Week 10 with Parker

Goodbye newborn, hello baby!  Parker did lots of big boy things this week including sitting in his Bumbo seat, taking his first bottle, watching cartoons with his older brother, tummy time and lifting his head, pulling objects into his mouth to chew on, first trip to the pool, going for walks in the big stroller, and hanging out in the Moby wrap with Mom.  His muscles are getting stronger allowing him to lift his head with better control, pull himself up to sitting, and almost rocketing out of your lap when he pushes on his legs to stand up.  As with most breastfed babies, his digestive system is maturing and altering his daily routine to eat, play, poop, sleep.  He struggles more with his poops now that it's not immediately after his feeding and has less poop and more gas.  The 30 deg angle works really well on him as it did for Brady, or holding him upright walking around to pass bubbles. Most nights he sleeps through the night (~7 hrs straight), taking 2-3 longer naps during the day and eating ~8x/day.  He's getting bigger now, wearing mostly 3 month size clothes.  He also seems to be taking better to his swing, enjoying looking at his lambs and even falling asleep in it on occasion.  At this age Brady developed into a thumb sucker.  So far Parker seems to enjoy chewing on his right fingers, with or without holding a blankie, but has been found twice with his right thumb in his mouth.  Daddy is pulling for him to be a lefty!

1st bottle - had to take a few breaks to breathe but drank almost all 2 oz

 Saturday morning cartoons with big brother

 Cruisin' the house with Mom

 Getting ready for tubing on Grandpa Bob's boat

Just so stinkin' cute!

Brady continues to bring firsts into our lives.  This week we met a friend for a BBQ and she let us use the pool at her HOA.  And just like in Maine, Brady jumped off the edge of the pool fearlessly into Daddy's arms.  He really loves the water.  With summer in Texas in full swing we are looking into swim lessons.  Brady has adjusted back to the routine at school.  This week they had a special visit from some barnyard critters and Brady enjoyed watching the pigs and goats and brushing the sheep.  He also has had several successful attempts at peeing on the potty at school which he brought home peeing once on his little Thomas the Train potty - go Brady!  The trick seems to be a combination of getting reward stickers at school and watching a Potty Power video on the phone in the bathroom at home.  We anticipate there will be some accidents, including one night where he peed on the floor after an unsuccessful trip to the potty, but we clean up and try again.  Brady still seems to be adjusting well to having a little brother.  He's very gentle with Parker and loves to share blankies, attempt to share food, and kiss him on the head or play with his feet.  As we bring out some of his old toys and gear he does say "mine" - not sure if it's a little jealousy with sharing his old stuff or just that he wants to be the first with the "new" toy.  It is fun to see him playing again with toys he hasn't used since he was really little. 

 Mr fearless

Toe tapping to Potty Power

 Mine?  Ok I'm stuck

Fun feeding the dog, and fun cleaning up the mess

It's mid-July in Texas, normally it's 100+ deg and miserable but for some reason this year we are getting lots of rain.  This has helped keep the temps down enough to enjoy some activities outside.  Last night after dinner we played in the driveway as the storm approached.  Brady hit balls off the tee with Daddy catching, Mommy cheering him on, and Parker providing support from the back of his eyelids.  Brady can swing righty or lefty with pretty good accuracy hitting balls all over the driveway.  Think he's going to be a pretty good athlete!  

With Parker now on a more stable routine, and Mom's maternity leave ending in a few weeks, Mom and Dad have been getting back into their workout routine.  While Dad works out most weekday mornings, Mom works out 2 days on, 1 day off, and is happy to feel ab muscles again.  She'll fit in her work clothes and jeans again soon.  And with all this talk of athletics and working out, the FIFA World Cup concluded this week with Germany beating Argentina 1-0 taking home the most coveted trophy in international soccer.  Team USA did well advancing behind Germany in the group stage, and going into extra time but losing to Belgium in the round of 16.  

Still hard to believe we're parents to two wonderful little boys.  It's changed our lives in so many good ways, we enjoy every second!