Little Man

Merry Christmas!

He sees you when you're sleeping...

As usual, Raleigh wanted to play instead of nap. Well, Raleigh picked the wrong day to not listen because Santa was watching him on the baby monitor and asked him to get back in his bed and lay down. We heard it!

The result?


That was the fastest we ever saw him get back in bed!!!

Thanks, Santa!!!

180

Augie rotated 180 about two axes yesterday.




And the fire chief was working late tonight.

Santa

Santa came to Bellaire today




He brought Jack Frost with him!

Nap Reward

Raleigh cooperated with us very well during nap time. We asked him what he wanted to do as a special treat after. We were hoping for a trip to the zoo or the science museum. He decided he wanted to go onto the balcony and spray (his parents) with water. So we have nap, showers and cleaning the balcony all accomplished today!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Raleigh said he is thankful for firetrucks. ;)

Bottle

For the past week or two we've been trying to give August a bottle every day. Raleigh wanted to help last weekend. ...for about 5 seconds. Trains are more interesting.

Pasta

Raleigh said "This is pretty good. Thank you for making pasta, mama." He also washed his hands by himself and got his own cup without being asked. We understand he has been very courteous at school, too. ;)

At the Movies

Raleigh sat in the back row


And stood in the front

Bedtime

Raleigh is showing August a bedtime story daddy had downloaded to his phone.


We still can't believe how much these two like each other. I'd pinch myself, but I don't want it to end.

2 Month Appointment

August is 13 lbs 1 oz and 23.5 inches. He's around 60th percentile for both. Honestly, we're a bit surprised bc a lot of 0-3 month clothes have been tight for weeks!

He had his first set of immunizations today.



He started off a little tired, so it was not easy. He is still a little wimpy, and running a slight (99.6) fever. Poor baby. :(

Happy Halloween

Raleigh was a fire fighter. August was "baby Raleigh". (Sorry, August, but if you took longer naps, maybe your mother would have had time to finish your costume!)





We trick or treated on our street, ate dinner, then we watched "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and even let Raleigh have some of his candy. ...after eating chocolate-covered apples with breakfast. What an exciting day! ;)

Pinch Hitter

Joining the Cardinals' roster tonight... Rookie AJ Nolte!!! Daddy is hoping AJ can save this series!

Birthday Bath

Two Months Old!

We survived another month. Nothing major to report. August is staying awake about an hour and a half between naps. We are being a little strict on the sleep routine and then try to put him down drowsy and have him drift off to sleep on his own. It works about half the time.

August also really seems to enjoy playing. When we put him down on his baby gym, he smiles and squeals a little. He also likes to interact with us with baby talk.

August's two month appointment is on Halloween. Like with Raleigh, we're keeping August at home with a few exceptions until he has his 2 month immunizations.

Big Smile for Big Brother

Tummy Time!

We've been hitting the baby gym and tummy time mat pretty hard, but this is more of a perfectly timed photo than an accurate representation of August's head control.

Happy Birthday Daddy

Race Car Driver

It's dress up week at school. Today is favorite sport day. Our friends had given Raleigh just the right outfit....



Raleigh was holding August this morning and in a sweet little voice said, "I'm going to be a race car driver just like Steve!" Now for Halloween, Raleigh wants to be a race car driver and wants daddy to be a race car driver and wants mommy to be a race car. Raleigh said he is going to be the driver and daddy will be the rider next to him and that they'll need to wear helmets "for safety". ...then he wanted to drive the corvette to school.

Tummy Time

This was Saturday.

Sweet Baby Boy

6 weeks old today.





And have we mentioned lately how proud we are of big brother?

Look Who's in Charge!

Big Brother wanted to help by holding August while mom ate.


August was a very good sport about it.

Growth Spurt

I think we had another growth spurt.

First Smile

August was all smiles after his nap this morning.


Now mommy is going to spend the rest of the day trying to get a picture that is in focus...

24 Hours of Lemons

Erik took Raleigh to watch a race. He not only loved it, but also said "pretty racecar" in his sleep last night.




Raleigh also points out cars to us while we're driving (just like his dad!). Erik usually points out sports cars and antiques. Raleigh is a little less selective right now--"oh, that's a pretty truck, do you see it?" (About an SUV).

One Month Old!

August is one month old already. We had a great month with our two wonderful boys.

Our schedule with August is eat, awake, sleep. Awake time usually only lasts an hour. Of that, he's usually eating for half of it. So after diaper changes and burping, play time is like 10 minutes until he starts to want a nap. We usually play with the baby gym and do a little tummy time during play time.

August is about 11.5 lbs now. He usually has a 4-5 hr stretch of sleep at night, followed by two 2-3 hr ones. Last night he gave me the best one-month birthday present--6 straight hours of sleep! ;) If August is asleep before Raleigh, we often both put Raleigh to bed to spend more time with him, so mom often misses some of the long stretch of sleep, but that's what naps during the day are for.

Sharing this time with Raleigh has been very special. He still is very proud of being a big brother and likes to show August off. We went to a class party at Raleigh's school yesterday (Raleigh wanted us all there), and we heard Raleigh tells a lot of the parents that he's a big brother every time he sees them!

