I wanted to do a post on how AWESOME Jack has been at being a big brother. Most of Jack and Kyle's pictures go in Kyle's post but I wanted some of these in Jack's book when I publish his blog posts.
I was worried all summer about how Jack would be as a big brother. Especially since he had separation anxiety all summer. But since the day we brought Kyle home, Jack has been so interested in Kyle. He always asks where baby Kyle is. My response is usually that he is sleeping. I am usually feeding Kyle when Jack is eating either his meals or his snacks. There is one time when I feed Kyle and Jack is taking his nap.
Most of the time when Jack is playing, he doesn't even notice baby Kyle. Sometimes he'll even ask where baby Kyle is and I'll point to Kyle who is near him and say "he's right there". Then sometimes all he wants to do is play with Kyle. He is learning that Kyle is much smaller and that he has to be gentle.
Jack loves to hold baby Kyle. He smiles so big and gigles. If baby Kyle makes a noise then Jack says "baby Kyle talkin me".
Sweet kisses.
Brothers already playing together. Jack is showing Kyle how the Island of Sodor works.
Jack likes to hit the rattle ball for Kyle to show him how to do it.
So proud to hold his brother. Jack is a great helper. He loves to stand on his stool while I change Kyle's diaper. He has started asking to feed baby but hopefully him helping to feed him will be enough for now.
Jack is taking a break putting his puzzles together to smile at Kyle.
This second month was a tough one for me. Kyle started waking up more and showing signs of how Jack was as an infant. I think with my hormones and all, it kind of made me freak out a bit.
Kyle started taking only 45 minute naps because he wasn't able to soothe himself to the next sleep cycle...unless he was in the swing. I think this was also in part because even though he was on a schedule, he didn't have a consistent routine. Some days we'd be taking Jack to school or picking him up during Kyle's nap. I could always tell when Kyle had slept in his swing, the car seat or being held by someone because he wouldn't sleep in his crib for nap time. I kept telling myself not to get so uptight about naps because Kyle was still a great sleeper at night. Someday he would learn to take a longer nap in his crib.
By the end of the 2nd month things were looking up and I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. For me, that is three months. I always said if I could make it to three months I'd be good. By then, babies have much better head control and aren't just a little blob...they turn into babies, not infants.
Stats:
Weight: 13 pounds, 8 ounces
Height: 23 inches
Schedule:
7:30- Wake up, eat, and play
8:30- Nap
10:00- Eat and play
11:15 - Nap
1:00- Eat and play
2:15- Nap
4:00- Eat and Play
5:30- Nap
6:30- Eat and Play
7:20- Bath and Bedtime routine with about 3 ounces of milk at bedtime
Midnight- Daddy feeds 2 - 3 ounces depending on how awake Kyle is
Anywhere between 3 and 5:30- Mommy feeds 4 ounces and puts back to sleep
The day Kyle turned 8 weeks he slept from 7:45 - 6am or 6:30am with Daddy feeding at midnight. This meant I didn't have to get up in the middle of the night to feed him. So far he has done this for a week!
When Jack is home, not at his preschool (he goes to preschool Monday/Wednesday/Friday), the boys seem to be on opposite schedules. When Jack is up and playing Kyle is usually asleep. I feel like Jack is saying "Where's Kyle?" and I always say "he's sleeping". But the few times they are both awake, things seem to go well.
Love this picture. Jack playing in his room with his "Island of Sodor" while Kyle is watching him. It looks like Kyle is trying to touch Jack.
Jack likes to sing to Kyle and hand him lots of toys.
One Saturday morning, strolling and then playing at the park as a family. Jack rode in the stroller most of the way but as you can see on his face, he sees the playground and is ready to play.
Jack holding his baby brother. I can't wait to see them grow up together and watch them play.
Kyle playing on his green mat upstairs in Jack's room. This is what Kyle does when we are upstairs. He has started noticing the blue bird that spins around and makes noise.
