5 Years Later

It's funny how life works. For the last couple weeks I had been thinking about posting to this blog again but hadn't looked at the blog in years. Today, I popped it open only to find out that it was exactly 5 years ago, September 5, 2013, that I posted last. Let's just say that a lot happens in five years...

Enjoying an early Spring day at Keukenhof outside Amsterdam

Looking forward to writing new blog posts with a bigger focus on where our travels take us and (thankfully) a lot less focus on rice cereal and strange daycare illnesses.

6 Months!

Yesterday Jason turned six months old. 184 days. A whole lot of minutes and a whole lot more seconds. As it is always said the days seem like an eternity but months fly by in the blink of an eye. OK, maybe not in a blink of an eye but close.

6 months old! Jason...not the duck

I know we've been through this before with Owen, but it's still awesome to watch Jason progress and learn more and more things. In just the last two months he's done all sorts of new things like:

• Eating solid foods. He's up to rice cereal, oatmeal, peas, carrots, and sweet potatoes. It worked well with Owen to start with vegetables first before switching to fruit, which is much sweeter, so we're trying it again. So far Jason's not so sure about peas but seems to really enjoy the cereals, carrots, and sweet potatoes
• Rolling over. Like crazy. This baby loves to roll and roll and roll.
• Sitting up. He's not able to do it without supervision yet, but I think he'll be a pro in just a couple weeks
• Putting himself to sleep at night. He does not nap for us at home very well at all, although he naps well at school. But at night he goes right down and puts himself to sleep with barely a sound.

In general he's reached the typical six month old phase where he can stay awake and alert for longer periods of time, he's getting much better at playing by himself for short periods of time, and he doesn't cry as much at night before bedtime like a newborn does when they're exhausted from a long day. Our little guy is definitely starting to grow up.

As for Owen, the school year started on Tuesday. This is Owen's last year at the Malvern School since he starts Kindergarten next year. Owen's a great kid and wonderful with his little brother. He helps out Bridget and I with little tasks when we need something for Jason and often times we'll find him over by Jason talking and playing with him, which Jason can't get enough of. He's definitely has a mischievous, 4 year old side to him as you would expect but overall he's a fantastic kid, who is super fun to spend time with.

The First 100 Days and Participation Trophies

Similar to a presidential term, I see the first 100 days of a baby's life as a significant test...for the parents. Let's face it, for those first 100 days or approximately 3 months the baby is not extremely giving. The first month you wait for him/her to finally smile, the second month you cross your fingers hoping that you didn't lose the colic lottery, and the third month you watch as he/she teases you with longer sleeping stretches at night sometimes even sleeping the whole night through only to wake up 3-4 times the next night.

Jason recently completed his first 100 days (as of this post he is 16 weeks, 1 day or 113 days old) and we're starting to see some of those encouraging infant signs. He recognizes us and smiles almost instantly, he's starting to play with small toys (which really is just holding onto something and trying to put it in his mouth), he's sleeping pretty well at night, and he's much more aware of his daily routine and surroundings. Not to mention that except for the random sickness that throws us for a loop, Bridget and I are much more familiar with his likes/dislikes/tendencies and I like to think we're handling the two kid thing much better than we were just a few weeks ago.

On to Owen...In one of my recent posts I posted I wrote about Owen and teeball. The three game season just ended (two of the five games were rained out with no make-ups) and Owen's team, the Yankees, finished with a record of 0-0. It was actually a great league. No pressure; just a bunch of 4 year olds having a great time hitting, fielding, diving, and at times wrestling.

Now I spent a fair bit of my childhood playing various sports on various teams and I have about 10 trophies total to show for it (a couple of those are fishing trophies, which I won't get into in this post). I received a trophy when the team I was on accomplished something. Win a league. Win a tournament. The normal stuff. I should have known, however, what was going to happen when Owen's final game ended. The coach in addition to his normal selection of post-game treats called the players over and gave every one of them a little gold trophy. A participation trophy?! What the?! I know it's how things work these days, but I long for the days when a trophy meant you accomplished something and not just that you showed up at the correct time wearing the right uniform. I guess it's good that I learn this about kids early in Owen's childhood. And with that I leave you with some of the pictures from Owen's first teeball season...

