This Past Month

This post is to share some random photos and videos from various times over the past month that didn't make it into their own post.

Riemann is still jealous:

We left a tired Arden in timeout for too long:

We left a tired Reed in a soft comfy seat for too long:

Lots of brotherly love:

The sun shade on the van window wasn't enough:

Other random cute shots of Reed:

Reed has discovered his hands, especially his thumbs which he loves to suck and chew on.  Even though it's very early, I keep checking for teeth since he drools and chews so much!

A video of Arden at his swimming lesson.  He has made quite a bit of progress, but we still have a lot of things to work on this summer.

Reed was watching Arden's swim class, but apparently it got boring:

Catching Up - December 2012

The Christmas season proved to be very busy for us, but we decided that posting photos and videos late was better than never.

 

Arden had a birthday party for the first time.  A lot of kids at his daycare had parties when they turned 3, but we waited until Arden was turning 4 since it would be more memorable for him (and more worth the money for us).

Arden with his cousin Meghan

Arden with his friend Simone (who was his first "girlfriend" when they were 2 years old)

The awesome fire truck cake was made by Grandma Whipple

I previously did a post on Riemann being jealous of Reed and we now have a video to prove how much he doesn't care that he gets caught doing something he isn't supposed to be doing.

We did put Arden to bed on the air mattress, but he decided to only use the mattress as a pillow instead.

Arden said that Reed doesn't need his own carseat because they could share (the photo was taken when the van was still parked).

The next video doesn't show how excited Arden really is about his new bike.  I think his excitement would have shown more except that he asked for a bike from Santa and expects to get whatever he asks Santa for (even though he doesn't).

More random photos and videos from December:

Arden pretending to drive.

Reed loves to dance  

The Christmas party at Arden's daycare

Arden sharing the iPad with his little brother.

Sledding at Grandmas Whipple's house

Arden trying out the head light that daddy got for Christmas.

Riemann's jealous

We were worried that Arden was going to be jealous of the attention Reed gets, but it has turned out that Riemann is actually the one that's jealous.

Arden likes to use some of Reed's stuff, but I still wouldn't consider that jealous.  He just likes playing with new toys and trying new things.

Week one at home

We have all been home as a family of four for just over a week now, so I thought I should get around to a post about what we've been up to.

First here are some photos from the hospital that show how happy and cute Reed was once he got unhooked from most of the machines:

Here are pictures of Reed getting ready to come home from the hospital:

Big brother Arden was excited to welcome home little brother Reed (even though the first photo below doesn't appear so):

Arden loves to help do things for Reed (including feeding and changing diapers).

Such skinny little legs, but based on Reed's weight gain so far he won't be super skinny for long.

Even the cat thinks he has the responsibility of watching over Reed.

First of many college football Saturdays for daddy and Reed.

I love watching babies sleep, especially Reed who gets a wide variety of facial expressions when he's dreaming.  If you watch closely you can even see Reed's dimple in his right cheek when he smiles.  Arden has a dimple in only his left cheek, so between the two of them they have a complete set (how cute!).

Here's a list of random things that Arden has said/done this past week:
- calls Reed "my baby".

- when leaving to go to the store Arden asked, "why do we have to take Reed with us?"

- constantly checks on Reed himself or when he was not allowed to be near him he asks how Reed is doing.

- tells us what Reed is doing (leaking milk out his mouth, spitting up, etc) even though we never taught him to watch for those things.

- tells us where Reed is ("he's not upstairs", "he is in his bed downstairs")

- helps with changing diapers and loves when it is a BM since he gets to use the diaper genie (which he refers to by name)

I think you'll agree that Arden thoroughly enjoyed his special treat (pudding cup).

Future executive in training? 

Final week of soccer...the kids got medals.

And now for some highlights on Reed's behavior this past week:
- Reed is a very happy baby, he seems to just sleep and eat not fuss much for any reason (yes we realize that could change any day but in the meantime we are counting our blessings).

- He did make up his own schedule one day (wanted to eat every two hours instead of three hours) but we have increased the amount of formula we are offering so we are back to where mom and dad make the schedule. We just stick to a 3 hour rotation of diaper changes and feedings since he doesn't act like he ever really wants something. We think that a lot of the time he would just lay contently or with a pacifier rather than eating.

- We wonder if the doctor will want to take Reed off the preemie discharge formula sooner than the estimated 9 months they gave us last week since he is gaining weight very quickly (at least an ounce a day but sometimes multiple ounces a day).

- We have been reminded several times why being able to get a new diaper on quickly is important (especially with boys!)

- We survived the first family sickness (Arden had bronchitis) without Reed getting sick.

We are thankful every day that Arden is still interested in Reed and is not acting jealous (yet).