Sibling Bonding

Twice today Hazel requested the pleasure of holding Jack herself. I haven't suggested this in a couple of months, due to a complete lack of interest, and I didn't want to pressure her or push her away from him. Today she snuggled him and let him hold her fingers and bring them up to his mouth. She even tickled his tummy a little bit. (That's what got him grinning in this picture.) It's rewarding to see their relationship start to develop. When Jack's crying in the car, Hazel will say things like, "I know, Jack. I know you're tired. We're almost home." I used to prompt her to say things like that. Now she does it on her own.

When Jack wakes up from a nap, Hazel's often the first one to hear his little squeaks, and she wants to be the first one in the room to greet him. "Hi Jack! Did you have a great nap?" If she's in the room when he wakes up in the morning, she stands on the crib edge and chats with him, leaning down so her face almost touches his.

Jack's been in love with Hazel since the first time his baby eyes focused on her. He chooses to watch her over anyone else in the room, every time. He loves it when she pays attention to him. Now that he's learned how to shriek and laugh, Hazel gets instant rewards for talking to him. It's made her much more interested in getting down on the floor and talking to him, or making sounds at him in the car. She loves that he gives her a big reaction.

I'm so grateful that through all the tough adjustments of having two kids, Hazel's never shown any animosity or jealousy towards Jack. She's always loved him and been soft and sweet with him, although she often prefers just to ignore him. I am crossing my fingers that they will have a tight friendship, play together happily, and take good care of each other.

Conversation held today in the car

(Keep in mind that Hazel still likes to feed us lines, like a director in a play.)

H: What was that sound?
A: I don't know, what was it?
H: A tootie fruitie from my bum bum!
A: Oh, well, just say 'oops, excuse me'.
H: Oops. Escuse me! (Laughs.) Daddy, you say, 'escuse you, Hazel.'
T: Excuse you, Hazel.
H: Mommy, you laugh.

Apparently, all my efforts to hide the fact that I find flatulence hilarious have been futile.

Quick Trip

We took an impromptu trip to Utah last week. As in, Todd called me from work on Tuesday and asked if I wanted to take the kids and drive out, and we left Wednesday night. We drove all night long because the kids stayed asleep and we wanted to capitalize on that, but it left Todd and me pretty tired for the visit.

We went to Todd's brother KB's soccer game. His team dominated, 10-1, which made for a fun game to watch. Hazel got bored and started wandering the field looking for entertainment. Luckily, she understood boundaries and never crossed the line into the game field. Barely.She has a major thing for KB and was so excited to see him. But she didn't quite understand that KB was playing the game we were watching. She scouted out the fans and found another high school boy who looked similar to KB and gave him a BIG hug, then stayed talking and flirting with him and his friends for ten minutes, while they laughed and looked uncomfortable and tried to figure out who her parents were. One of the boys even got out his phone and it looked like he was taking video of Hazel chatting with them all. It was pretty funny.

We spent Friday in Provo. The major highlight was seeing my brother Ryan, who got back from his mission a week before Jack was born. I hadn't seen him since Hazel was a month old. We hugged tight and cried in the street where he ran out to meet me. My mom and sister Kathryn drove down from Smithfield and spent the day with us. We chilled in Ryan's backyard and caught up, and we walked around the BYU campus and got nostalgic. We drove past old apartments and talked about the girls Todd picked up and dumped in the Cougareat and tried to plot out Kathryn's entire future in five minutes. We went to the Carl Bloch art exhibit and spied a little bit on Ryan after he left us to go on a date. My mom got a new camera and is taking a photography class, so she spent a good portion of the day taking pictures of us, trying out new skills and working on her homework assignment. As a result, we got lots of great pictures of the kids. I love it! Here are just a few of my favorites.We met up with my big brother Chris and his girlfriend for dinner. The restaurant we planned to eat at was closed so we ended up grabbing burgers and gyros at Burgers Supreme and eating them on the BYU sports field. Friday night was a nightmare. Hazel hadn't drunk much on the trip, we were outside pretty much all day Thursday and Friday, and Utah is more dry than California. By Friday afternoon, Hazel's lips were cracked and she refused to drink anything. Friday night dehydration hit hard. She spent the night in bed with me, restlessly trying to sleep, waking up screaming at regular intervals, even shaking some. She fought hard against drinking anything, which meant sometimes I was forcing water down her throat as she thrashed around. If I so much as shifted my weight in bed, she woke up screaming again. It was torture. By daybreak I was a zombie.

