Irish Eyes Are Smilin': Braden: 23 Months + Liam's First Week!

So, Braden turned 23 months old on Liam's birthday. In one of my previous posts, I asked if Braden would be adding "Big Brother" to his toddler skills by next month and I was right. So, now I have two boys that are both born on the 22nd of each month. Easy to remember? I'd say so!! Not to mention they are back-to-back months. So, our family of four will celebrate four birthdays within about 8 weeks of each other. Fun stuff!

Braden is doing a terrific job of being a big brother. When he met Liam in the hospital he wanted to watch him and kept saying "baby" and "brother". But as soon as Liam moved or cried, Braden got scared and would say "no" and get a little emotional. I think he was scared and not sure what this strange baby was all about. Once Liam was home, he started to warm up to him - realizing that he wasn't a stranger we just picked up off the street. :) He was a bit needy and emotional the first couple of days, understandably so. But now he asks where Liam is when he wakes up in the morning, and he wants to hold him and watch Liam getting changed. He also puts his toys next to Liam so he can play next to him while Liam snoozes in his bouncy seat. It's cute to see him in his big brother role. I hope and pray these two brothers will be best buds in the future. I do know that my future will be filled with big appetites, dirty (and smelly) uniforms, throwing balls in the house, football Sundays where Mom will probably have to leave the house and I am positive that the TV will constantly be turned to anything sports related! Welcome to a house of boys and ONE lady. :) In all seriousness, it will be lots of fun to have two boys two years apart. We look forward to watching them grow and all the adventures to come our way! We feel very lucky. My momma is watching us from above!

As for Liam's first week home- he is adjusting well. He is a pretty laid back baby so far. He doesn't cry much, just when he's really hungry or maybe overtired and needs a little comforting to sleep. He loves naps in the car seat and being wrapped up in his Halo sleepsack at night. He is a cuddle bug, loves to be held close. He also will just lay on the floor and kick his legs and move his hands and take in the scenery. He is really alert, he picks his head up and watches movements and objects already. He only had one bad night, and the rest of the nights he will either sleep in 2-3 hour increments and then wake hungry, or we have had a couple of nights where he slept 4 or 5 hours straight! Even though this time I have to be up and ready at 7am for Braden, I do feel like the nights are better this time around. I am recovering faster too so that helps, the day after Liam was born we were out for a short walk.

Joe had 7 days off of work, so it was nice to have the extra help adjusting to life with two. I had two days this week at home alone with the two kiddos and it went better than I thought. Adjusting to the baby stage is pretty easy the second time around since you know what you are doing. We took advantage of Joe's time off by getting out of the house. Our adventures included: the pool, Woodbury Days, The State Fair (yes, we brought a one week old who slept pretty much the entire time), and Teddy Bear Park and lunch at the Freight House in Stillwater. We also had a few family members visit (see pics of Liam's first week of visitors below), so we had a busy week. Now things are settling down a bit and hopefully soon enough I will be good about getting out more on my own. The challenge this time around is just managing all the baby needs while keeping an active toddler entertained. It takes me a LONG time to get everyone ready in the morning, so hopefully when Liam gets a little older and eats and needs less diaper changes we can be a bit more speedy! :)

All in all, things are going very well and we are enjoying being a family of FOUR!