siblings – Myriad & Sundry

Jameson & Coraline: Sibling Interactions

October 3, 2013 1 Comment

In the past month, we’ve seen a big change in sibling interactions with Jameson and Coraline. For one, Coraline is really focused on his activity and watching his every move. Jameson though has also begun taking more of an interest in her.

At first, he seemed to like her and talk about her, but didn’t volunteer much to do anything with her (which was typically just me asking him to sit next to her).

Now, he doesn’t mind sitting next to her as much as he used to, and loves to try and hold her hand (sometimes she is not too excited to hold his). The other night, he even asked to hold her himself, which he hasn’t done since she first came home.

Jameson will also read to her, and dad even let him feed her a bit (she was refusing the bottle anyway, as usual at home). He will get toys that she has dropped and point out all the puffs that she has left on her highchair and of course wants to push her stroller.

He even includes her in his play sometimes. Here he is measuring her head. He was also using the saw, but I told him he could only use the soft saw on her.

He has also made up a game, “Kaboom” which Coraline had to try too. Coraline, despite the high risk feet involved, absolutely loved it. She was laughing just as much as he was and grinning at him the entire time.

When I first put her in the swing, he insisted on helping push her and told me that she wanted to go high (she did not).

Jameson has also picked up on more of what we are saying about Coraline, saying “I pinched her” (which we joke about when she is crying and which we have tried to stop saying since then!) and “I woke her up” when he actually didn’t.

And perhaps most shockingly of all, we can actually sit with both kids in our laps for an extended period of time. When I say extended, I mean 5-10 minutes which must surely be hours in toddler time. Jameson doesn’t mind that we are all sitting together.

We are really enjoying how their sibling love has grown. I know it won’t always be like this, but right now it’s so wonderful to see their interactions together.

children, life with baby

Baby Faces

July 9, 2013 No Comments

Coraline and Jameson are slowly interacting more and more. Jameson helped push her swing the other day and Coraline gave him smiles directly at him!

She’s getting more expressions too, and sometimes makes short little laughs.

Right now, I love smooching her loudly on her cheeks which will turn her mouth into a big “O” of surprise and enjoyment.

Jameson isn’t always sure about her when she’s moving around and happens to touch him (He claimed that she spit on him in the car — it was a sneeze);

But, on his terms, he loves playing with her.

children

Two + Half

June 19, 2013 No Comments

It would be hard for me to believe that Jameson was two and a half except that we have a newborn at home, so it’s starting to feel natural that he looks and acts so big. Since he first turned two, his reasoning and thinking skills have really improved. He won’t hesitate to tell us what he wants to eat, and then just as decisively will tell us that he wants something else instead and no longer wants chicken nuggets. And speaking of food, he seems to be more consciously messy, which drives us bonkers. Spitting food out on the table and dipping in his milk is a frequent favorite.

Every like and dislike is said in an earnest and urgent tone, and when he doesn’t get his way we are always talking him down from the ledge. Sometimes is easier than others, but overall we don’t experience many tantrums and consider these upset moments as blips on the radar.

Jameson is 26 pounds as of a month ago and measured about half an inch under 3 feet.

He is really developing his imagination which seems to revolve around food: playing tea with Lily, giving me “pizza”, and he has even told us that Bobby Bear wants to sit at the table to eat. Luckily Bobby Bear doesn’t eat real food. I can only imagine how much messier we’d be!

When I took a picture of Bobby Bear, Jameson said “say cheese Bobby Bear” and when he realized I couldn’t see his smile, he got Bobby Bear out of his chair and turned him around so I could take a picture of him smiling; I obliged, of course.

In another example of his growing imagination, as I was making his bed he told me he wanted a bounce house (he hadn’t really experienced the word “tent” yet). I built one for him, and while we didn’t bounce in it, we did lay in it and made another one that night which he decided to call a castle this time around and read stories inside.

Bed time has been going very smoothly. We had a couple rough months prior to Coraline being born but since then has been very smooth and routine-driven. So has the morning ritual and most mornings go great. Jameson is still wearing pull ups to bed (we tried recently without and it didn’t work nor did he wake up), but during the day he is completely potty trained even through naps.

