Boy can Colin swing from a sweet little guy to a complete monster in no time flat. Some days I cannot believe he is ever going to grow out of this 2 year old behavior - it is a serious test of even the most patient person’s control. He screams that he doesn’t like something he just asked for, he does the rigid back so I can’t get him in his carseat (Chuck even got injured - OK, only a small cut - trying to get him in there today), then he goes all limp so I can’t get him in the house.
Sometimes I am afraid to even talk to him - here is a good example: he seems to be in a perfectly fine mood, I say “Hey Colin - look there is a Blue Jay out there” Colin “No - no Blue Jay. I don’t like Blue Jays. They are bad.” Just today after trying to get him to leave Cost Plus he flopped down and started crawling back towards the store door. I tried to grab him and for a few seconds, he was on the floor holding on to the door jam while I tried to pull him away - not a pretty site.
On the other hand, sometimes he is so sweet - he says “I so happy to see you mommy” and gives me a hug. He speaks really well, easily in full sentences - and he understands situations much better than I give him credit for most of the time. I yelled at someone who took my parking spot the other day and he said “Mommy, we can’t park there because they took your spot?”
He has also been really in to space - he knows all the planets, little facts about them and can even name the moons of Jupiter. I honestly don’t know what other basic information I could teach him about space. We have gotten beyond planet names and I can’t very well explain what a black hole is because I don’t really know. We are going to have to move onto another topic soon.
Colin is into stickers as well - they end up every where. He got a sheet of stickers from Whole Foods and if you have ever seen them you know they say all kinds of environmentally friendly sayings. Here is where three of them ended up:
“Eager to Save Energy” - On a picture of a tractor on his truck book
“Doggone it - Save a Tree” - On a bulldozer on the truck book
“Who doesn’t like Clean Air?” - On the butt of his stuffed bunny
It was very, very funny every time I found one of those little gems.
Oh - yes I do have another son - poor Holden, who is such a great little baby. I feel like I am neglecting him while Colin screams and writhes on the floor. At least Holden mostly sleeps and eats right now so he doesn’t know much of what’s going on around him. He is growing bigger and pudgier by the day. He sleeps pretty well at night - of course still only in the swing or with us - but I will take it for now. He is smiling a lot and is just such a little cutie. He and Colin get along well - thankfully Colin saves his wrath for me.
Well, at least I’ve noticed my absence from the blog, maybe you haven’t. Not that I wasn’t aware this was going to happen, but having a newborn truly whittles your life down to the bare necessities. To date, finding time to blog has been one thing that definitely got whittled out. The typical day of a newborn parent (at least this parent) boils down to:
- Sometime between 5am-6:30am: Struggle awake as early as humanly possible to head to work - prior to Holden arriving, I normally got up between 5-5:30 in order to beat the traffic on my 1 hour commute from Ann Arbor to Birmingham…haven’t been quite as good about doing that lately, but overall this hasn’t changed.
- Work: Thus far that’s normally between 6-7am through 4:30-5pm, followed by the round-trip on that 1 hour commute.
- 5-6pm through 8pm: Juggle between helping Jess take care of Holden, managing Colin’s ever shifting moods, making dinner, and going through Colin’s bedtime routine.
- 8pm-10 or 11pm: Trade Holden back and forth with Jess (since it’s rare he’s not being held by someone) and make some sort of feeble attempt to unwind.
- 10:30pm-1 or 2am: Take my shift of holding/watching/changing Holden and mixing in some sleep (if possible), before Jess wakes up and take him for the 2am-next morning shift.
That’s about all there’s time for during this first month - the good thing is that I know this is a finite phase; with Colin, we’d settled into a much saner and manageable routine by the middle of month 2, so fingers are crossed that we’ll be in that place soon. I know I’m not supposed to publicly disclose this info, since it’s detrimental to the continued existence of the species, but I’m sure it’s probably just us 
All that being said, Holden is a great baby, and he’s really starting to smile a lot now, which has the uncanny effect of making you forget all about the temporary life-flipping-upside-down of adding to your nuclear family.
