Weeks 5 & 6 with Parker

The big highlights these weeks were Dad's birthday and Father's Day.  Dad's birthday fell on "freaky Friday," a honey colored full moon Friday the 13th.  Next time this happens is the year 2098!  To celebrate his birthday we took the family to Medieval Times - what better way to celebrate with kids than a place that is loud, messy, and you eat with your hands?  Brady loved the "horseys" dancing to the music as they paraded through.  He also liked the joust and sword fighting and thankfully didn't bring any new tricks home with him.  Father's Day was much more laid back letting Daddy sleep in, get breakfast, take his new bike out for a ride, and playing with Brady in the back yard.  It was a great relaxing weekend.

Supporting our knight - the Green knight

Dancing as the horses march in

Taking out the new bike on Father's Day

Brady ready to ride

Enjoying some father-son time on a warm Texas day

Parker keeps growing.  He is getting heavier and longer, his cries and coos are getting louder, he's more alert and less sleepy in the day, less reflux, more aware of things going on around him, and quicker/smoother ability to track objects with his eyes.  He loves his big brother already, turning his head to look for Brady when he hears him come into a room.  Unlike Brady he seems more particular about where he sleeps preferring his co-sleeper, parents arms, or in the car.  He doesn't enjoy the swing waking easily after ~15 minutes.  We've tuned into his routine - diaper, feed, poop, play, sleep, repeat.  Now that we're more experienced parents we get his cues easily and are able to keep him happy.  He still has his cute newborn startle reflex throwing his arms out when he hears a loud noise.  He gets hiccups often which seem to come regularly after a big poop.  His facial expressions are getting more pronounced and varied, the best being all his smiles (some with his tongue out).  Love his soft peach fuzz head too!

 One of his looks - 'blue steel'

 Nice day for a walk to the park

Snuggling with Mom

Smile!

More smiles!

Brady has been amazing this week, what an imagination!  It's so cool to see the world through someone else's eyes.  This week he pulled a Texas magnet off the fridge and flew it around the house like an airplane - the two points of Texas do kinda look like wings.  After filling the bird bath he ran to get his rubber ducky and put it in for a swim, why not?!  He used his pool noodle to blow through and make noises like an elephant after he rode it like a horse.  And he loves to build forts using pillows and the ottoman off the couch.  What a smart, fun, incredible kid!  He's also getting so good with his words.  He gave mom an empty can of soda and told her to be careful, dangerous (sharp edges).  And what a singer - he's great at reciting his ABCs during a bath time or singing nursery rhymes while jumping on the bed (even if monkeys jumping on the bed have ashes ashes we all fall down before row row row your boat).  Mom surprised him by picking him up at school with Parker, getting to show off his new little brother to his classmates and teachers.  

 Rubber ducky going for a swim

 Fixing his bubble gun

Playing with Mom

Helping Dad clean the truck

The 2014 men's soccer world cup started this week in Brazil with the top 30 teams from across the globe.  Parker and Mom have enjoyed watching the matches and learning the geography and culture of Brazil.  So far Netherlands and Germany look good, Spain and Portugal look awful, and the US beat Ghana (who had beaten us the last 2 world cups).  The action continues through mid-July.

  Go team USA!

Brady 1st time on the potty

It finally happened - Brady went on the potty!!!  It happened today at school after he saw his classmate go and get rewarded with a sticker.  So he tried, and even though he only got a few drops, he did it!  He too got a sticker.  Could this be the beginning of the end of Brady in diapers?  Maybe.  We will continue to try at home, and may need a bigger seat so he fits better, but we are super excited (and proud) for our big guy!

Today's daycare sheet - see highlight

Week 4 - Parker turns 1 month old (already!)

Parker turned 1 month old this week!  Time to put away the newborn clothes and newborn diapers.  He has graduated to size 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers.  This makes us sad, but good to see our baby boy grow and get stronger.  In honor of his birthday he got to see a drive in movie (this is his second movie experience, his first movie ever was Xmen Days of Future Past).

