Rory had his two month checkup yesterday complete with three shots and an oral vaccine. Ugh. Vaccines are so important but I felt so bad for him, especially since one was the tetanus shot and it hurts for days. Poor guy.
He's grown like crazy in the past month. He clocks in at nearly 12 pounds and he's in the 53rd percentile for weight and 88th for height. Sean and I were laughing about the fact that Aiden has never in his life reached even the 50th percentile for weight. Clearly, Rory is an eating machine.
He's suddenly gone from being a tiny little newborn to a plump little baby complete with round little cheeks and thighs. Delicious. Also, since writing that last post we've figured out his fussiness a little bit. I've realized that he get very tired in the afternoons, but unlike in the morning where he can soothe himself enough to fall asleep, he's too wound up. I've been trying to make sure he's in a quiet environment to help him get enough rest and it seems to work pretty well. The whole "he's tired in the afternoons" seems glaringly obvious now, but I'm used to Aiden who could fall asleep anytime anywhere. He once fell asleep on the subway in midtown Manhatten at rush hour. Having a baby that needs extra help calming down is a new experience.
Perhaps the most enjoyable thing of this past month is that he's started smiling and babbling. He has started waking up everyday with the biggest grin on his face. He loves to sit and "chat" and does his best to mimic the way we move our mouths when we talk. I was completely surprised when I leaned over and started saying "Hi! Hi! Hiiii!" to him and he smiled back and said "HI!". I was so shocked I almost fell over. He's just mimicking me...or he's a TOTAL GENIUS. I don't know which yet.
As in, finally I have a moment to post something here. Both of these kids have kept me and Sean running around like crazy the past couple of weeks.
Rory has been growing like crazy. It seems like he's in a nonstop growth spurt. Whenever we go anywhere people stop to comment on how cute and little he is and I always want to say "You should have seen him two weeks ago, he was half this size!" He's also been going through a bit of a fussy stage. This took Sean and I by surprise as Aiden was a very calm baby. We thought Aiden was what most babies are like and we're quickly realizing that Aiden was unusually easy. He was perfectly content to sit in his little pillow or in the bouncy chair and look around. He would whine for a few minutes before he'd cry which gave us the chance to figure out what he needed long before he could get too worked up.
Rory, on the other hand, is a bit different. I always feel guilty saying he's fussy because I feel like I'm saying he's "bad" as if an infant could be bad. He's sweet and adorable and lovely and has a wail like a gosh darn klaxon. He doesn't give any crying grace period like Aiden did. Instead I am often startled to hear that the Luftwaffe are overheard before realizing that no, it's just Rory pretending to be an air raid siren. He must be hungry. He also prefers to be on my person at all times. He does not want to sit in a bouncy chair, he hates his car seat and, no thanks, he's outgrown pacifiers at the ripe old age of two months. Instead he'd like it if I could carry him everywhere, all the time. Also, could I possibly angle him so that he can see my face and the face of whoever I'm talking to? And could I possibly stop eating meals or going to the bathroom because that really takes away from his being-carried-around time. So, I love him to pieces but he's a wee bit demanding.
My name is Rory, and when I grow up I want to be an air horn. I practice all the time.
The saving grace is that he is a good sleeper, at night anyway. He's begun to be able to soothe himself to sleep in the evenings (by some miraculous miracle it's around the same time Aiden goes to sleep). He typically sleeps in 3 or 4 hour stretches and if the stars align he may just sleep for 5 hours at a go in which case I wake up feeling like a superhero. So yes, I realize that despite his typically three or four hour crying jags each afternoon, we are supremely lucky that he's not doing it at night. I guess it all balances out.
All this infant excitement really makes me appreciate Aiden even more. He has been unbelievably patient and helpful. If I say that Rory needs to be changed, Aiden will rush ahead and set out a diaper and about 47 wipes. He is very independent and get his teeth brushed, his hair combed and clothes put on by himself each morning. This does mean that occasionally he walks around in green plaid on orange stripes with an Ace Ventura hairdo but at least he takes pride in his appearance.
He absolutely loves to help take care of his brother and will sit and talk to him about his toys or his books. He is the first to sound the alarm if Rory looks like he's getting fussy and will run over and start rocking Rory's seat to try and calm him down. This naturally leads to me reminding him to rock him gently. Or rock him slowly. Which means I have had this song and commercial stuck in my head for a month:
I drive Sean nuts singing it over and over, but you would too if you spent hours of your day rocking someone gently and slowly. Take it easy-oh never mind.
What? I've been with these people for four weeks?!
Rory is one month old! It seems like he's been here for about two days, so wow, I can't believe four weeks has gone by so fast. He had his checkup today and is in the 77th percentile for height, 34th for weight and the measly 7th percentile for head size. He joins his brother and his mother in the ranks of people with heads the size of a grape.
We've been out and about a little bit in the past few weeks taking Aiden to the park when we can and even venturing down to Cooperstown. The Cooperstown trip was kind of a failure due to car problems and the fact that Aiden had zero interest in the Baseball Hall of Fame i.e. the entire point of the trip. Neither Sean nor I had considered the fact that each exhibit requires a lot of reading, and after looking at the umpteenth old baseball bat Aiden was over the whole thing. Still, it was nice to get out.
Other than our occasional forays out into the real world, we've still been spending a lot of time hanging out at home. Aiden has a sweet set up in the back yard with a water and sand table, cars, toys and enough sidewalk chalk to last him until college. Many days are spent with me and Rory hanging out on the chaise lounge while Aiden has adventures all over the yard. He is as obsessed as ever with bugs. He has a little "bug catcher" he made at school that gets a lot of use and definitely keeps him occupied for hours.
I'm so used to getting out of the house with Aiden as often as possible that this summer and our pseudo summer camp at home situation has taken some getting used to. I felt really guilty at first about not being able to spend hours and hours at the park or the pool with him like we used to but now I'm seeing that Aiden is still having a blast. He can find a million things to do right here at home and watching him bound around the backyard chasing butterflies or digging in the sand table or drawing family portraits on the patio has me realizing that he isn't missing out on anything.
It has taken all of my brain power and energy to make this little slide show today, but I think it was well worth it.I had my best friend send me all of the pictures she took while I was in the hospital, and I added more of our own, to make a little montage of how our family has expanded. The song in the video is called "I'm So Glad I'm Here" by Elizabeth Mitchell and it's from a children's CD but it's become one of my favorite songs. On good days it's my anthem and on bad days it's a reminder of how lucky I am.
It's been two weeks now and we're still getting into the swing of life with two little ones. The whole first week we basically hung around in pajamas and took naps when we could and enjoyed having our friends and family drop by with food or simply extra hands to help out. But now Sean is back to work, I'm back to cooking and cleaning and I'm finding it challenging to balance running a household with caring for two kids, especially an infant who is having a growth spurt and wants to eat every hour and a half. It's typically 11am before I've managed to get myself and Aiden dressed and we've gone from being at the park or the library or where ever each day to staying home and playing in the yard everyday.
Each day is an adventure and I'm trying to embrace it as such, rather than feeling like everything has derailed just because we didn't get out of the house or we're having leftovers for the third night or, once again, we're still in pajamas at noon. I keep having to remind myself that this is okay, it's alright to sit back and just enjoy the ride and not care how messy things get because this time is short.
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