Devon Strafford Teeball 2013

A little tongue action with each swing

Taking a knee

The team and their gold trophies

3 Months, Off to School, Back to Work, and Roller Coaster Fan

And so, we've made it to another milestone...3 Months! Many people think 3 months = 12 weeks but as a parent that counts the days until his newborn is something more than a helpless being who at times smiles but more often frowns and cries I can tell you that 3 months is actually 13 weeks. In any case, Jason is now 3 months old and doing well.

3 months old!

It's always hard to tell as a parent that your child looks any different as time goes by but other people tell me that he is looking much different than he did a couple months ago. I can definitely tell that he's bulking up, though. He has the stereotypical chubby baby thighs and cheeks. And the best part about a baby's 3 month birthday...no doctor visit which means no shots! We get a month reprieve before they start poking the little guy again.

The 3 month milestone meant even more to Jason and Bridget. It meant that it was time for Jason to start going to school each day and for Bridget to return to work. Neither seemed very pleased with the situation although I think Jason handled it slightly better in the end. Bridget did an amazing job with Jason over her 3 months at home with him. I love Jason but there is no money you could pay me to spend 8-10 hours alone in a house with a newborn day after day. I certainly am not patient enough for that. So far we are four days into the new school routine and Jason seems to be handling it very well. He's sleeping well in his crib at school, which is something he never did at home during the day, seems to enjoy the other infants roaming around his new classroom, and is still eating like a champ. I did manage to give both Bridget and Jason a cold so he got his first of many colds during his first week at school, but he would have gotten one from someone in his room anyway; I'm just giving him a head start.

A couple weeks back on Memorial Day the family decided to take a road trip out to Dutch Wonderland, a nearby theme park in Lancaster, PA. We had no idea how Jason would handle a day at a theme park, but Owen loves it there and really wanted to go. Dutch Wonderland is a theme park built specifically for kids. While they have rides that adults can ride on, you only have to be 42" tall to ride every ride in the park. We told Owen over the winter that he had grown to 42" tall and could go on the rides at Dutch Wonderland including the Kingdom Coaster, the main roller coaster they have in the park. We quickly found out that Owen LOVES roller coasters. He had ridden one roller coaster at Hersheypark last year and there's a kiddie coaster at Dutch Wonderland that he had ridden in the past, but he could not get enough of the Kingdom Coaster. He and Bridget ended up riding it 8 times in a row! I can only hope that Jason is tall and grows up fast so that he and his brother can start riding rides together because I'm not sure how long I can keep up with them. We had a blast and will definitely be going back again soon.

Owen on one of the many rides that he rode at Dutch Wonderland

Two Months In And Time For Teeball

I maintain that anyone that says that having a newborn around the house is wonderful is telling 50% of the truth and the other 50% is them just trying to make themselves believe that they're having a good time. Owen and Jason are different in a number of ways but one big way that they are similar is that neither one was/is a baby that just wants to hang out and watch the world go by. Don't get me wrong, I like that Jason is active just like his brother was, because when he's in a good mood he's fun to play with. However, there is very little time in the day where Jason will just hang out in a swing or a chair or on the floor without Bridget or I next to him entertaining him.

The good part is that he has blown past two months old and is on his way to 11 weeks old on Monday. He's definitely becoming more aware as the weeks go by. He smiles all the time now, which is awesome, he tries his best at talking, and if I had a way to measure the time he spent crying per day at 6 weeks and the time he spends crying now at 10 weeks I'm pretty sure it has decreased.

The three guys hanging out on the couch

 
One way that Jason and Owen are the same are their sleeping habits. At about 6 weeks we put Jason into his crib at night and he's taken to it wonderfully. On average he falls asleep about 8PM, wakes up around 4 for a bottle, and goes back down until sometime between 6 and 7. He has his occasional off night, but it's so nice for Bridget and I to get 6-7 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night and bodes well for her going back to work in a couple weeks.

