Fast paced update from a fast paced life

It is sad how absent my updates have been this summer. Such an amazing time for our family but just so intense and busy that I haven't prioritized this. When I look back and feel disappointed over not capturing it all better, I hope to maintain the perspective that I was so involved in participating in our lives that I didn't have time to document it. Also, i took just as many pictures as I always do, so I'll be able to piece together our family stories from the photo albums...provided I ever print the pictures out then take time to organize them into albums :)

Quick updates on both boys

Jacob just cut his first tooth, bottom front right, yesterday. Then today I saw the one right next to it had broken skin. That explains the extreme lack of sleep we've dealt with all last week and the slowing down on nursing and bottle feedings. I was so worried last Wednesday that I took him to after hours care suspecting an ear infection. Not the case, but the peace of mind was worth the $20 copay! (it really is true that you have to learn all over again with the 2nd kid, many times I feel like I'm new at this again!) He is able to sit up on his own unsupported now, provided you set him up, and he can hold it from 10 - 45 seconds before toppling over while reaching for a toy. His laugh is all Jacob! More of a guffaw than a giggle, and he keeps this constant breathy exhale sound going the whole time then gets louder as he gets more excited. Hard to describe, and I'll be sure to capture video of it! We started feeding him solids last Wednesday. His first food was mashed avocado thinned with a little breast milk. I did catch an amazing video of that, uploaded in a previous post. He did remarkably well, grabbed the spoon from my hand and was able to guide it to his own mouth. Since then he has had peas, quinoa flake porridge, more avocado, and a banana/mango medley. If you are doing the math you have deduced that I've not honored the 'wait 3 days' advice...I just got so excited to introduce him to yummy tastes :) On the sleep front, he goes to bed around 7 every night and wakes up to eat at around 11:30 and 3ish. I'm ready for him to drop that 3am feeding, the lack of sleep is absolutely catching up to me. Jacob is babbling and cooing like crazy, he is constantly making sounds, to the point where other people comment on how much he 'talks'. He has multiple consonant sounds like Guh, Gah, Bah, Buh, Goo, Da, La, Ma and thhpppt (that is the sticking tongue out sound) and he strings them all together with different tone, pitch and volume variations. It sounds quite conversational, to the point sometimes where Kyle and I pause the TV while Jacob is babbling away in his crib at night because it really does sound like he is straight up talking to someone. Could I be blessed enough to have TWO super verbal kids?!

Kaleb blows my mind every day. He says things like "Oh, I didn't realize it was over there" while looking for a toy and tonight he said "Mommy, this dinner is so good, thank you for making it!" He is just over 2 1/2, I can't believe how intelligent and verbal he is. He demonstrates empathy while watching a movie and seeing a sad character, wanting to know why the character is sad and wanting to stop and talk about what could help the character feel better. He does all kinds of chores to help me out around the house, from putting away the silverware from the dishwasher to helping me set and clear the table for dinner and getting water from the sink and pouring it in the kitty water dish. He loves to help me take care of Jacob, when Jacob cries Kaleb will come running and say "It's okay Jacob, big brudder is here" (I love how he says brudder, I'll be sad when he stops doing that!) He shares his pacifier and/or blanket with Jacob if he thinks it would help Jacob feel better, he always offers to share his snack or juice with me or Kyle. He uses a kitchen chair to get his own snacks out of the cupboard or refrigerator, and when done with a snack he puts things back and puts his trash in the can and his spoon in the sink with no prompting from me. He is working on potty training but not completely interested yet. He regularly receives glowing reports from his teachers, and has also stumped them a number of times by being too intelligent for their standard '2 year old' tricks to work on him. I've had multiple chats with his teacher about how we manage Kaleb at home, and have been able to work together to help him be more successful at school. With Kaleb, we find it effective to ask him questions rather than tell him. For example, "Kaleb, what do we do when we are all done with our toys?" or "Hmmm, it looks like there is some juice spilled here, Kaleb can you help me remember how we fix this?".

On a brothers front, the boys are so wonderful to observe. I love when they are in the living room and don't realize I stopped on my way past the room to watch them for a bit. Jacob in his bouncy activity thing staring with rapt attention at Kaleb while Kaleb shows Jacob how to work certain toys or sings him a song or just talks to him. I love how Kaleb is possessive of his brother, how he is attuned to what Jacob needs when he cries, and how Kaleb initiates on his own some interactions and play time and is excited to see Jacob after school and wants to give him a hug and kiss. I love how Jacob is completely engrossed in all things Kaleb. Jacob's face splits in half with a massive grin when he sees his brother, he does his most expressive babbling when Kaleb is the target of his conversation, and if Kaleb is in the room then you can bet that Jacob is watching every thing his big brother is doing. Just this week I started giving them bath at the same time, Jacob's whale tub in the big tub with Kaleb. Such wonderful happy times, I seriously some times feel like I'm going to just implode from all the love and joy I feel with my family!

Well, what was going to be just a couple lines about each boy turned in to quite the post! Suppose I'll keep going real quick with an update on me and Kyle. We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary last week...which we didn't realize had arrived until I got home from work that day and saw a card from our wedding photographer wishing us a happy anniversary. I walked into the living room holding the card and said "Well, uhhh, happy anniversary honey!" and Kyle looked at his watch and said "Oh wow, is that today?!" Oh well, at least we both forgot it the same year, so neither can really feel all that slighted. I suppose that event underscores the level of insanity that is our current family life that has kept me from making time to update lately! We are excited to be heading to Chicago this weekend to see The Avett Brothers in concert with Brent and Eddie. We'll be staying in a hostel, which is a first, and we are doing 2 nights because the Remsburg's have amazingly and graciously offered to keep the boys for the whole weekend. We will miss our munchkins like crazy, but are going to really enjoy some time to spend as just Kyle and Sarah as a couple :)

Okay, well, I suppose I should update the title of this post to "Exhaustive update from an exhausted wife and mother" but I think I'll just let the original title stand.

Jacob's first food!