Any chance I had to sleep on Saturday, I took, so most of the day is a blur. Oh yeah, that morning the crew all went to the new cheese factory in town. I stayed home and slept while Jack napped, then my brother Scott and his wife Caprice came to visit.

I do know Hazel had a blast playing at Grammie's with her cousin Riley. I stayed home from KB's other soccer game because we thought poor Hazel had fallen asleep and I wanted to let her nap. Todd took Jack to the game and I thought I'd get to sleep, too. Sadly, no. Ten minutes after everyone left, Hazel began the charade that was her screaming, kicking, crying, fighting, having hysterics for an entire hour before she at last fell asleep on the floor by the bedroom door. (This is only the second time ever she has fallen asleep somewhere other than her carseat or her bed. She just doesn't do that.)

Saturday night Todd and I knew we had to sleep instead of driving. It was the better choice. We were still tired Sunday morning. We packed up the car, went to church just long enough to take the Sacrament, then drove, drove, drove the rest of the day. Happy Mother's Day. Still my best one yet, as Todd was in Afghanistan the first year and at drill for the army last year. At least he was with me this time.

The kids did well in the car until we got to Reno around 7:00. This is largely because Hazel watched a couple of movies on our laptop. Yes, Todd propped the earphones with diapers on her head to get them at her ear level. That was as small as they would go. Jack hit the wall first, which set me and my maternal instincts into an emotional frenzy. We stopped and I nursed him to sleep, and then Hazel entertained us with her hysterics until 11 pm. My least favorite part was when she opened her car door while I was driving on the highway.

And now, Jack, Hazel and I are all sick. I have a sore throat and congestion, Hazel's got a scratchy voice and she and Jack both have stuffy noses. So we are confined to the house. Hazel didn't nap yesterday or today (WHAT?) and it's been challenging. Think good thoughts for us!

All in all, a quick trip with PMS-esque highs and lows. I'm not sure Todd and I are made out for road trips with kids. It was so much easier when it was just the two of us. But we loved, loved, loved seeing everyone and we're happy we went.

The Elusive Jackster

I found Jack awake and on his tummy last night at 4:45. So I guess I can't deny it any longer. The Jackster can roll over!

He's done it a dozen times or more, but I have never seen him do it. I have watched him for ten minutes straight as he struggles on his side, to no avail. But if I lay him on his back and go to the bathroom, or make dinner, or even just turn away to look at Todd while we're talking, when I look at Jack again, he's on his tummy and I've missed it again.

Easter Weekend

Jack loves to hold his head up. He'll keep it up for, seriously, a ten minute stretch when he does tummy time. He holds it up while he sits in his car seat. He is strong and he loves to show that off.
Todd didn't go up to Sacramento to fly this past Thursday (he usually does), and instead of going in to work, we made a family day out of it and went to the San Francisco Zoo. It's made the whole week feel like a vacation (which was so nice after him being gone Friday through Sunday last weekend). Hazel was in heaven the entire day. She especially loved seeing the giraffes, tigers, and penguins.

Saturday was our ward's Easter Egg Hunt. It was held at a mini golf course. This was Hazel's most spectacular find:
We've been playing Egg Hunt at home all week with empty eggs. After the ward party yesterday, Hazel's focus quickly shifted from finding eggs!!! to candy.candy.candy. This morning when she hunted for eggs at home, she opened each one as soon as she found it and stuffed her face. Good thing I only filled them up with fruit loops, teddy grahams, and raisins.
We tried a new technique with boiled eggs. Did you know you can color them with crayons while they're hot and the wax melts right onto them? They look really cool and it was both easy and relatively mess-free.
Before church we drove to a field of flowers and tried a photo shoot. It was mostly unsuccessful. Hazel was pouting about standing in the dirt and poky flowers and there was nowhere to prop the camera to get a whole-family shot, but I like this one well enough.
Happy Easter!

April Catch=Up

Phew! It's been busy the last couple of weeks. Our house was the Spring Break hot spot for family members on both sides of our family. We did a lot of hosting. My kids are now suffering from a major lack of attention and are making me pay for it dearly!

My mom and dad came first. The weather was windy and cold, with threats of rain, so we didn't venture out as much as we otherwise would have, but they kept insisting that they came to see Hazel and Jack (oh,yeah, and Todd and me) and any activities we did would only be icing on the cake.

