poop-o-lious

As a parent, poop becomes a thing that just is...in other words, you learn to deal when the poop is on you or all over your little one. In Olde's blog titled "Birth Control" he pretty much sums up the concept of just dealing while in his later post,"Birth Control Pt. 372", the reality of it all just soaks in---no pun intended.
Well, our little Aram has followed in his brother's foot steps holding his dodo for 2 to 3 days---Don't worry folks the Kaiser pediatric nurse advice line told me it is common for breast feed babies to even not go for up to a week...yep 7 days...hate to catch that one. We have enough trouble catching the two to three day explosions (and thankfully these usually occur on my days off---that is, while I am away at work---when Olde is on duty, or would that be on doodie).
And the thing about it all, is that it can happen any where anytime; like all over your best girlfriend's leg, up the back all over the car seat, at the beach running out the legs of overalls, and all over inside the Beco while on a long walk. We now travel at all times with 2 clean outfits because it seems that when one gets out the pipes more follows...yum.

a puddle of poop-o-lious!

In fact as I am writing this, little man started to have that undeniable odor of baby poop start to linger...and yep, a good one just escaped the pipes...gotta go change it before seepage starts to occur.

Cousin's getting bigger!

Caden on left and Aram on right

They just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger...

for me, it is kinda sad because this will be the last time I get to experience any of these baby-cute milestones. With J it felt like it took along time to reach each milestone but with Aram time is just zipping by! Nonetheless, it will be really fun to watch these two grow into the best of cousin friends with J leading the group into all kinds of mischief.

that's not crying...you want to hear crying...

Aram has to be the chillest baby I have ever met...he never cries (unless he has just been jumped on--by accident of course---by his big bro). He kinda does this squealing thing to let us know that he needs to be payed attention to.

check out his "crying" below...

This is kinda bad because it means that we tend let me squeal for a while before picking him up...he can really get in the high octaves too! I sometimes worry we are scarring him for life by doing this, but he seems to survive and continue to be the happy baby he is...

It totally makes my sis jealous since her little one goes from happy to pissed-pick-me-up-now wailing in 10 seconds...

mmmmm....boobies.

I love nursing! What a gift we have to be able to bond and support our new little ones.
With my first boy, it was a rocky start. first, I had VERY sore nipples, then a bout of yeast that ended up inside my breasts, then a couple of bouts of mastitis---arrgghhhh...but with Aram it has been wonderful. It helped that we had 3 months together from the start to learn the delicate dance of nursing. No one ever tells you how hard nursing is to learn to do...I mean they talk about the being tired and the labor...but man, the nursing is the most important and most hard part of being a mom, I think.
This time around it was easier for several reasons. One, I knew from the get go that I would spend the majority of my day doing it in the beginning. I remember realizing with Jasper that more than 70% of my day I had to sit and let a little thing be nurished by me and I felt confined and trapped. It wasn't until my mom told me to buck up and be a mom, even though it seemed harsh at that time, that I got over it. Two, I knew how to do it and what a good latch felt like and looked like. I also knew what all the signs were for troubles so that I could prevent them from happening this time around. Three, this confidence I had this time really helped Aram in learning to latch as well. It did not take long for my milk to come in (2 days) and before we knew it we were nursing like pros. I love the connection that happens between mom and child (it is really hard to describe if you have not experienced it) and I love the fact that it forces me to sit down and relax and focus on loving my little one.
It is not an easy skill to learn and I am always sad when I hear that women give up trying. It makes me want to give up my profession and become a lactation specialist to help other mothers learn to love it as much as I have.

Plus, I love that my son knows how to nurse too!

Lovely Aunties

We are blessed to have Olde's two younger sisters (T-T--from his mom's side, and Squirt---from his dad's side) living in Portland...free babysitting, un-ending love for the nephews, and good converstations are had almost weekly.

baby spit up...yum.

