Life as a family of four

We have finally transitioned to our new lives as a family of four! The first weeks and then months we were in survival mode. There were many, many sleepless nights, there was lots and lots of crying, and the exercise ball had to be refilled three times from all the bouncing. Now, there is lots of smiling, only the occasional crying, and just a lot of darn sweetness!

Okay, well, it's not ALL sweetness. The other night I tried to go out to dinner with some girl friends. Here is a recount of what happened when I got home after being called back an hour and a half after I left:

The house is a complete wreck (just as it has been lately). Noah is running around the living room, sweat dripping from his head, having created a mountain of pillows on the couch and trying to go through his tunnel. Nano is practically passed out, next to the pillows, with no apparent capacity to stop the madness. Simon has fallen asleep, but only after over an hour of Nano bouncing him on the exercise ball. While the bouncing was taking place, Noah was on his third Caillou episode, and apparently was jumping from the couch to the bench and to the floor or vice versa. It is a miracle he was not injured.

I tell Noah it is time to go upstairs (since apparently Nano was completely pooped) and the first tantrum ensues. "No, I want to play with Papa! No, mama!" Body collapses onto the floor as I attempt to pick him up. I take him upstairs with him kicking and screaming. Then, he notices we have changed the office around (we are going to set up Simon's crib there) and wants to see. There are shoes and things on the floor from where the guest bed had been, and Noah starts taking them to the closet, "look mama, I'm cleaning up." I then get him to his room, and he starts to scream "No!!" as I put on his pajamas. I am constantly pulling on his feet to drag him back onto the bed as he tries to escape. I try to be a bit playful, with kisses and tickles, and it only works intermittently. He wants nothing to do with me.

Then, "Weh..." Simon starts crying on the monitor. Suddenly, Noah becomes glued to me, "No, mama, I don't want you to hold the baby!!" and crying ensues. I call to Nano, "Simon's awake" and he comes up. Noah's wailing, Simon's trying to nurse, I ask Nano to take Noah into
the other room. He continues wailing and then finds his way back. Apparently, Nano has been physically restraining him and he has escaped. Noah screams he wants me to hold him, then comes back in and actually tries to stop crying, saying, "mama, I stopped crying" though
the sobbing continues. Simon starts to cry, then burps. I then pass him off to Nano to put to sleep, and he says, "what? I have to put him to sleep again??" I go to lay in the bed with Noah. He wants soy milk. And his lemonade from supper. We go down to get it and then go back
upstairs. He finally settles down to sleep at about 9.30.

But really, all in all, it's fantastic. Noah is very sweet with his brother. The other day I was holding Simon, and Noah came over to pull his socks up (they were falling off). He often says, "Look, Simon," and shows Simon a toy. And, when Simon poses one of those adorable smiles, he says, "Look, Mama, he's smiling!!" with genuine excitement.

It is cold here -- 23 degrees outside at noon as I'm writing this. So, we haven't been getting out much on the weekends. One of our favorite past-times has been playing the guitar. Simon sits in the swing and enjoys the music, either Nano or I play some tunes on the guitar. Noah either accompanies on his own guitar, or else dances energetically to the music.

We've also been trying to get Simon on a better naps schedule. Right now, he's doing the short, 45 minute naps. I guess I can't complain, since Noah would only sleep for 20-30 minutes when we put him down. But, I'm happily looking forward to 2 hour long naps from this little man!

Developmentally, Simon is doing what he should -- he just started rolling over from back to front. He was very upset when he realized what he'd done -- he hates being on his tummy! He's been a little slow to develop the muscles for pushing up when on his belly, so he feels a bit desperate and trapped! He has the sweetest coos and screeches, loves to interact with adults, and loves to be entertained by his brother. At his 4 month visit (we were about 10 days early), he was 90 percentile for length, 80th for weight, and 30th for head size (and we thought he had a big head!).