We read library books at bedtime mostly now, switching them out every month or so. He really enjoys Curious George books which are longer than our former board books and a little more now. But he doesn’t like Curious George the TV show as much; that favorite still goes to Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (the Mr. Rogers cartoon reinvention). He asks to watch Daniel Tiger goes potty and Daniel Tiger goes to sleep.

And Coraline… he loves his little sister more each day as she seems to be more active and alert. We talk about her smiling at him, and he has finally sat still enough a couple times that she has been able to focus on him and truly smile at him. He likes to take her hand and do knuckles with her. At bath time recently he did “this little piggy” on her hands and toes, which melted my heart.

He does show some signs of wanting more of mom’s attention since it is frequently on Coraline and feeding her or holding her; dad does the morning and most bed routines, so when he can get mom to read a story or sing a song he is thrilled!

Jameson just loves to be outside and doing what daddy (and sometimes mommy) is doing. He sings frequently, sometimes songs we didn’t realize he knows. There is nothing better than listening to a garbled song from a cute toddler!

He loves playing with his neighborhood friends Lily and Nathan and is starting to remember that Nathan lives nearby now, requesting to go to his house on walks. He recognizes his school from the car while driving, even if we are just passing it, and also recognizes our neighborhood when we get close to the house. We can’t fool his memory as easily now!

We haven’t really experienced much of the terrible twos, so (knock on wood) I’ll take more of these toddler years please. He’s so fun!

general life, life with baby

Two Kids, One Mom

April 16, 2013 1 Comment

On Monday, we had our first nice day in a while, so I decided to be brave and keep Jameson out of school all day and had two kids by myself all day for the first time.

The morning went okay, I got Jameson up while Coraline was still content, but she quickly decided she wanted to eat, so I had to let her cry some while I got Jameson his breakfast. He was excellent though while I fed her, watching tv next to me and needing nothing. She didn’t really want to nap after that (or I couldn’t give her the time she needed to help get her to sleep), so I kept her awake until it was time to go to the playground!

We met friends Lisa and Vivienne at the playground mid morning, and they ran around the playground for an hour without pause except to swing. I had Coraline in the stroller, but I did bring my carrier in case I would need to follow Jameson closer. However, he was great at the playground and didn’t try to jump off of any high platforms. He particularly loved running up and down the ramps and the swing.

He also spied another little boy running around in the grass outside the playground, and of course he had to do the same.

I even managed to pack us a lunch! We ate there, while Vivienne slept in her mom’s arms. She passed out in the swing! Jameson asked to go play as soon as he was done, and he ran around for another 20 minutes or so before we headed home so I could make sure I fed Coraline before she got fussy. She slept the entire time.

After she ate, we watched some tv for a little while so Jameson could relax a bit since he skips naps at home. Coraline napped in her swing and I even got some photos edited!

Then we went back outside for more! By evening, I had Coraline strapped in the carrier and took Jameson on a walk in his stroller, a new umbrella stroller we got for him. He doesn’t get to ride in it much, and he enjoyed a nice walk. After dinner, we played a little with Lily outside before finally crashing.

Coraline was awake for most of the evening and loved being outside. She was great in the carrier though complained a bit toward the end of our walk. I couldn’t believe how smoothly the day went, though I have developed a new appreciation for those who do this day in and out everyday. As it was, I needed the tv to occupy Jameson so that I could do some things I needed to do; and I’m not sure how I would feel if I felt obligated to help educate Jameson. Luckily I spent the day just doing and having fun!

But really, it will have to be a nice day when I do it again. Jameson needs that outside time to blow off some energy!

life with baby

4 Weeks Old

April 10, 2013 No Comments

She’ll be a month old on Saturday when we’ll get to start the first of her monthly photos. Can you believe it!?

Coraline is turning out to be a very mellow baby pretty consistently (it doesn’t seem like it’s just a fluke of newborn-ness right now).

The only exception is when she gets tired. If you let her get over tired, it becomes pretty difficult to get her to go to sleep, and she usually needs to suck.

At the first sign of fussiness now, I will try her in another position in case she is bored, and if she doesn’t settle, I’ll begin swaying her to sleep. She really only gets fussy when she is tired or very hungry, and sometimes just bored. And even hunger she will grunt for a while as a warning before the all-out-yelling begins.