This week Parker managed to roll over all by himself in his play yard and again on the couch (to see the Red Sox beat those pesky Tigers).  And on day 23 he started to SMILE!  He has a wonderful smile.  He still smiles and laughs in his sleep showing what looks like dimples on his cheeks.  His coordination is getting better allowing him to get those fingers up at or in his mouth.  He continues to track moving objects with his eyes and focus on objects at further distances.  In addition, he's started making more coo sounds not just baby grunts.  He sleeps on and off throughout the day for 2-3 hrs at a time, and is awake 1-1.5 hrs in between.  At night we swaddle him with his arms in and he sleeps 5 hr stretches waking up once in the night for feeding/diapering (2-3am) and again early morning (5:30-7am), but overall let's Mom and Dad get sleep.  Depending on how sleepy he is, we may put him down when Brady goes to bed or we'll keep him up with us until we go to bed.  He continues to eat and nurse well, seems to eats more than Brady did, but still has some reflux which we have been managing.  Unlike Brady he doesn't sleep as well in his swing, preferring Mom or Dad to hold him.  He's gone through 2 growth spurts recently.  During these cluster feedings he's fussy and less willing to play or do tummy time preferring to sleep if he can in between.  This only lasts a day or so.  He seems to like being bounced up and down in his car seat (vs side to side), this helps with the fussiness.  Took him to his 1 month doctor appointment (we didn't have one of these for Brady) and he weighed in at 9 lbs 1 oz and got his second Hep B shot.  His baby acne seems to be clearing except on his cheeks.  He does some funny faces - blue steel, wrinkling his forehead, tipping his head back to stare at objects - he is just such a cutie!!!

Brady had a great week too.  He loves playing with his little brother and helping out Mom and Dad.  One morning he was really sweet and shared his legos with Parker.  He even showed him the lego dinosaur he'd made.  He likes to help feed Indy, bring Parker blankets or read him books, or carry things for Mom and Dad.  Brady is getting so grown up, he can now go up and down the stairs by himself (we hold his hand down the stairs).

With the good weather Brady's gotten to play outside a lot.  Unfortunately we signed a slip at school almost every day the past week due to scratches or bumps on his head.  One fall put a big lump right in the center of his forehead - the teachers said he cried a little but told them he was ok and went back to playing.  Our tough little guy!  He's also gone on lots of walks to the park or played with the water table in the backyard.  With the start of summer the play pools are opening and Brady will gets lots of water time.  Brady also got a great surprise this week - a bike trailer he can ride in behind Dad!  It seats 2, so when Parker grows up he can join in on the fun.  Eating out with a toddler is a challenge, it's hard for the little guy to hold still, with all that energy we can't blame him.  His favorites are Chilis and Mellow Mushroom.  And with all that energy Brady is jumping off EVERYTHING and on to anything.  He likes to dangle over the slide at the park, which makes Mom really nervous, but he's a pretty strong kid.  And he doesn't want to nap on weekends and miss anything, but he sleeps great at night.

Overall life with two little ones is chaotic but fun.  Things are always busy in the Seminara household, but we wouldn't want it any other way.  Looking forward to taking the boys northeast this summer for some beach, party, and lake time with the family!

 Mr Cutie

 Parker meeting Elmo

 Happy baby

 Muscles!

First shot at the Docs

 Brady helping wake Parker up in the morning

 Mr Squirrel strapped in ready to go in the truck

 Poor Brady's egg on his head!