We spent one day at the beach and driving along the coast. Hazel was too busy playing hard to ever look at the camera. Seriously, Nana took 30 pictures and you only get a glimpse of Hazel's big blues like twice. That girl will not stop to pose.
Books, books, books! Hazel loved having extra people to read to her, and Grandpa and Nana even spoiled her with a field trip to the book store.
Jack got cuter. Is that even possible? He was so happy to always have someone wanting to hold him and listen to his baby talk. My mom spoiled me by sending me out to shop sans kids while she cleaned my bathrooms, folded several loads of laundry, and made dinner. AND every single morning while they were here Hazel got out of bed around 7 and played with my parents while I slept in for an hour or more until Jack needed to be fed. Bliss!

The day they left, Todd's crowd showed up, comprising of his mom, his brother KB, his sister Missy and her four girls, and their family friend Art. And yes, everyone slept in our two-bedroom apartment! It was packed.

The boys ran a 25K trail run in the morning, near the Muir Woods north of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was beautiful. Soooo fun to see Hazel playing with cousins! She was in heaven. But that cup full of trail mix? ... Gave her the runs and a terribly painful diaper rash for several days. Apparently, she can't really eat that many nuts at a time. We thought she was over her peanut intolerance. Guess not. We spent the rest of the day in San Francisco, heaving around the double stroller, which seemed to always either be embarrassingly empty or high in demand. (For quite a long time, Jack slept on one side, and Hazel sat in Shaylee's lap on the other side. It was so fun to listen to those girls giggle!) We snagged Ghirardelli chocolate samples, ate sourdough bread, watched some acrobats do a street performance, and saw the sea lions on Pier 39.

Sunday we relaxed, complete with a visit to the Oakwood hot tub. Ha ha! Love that place.
Cousin Carly is six months older than Jack, but not a whole lot bigger. No wonder people thought I might have been pregnant with twins! Jack is huge!
Monday we went to the beach at Santa Cruz, and Tuesday we checked out the tide pools at Half Moon Bay, then took the scenic way home along the coast and through the redwoods. Nine loads of laundry later, we're back to a quiet house.
Jack's finally hit an age where he's really, truly fun to be with. He's sooo cuddly and squishy and warm, and it's wonderful to hold him, but he's also quite content to lay on the floor by himself, too. He'll talk and squeal and just figured out how to get pretty loud. He'll play on his tummy for long periods of time, holding up his head and chest and even scooting from side to side a bit. He's laughing and ticklish and loves to chew on his hands, which produces a ton of drool.
Hazel has learned how to really get under my skin and butt heads with me. I think that may be why I'm so in love with Jack right now. He's been just [a little] more fun to be around this weekend. Todd was gone for Guard and I got tired of how Hazel wants to defy me no matter what I ask her to do, just to not do what I want her to do. Aargh! It took 15 minutes to get Hazel from the car to the house after church yesterday. I took this video 10 minutes in. I laughed at the end, but only so I wouldn't cry. The video was evidence for Todd to see what Hazel had been doing to me all weekend long. I'm hoping I'll think it's funny for reals someday [soon].

I'm so tired and long for the days when Jack'll sleep through the night [except that I love the stage he's at right now otherwise!]. I try to nap whenever Hazel and Jack are both asleep, but it doesn't work that well. I swear one or the other of them cries out and wakes me up every time I've been lying down for 15 or 20 minutes. I just want a solid hour, darn it! But if I can't nap while they're down, at least I can catch up on here.

Jack's 3 Month Milestones

Jack is three months old today. He still loves to snuggle (just with me) and he smiles so easily. He's been laughing for a couple of weeks now, mostly when I tickle his ribs or when Todd's making faces at him. He thinks Todd is soooo entertaining. When Daddy comes home, Jack's quite eager to discuss his day, man to man. He's also been working hard to roll over. He's done the flip from tummy to back several times, and spends a good portion of his floor time on his side, trying to figure the rest of the maneuver out.

Read 'til You Drop

We got a Little Mermaid book from the library this week. When I pulled it off the shelf and showed it to Hazel, she gasped! She's carried it around with her all day long ever since.