This week I really felt like I am understanding her wants and needs better and our days have run very smoothly recently. More smoothly, I think, than they did with Jameson.

Some differences, which make it really clear how different babies really can be:

Jameson always seemed bored, like he needed a lot of stimulation and activity. I was thankful for daycare for this reason; so far, Coraline doesn’t seem to need this same kind of stimulation. She likes to look at faces a lot, and observing the world around her seems enough, for now. I’m guessing she may smile sooner than he did, but we’ll see!
Coraline doesn’t take a pacifier (we’ve tried four), and has a big preference for breastfeeding. She had her first bottle which went well, but the two we gave her since then she hasn’t taken, which makes me nervous. The key seems to be that she is confusing us between when she is hungry and when she is overtired and just wants to suckle herself to sleep. Jameson was always a bit of a struggle with breastfeeding (especially at her age now), and took pacifiers and bottles easily.
She doesn’t seem to spit up as much as Jameson did.

Coraline is a very loud sleeper, grunting and whining a lot. She is fine though without vibration or a pacifier once asleep.
She likes the swing! Hurray for a baby who likes the swing!
Jameson pooped once every 5 days or so (this is a normal, though not very common, occurrence with breastfed babies). Coraline is of the much more common several-times-a-day pooper (though thankfully not often at night). Consequently, while he seemed frequently gassy, Coraline doesn’t often.
She likes to be on her belly. Jameson used to hate to be on his belly, unless he was completely and totally already asleep. She seems to find it comforting.

And similarities: Coraline and Jameson both seem to be pretty good sleepers at this age, getting up between one and two times a night, most often just once. They like to be swaddled too! And obviously, they look very similar, especially when I put her in some of the gender neutral sleepers (heck, even some of the boy outfits too!). She is more filled out than he was, but many features are similar.

She has good head control already, which I credit to being at a higher birth weight and overall more mass to support that head! It probably helps that she likes to be on her belly, so we put her in that position more, too.

This week she also started to coo every once in a while (maybe a couple times a day). I tried to get it on video, but once I brought the camera out, she sneezed and started crying. A sign of things to come?

Jameson continues to be an excellent big brother. Last night, she was crying on her playmat while Brian and I finished eating quickly. Jameson, already finished, got a book and went over to her, trying to read to her. It was very sweet; when it didn’t work, he yelled to us that she was crying.

Whenever she cries, he tells us that she needs a diaper change. He likes to say “ewww stinky” when we do change her diaper; meanwhile laughing with pride at his own accomplishments on the potty. Kids are funny!

life with baby

The Newborn News

April 2, 2013 No Comments

Coraline’s turning 3 weeks old tomorrow, and for some reason that seems much older than the 2 weeks she was… what, days ago?

She is starting to pick up on a few of Jameson’s habits: staying awake and struggling at times to fall asleep (and at other times, she passes out without trouble… the whim of babies!)

She typically stays awake 1-2 hours at a time after a feeding about twice a day at this point. This morning, it was 3 hours, struggling to fall back asleep a few times before success.

Coraline had a few adventures during my first full week without Brian home; we went to Target and the grocery store (the grocery store was a fast trip, since she was awake and fussing!). We visited our baby friend Adelyn, who was born just hours after her at the same hospital. A co-worker came to visit and brought a lovely meal (which lasted me days!), and we had a pro clean the house (way overdue).

Lily and Peyton came to visit from next door; they aren’t too pleased I am blocking their view of the tv here, which made me laugh.

Peyton is 7 months old here and seems to big compared to our newborn baby Coraline!

Jameson began showing a bit of jealousy on occasion. Nothing too extreme, and all he wants is to be held. Overall, he has still been really great with her and has shown not an ounce of violence or meanness to her. He wants attention from mom and dad, and luckily, Coraline has been a good baby, and we are able to give it to him in the evenings without too much trouble. We have still been taking turns with bedtimes with him and he is still getting plenty of mom time even though I am feeding her a lot. (A lot!)

Grandma and Aunt Melissa came over last weekend for lasagna dinner (and again over Easter) so Jameson has seen a lot of family and really enjoyed that attention. Papa showed him spinning coins, a progression from spinning coasters!

