Hudson's school invited all the parents to a Winter Wonderland Party. We weren't planning on attending...But then I heard that the kids had been practicing all week (practicing what?!) and my inner stage mom got SO excited! I kept referring to it as a pageant and while it was far from it, it still made me beam. I even caught Brian passionately mouthing the words as he was watching. Here's a small snippet - look for the smiley boy grinning at his family : )
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Sleep round 2
*(this is for my own memories, I don't expect many of you to care) : )
Before Hudson was even a year old, 'everyone' let me know that surely our next baby would NOT be as good a sleeper. Once baby #2 was actually on its way, we too knew that we shouldn't have expectations for sleep, but man, we sure were hoping.
Well, either we lucked out again, or there is something in our genes - but we are SO GRATEFUL that little Axel has been pretty much matching his brother hour/week for the past 8 weeks. It's almost bizarre that when I look back at what Hudson was doing sleep wise at what week, Axel's right on target. Even his nap patterns and his early bedtime (for a newborn) remind me of Hudson.
Axel was a pretty great sleeper from the start, sleeping for 3-4 hour stretches from those first few days at home. By day 10 he was sleeping a 5 hour stretch, then going down easily again for another 3. We weren't as into the swaddle at first, thinking he didn't like it, but then I tried it again and he had his best night so we were hooked. At 4 weeks he reached 7 hours, plus another 2+, and at 5 weeks he reached 9 hours.
While Axel was sleeping amazingly well, I was not. It's so convenient having him in the cosleeper next to my bed, but man he is one noisy little guy! Plus, Hudson was begging to have Axel sleep in his room with him - aww. So I was inspired by his good sleep to move him into his crib in Hudson's room. I recall the first time we moved Hudson into his crib, we all slept much better almost immediately. So at 6 weeks we went for it! The first night, Axel woke up at around 2am, but didn't wake up Hudson. The next night Hudson woke up wet, and the commotion woke up Axel. But the 3rd night, it all worked perfectly, and Axel slept from 8pm-6am! 10 hours! And at 7 weeks he slept for nearly 12 hours.
It's been pretty much smooth sailing since then averaging about 10-11 hours most nights. The best part is neither boy seems very affected by the other. While we aim to get Axel down first, and then we just quietly go in with Hudson for his last goodnight snuggle, there were nights where I was in there nursing Axel or Brian was rocking him - all while Hudson was falling asleep, and within minutes we'd hear Hudson snoring loudly, unaffected by our presence. We are lucky, that's for sure.
So here we are at 8 weeks and the boys officially share a room! Pretty cute.
Before Hudson was even a year old, 'everyone' let me know that surely our next baby would NOT be as good a sleeper. Once baby #2 was actually on its way, we too knew that we shouldn't have expectations for sleep, but man, we sure were hoping.
Well, either we lucked out again, or there is something in our genes - but we are SO GRATEFUL that little Axel has been pretty much matching his brother hour/week for the past 8 weeks. It's almost bizarre that when I look back at what Hudson was doing sleep wise at what week, Axel's right on target. Even his nap patterns and his early bedtime (for a newborn) remind me of Hudson.
Axel was a pretty great sleeper from the start, sleeping for 3-4 hour stretches from those first few days at home. By day 10 he was sleeping a 5 hour stretch, then going down easily again for another 3. We weren't as into the swaddle at first, thinking he didn't like it, but then I tried it again and he had his best night so we were hooked. At 4 weeks he reached 7 hours, plus another 2+, and at 5 weeks he reached 9 hours.
While Axel was sleeping amazingly well, I was not. It's so convenient having him in the cosleeper next to my bed, but man he is one noisy little guy! Plus, Hudson was begging to have Axel sleep in his room with him - aww. So I was inspired by his good sleep to move him into his crib in Hudson's room. I recall the first time we moved Hudson into his crib, we all slept much better almost immediately. So at 6 weeks we went for it! The first night, Axel woke up at around 2am, but didn't wake up Hudson. The next night Hudson woke up wet, and the commotion woke up Axel. But the 3rd night, it all worked perfectly, and Axel slept from 8pm-6am! 10 hours! And at 7 weeks he slept for nearly 12 hours.
It's been pretty much smooth sailing since then averaging about 10-11 hours most nights. The best part is neither boy seems very affected by the other. While we aim to get Axel down first, and then we just quietly go in with Hudson for his last goodnight snuggle, there were nights where I was in there nursing Axel or Brian was rocking him - all while Hudson was falling asleep, and within minutes we'd hear Hudson snoring loudly, unaffected by our presence. We are lucky, that's for sure.
So here we are at 8 weeks and the boys officially share a room! Pretty cute.
Monday, December 9, 2013
He found his voice
We could hear it coming for a few days, but I'd say Axel officially found his voice while at the Dr. for his 8 week well visit:
Sunday, December 1, 2013
November with Grandma and Grandpa
Time is flying by - it's amazing to think how far we've come in just the 6 or so weeks since Axel's birth. Wow. While those first 2-3 weeks are so intense and I felt so dependent on help, there was a nice break where we had 1 week just us and I even had my first 2 nights/mornings alone as Brian had to go out of town for work.
But, we were more than happy and grateful to have Grandma come visit for nearly 3 weeks (with a quick visit from Grandpa as well). We got into quite a rhythm and were so appreciative to have the extra hands, and some extra motivation to get into the new normal routine here. It seemed like so many changes happened in those few weeks and our confidence just grew. We were able to cook more, go off on more adventures, and Axel made some serious strides in his sleep! By the time we had to say goodbye we were well on our way to feeling pretty ready for life with our family of 4 now that Axel was just about to cross the 6 week mark! It was a great visit we'll always remember, click for all the pictures.
One of my favorite things newborns do that I finally captured on video:
Axel spent many evenings on Grandma's shoulder, sometimes sleeping, often showing off his neck strength:
Newborns are weirdly 'busy' - is he practicing dance moves, kicking, twitching?:
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