State Fair

For the record.
Iowa State Fair > Wisconsin State Fair.
But I am biased.

But, we went, we saw, we experienced the cream puff.
Apparently, this item is a big deal. We found them yummy, but messy.
I'll "stick" to the fare at the Iowa State Fair.

Genuine smile replaces cheesy smile when a truck is involved.

I wanted to look at the world's tallest living horse. Henry was drawn to the small tractors and trucks. What a tease, to only look and not touch the toys.

Pedal power missing. His heart was in it, though. AND he snatched up the "cool combine one"
Oh. That's a cream puff.

3 months

I blinked my eyes and 3 months went by.

Everyday I've stared at my little baby (who, let's face it, isn't so little, but it's a relative thing). Pun intended.

I've spent three months studying the newest member of our family. I'm amazed by how similar, yet different he looks, compared to Henry. (I know. I want to try not to compare Grant to Henry all the time, but it's hard!) His hair is a little darker and there's more of it. His hairline is different (cowlick, courtesy of George), yet he lacks George's prominent eyebrows - which Henry carries and forms into various funny faces, serious frowns, or my favorite, surprise eyebrows. There are so many things I either forgot from the first time around, or was too worried I was "doing everything right" as a first time parent to really notice about a newborn.

For instance, Grant, even from the earliest days at the hospital, would laugh in his sleep. Not just the little cute smiles of content. Full out laughing. Knowing that this skill takes time to develop, it was strange, yet delightful to hear this. And Grant seems intent on winning strongest baby contest and beating Henry on milestones. At 2 months, he rolled over. I wouldn't just say that if it happened on an uneven surface once or twice. It happened three or four times. On the floor. Crazy stuff. Mark my words, we'll have a walker by 9 months. Honest. But I'm not rushing him.

The second child is a baby to enjoy. The pressure is off.  We've already proven that we can grow a child past a birthday. The confidence gained makes for a more relaxed parent, and in turn, a more relaxed baby. Now as insight to Grant's personality, know that Henry is a fairly easy-going kid, and he was a good baby. Grant is even more laid back. If that's possible.

Though I don't want to jinx myself. I say these things, yet in the next instant remember that yesterday at the YMCA I was paged overhead to pick up my charming three month old who was screaming at the top of his lungs. He is Mommy's boy. The moment he heard my voice and knew I was holding him, he was quiet. On my way out, I realize that his diaper is soaked, so I try to dart back in to change him before loading him in the carseat. All is going well with Grant. Henry was uncharacteristically good at drop off and pick up, but has suddenly lost patience and wants me to carry him. Given that I have the infant car seat (with Grant inside) and a diaper bag in tow, I try to encourage him to get to the car under his own power. Good feeling from 1 hour away from my boys drains from my body. My shoulder blades once again become earrings, my ears start ringing, and I can feel my cheeks flush as I try to encourage, then coerce, then end up dragging my two year old, who has grabbed onto my leg screaming and crying, past the lobby full of people into the parking lot and car and car seat. A separate workout unto itself. Parent confidence suffers a setback.

So, my point being, attachment parenting going well. Henry is attached. (ha, ha) And Grant is attached. The whole time George holds him in the evening, Grant has an eagle eye on me as I continue to put supper on the table, eat, and then clean up afterwards. The. Whole. Time. He knows what he likes. Milk. I mean Mommy. At this stage, one in the same.

I neglected to put up Grant's stats from his 2 month appointment. Better late than never: Here they are from his July 12th appointment:
Weight: 15 lbs 14 oz. for the 95%
Height: 24.5 inches for the 90%
Head circumference 42 cm for the 90%


He is a big strong boy. Ok, last time. Compared to Henry, Grant weighed 1 lbs heavier and was an inch shorter at 2 months. I like to joke that I have "Hank and Tank."  But things can change. One of my sisters was quite chunky as a baby, but always very thin after that. So you never know. You just try to keep up.

Photo succession

not exactly what it looks like, but funny none-the-less

plays hard, sleeps hard

A happy guy

Cliff's Notes for July

July!

July seems like it was over in a blink of an eye.  The date on the blog indicates that we've obviously been very busy in our "real" life rather than in our virtual one.  Not to worry, we've taken many photos along the way.  Here's a recap. Pardon my memory as my evenings are still not quite my own (Grant's bedtime is slowly becoming routine) and by the time I have a moment, I'm multitasking to the max. Tonight's agenda: canning peaches, peach crisp, diaper laundry, and...blogging!  Last night: making basil pesto, washing CSA veggies, vomit laundry (Henry had a 24 hour bug), and emailing.