We have had a lot of "special days" as we call them with Raleigh, where we didn't send him to school or had parties. The first few days in the hospital--meeting August, August's birthday/Raleigh's big brother party, taking August home from the hospital--Labor Day party at the neighbor's house, going to Galveston as a family (at 1.5 weeks--we're crazy, but we had a wonderful time!), and going to the fire station! We learned after the fire station that special days should be in the afternoon or last all day, because it's hard to go to school after a special morning. A couple weeks ago, mom even watched both kids for almost a full day (6 hrs, not like anyone was counting...). Then dad helped with a much-needed family nap time.

Raleigh has become very independent. He plays (usually with trains or Legos) by himself--he makes the trains talk to each other. He goes to the bathroom and undresses himself before his bath often without being asked. He goes to the bathroom himself (which can be dangerous) without announcing it to us. We understand that at school, he can even put on his own socks and shoes, but he seems to forget how at home. ;)

We have tried to keep Raleigh's time at home the same (but with August). We also tried to have him as involved as we can, which Raleigh has loved--he even had to help push the wheel chair when we were leaving the hospital! August is very tolerant of all the hugs, kisses and pokes he receives from his brother. When August cries, we talk to Raleigh about why he might be crying--"maybe he is hungry/tired/needs to burp". According to Raleigh, sometimes August might be crying because he wants to watch a movie or go to the park with his big brother. So if Raleigh isn't getting what he wants, August cries--at least they're looking out for each other!

We are looking forward to seeing how August learns to charm us--Raleigh has certainly mastered it--but for now, we are enjoying our precious baby and adjusting to life as a family of FOUR!

3 weeks old

In case you're wondering what we've been up to, we've been feeding August.












Our bathroom scale indicates he's about 11 lbs now. We don't doubt it.

Raleigh's getting pretty solid, as well. He put down 5 (kid-sized) hot dogs at a bday party this summer and likes his PB&J's with two whole pieces of bread (though usually no J).

One Week Old!

Our baby turned a week old today, and he had his one-week check-up today. He is thriving! He has already gained 6 ounces from his birth weight. He will catch up to big brother before long!

Park

Raleigh took August to the park today. We had to keep moving the stroller so August could see what Raleigh was doing. August was amazed:

August is finally here!

Brothers

We welcomed August Joseph Alexander into our family on Tuesday.  August tipped the scales at 8lbs 6oz.  August is healthy and has been a great eater and sleeper, so mom and dad can't ask for anything else.

Raleigh has been an awesome big brother so far, and so very proud.  He told everyone at his school that he's a big brother now and sometimes refers to himself as "the big brother" instead of "I".  He's been pretty good at asking before he touches August and sharing mom and dad's attention.  Raleigh wants to see baby brother before he goes to bed, which is so sweet.  We'll see how the rest of the weekend goes, but so far, so good!

Said this weekend

"Mommy. Mommy. MOMMY!!!! Listen to my words. I want chocolate milk."

"Daddy. Daddy. Erik! ... I want that!"

Mom: Raleigh, I need you to help me with your shoes.
Raleigh: You can do it yourself...

Raleigh coaching dad at baseball
"Look that way. Now watch the ball."

Last Day of School

Sort of a non-event when summer camp begins Monday, except that we get to wear our swimsuits to school!!!!

Cherokee

We spent the weekend in Cherokee. We got to sleep in a caboose (no kids allowed in the main hotel) and play on a playground all day during the music festival.

Introducing Zachary

This little boy may look like Raleigh, but he insists his name is Zachary.




We seemed to have picked up the wrong kid at school two days ago and can't swap for our Raleigh. He doesn't even like us calling him by Raleigh's nicknames, we must call him Zachary.

He appears to have adopted us and refers to us as "Zachary's mommy/daddy".

Let us know if you see Raleigh. Until then, we are the proud parents of a little boy named Zachary!

Connecticut

Our little pilot.

Happy Birthday, Raleigh

I went to wake up Raleigh this morning, but he was already awake, laying in bed playing with a ball. I told him it was his birthday today and told him "happy birthday". His first words were, "I get candles?" "Yes," I said, "you get two candles." "No, only one," he said. Later he decided he wanted five. He also pointed out that Alice doesn't get candles today, but asked if Alice's mommy and daddy would be at his party. He later asked for Fionn, too!

For breakfast, Raleigh had some of his extra birthday muffins. I had one out for him and one out for dad. Raleigh wanted another but didn't want to eat dad's--he wanted his own!


At 9 o'clock mom and dad got to go to Raleigh's school for his school birthday party. (Raleigh had been asking us since Wednesday if we were going to go to his special party). Raleigh seemed sooooo excited that it was finally his turn to have all the birthday songs and activities and get to blow out the candle (only one candle at the school birthday party). His friends seemed excited for him, too!


Then Raleigh and friends got snacks and more birthday muffins and mom and dad were off to work.

Toddler Attachment

Our new vacuum came with a Raleigh-sized attachment.


He's almost like a Roomba, except the vacuum is switched off, unplugged or not on the floor most of the time.

Our first home improvement project

R became very good at putting washers where they go and helped a bit with the screwdriver. The Allen wrenches we used Friday were a bit easier.