 Brady's new wheels

 Chasing ducks at the park

 Momma's boys

 Showing Parker his Lego Dinosaur

The brothers hanging out together

Week 3 with Parker

Parker is growing fast.  In his week by week photos you can already see his skin losing the redness as the baby fat fills in and he gets more of that golden baby glow.  His movements are still jerky and uncoordinated, and his fists clenched, but he'll follow you with his eyes and his legs get stronger with every push.  He's still sleeping well, sleeping 5.5 hrs last night uninterrupted.  We try to keep him awake for a period of time at night before bed to help him acclimate with sleeping through the night.  He still has some reflux and Mom will hold him upright 10-20 min after feedings to help.  He's getting longer, making it harder for Mommy to hold him up against her when she's sitting, but he can still fold into his newborn pose and be Mommy's "squishy" (reference from the movie Nemo).  Parker still eats about every 3 hrs, poops afterward, and falls asleep.  Since he is being nursed his poops are yellow mustard, soft, with only a light smell.  And with all the noise in our house, and his loud older brother, Parker is sleeping through it all sleeping about 20 hrs/day.

Seemed Brady had the biggest developments this week.  First he fell out of his crib one morning.  We were asleep so not sure exactly what happened but he has been jumping on the mattress and pillows, and climbing on the crib bumper.  We took one pillow and the crib bumper out.  Second he decided he doesn't want to nap after lunch despite having this routine for the last couple of years.  He gets into his crib and plays and plays, then calls for Daddy to come play with him.  Mommy tried to coax him to sleep in his play yard in the other room instead, but he managed to climb out when Mommy went to tend to Parker.  When Daddy came in from mowing Mommy was trying to nurse Parker as Brady was jumping and dancing on the guest bed.  After watching some TV, Daddy was able to coax Brady to sleep on the floor under his blanket - just another day in our crazy family!  Hoping with Brady back in school he'll get back into a nap routine, otherwise we may have issues when we go to NH/Maine next month.  Also started thinking about setting him up with a toddler bed.  Brady still shows no real interest in using the potty.  Daddy tries and tries to get him to go poop in the potty, especially before his nap (or it'll wake him up prematurely), but Brady just wants to play.  After changing Parker's newborn diapers, changing Brady's size 4s seem like parachutes.  And Brady's are much more stinky but easier to change.

This was our first week solo without any of the family around to help.  With our second child seems overall we have acclimated quicker.  We've gone out to dinner with both kids, gone to a movie, and taken them on walks to the park.  Mom started driving again this week making a few trips out and one with Parker to the grocery store.  Daddy went back to work.  Since he was on paternal leave his work network access was deactivated so it's taking some time for him to get back online, not that he's in any hurry.  Mommy enjoyed her first day home with just Parker, it was restful and quiet.

It was Memorial Day this past weekend - as always, our fallen friends and their families are in our thoughts and in our hearts.  Gone but not forgotten...

Parker 3 weeks old - starting to grow some peach fuzz on his bald head

In these 3 photos, can you tell Parker and Brady are related?  Lol

Mom and her "squishy"

Two year olds randomly take off their clothes, and cook in the living room 

Growing a black bean beard 

Finally down for a nap

Week 2 with Parker home

As newborns typically do, Parker slept a lot this second week of his life.  He would sleep up to 20-22 hours/day.  When he was awake, he continued lifting his head and pushing with his feet.  He also started rolling over to one side (we found him this way 3x) and appears to be focusing better on faces and objects in front of him.  His vision distance also seems to be improving and he loves staring at our NH White Mtns picture just like big brother Brady did as a baby.  Unlike Brady, Parker seems to enjoy baths (and Mom is much better at giving them) and he enjoys tummy time more especially if he can get his fingers in his mouth to suck on.  He does appear to have reflux more than Brady and we just have to keep him upright after feedings to minimize coughing, hiccups, and the occasional spit up.  On day 8 he lost his plastibell ring, and on day 14 lost his umbilical cord stump.

At his 2 week doctor appointment he got to meet his Pediatrician and weighed in at 7 lb 12.5oz (25%), 20.5 inches long (50%), and 36cm head circumference (15%).  Since he was now over his birth weight we could let him sleep through the night and not wake him to feed him.  Regardless he still seems to like to eat at least 2x/night with an occasional cluster feeding between 3 and 5am (yawn).  We also took him for his second newborn screening where they prick his heel and take 5 samples of blood for analysis (we didn't do this for Brady).  We get the results at his 1 month checkup.  All signs point to him being a happy healthy baby boy! 