As for Owen, he has started his baseball career. In our township they started a 4 year old teeball program a few weeks back. I was a little hesitant about signing him up since he turned 4 only 30 days before the deadline meaning that most of the kids are older than him, but it has been a great decision. The first three weeks they brought his team, the Yankees (yes, I know, but I don't get to make the decisions) to the local indoor batting cages and taught them the basics of how to throw, field, and hit. What a wonderful idea. These kids don't know anything about baseball and simply sticking them out in a field wouldn't have been worthwhile.

Today was Owen's first game against the Phillies. By "game" I mean that they sent one team out into the infield and let the other team step up to the plate one-by-one and hit the ball. No scores, no outs, no real rules. Just a bunch of 4 year olds having a great time. Owen did really well in both the field and at the plate. Even hit a ball that had a few seconds of airtime. Jason and Bridget got to come to the game and we all had a blast watching the outing. Can't wait for the next three games.

Owen, crooked hat and all, hanging out with his team

Owen's home run trot during practice

Hello Jason Matthew

Wow...it's been a while...

One of the things that Bridget said to me a couple times during her pregnancy was, "I want to be able to tell you 'It's time' and then off to the hospital we go." It didn't seem like it was going to happen though. One way or another the baby was coming on March 6th. When we went to bed on the night of March 3rd it seemed like any other night. I fell asleep pretty much right away while Bridget, 39 weeks pregnant, tried as hard as she could to find some position that was somewhat comfortable.

Then, all of a sudden, at 4AM I hear, "Bryan, wake up. It's time." And it was! Even though we never really discussed a plan, Bridget had thought ahead and had a bag packed just in case. So we hopped into the car leaving Owen with his grandparents and headed off to the hospital. I even scored the best spot in the parking lot, which isn't hard to do at 4:20 in the morning. And then, only three hours later at 7:32AM on March 4, 2013, we were introduced to Jason Matthew.
I'm writing this on Jason's 45th day as he turns 6 1/2 weeks. We're pretty lucky that he's already taken to sleeping in his crib, which is the only reason I have a chance to write this post before I head to bed myself. All told he's been a good baby so far. I think some of that is a result of Bridget and I being a little less stressed this time around as well as having a helping hand from family for the first couple weeks.

One area where Jason is a lot like his brother, Owen, is that during the day he wants to be held. He'll sleep for a few minutes in his swing or on a blanket on the floor, but he is far from mastering the art of the midday nap by himself. Unfortunately for Bridget this means that she is spending yet another maternity leave on the couch as she holds Jason while he sleeps.

If there's anything I've learned from my two sons it's that the time around 6 weeks old is not a fun time to be a baby...and they like to let you know it. Don't get me wrong. Neither of our sons were/are colicky (sp?) so we are lucky. However, they both liked to cry and scream around that age. Jason, according to Bridget, has been a little better during the day but right around when the clock hits 5 in the afternoon until he goes to bed some time around 8, it's game on for being fussy. I chalk it up to the fact that it's an age when they're more alert than when they're only a couple weeks but are not able to control their bodies enough yet to entertain themselves. They can't reach for anything, their hands and feet are still flying all around, and they don't have much control as far as facial movements or sounds are concerned. I don't blame them for being fussy. Again, though, we've been through it before so I like to think we're handling it much better this time around. At least we know that it doesn't last forever. We're hoping that within 2-4 weeks we'll have a much happier, much more content Jason.

It's not all bad news though. Just this week Jason finally smiled for real. That little smile can brighten your whole day. From here on out the ratio of smiles to frowns should start tipping in favor of the smile side.
So far it's been great. We're still adjusting, but we get a little better at it each day.

Owen "Reads" Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

OK...so he doesn't read yet. But it's still pretty cool to see that he can do it all from memory...

View the full video on YouTube here.