True Bromance

The other day at lunch I was bouncing Finn while Will ate his food, and I "walked" the baby toward Will and chirped "Brother!" as their faces were about to meet. Both boys got a kick out of it, but I went to change Finn and forgot about it until a few minutes later when Will called from his high chair:

"MORE."

"More what?" I asked, expecting him to say pineapple or raisins or milk or even Mommy.

"More! Brother!"

So, Dave and I decided to give him as much brother as he could possibly want, and the boys took their first joint bath. I'm sure Mark and Bee will be happy to see that neither Will nor Finn is wearing a shirt this time!

As Finn's personality emerges, the boys are enjoying each other more and more every day. On Thursday, Will spontaneously kissed Finn over and over--I may be projecting, but it looked like he was starting to realize what an asset this little brother might turn out to be--a loyal subject for His Royal Highness, if you will.

I'm so lucky I get to be here to witness it all unfolding.

First Best Friends

Jenny was my first best friend; we met at three (me) and seven (her) months old, and we went to high school together, and then we headed to the Midwest for college and continued fairly regular visits. She might be the only person I can NOT talk to for months and still feel completely at ease with when we do get to catch up.

Last week, Jenny and Tim brought home their baby girl, Fiona May, and we got to meet her on Friday. She is perfect and beautiful, sleeping and eating like a champ--she shouldn't even be born for another month and she's already smiling:

Fiona 2 wks old/Finn 4 mos old

Hopefully Will, Finn and Fiona will continue the tradition of being each other's first best friends.

Congratulations, Sheehan Family!

Not Working For Me

Dear William,

When you go to sleep in the car on the way home from the park--

--while your little brother screams his head off one car seat over--

--and I do an abbreviated version of the sing-and-rock naptime routine because your little bro is continuing his quest to embody BOTH the sound AND the proverbial fury, although he has now been placed in the swing--

--and you decide that that twenty minutes in the car that started before the clock hit one? Yeah, that was enough napping for one day, thanks very much--

--and you stand and sit and babble and kiss your stuffed animals and sing Twinkle Twinkle and roll around--

--(yeah, even though I have to admit that that part is moderately-to-extremely adorable)--

--BUT STILL, I then have to go get you 45 minutes later and try to wear you out before three o'clock hits to try for another nap--

--and then, you see where this is going, you refuse to take THAT nap because like I said before, woman, I'm done with naps for the day--

--I start to vacillate between "He needs to be on a take-no-prisoners wake-and-sleep schedule, stat," and "This is my life now. I need to roll with the punches. I guess he isn't napping anymore today."

Right now, as I watch you stand and whine on the monitor, I can honestly say that I've chosen neither the strict schedule nor the New!Flexible!Joanna 2.0! course of action. Instead, I'm just holding on until four, when I can say that I tried and then transfer you to the double stroller for a lllllllllllllllooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggg walk. Off a short pier. (Who said that?)

Love,

your mother

********************************

Dear Fintan,

Ooh, you're so cute! Love those dimples. Great hair, too.

So, ummmmmm. I don't know how to say this, but I feel I have to be forthright with you: this hating-the-car thing? It's just not working for me. My ears actually feel like they will start bleeding; my eardrums begin to vibrate when your screams go full-throttle. I don't know if it's gas or motion sickness or being restrained or all/none of the above, but man. It is UNPLEASANT.

If your big brother had been an anti-car guy, at least I might feel confident that the blood-curdling noises would dissipate soon; as I have no prior experience with this, I am purely flummoxed. I sincerely don't know what to do with you. And I can't even keep you home or within walking distance--not just because it would be dull, but also because your brother and I both have people to see, places to go--places that require the use of a car to get to.

All that being said, if you came home and actually, you know, SLEPT WELL afterward, then hey, all would be forgiven. But, yeah. You just catnapped all afternoon, had to be ON TOP OF me no less, and worse, you keep pulling out your pacifier and then wailing as if to say, "Who is this monster who keeps snatching away this pacifier? I need that pacifier! I couldn't make out his face, but his hand looks uncannily like my own. BRING BACK MY PACIFIER!"

I want to say, nay, I have in fact said to you out loud, "Then don't take it out!"

But alas, you are four months old and thus too young for the old cause 'n' effect trick. Silly mama!

Love,

your mother

****************************************

Dear boys,

Thanks for falling asleep, Finn. It really means a lot to me, even though you dropped off while nursing and now I have to find some way of detaching myself and--oh look, Will is standing up again and whining so forcefully that he is gagging on drool in his crib. No, wait, now he has flopped in despair on his mattress and retreated into silence. So the question is...is naptime over? Or has it just gone into effect at 4:08 in the afternoon?

Oh, you two. No one can ever say you don't keep me on my toes.

Love,

shdjorbeughflkdshajfhkjbjegjdsryyrurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr [passes out]

Where There's a Will

The more confident I feel in my role as a mom of two, and as a mom of Finn, and the more I recognize how fluid my parenting experience is the second time around, the greater (exponentially greater) I appreciate this guy:

How many toddlers does it take to screw in a...screw, with a fake screwdriver?

(Answer: Only one, if he's a highly motivated wannabe handyman, dexterous with his toy "crew-drivuh!" and blessed with an eye for "crews!")

See, I'm impressed that Will survived our inept first-time parenting, and furthermore, I'm in awe at the son and big brother he became--sometimes because of, sometimes despite our best efforts. I mean, the kid's a natural:

Will's big into buckling these days--his carseat, his booster seat, his brother's swing. He also likes to feed everyone in his family, including the everpresent Elmo.