July's activities included, but were not limited to:

1. Rhythm & Booms.  This year was technically our first celebration (last year was a rainout postponement debacle) and we enjoyed the fireworks show, minus the LONG wait for traffic to clear to get home. We're a mere 10 minute walk away.  It was Henry's third fireworks show and he was the most nervous this year. I think the precursory personal fireworks had him a little uneasy before the show even started. However, he still talks about the parachuters that jumped from the plane, the F-16 flyover, and the "loud, bright flower in the sky, not in the grass".  (If we were playing the game Taboo, he'd win for describing a firework, I think).  Grant slept through them. What a good baby.

2.  Visitors.  The Sanford family came for a visit and to begin a rather complicated journey for their two older kids. George was on a week of nights (ever lived with someone who kept the exact opposite schedule as you? then you'd know how much you see them. never) so I decided to take Andrew (4) and Julia (just shy of 7) to my sister's townhouse in Des Moines.  That's right. Instant mama of 4 on a 6 hour car trip. My only true dilemma came when I was at the rest stop and wasn't sure how I'd manage to actually use the facilities myself. Leave children unattended in the car? Hold the baby, take all 3 children in the bathroom with me? A combination of the two?  I decided I didn't have to go that badly. Fluid restriction. Bladder of steel.  Overall, I was impressed with myself. Aside from the last 20 minutes, everyone remained fairly happy in transit.  Thank goodness for portable DVD players and a long list of camp songs sung from memory.

Photos here:  http://picasaweb.google.com/jmsanford50/MadisonIowaTrip#

3. Vacation.  Oh what a lovely vacation. It was actually a vacation. No mowing the lawn, no clinic notes to write, a little cooking (but campfire cooking adds novelty) and as much sleeping in as a two month old and a two year old will allow. George was with me (dual parenting, using the divide and conquer method, is SO much easier than solo). And for a week we sat and drank coffee, enjoyed the beautiful Lake Michigan beach, swam, played in the sand, ate s'mores, and watched children be children. Did you know child rearing is so much easier when they reach the age where they can entertain each other, play together, and babies can sleep on the shoulder of an auntie or grandma?  Occasionally a thought flits across my mind like this: what did people do before we had bumbo seats, or bouncers, or johnny-jump-ups?  Oh yeah, it was a relative and a rocking chair who kept baby occupied or sleeping so momma could get a breather.

And here's a plug for western Michigan beaches. Fabulous sand. NO bugs, unlike Wisconsin. Fresh water lake, clear water. No sticky saltiness at the end of the day of ocean swimming. Sometimes waves - great for little ones still learning to swim. Don't everyone rush there all at once, I don't want my beach to become crowded with tourists! 

Photos here:  http://picasaweb.google.com/lottie329/CapperSummerVacation2010#

5 years

5 years of wedded bliss = 2 years of nursing school + 3 years of finishing medical school + 3 moves across state lines + 1 house + 2 kids + 2 years of family medicine residency + countless nights of "call" + sprinkles of date nights + several nightly constitutions + evening family meals + coffee, and lots of it + a few tears + smiles and laughter.


A "wood" anniversary.


Would I say Yes all over again?


YES!!

"Let's play trains"

most frequently heard phrase these days at our house

I look forward to the day Henry asks Grant more often than Momma or Papa

Smiles

These help an exhausted Momma feel less irritated about a 5:00am wake up call.

Grant's smiles are so sweet.


We have pillow talk, and then, if we're lucky, another short nap before Henry is at the door.

Hhmmm.

Until I have a little more time to myself, the blog will continue to take a back burner. Though I do have ideas floating around in my head that I'm excited so share, you'll have to simply stay tuned.

Recently, I've been trying to read more about sibling adjustment, as Henry seems to be in an awful phase of acting out and being quite aggressive toward Grant. The University of Michigan has a very helpful website, complete with a questionnaire to help parents understand their child's temperament, in addition to suggestions on how to handle regression or aggressive behavior.  I found the following excerpt on this website and it made me laugh. So I wanted to share:

To get a sense of how your older child might feel about the addition of the new baby, imagine this:  
Imagine that your partner puts an arm around you and says, "Honey, I love you so much, and you're so wonderful that I've decided to have another wife (or husband or partner) just like you."  When the new wife (or husband or partner) finally arrives, you see that (s)he's very young and kind of cute. When the three of you are out together, people say hello to you politely, but exclaim ecstatically over the newcomer. "Isn't (s)he adorable! Hello sweetheart... You are precious!" Then they turn to you and ask, "How do you like the new wife (or husband or partner)?"