Room With a View

For those of you who have been to our house, you know about "the neighbor". (I posted about him last year, too. Click here to refresh your memory.) Today as I'm working in my office, trying to enjoy this beautiful day with my windows open, I am listening to all sorts of Halloween music and scary sounds blasting from his yard. He's scurrying around trying to get his yard ready for the "big night". I just had to tape some of this, but he's out there right now so I'm doing it from the confines of my house. I'll try to get some better footage tonight, but for now, check this out:

Happy Halloween!

Here are a few quick pics and videos from last night and some from this morning. We trick-or-treated at my parents' house. We are tentatively planning to do it again tonight at home, although it was a major struggle to get Sam to wear his costume (hence the reason his shirt isn't buttoned and he's missing his bandana ...). So, we'll see what tonight brings! And it was such a rush that I forgot to take pics of Jake! (He's only three months old and he's already getting the shaft.) I'll try to get some more if we dress up again tonight ....

OCD?

Here is Sam, a year later, still organizing things. If you'll recall, I wrote about this more than a year ago in a post entitled "Mr. Organization". And, here he is, still lining things up. This particular activity kept him busy for at least 10 minutes. He was "helping" me make supper but got sidetracked by organizing Jake's bottles. He'd take them out of the cupboard, line up the bottles, then the lids, then put them away one-by-one. Then repeat. We'll definitely have to remember this little activity.

First 'Official' Day

Here are the "two boys" before heading to daycare this morning. (I put this in quotation marks because that's one of Sam's favorite phrases. Each time I type it, I think of his little voice saying it.)

(Do you like Brian's new tattoo in the last picture? Sam has a matching one on his arm, too. They are monster trucks. We can't seem to get them to come off ...)

Dreading Monday

I'm dreading tomorrow. It's not just an ordinary Monday. It's my first day back to work after having 12 weeks off for maternity leave. It's the first time both boys will be at daycare together and the beginning of a new chapter in our lives. Sam will probably never remember going by himself. He'll always have his little brother by his side. Although I'm extremely glad they'll be buddies and have each other to play with, I'm sad I won't be there for them each and every day. It's such a heartbreaking, heavy guilt that mothers go through when taking their kids to daycare. I think it's a bit easier with Jake than with Sam since we already know the caregiver, but it's still difficult. If anyone knows of a part-time job in the Ames area with benefits, I'm seriously interested. Seriously.

Random Pics

Chunky Monkey

Jake had his two-month check-up today. His pediatrician was pleased with his progress and called him a very happy baby. He even said Jake was 'ahead of schedule' in rolling over. He said you want them to be active, but then there's no looking back after that! We thought Sam was pretty active; now his little brother is trying to show him up!

Jake was 13 lbs., 6 oz. and 23 1/2 inches long at his checkup. (At birth he was 8 lbs., 7 oz. and 21 1/2 inches.) This puts him in the 60th percentile for height and 90th percentile for weight!

During the visit, poor Jake was lying on the examination table, just grinning and cooing and having a grand 'ol time. The little guy had no idea he was about to receive five shots! Of course he didn't think they were fun, but he did a pretty good job. And I didn't do too bad, either.

We're Still Here!

So I've been slacking a bit in posting ... here are some pics from the past few weeks ... it's been a little busy lately, but the biggest news is that Jake rolled over at nearly 8 weeks old and started sleeping through the night at exactly 9 weeks old! (Hey, a proud mom has to share!!) Today he is 9.5 weeks old. He has his two-month check-up tomorrow so I imagine I'll post more then ...

Happy Fifth Anniversary!