Yesterday I put Hazel down for her nap at 1:00. At 1:15 I could hear her talking to herself as I drifted off to dreamland on the living room couch. At 4:00, she was still asleep. Todd and I went to check on her and leave her door open a crack (that usually does the trick to wake her up gently) and found her dead asleep like this:
The Little Mermaid book was on the floor next to the chair, standing on its edges in an upside down "V". I couldn't stop grinning. She's so cute.

The Bedroom Merge

We've now survived four nights in a row with Hazel and Jack sleeping in the same bedroom. Hooray! The freedom is scrumptious. 15 lb, 24 1/2 inch Jack just could not fit in his bassinet any longer, so we bit the bullet and did it Thursday night without really knowing if we were ready. No real game plan. He went in around 10:30, ate around 3:30, then woke up again to eat at 6:30, at which point I put him back in the bassinet anyway because Hazel was close to waking up and I was afraid of how that would go down.

When I was nursing Jack in the middle of the night, Hazel woke up and saw her door was ajar. I could see the wheels turning in her blond little head for a bit, then she peered over at the crib and noticed a jumble of blankets. "Hi, Baby Jack," she whispered as she daintily wiggled her fingers in a wave. My heart melted. She proceeded to whisper an entire minute's worth of welcoming information in the crib's general direction before Jack burped and she looked behind her to where Jack and I were sitting in the gilder. "Hi, Mommy!" she whispered in a delighted voice. I said hi back, then quietly explained that little Jack gets hungry in the middle of the night and I was just feeding him, please lay your head back down and go back to sleep. She laid quietly until I left, but wanted a goodbye kiss.
Friday night Hazel woke up screaming at 4:30 with pins and needles in her legs (she likes to sleep on her knees, unfortunately). Todd rushed in there and settled her down, then came back with the report that Jack was sniffing and wiggling a bit, but still sort of asleep. I laid there hoping Hazel would fall back to sleep before I had to go in to feed Jack, afraid of the mess I'd be in with two crying kids in the middle of the night. But to my amazement, all four of us fell back to sleep instead. Jack woke up to nurse around 6:30, and this time I dared to put him back in the crib. When Hazel woke up around 7:15, she turned on her light but left Jack alone, and came out quietly. Hooray!

Tonight I tried to put Jack in bed just thirty minutes after we put Hazel down, and she was still awake. When I came in, she started talking loudly, and when I urged her to whisper and not wake Jack up, she started to cry, then scream. Jack woke up. Bummer. Well, I learned my lesson there. Wait until Hazel's soundly out before bringing in the young one.
So, it's definitely an experimental process, but I'm thrilled that Hazel still seems well rested in the morning and everyone is adjusting alright. I was so afraid of this milestone, especially because Hazel is a light sleeper, but I think we'll be alright living in a two-bedroom apartment for a while yet. ;)

Jack got blessed today.

Jack is two months old now. He is 24 1/4 inches long and weighs 14 pounds. He was in the 95th percentile at his check-up, in both height and weight. He loves to cuddle and it is really easy to get him to smile. He's a happy boy.
Today was his baby blessing at church. It was very nice, and we were happy to have Todd's dad and his sister Beany with us. I'm so grateful to be married to a worthy Priesthood holder. Yesterday we all went to the beach. It was great, because Larry and Beany were more than willing to watch the kids, so Todd and I got to pull on our wetsuits and go body boarding for the first time in years. It felt wonderful to walk into the ocean, board strapped to my wrist. I got super excited with my first mouthful of salt water. It brought back memories. I loved to look at the water, which was blue-gray and silky. The ocean has a completely different appearance when you're a little bit into it than when you're standing on the beach. I'd forgotten.

Crazy story. Todd and I each caught a wave and were back out trying to catch another. I just kept waiting for a wave to come. Todd caught one and I just kept waiting, but after that, it seemed like no more were coming for ever. Then this lifeguard showed up and shouted to me through her megaphone, "If you can hear me, wave your arm." I waved my arm. She said a few more things I couldn't understand, then said, "Something, something, wave your arm," so I waved it again. I looked around and couldn't see the surfers that had been nearby before. Suddenly, I was like, oh my gosh, is there a shark nearby? Is she clearing the water for a shark? I started to panic and swim hard, then thought, what if that draws attention to me? and slowed down. Then she asked me to wave my arm again, so I did, and she hopped on her surfboard and came out to me. By that point, I was almost to the beach. Turns out, no shark, I was just stuck in a riptide. She had said, "If you need help getting back, wave your arm," and of course I had waved my arm. I was so embarrassed.