Vo-ka-BU-larry

The babe is getting older...and bigger... and more talkative.

This week, I was talking emphatically.

He stood next to me and imitated my tone and hand motion exactly.

Sigh.

A few weeks ago, I was lamenting his 'lack' of vocabulary.  Then I started listing his words.  They're not pronounced perfectly, but still.  We got a decent list down, and then... it was like he knew I was counting!  Because it just exploded.  He can mimic almost any word (when he feels like it) but here's his most consistently used palabras:

Hi

Bye

Mama 

Mooooommmmm

Dada

Bruh-bruh (brother)

Nana

Pop

Gran-ma

Kah-DEN (Kaden)

Yesh.

Go.

GO, GO, GO, GO!!

Peas (please)

Piz (peace) (at Mass)

Uh oh.

Done.

More

TA- DA !

It's the MOST wonderful time of the year...

So!  I've been be-moaning the lack of official photos for the babe... and made it a point to get one with Santa for his First Christmas (the babe's, not Santa) (at least I don't think this Santa is a rookie).  I was SURE that Sammy boy would cry his lungs out.  I was a bit nervous.  For the past few days, I've been saying "ho ho ho" in a deep voice, to get him ready to meet the big man.  Oh, and Kaden and I have worn a Santa-hat-with-beard and gotten in his face.  Dry run and all that.  Most of the time, we'd get little baby laughs in response.

You can see how well all that smiley preparation paid off.  There's our serious Sam, looking a bit bewildered.  It *could* be because it was 8:30 at night, and we're normally winding down for bedtime, not partying in a candy house.  Or it could be because he had just woken up from a 2 hour nap. Or... maybe it was Santa after all?  If you can click and make the photo big:  notice Sam's curls.  Also notice Kaden's tentative smile:  he was so focused on what to say to Santa, he was a bit more nervous than I thought!

And I'm not sure we'll get those Christmas cards out this year... or that I'll post before next Thursday.  So MERRY CHRISTMAS dear friends and net stalkers!  From our scraggly little love-filled tree to yours!

First Steps, First Turkey

It's been a bit busy around here lately... well, here and there.  So I'm just catching up!

For some family health related reasons, I was out of town the week before Thanksgiving... and flew in that morning.  Timed it perfectly (!) to arrive between Jim's annual Turkey Bowl game and the family dinner.  The original plan was to fly Wednesday and get bumped a few times, thereby scoring some free plane trips for the year... but snow came and I was happy to stay an extra day.  So no free tix, but no snow delays and an extra night with Mom:  I can't complain.

Thanksgiving was one of the normal large-family gatherings.   There was another babe present, maybe 5 months old?  And cute as could be in a little brown outfit, with a matching bib that said something about "first thanksgiving" or "mom's favorite turkey."  I can't remember now, but it was cute.  I realized, with a bit of a start, that it was Cubby's first Thanksgiving too!  So I looked over at my little bear cub, who rips off any sort of bib these days, and who was at the time, under a table growling.  Honest.  I sincerely feel for this second son, who is equally loved and adored, but has a LOT fewer cute photos to prove it!

He did take a few steps that weekend- his first on his own!  They were shaky and only 1 or 2 at a time, but still.  He thinks he can walk, and would pull himself up... then promptly fall in the direction he was heading.  There's a lot of little bruises this days.  He seems fairly determined.  Although, I must point out that his crawling is amazingly fast- especially when a "forbidden door" opens.  He can be in a bathroom quicker than you can turn your head.  And if you call out NO as he heads down the hall, he will put his head down and go faster.  Fun times.

Summertime...

It's been a while!  I'm noticing a trend with this favorite second son of ours.  We had much fun cheering a friend on for her first race- bright and early on the 4th of July.  (Thanks for inviting us!).  And then we hung out at a nearby park for a while.  

Sam is 5 1/2 months now... and not colicky, per se.  He is a bit of a mama's boy, which surprised me because I didn't think that separation anxiety kicked in just yet.  But there are days (or nights!) when all he wants is for me to hold him. If only that 'power' could last...

He is doing all sorts of  things lately, rolling over, grabbing stuff, laughing at his brother.  He has re-started his newborn habit of smacking his lips, and it's quite possibly the cutest thing he does.

 And while he likes to sleep- he's got no discernible pattern. Some days it's a quick 30 minutes, and other days it's 2-3 hours of zzzzz's.  But we never know which is coming, so that's fun.

PA is pretty in the summer.  I'm still astonished that I can be cold in the early am or late nite, but the days are great.  Even when they're hot!

Introducing...

In late January, our second son arrived!

Meet Samuel Joseph, 9 lbs, 2 oz, 21 inches long.

His birth story is a bit long- we'll get to it in another post :)

His older brother, born in a Florida summer, was 4 months old and traveled 4 states away before he saw his first snow- which was a light dusting.  This little guy, born in a Pennsylvania winter, was 4 days old, stepped outside his house and had over 4 inches on the ground!

Isn't he adorable?  Even when he looks like a little drunken sailor!

We haven't gotten a lot of great family photos yet. 

I'm working on it.   I'm also working on thank you notes, but then lost the list.  

And my brain is mush from sleep deprivation, so that put everything on hold until I found the list (which I did, earlier today!).

Kaden is thrilled to be a big brother.  There's a good many posts in the future about how sweet and gentle he is (and some of the funny things that come out of his mouth!).  Perhaps the next one we'll recount as much as I can remember of brotherly love from the last few weeks...

It is life with a newborn, though- so it's not all roses.  Like all new humans, he's a bit squirrel-y.  

True to his genes, he also has stomach/gas issues. Poor guy.

The good news is that his lungs are just fine, thankyouverymuch.  Very strong lungs, indeed.

Another "odd" thing (not really bad, just.. an adjustment) to having two BOYS in the house... all the nicknames I have for Kaden have to be adapted.  Because if I say "What's wrong, little buddy" - Kaden answers "nothing, why?".  Or if I say "are you hungry, goose?"  Kaden answers "no, Mom".  So we're adapting:  littlest buddy, baby boy, littlest man, littlest brother.  Geesh, I hope Sam doesn't get a complex.  Maybe we'll have to adapt those nicknames again!

One of the most fun side benefits is that we've recounted a lot of "when you were a baby" stories to Kaden.  I almost forgot what fun he was.  Especially when he hit the older baby - toddler phase. And the preschool phase.  And... oh, really, he's just a fun kid... a good son to have in the family.  

And now we have two of them :)