2 Months in Normal Time = An Eternity With a Newborn

Wow, I can't believe it has already been 2 months since Owen joined our family. Time flies - especially with 2 kids. A lot has happened in the last couple of months. I'll get you caught up.

The day after Thanksgiving we took a trip up to Detroit to visit our friends, Andy and Rheanna, who were staying there while in the process of adopting their new little boy, and we were happy to learn that they are finally back home in Alabama. We stayed the night in the same hotel with them and shared stories and got caught up. We were envious about how quiet their little boy was compared to Owen, who apparently has just as healthy a pair of lungs as his older brother. Jake seemed to enjoy himself as well with Andy, Ranna, and "More Owen." Andy had the good fortune of sharing his name with a character in one of Jacob's favorite movies (Toy Story), so Jacob had no problems saying his name. Rheanna was trickier, but Jake did a pretty good job with it. However, when he saw Owen side by side with Brandt, his words were, "Hey, it's Owen, and more Owen."

At the beginning of December my mom came out to visit for the better part of a week to see her new grandson and his blessing. We had a good time. We paid a visit to her favorite Fudge Shop here in Columbus (Schmidt's Fudge Haus, located in the German Village, right next to Schmidt's Sausage Haus, a great German restaurant with great homemade Bratwurst and Knockwurst). We decided it might also be fun to drive up to Amish country, so we hopped into the van, but unfortunately picked the day a storm came through, so our 1 1/2 hour drive up to Berlin, Ohio, ended up taking 3 1/2 hours, and by the time we got there, we had only 30 minutes until everything closed. Then we drove 2 hours back (road conditions had improved). So we still haven't seen much of Amish country, but it was a pretty drive! On her last day, we went to the mall, because they have a nice play area that Jacob loves, and it gives him the opportunity to run around when it is too cold to go out to the park.

Leigh Ann starts back at work on the 29th, and she is worried that she has forgotten everything (which I seriously doubt). I am sure she is looking forward to getting out of the house a bit more.

With tithing settlement season in full swing, I spend a good part of my Sundays at church, as well as a couple of hours on Wednesday nights. I'll be glad to have it over and done with (and so will Leigh Ann). All in all, though, I am enjoying my calling as ward financial clerk. And as long as the audits go well, the bishopric is happy to keep me in my calling.

Next week we head down to Chattanooga to spend Christmas with Leigh Ann's family. The fact that gas prices are down to a comfortable level is particularly nice as we face the 8-hour car drive ahead of us. Things got pretty easy with Jacob on long trips - especially since we got the van with the DVD player. Now we are back to having a newborn, and they can make road trips take just a bit longer.

Next year we anticipate making a trip, sometime near the end of the year, to Utah for my brother Richard's upcoming wedding.

That is about all there is to update on.

I can't think of a new title

Here is a picture of my 3 favorite people in the world. Need I say more?
Leigh Ann thought this would be a good picture. Owen was sound asleep, but clutching onto her finger.
Already these two are spending time together . . . watching TV. If you notice, there is a red spot on the couch next to Jake's head. He snagged our "I voted" stickers from us on election day, and this is one of them.
Not my favorite picture of me, but I guess you have to take these as well. I was trying to get Jake to put down the sippy cup and smile for the camera - he is getting more difficult to get to pose for a picture.
And finally, Jake with chicken nuggets crammed in his mouth. Jacob has become quite the picky eater. He didn't end up eating this chicken. Lately, unless it has cheese as a major ingredient, he won't have much to do with it.

They change so much at this age!

They really do change so much when they are little! Just look how different Owen looks just 2 weeks old!

Okay, so obviously that isn't Owen. Jacob, it turns out, has some very strong nurturing instincts! In the last week, he has been carrying his Buzz Lightyear doll around like it is his baby, copying everything we do with Owen. He brought Buzz up to me the other day and told me Buzz had "tinky poopies" (stinky poopies). He went and got one of Owen's diapers and the baby wipes, and proceeded to wipe him, then had us help him put a diaper on him. Then he will lay him down on the stairs and put a blanket on him. Periodically, he'll tell us to hush, because Buzz is sleeping.

