Saturday, In The Park

I think it was the 4th of April.

Not wanting to do anything too involved before I had to leave to handle my part of hostess duties for the big hunt, Bryant and I decided to take the boys down to the park on the Old Navy Base. The boys absolutely adore this place, and unfortunately, Bryant hasn't had too many opportunities to join us there, so this was a special day. Of course, R and B were ecstatic to have their daddy joining us on an "adventure", and we made the most of our limited time there. First we visited The Big Blue Playground. (I capitalize it because it is THAT important around our house.) The boys showed Daddy all the wonderful things about one of their favorite playgrounds. Bennett even took a twirl in the spinning seat, and Reeves climbed higher than he ever has on the rope structure. I think they were both showing off.
After that, we headed over to the other side of the park where they have the fountain. It was warm, so when Reeves asked if he could run through the water, we acquiesced. I did think to remove his shirt so that we could put at least one piece of dry clothing on him for the ride home - on the open golf cart. Before we knew it, Bennett was soaked too. Once he's halfway there, why not let him go all the way. He would be warmer running around in it than with me holding him.Oh well. At least we had brought a blanket so we could wrap them up. They loved it! And stayed in it, running back and forth, batting at the streams of water, and covering up the jets with their crocs much longer than Bryant or I would have guessed. Reeves did eventually admit that he was getting cold, so we headed back to the golf cart, stripped them both down and wrapped them up in the blanket - and Daddy's undershirt which he removed to at least partially clothe a naked Benny Boy. It was a pretty classy scene.
I can't wait till the weather warms up for good (although I definitely will miss a few cool days here and there). In this coastal town, it opens up a whole new wealth of fun possibilities when your plans for the day can include, "Bring bathing suit."

I'm Sure They'll Make Me Pay For This Someday...

But hopefully not before I can get it into at least one of their rehearsal dinner photo montages.

But honestly, matching pajamas AND matching, goofy, bair cub hats? How could I resist? And, yes, Reeves wasn't a huge fan, but Bennett loved it.

He later went around sporting Daddy's big ole socks. Good idea on the carpet, not so great on the hardwoods. Good thing he's tough and flexible. Gotta love the drool. (Will these molars never make their appearance?!?)

Zat You, Santy Claus?

Just one of the thousands of outtakes, but I like to imagine the boys saw old Saint Nick himself standing behind me a time or two. (It was actually Aunt Julie with a big ole sucker!) Getting that perfect Christmas card picture is truly an exercise in patient parenting and bribery... and thoughts of seriously getting Photoshop and "making" a picture of the two of them.

Just to Compare...

The first is Reeves, the second is Bennett. I can't believe how much fuller Bennett's face is, and he is a week or so younger in this picture.

Here they both are in their going home outfit. Oops, looks like we forgot the hat for Bennett. We'll just chalk that up to his being early.

This picture of Reeves is one of our favorites. Of course, he was just over a month old at that time. Bennett was two weeks old when his picture was taken. And the outfit is already tight on him!


So, maybe they don't look quite as much alike as I had originally thought, but I still don't think there is any doubt these two are brothers!

Just a Quick Update

I know I have been remiss in posting recently. I'm still trying to figure out where Mommy's "computer time" is going to fit into my day. I had assumed it would be late at night, but I have taken everyone's advice and am putting myself to bed right after I put Bennett down after his 9/10 o'clock feeding. It has really made such a difference and is giving me a blessed extra hour or two of sleep a night. So, until Bennett drops one of the nighttime feedings, it looks like posts will be sporadic at best.
I am still working on the birth story. It is turning out to be quite a tome, much longer than I had expected and probably not terribly interesting and riveting reading to most, but at this point, it is becoming more for posterity than for entertainment value.

Reeves is still loving his new brother. He doesn't appear to be showing too much jealousy, although he has recently become fond of wanting to climb in my lap to read a book (usually the heaviest one he has) while I'm nursing. As long as I don't gain any weight, this is working out OK, and I honestly do love holding them both at the same time. Bennett has been having some latching on issues lately, but they seem to be working themselves out. It is now taking no more than 10 minutes at the longest to get him to latch on. This improvement could be due to Reeves' help - pushing his brother's head into my boob - but I don't really think so. My solution has been to let him get absolutely starving. It may sound cruel, but it works. And after trying to get him to eat for an hour and a half, I figured I might as well spend that time not fighting with him. I never thought I would dream about feeling the pain of a child latching on as sweet relief, but I do. We go back on Wednesday for another weigh in, but both Bryant and I agree that he looks like he is gaining weight. This was not something we ever saw with Reeves at this age, so it is a welcome change.

I am working on establishing a schedule, and so far, we are pretty consistent in the mornings. He eats around 6 or 6:30 and is then down for 3 1/2 to 4 hours. If this morning's second feeding is any indication, his stomach is getting bigger because he ate well on both sides. I'm glad I have already pumped a good bit because it doesn't look like I'll be able to get too much of that done for a while.