Kyle also began to smile and talk this month.
Kyle loves the around the world mat. He can now see the lights and grins ear to ear when it is playing. He also loves to look at Ping the Red Panda. He can also kick the rattle ball.
Kyle smiling at Jack. Jack likes to say "Baby Kyle talkin me!" with excitement.
My brother and his wife came down for their baby shower so the next few pictures are of family members that got to hold Kyle that weekend.
Kyle's first official restaurant was Trail Dust. This is a little funny to me because we never go here. We went because we were trying to show Jacquelynn and her mom a Texas style dinner/atmosphere. Here is Kyle and Papa Steve. It was incredibly loud so even if Kyle fussed no one could hear him.
KK and Kyle. Ben went over to his parents house with both boys while I hosted the baby shower.
Sissy and Kyle. After the shower, my mom (Mimi) hosted a cookout. Sissy and Kyle stayed inside where it was much cooler. It was right around his last nap.
Grandpa, Jack, Kyle and Papa. Love the generations present.
My dad, Grandpa, getting Kyle to smile and talk.
Brotherly love
Kyle rarely sleeps on his tummy. Jack slept solely on his tummy by two months for his naps. Kyle mostly enjoys his swing for his naps.
Smiling at the lights and music and animal faces.
Kyle talking on his mat.
Kyle had his first play date. Actually, Jack was having a playdate with his friend James and Annabelle, James' sister, came over too. Annabelle is one month older than Kyle. The two of them were on this mat for maybe 5 minutes together. It was so cute to watch them. Kyle couldn't seem to keep his hands off her.
Can't wait till month 3 to see how much he's grown and what new things Kyle will be able to do.
In the beginning, Kyle was a much easier baby than Jack. He seemed to sleep all the time. I didn't know what to do. Jack was awake all the time from the get go. But, I'm not complaining. It's nice. Kyle is also more content when he is awake.
Some stats:
Weight - 11 pounds
Height - 22.5 inches
We took many stroller rides the first few weeks of Kyle's life which he enjoyed and mostly slept through.
We were working to get him on a 7, 10, 1, 4, 7 eating schedule. Ben would feed him around midnight and then I would feed somewhere between 2:30 and 4am. Just depends on when he woke up.
I found this picture that I had taken at the hospital. Ben looks a lot more rested than he did in the hospital with Jack.
2 days old and sitting in his bouncy seat...we'll see if he actually takes to the pacifier or just uses it until he finds his thumb. For now, the wubanub is his favorite thing to help him fall asleep at nap time.
First bath...he was so calm. I had the water in the sink running the whole time. So, with the pacifier and noise he just enjoyed laying there.
"Playing" on his mat. Jack loves to give Kyle kisses and hand him toys while he is playing on the floor.
I took this picture because he just looked so cute. Legs still in a frog position.
I love this sleepy wrap. We drop Jack off at preschool then head over to the store. I am able to take Kyle out of the car still asleep, put him in the sleepy wrap and he sleeps while I shop. He stays asleep the whole time and sometimes that is 45 minutes. Then I let one of the workers take my groceries to the car and load my car while I unwrap him and put him back in his carseat still asleep. It has been great.
Tessa and Claire came by one day and got to hold Kyle.
Tessa
Claire
Kyle's first real bath. He loved it. You'll see in the next picture that for the first month, we gave Kyle and Jack a bath at the same time.
Big brother loves holding baby Kyle. He asks to hold him almost everyday.
This video is of Kyle rolling from tummy to back at 3 weeks and 3 days old. This was the exact time that Jack rolled from tummy to back. (I looked in his baby book) He did this about 3 times on this day, 2 of which were before this video was taken and by then Kyle was tired and was fussy.
Kyle did not bring as much luck to the Rangers as Jack did. The first two years of Jack's life the Rangers were American League Champions. This year they almost made it to the playoffs but fizzled out in the end.