Mike: Jacob, where is Buzz?

Jacob: Buzz is seeping, right dere.

He also puts his favorite blanket (it has Tigger on it) on a stool in the bathroom, because it also gets tired.

Mike: Jacob, where's your Tigger blankie?

Jacob: Tigger bwankie is seeping in cwoset (the downstairs bathroom is the closet). He too tired.

For some reason, his Woody doll doesn't get a diaper, but he also takes a nap, underneath a little wicker waste basket we keep in the living room.

Owen just had his 2 week doctor's check-up, and is doing great. He has put on almost a complete pound since his birth - now up to 8 lb. 9 oz. He is progressing well. He sleeps better than Jacob, but spits up a little more than him.

Well, that is the latest update.

More video of our two favorite little boys

Alright, here is another video. We shot this at the same time as the other video - the day Owen was born. This was his first time meeting his big brother, Jacob. Jacob's grandparents (Leigh Ann's parents) brought him to visit. Jake did great!

Each one is unique

I know I am jinxing us by posting this, but already we have noticed some glaring differences between our two boys. Jacob would only sleep for 4 hours tops in the middle of the night when he was a newborn. It was probably 4 months before he first slept a good 8-hour stretch. With Owen, already he is sleeping for 5 or 6 hours at night. The other night, after feeding him at 11:30pm and expecting to be up again at 2:30am, we were both surprised when he first started crying at 4am. Then two nights ago, we fed him at midnight, and at 6am Leigh Ann was nudging me awake, asking whether it had been 3 hours yet since I had fed him. I answered that I had not fed him since the midnight feeding - he had gone 6 hours!

Of course now that I am bragging about this, we will be back to every 3 hours. But it has been nice.

In contrast, Jacob was still playing in his room over an hour after I put him to bed last night. I went to go put him back in bed, and asked him what was wrong. His response was classic Jacob!
Mike: Hey Jake, how come you're not sleeping?
Jacob: I too hungry, right here (pointing with his finger to his mouth).
Mike: You're too hungry?
Jacob: Yep. (Jacob is usually a man of few words).
Mike: How come you didn't want to finish your dinner earlier?
Jacob: No, too hungry. How 'bout fwoot nacks (fruit snacks)?
Mike: No, not tonight. You can wait until breakfast, okay?
Jacob: Okay.

On another humorous note, for some reason our eldest son has developed a fascination for the Disney movie "Sleeping Beauty." We have never shown it to him - Bevans, are you responsible for this? - and we don't know where it comes from. The other day, he saw a commercial on TV announcing that Disney has re-released it on DVD, and Jacob got excited and started talking about "Seepy Booty." I got so cracked up. His grandma Rice in California sent him an old book we had with various stories from Disney movies, and every night now Jacob wants me to read "Seepy Booty." We are almost to the part with the dragon, and he is getting excited.

The fun never ends.

Our Boys!

Here are some new pictures of our boys. You can see the contrast between 3-year old Jacob and newborn Owen. Both just as cute, though.





Alright, here is the first video of Owen. We shot it at the hospital, but I just got around to getting it on the computer and compressed for the web.

As Jacob talks more and more, we are being treated to more and more of those phrases you hear from kids that just make you laugh. This is our current favorite:

(Jacob, sitting on the floor, surrounded by books that he is looking through)

Mike: Hey Jacob, it's almost time for bed. Are you ready to go night night?

Jacob: No, I too reading.

Mike: You're too reading?

Jacob: Yeah.

Saying he is too anything is Jacob's current excuse to not have to do anything, and he will run through several options till he finds one that gets him out of whatever he should be doing.

Some of our favorites for not going to bed: too hungry, too tired, too wet, too light, too dark

And for not taking a bath: too wet, too dry, too bubbles, too scary

Never a dull moment with a 3-year old.