This post is a little bit out of order, but I just got a CD of photos from my dad that had some fun shots that I wanted to share. Here is Tyler in his
car seat after his car ride home from the hospital.
Brennan was really excited to have us home. He is still telling us that he is happy we're home and that he missed us. When we pulled up from the hospital, Brennan came running to the car to hug and kiss us. The next thing he wanted to do was to hold his baby brother. This is a picture of the first time Brennan held Tyler at home.
The Saturday we arrived home from the hospital, were greeted by Brian's parents, my parents, Aunt Debby and her boyfriend, Joe. They had lunch ready for us to enjoy, which was appreciated since it was 2 PM and we hadn't eaten since breakfast!
I thought this was a nice shot of my parents with their grandchildren. We had to bribe Brennan to smile in this picture. He is eyeing a pack of M&Ms that are sitting on the coffee table.
My mom stayed with us for our first week home to help us while we got our bearings with a second a baby. It was really helpful to have her plan and make meals, clean the house, and keep Brennan entertained. Among other things, she brought him a bunch of age appropriate games, books, made
play dough with him and did chocolate pudding finger painting with him out on the deck. When she described this to me, I didn't really understand what she had in mind, but I soon saw it in action. Brennan really got into it. They could draw, then wipe the pudding to "erase" and start over.
Brennan soon realized he could lick his fingers and started eating more than drawing. Before long, he was covered in chocolate pudding. He really had fun!
Brennan has been a little nervous about driving his new truck, but when our 6 year old neighbor Sydney came to check it out, she helped break the ice. Brennan finally took the wheel and drove all over the yard. Sydney was brave enough to ride as a passenger!
Tyler's cord fell off last week, but his belly button still needed to heal a little bit. Now that is fully healed, he got his first real bath this week.
My mom taught Brennan how to read books on CD - the type that chime when it's time to turn the page. Since learning how these books work, Brennan has been obsessed with reading this way. Here he is enjoying the Hungry Caterpillar read by Eric Carle himself.
Brennan claims that he and Nana had picnics in the kitchen. I am yet to verify this with my mom, but we've been indulging his desire to picnic on the floor a little bit. At least he's eating.
The weather has been so hot and humid, it's been too much to even go out on the deck. However, yesterday, there was finally a break in the heat and we enjoyed spending hours out on the deck. Tyler sort of played in his little gym and had tummy time before dozing off. Brennan had fun playing with play-dough before moving on to painting.
Brian and I have been struggling through nights with Tyler. He hasn't been sleeping that well and is very fussy unless he's in bed with us. A friend suggested I review the Happiest Baby On The Block techniques and another friend gave me her swing. After skimming back through the Happiest Baby On The Block, I splurged on some new, lightweight, gigantic swaddle blankets and we gave the calming technique a run last night. We let Tyler sleep in the swing all night, and he slept from 9 PM - 1 AM, woke up to eat, then went back to sleep until 5 AM. At 5, he ate and went back to sleep in the swing and is still sleeping. I plan to get him up at 8 this morning to eat and start his day. We got the most sleep we've had since having him, so that was great! I need to make sure we are stocked up on batteries for the swing, but we are hoping this wasn't beginners luck... tonight will be test run #2! Thanks Ashley and Joanie for the advice and swing!
While on the subject of doctor's visits, Brennan had his dentist appointment last week. Brian took him and he did great. He allowed the dentist to perform a full cleaning with the electric brush. I was very proud of him!