Obviously there’s been a lot of picture-taking at our house! Jameson has recently been taking my phone and telling Coraline to say cheese and smile! I have shown him how to hit the camera button, and he has taken his first few photos (very unfocused and not of baby Coraline without assistance). He did manage to get pictures of feet the other day though!

Anyway, Jameson has been pretty tolerant of all the photo taking, and I took a few of them in their Big Brother, Little Sister shirts since Coraline seems apt to outgrow her newborn clothes a lot quicker than Jameson did.

Shortly after the above photo was taken, Coraline sneezed all over Jameson, and Jameson refused to take any more photos! Haha!

We also bundled up and walked over to the neighbor’s in the snow (snow!), since Kelly hadn’t had the opportunity that Lily and Peyton did to meet her yet. (Mid-yawn:)

And finally, she suffered my traditional “baby on a bookshelf” photos that Jameson did, so I will have matching photos of them. Jameson’s was taken at one month old, but I wanted them of a similar size, and she is already larger than he was at a month.

We were excited that it finally warmed up enough on Friday last week to go on her very first walk; in fact, she went on two when another co-worker dropped by later that evening with her twins!

We managed to keep really busy last week, but this week is shaping up to be a little lighter, which is probably good. After the warm up to the 50’s though on Friday and Saturday, we have woken up to snow each morning (that typically melts by noon, but still!). I am still waiting for a final turn around to spring weather…

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Introductions

March 22, 2013 No Comments

When we arrived home, Jameson was still at his grandma and grandpa’s house, so we had the opportunity to get her settled and to introduce her to Sasha, of course!

Overall, Sasha seems fine with a new little one around (particularly one that doesn’t move around yet).

Coraline is overall a content, pleasant baby thus far. Without the overarching concerns we had with Jameson’s eating and bowel movements (she is both a champion eater and potty-er), we have been very relaxed with her and her with us.

Jameson arrived later that afternoon, and I shortly came down from upstairs feeding her. Jameson immediately said “Hi baby Cor-line” (he removes the “a” when he says her name, it’s the cutest!) and waved at her.

He did really well meeting his baby sister for the first time, and shared his leeky with her, covering her so she wouldn’t be cold.

Then he wanted to hold her, so we sat down on the couch and with my help, he held Coraline for the first time!

A short time later, he requested to hold her again, specifically asking for us to take a picture with her, so grandma assisted while I obliged with more photos, of course! He even helped to take a picture on the iphone of her a couple days later. It won’t be long before I might need to get him his own camera!

We had been told that we’d see Jameson as so much older after her birth, and everyone was right. He seemed so big! In between holding her, I couldn’t help but capture a few things that really impressed on me that he was so much older.

He put on his own socks, and spun coasters on the floor (grandparents taught him that new skill).

Jameson was so silly, and so full of personality, it is hard to remember him at her age.

I did some comparison, and Jameson and Coraline have very similar features: nose, eyes, lips, chin. Jameson had circles under his eyes, and adorable forehead wrinkles, for a long time, which may have been because he was so small. Coraline has darker hair than Jameson did, and a little more of it. The biggest difference that struck me is that Jameson was one month old before he reached 7 pounds 3 ounces, a weight that Coraline reached in days.

Jameson has been very good with her, but sadly that very night after meeting her, he developed a fever and woke up at 102 F. Since then, we kept him from her and packed him off to his grandparents for Saturday evening through Sunday. The doctor didn’t find anything wrong beside the fever, which was both good and disappointing there weren’t any antibiotics we could give him to make it go away!

The fever continued through Tuesday, and Jameson went back to school on Thursday, the fever having turned into a snot filled cold and cough. He’s now allowed to touch her again after washing hands, but it was a hard few days being extra cautious. We are thankful that so far she hasn’t gotten it.

He likes to watch our activities with baby “Cor-line” and pull off her socks. He tries to put them back on without success and likes to share with her (so far).

His illness has made him a little more sensitive this week, so that it is hard to tell if he is ornery in the mornings from attention she receives or just from exhaustion and the change in routine this week. We’ve tried to give him his usual amount of attention during bedtime and evening routines, which have thankfully been going well.

I’m looking forward to seeing how their relationship grows and changes in the coming months!