He's my big eater, my happy guy, my dog-lover, my hug-and-kisser, my nonstop talker, my first born, my sweet baby boy. I love him so much it seems impossible sometimes.

Auntie Amy's Visit

Amy doesn't love the "Auntie" prefix behind her name, so naturally I use it as often as possible when she's visiting.

She handles it well.

My kids love her.

The real question is, Who doesn't?

*Photos from the wonderful weekend combining Finn's christening and Mother's Day will be posted when I collect them from various sources. (I didn't take any, knowing my family-by-marriage always finds a way to meet or exceed the photo quota.)

Yummy and Cute

What I learned at Finn's four-month appointment:

1. "Doc-tor Ger-ble* is nice," according to Will.

2. Dr. Gerble uses his stethoscope to "lis-sen. Finn. Har-beat," also according to Will. (The doc gave him two Bob the Builder stickers for being so clever.)

3. My next child will be 15 lbs., 8 oz. and 24.75 inches at his/her four-month visit, because Finn's measurements today were exactly what I predicted for Will way back in January of 2009. Do you see how this works?

4. (In other words, Finn was 16 lbs. even and 25.5 inches long. Same weight as his brother at this age and he has half an inch on him. 75th %ile in both height and chub.)

* Not our doctor's real name, because apparently I think that there are scads of internet stalkers out to track down my children's pediatrician. Paranoia, thy name is motherhood.

Finn at Four Months

At three months (see above), I meant to do a write-up of Finn's latest likes and dislikes, something like what I did for Will last year. At four months (see below), I had planned to predict Finn's latest measurements, something I also did for Will before his checkup.

Sadly, Second-Kid Syndrome has a way of derailing the best-laid plans.

Don't look so scornful, Finny. Later is better than never!

Belated Quarteryear Review (I'm comparing bulletpoints with Will's):

Finn is...

• Drooly, possibly cutting his front/top left tooth
• Loving the finger-on-bridge-of-nose relaxation technique
• Ohhhh. Hm. At three months, I said that Will had been "sleeping through the night regularly," meaning a good 10 or 11 hours. Ha. Finn sleeps roughly from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., then wakes up at 4 or 5, then is up at 7 or so, BUT BUT BUT: when he wakes up, he just nurses obliviously, and I sometimes can't remember much of the nursing session, and he goes right back to sleep, so...no, there's no denying, when it comes to "through the night," Will: 1, Finn: 0.
• Finn doesn't have these so-called "naps" I referenced with Will; he's more of a sleep-is-the-rule-not-the-exception kid, so far. He has begun recently to stay awake for more than an hour at a time, but he sleeps through much of the morning in the Ergo/Bjorn, whether we're at the playground or staying home. Finn, like Will did, has a more clusterfeed-y, awake period in the afternoon, but it's more of a 3-7 p.m. time slot, peppered with catnaps.
• Yes, I am glad that we recorded Will's baby coos, and I'm similarly entranced with Finn's. Finn woke up a few mornings ago and for the first time just starting "talking" to me, cooing in this moany sort of way, but like he was really trying to communicate something. And he was smiling. It was lovely.
• I'm pretty sure Finn startles even MORE easily than Will. He's a sensitive soul in that way...he even lurches (and sometimes cries for a moment) if I start talking in a previously silent nursing session.
• Finn likes to stand, but he isn't insistent on being upright all the time like his big brother. He's happy to sit on our laps facing out or do tummy time or play on the activity mat. But put him down on the couch for even a millisecond to do something selfish like hook up the Bjorn for the purposes of wearing him and THE WRATH OF FINN BE DELIVERED UNTO YOU, foolish caretaker. That being said, I think he will enjoy the jumperoo when he gets in it.
• "He has begun to appreciate toys," I said of Will at three months. Funny story: When Aunt Jen was visiting for Finn's christening, she asked what he liked to play with. "Oh, he doesn't really play with things," I said dismissively. "Well, isn't he, you know, three months old?" she asked, handing Finn a monkey stroller toy. He loved it. LOVED it and has been playing with it ever since. I guess I just...forgot that almost-four-month-olds are starting to be able to DO things. Foolish caretaker indeed!
• Today's toxic and timely blowout forced me to move from size 2 disposables (we still had a whole box left! This irks me to no end) to the size 2-3 Swaddlers, and more importantly to wash the batch of cloth diapers set aside for Finn and leave the disposables behind.
• Finn's smile and laugh are fabulous, but they are far from silent. And his dimples! Oh my God, they are so gratifying. He's gained this real awareness over the last couple of weeks and now just smiles at everyone and everything. Everything except the darn car.
• Oh, yeah: he hates the car. Still. Passionately. It's the only time he ever squawks with displeasure (slash-screams-with-despair).
• Finn's still nursing exclusively. I still have moments of anxiety that he'll go through a growth spurt and I just won't be able to keep up, but so far, so good. Since we're always out and about in the sunny spring weather, we nurse in the car a fair amount, so you can put that on the list of things I never thought I'd be doing three times a day (while listening to an Elmo CD on a loop, to boot).

Finally, my predictions for Fintan's four-month well visit tomorrow:

-15 lbs., 8 oz.

-24.75 inches long

-16.5-inch noggin

-not in the least bit ready for solids, which is good because neither am I!