J was a VERY spit-upy baby....but Aram not as much...or at least not so far, BUT every now again he really gets us good. You gotta be quick on this one to notice...but it was like a bird had pooped on Olde's head. hehehehe.

Nana and Bruce

Nana was here in the beginning, taking care of us four and especially getting in snuggle time with infant Aram...It feels like a light year away now, but those memories of the first few weeks will be with us forever. Thank you NANA!




 

our view of the Nana and Bruce

Every other week or so, we get to see Nana and Bruce as we peer into each others living-rooms through our Skype connection (if you have not tried skype you gotta check it out...it is awesome!!!!). It is a highlight for us on these usually busy weekends. Nana oogles at the baby and Bruce always tries to get J to talk to him, which sometimes is met with 3 year old no's but most of the time J shows them something he is working on or doing and they get to see how big the baby has gotten. About two times a year we get a long hang in over summer vacation or Christmas break...this year it is Christmas---hopefully Nana won't spoil J too much, but she probably will...it is the way of the grandmother-hood and there is no stopping her. Until the next big hang, we love from afar.

Milestones x 2

 duh...the superhero needs to be the in the front

Developmental milestones are best left to occur naturally is the decision I have come to...


About two weeks ago J decided one day that he was no longer going to wear pull ups. While I tried to contain my emotions (I was jumping up and down with excitement inside), I calmly said " Oh good idea honey" and practically ran upstairs to get a pair of his big boy underwear---- with super heroes on them of course! He then decided to to wear them to our friend's house for the evening and then went poop in the big boy potty while he was over there....and viola! A potty trained preschooler! He even drove 8 hours to and from grandpops house in CA with no accidents and has gone to preschool now for two days with no accidents either. I am sooooo relieved and thankful we took Dr. Fern's advice with just letting it be.Of course it took us coming up with a cool name, penis pocket/bucket, for the front of the undies  to convince him to wear them the correct way but once again nature has taken it course and life is good.

 and....

brother hang time...

 Aram has started to giggle not just when tickled but when big brother bear does a funny dance--such as the noodle dance, where he wiggles his behind back and forth while eating noodles---you have not tried this, you have to, it is soooo much fun. He also finds it hilarious if you put your face close enough to his and he grabs your nose and when you pull his shirt over his head and say peek a boo. This contagious giggling makes my long days away at work worth every minute of every part of my life. In other words Aram is starting to be aware of others and his surroundings in away that makes play time really fun.

Growing and Growing and Giggles

Every week Aram grows even cuter. He has now discovered his toes and follows J's every move around the room. He also shows interest at looking at faces of other babies...especially Cousin Caden...but the best development is his laugh...see for yourself.

And of course the move still puts J in stitches as well...

Man, daddy you have the touch. Keep em' giggling because it is music to my ears for sure!

Big changes in the family

There have been some big changes in our family this fall. Besides me going back to school, as in working, J started preschool. Little Lights Playschool is a Waldorf-based, 10 kid, in-home preschool where J gets to make bread, be creative, play, read books, and practice being a little being. Olde gets two days with just Aram or at least a few hours for two days with just baby and happily reports how much easier it is with just one kid at his side.

check out the smile on his first day of preschool

As parents of a first child to go to preschool it has been hard for us to let go a bit. There are times when we doubt our decision to put him in preschool, like when he came home 3 days in a row and told us one of the girls had been hitting him or when the teacher told us that J needs to learn to play being a nice superhero (not a mean one) or not act like Hulk (which was scaring some of the kids). But just as Olde and I get ready to talk to the teacher about these types of incidents J reports that that same girl is his girlfriend, or he raises his hand at the dinner table to talk, or he tells us he has to go wash his hands before he eats, or that he now wants to wear his big boy underwear like the other kids at preschool, so we decide that really it was the right decision to allow him to have his own thing every week, were he learns to sort out the kid world among his peers and learns the flow of working in a group in a "school" setting. The bottom line is that us parents are the ones struggling with the idea that our son is growing up, not him.