The Seminara grandparents were in town this week and both Parker and Brady got lots of play time and snuggles.  Grandpa Dave and Brady played outside playing baseball, trucks, and Brady got pulled around in the wagon.  Grandpa Dave also helped Dad complete some of his outdoor projects.  Grandma Nancy snuggled Parker a lot, and helped Mom around the house.  We also went to the Botanical Gardens, and out a few nights for dinner where Brady got to see trains, motorcycles, boats, ducks, and fish.  This kept our very active toddler occupied.

Parker - 10 days old

Brotherly love

Parker at his 2 week checkup

 The Seminara grandparents and the boys

3 generations 

Our little busy family

Week 1 with Parker home

Similar to Brady's arrival, Parker waited for his grandparents to arrive before being born.  This time Grandpa Bob was the good luck charm and Parker was born that evening after Grandpa arrived.

Since Mom and Parker were doing so well after delivery, we were able to be discharged 1 day early from the hospital.  This was good for the L&D ward as they had so many mother's delivering that week they were overflowing.  When we left the hospital Parker weighed 7 lbs 4 oz, dropping 5 oz.  Once home, we had a follow up visit to introduce Parker to the pediatrician and he weighed 7 lbs 3.5 oz warranting a follow up visit later in the week.  At the follow up he weighed 7 lbs 4.5 oz showing he was gaining weight and a healthy baby boy.

Parker is a great eater, sleeper, and pooper.  He eats, sleeps, poops....and repeats.  He seems to be a fairly mellow baby being satisfied if all his basic needs are met.  And he seems to be adjusting to life with the family (and a noisy 2 yr old brother) quite well.

In just the short week he has been alive, he is already showing some developments - tracking objects with his eyes as they move in front on him, lifting his head (and sometimes headbutting your shoulder), and pushing with his feet.  He is very squirmy and likes to suck on his hands.  We may have another thumb sucker on our hands if he can coordinate getting a thumb into his mouth.

Having the Muzzey grandparents here to watch Brady and help us acclimate to life at home with a newborn was again a tremendous help.  Baby Parker loved being held and snuggled by his grandmas.  Brady had a blast with all the Muzzey grandparents going for walks to the park, playing trains and blocks, and snuggling up watching movies.  And Mom and Dad were super appreciative of the help cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, you name it.  All in all our little family was very spoiled.  It was also nice having the Grandmas here for Mother's Day - think all of us would agree that Parker's arrival, and spending time with the grandsons was a great way to enjoy Mother's Day.

For us the experience of having a second child seems to be easier than having a first - we know how to take care of a newborn, we are used to interrupted sleep (when Brady is sick), and we have all the baby gear we need.  Now it's just a matter of finding a good routine that works for us and both kids.  We had forgotten how simple the needs of a newborn are compared to a toddler (at least so far), and how small and light they are!  We love our little family and look forward to all the joys two little boys growing up together will bring.

Our little family grows by 1

Brady meeting Parker for the 1st time

Leaving the hospital

1st ride in the car seat - in the going home outfit Brady picked out for him (sharks...chomp)

Grandma Reggie and Baby Parker

 Grandma Reggie enjoying time with her Grandsons

 Grandpa Bob and Grandma Terry with the boys

The best presents a girl could have for Mother's Day - Brady (2 yr), Parker (1 wk)

Welcome Baby Parker!!!

Parents Again!
We welcome to the world Parker Jackson Seminara born 5/6/14 at 10:40pm weighing 7 lbs 9 oz and measuring 20" long.  Parker was born almost 1 lb heavier than Brady and with much less and what looks to be blonder hair.  He also seems to have Mom's complexion with fairer skin.  Parker was born after 5 days of nightly contractions and while Mom and Dad had hoped for a VBAC, at the very end Parker was delivered by c-section.  Both Mom and Parker are doing well and we just love the latest addition to our family!