Holden is already over a month old - can’t believe how fast it has gone. His stats:
Weight - 10 3/4 lb (gained 2 lbs)
Height - 22 3/4 in (grew almost 2 inches)
Head - 15 1/4 (grew 1 1/4 inches)
Doctor says he looks great. He has smiled a few times - more for others than for me. He is sleeping at night, albeit with either Chuck or I on the couch. We have worked out a little system where I feed him and go to bed around 10, Chuck stays up with him on the couch downstairs and tries to get him to sleep until about midnight when they can both sleep. Then I get up about 1 or 2 AM to feed him and take over the living room/Holden duty for the rest of the night. Chuck has to get up about 5 or 6 AM to go work and then Colin wakes up about 7 AM. It has been working alright but we are both pining for our bed so we may try to move up there soon.
Colin has been doing alright - has a bit of a cold and fever right now. We did manage to take a trip to the mall today for me to return something. Colin is obsessed with the Aunt Annie’s soft pretzels and as soon as we mention we might go to the mall, Colin won’t stop talking about soft pretzels. On the way to the mall we had to stop someplace first and Colin says to Chuck “Daddy, will you help me get to the mall to get a pretzel for me?” When we got there Colin says all excited “The mall! The mall!” - Chuck remarked on what a little American we are raising and Colin says “Mommy, I so proud of you. Daddy, I so proud of you!” as if there was some chance we might not be able to find the mall. Needless to say Colin got his pretzel.
My boys - Holden (3 weeks) and Colin (2 1/2 as of today)
Alright - it has been 3 weeks since I went into labor and almost 3 weeks since Holden was born so I am now posting my first blog. Chuck has covered most things - obviously the VBAC didn’t work out as planned and the c-section wasn’t very smooth either but both Holden and I are doing pretty well now - all things considered. I would just like to second the thanks to everyone. I really couldn’t have done it without all the support from friends and family…thank you again!
I have to say that although the birth part was rough, the baby part of all this is much easier the second time around - so that is a plus. Feeding is going well and Holden is a pretty good baby - aside from the fact that he only likes to sleep on top of myself or Chuck…but at least he sleeps. I guess you do what you can the first month and a half or so.
Colin has taken to his brother pretty well - he likes to give him kisses and he just insisted that Holden lay in his “big boy bed” while read him a story before nap time. Also when we just left our friends house this morning, Holden was in the living room while I was getting Colin ready and Colin said “We have to bring Holden with us mommy.” Of course that is not to say Colin is a joy to care for right now…he throws major fits and is so particular - I really don’t know what is going to set him off. He is like a little time bomb I am afraid to talk to half the time, I suppose that is because he is 2 1/2….
Holden - 2 weeks old
Our little naked sax player - you should see the dance that goes along with this:
We’d be remiss if we didn’t publicly say a tremendous, huge, heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been so helpful throughout these first few weeks as we grew from a three person family to a four person family. Thanks to Jen and Dave Frisvold for taking care of Colin the night Jess went into labor and for bringing over a great dinner this past week, thanks to Nana (Jess’s Mom) for being such a tremendous help during that first week after Holden arrived (and dealing with a somewhat trying first grandson as he made the adjustment to being a big brother), thanks to the Jordan’s, Berry’s and McKenna’s for also taking some of the burden off of Jess by bringing over incredible meals, and to Grandma Sheila and Aunt Christine for finding time to help out Jess this past week. We can’t ever repay you all, but know that we appreciate everything so much - THANK YOU!
Not that there was any doubt that Colin and Holden sprung from the same genetic tree, but an interesting aspect of the whole second delivery was that we ended up in the exact same surgery room, with me sitting in the exact same seat, and with me getting handed a baby wrapped up in exactly the same way…beyond all of the deja vu, Holden really looked a lot like Colin when I first got him, and for some time afterwards. Here’s some proof - can you tell which is which?
#1: Colin or Holden?
#2: Colin or Holden?
So, what’s your guess?