We got Jack a book called "I'm Going to Be a Big Brother". He loved to read it. Some how the guest bedroom became the books home. So, whenever Jack got the urge to read this book, he'd run into this room and jump on the bed. Here is Jack and Daddy reading the book. Jack's favorite page was the one that says "Something's stinky". Referring to baby's stinky diaper.
One of Jack and Mommy's favorite things to do this summer was go to the pool and go swimming. We usually went one afternoon after I picked him up from his preschool summer camp. We would swim for about 45 minutes and then have a snack. The snack was always Juice and graham crackers. Sometimes Mimi would join us. We stopped going to the pool after Kyle was born. Actually, we were supposed to go the afternoon Kyle was born but obviously didn't. The cutest thing - when I picked Jack up from his first day of preschool in September, he asked "Go swimmin' mommy?". I laughed and said "no, swimming is probably over for a while." This was after a whole month of not swimming. Jack has the craziest memory.
Jack became a great helper this summer. He loved to help get the groceries out of the car, open doors, throw things in the trash (his favorite). Here he is bringing in his very large bag of Veggie chips that we got on our trip to Costco.
Helping put wipes and diapers on the stairs to take to his room. Love Amazon subscribe and save!
Summers around here are crazy hot and being that I was pregnant I didn't want to go to the park much. Instead, we went to the mall quite a few times. The mall has a small play area for kids. We usually went right when the mall opened, before it got crowded. Here is Jack on the bridge.
Cute picture of Jack reading daddy's sports coffee table book and wearing daddy's Dallas Mavericks visor.
Jack's new obsession has become his firefighter hat.
One day as he was wearing his firefighter hat he asked "where's my hose?" This was the first time I had heard him actually connect the two - the hose and hat go together. We didn't have a fire fighter hose, so instead I gave him the top part of his broom. He took it and then waved it around and made a "shhh" sound for water. So I took a video of it:
New favorite show - Jack and the Neverland Pirates. Mimi got him this t-shirt.
Daddy was able to go swimming a few times this summer with us. Here Jack is showing daddy how to be a crocodile in the water. Not an alligator, a crocodile. Jack was very insistent on that.
Jack had a lot of fun with his cousins this summer. It was the first time he was able to actually "play" with them. Aunt Emily's birthday. All of Jack's cousins posing for a picture.
This picture makes me laugh. Jack and the cousins on the couch using 3 electronic devices.
Daddy's A&M visor.
One Saturday we went to Southlake's town square as a family. I had never been. We went because Ben's phone needed some assistance at the Apple store and the closest one is in Southlake. While daddy was getting his phone worked on, Jack and I took a stroll to the middle of the square.
We were at the square for maybe 10 minutes. The Apple store couldn't help Ben's phone. We thought since we were out there, let's stop by the Babies R Us nearby and look at a double stroller. While I was looking at the strollers, daddy and Jack roamed the nicest Babies R Us/Toys R Us I had ever been to. I guess if you are a store in a city where people have lots of money, you have to be really clean and fancy. Anyway, here are some photos of Jack having fun.
Jack got to go to his best friend James birthday party. It was a Sesame street themed party. Jack doesn't watch Sesame Street but he knows all of the characters. Here he is in front of the picture wall.
The first Sunday after Kyle was born was Preschool parade day at church. During one of the songs in the service, all of the preschool classes parade through either on foot, in strollers, or in buggies. This is to help recruit preschool workers. Jack is in this red buggy front right seat.
Jack and James having fun. James and his dad came over one Saturday so the little boys could play and the big boys could watch college football. I think the boys had fun. I was also able to take a nap while Kyle was napping. Side note- one thing I've learned from having a 2nd baby...there is rarely a time during the day when you can actually take a nap. The boys are on opposite schedules. So this nap was a treat for me.
Jack loves his baby brother. I was so surprised at how much he has enjoyed having him around. I honestly thought we might have some jealousy problems, but so far Jack has been great.
