoot... I've done it again. This little guy has been stealing my heart and I've taken way too many pictures! Here's a few of my favorites from over the past couple weeks.

Looking fancy in my first polo outfit from mimi...


I like the below picture because it shows Hank's furrowed brow... he gives me this look several times a day...


Loving him in a hat - we had just gotten back from a windy cold walk and I just couldn't resist those rosy cheeks!






This one is my favorite...






And just a few more that I couldn't resist... I just love those eyes!




Starring down the octopus...


And I just wanted to include this last one because this is how I've found Hank several times at the end of his nap. I put him down on his belly and I've come in to find him starring up at me... somebody's been doing some moving around in his crib.