becoming a family of 4 & Hayes is 1 month!

Hayes has been here 5 weeks now and we are slowly getting into a new rhythm as a family of 4. In many ways it has been an easier transition with the second baby than the first, probably largely due to the fact that we know what the heck we are doing this time.

The first few weeks were pretty tough, mainly because of Evie and all of the changes happening. She had a cast put on her broken tibia the Monday after Hayes was born. I wouldn't recommend having your toddler break a bone to anyone, and that is especially true when you also have a newborn. Lugging two kiddos around was not fun. Apart from the casted leg, she also was adjusting to sharing mommy time with new baby. I think we might have to work on this for a while, but she is getting better and more used to having Hayes around every day. Overall, I couldn't have been more proud of my girl those first few weeks. She handled her fractured leg like a trooper, gave baby brother more kisses than he could handle, and helped mommy with grabbing diapers, fetching my phone during nursing sessions and providing extra snuggles. I think the big sister role will suit her just fine.

Little Hayes is growing like a champ. At his one month appointment he weighed in at 9 pounds 10 oz, up 3 whole pounds from his three day check up and nearly 4 pounds from when we left the hospital. He's also 21 inches long, so overall about 25-30 percentile across the board. Not the smallest, not the biggest. Pretty typical of our kiddos.

Mommy has been calling him Hayesy-Poo or Hayesy-Boy and daddy isn't a fan. He likes to be snuggled. He picked up on nursing right away, and other than this painful case of mastitis that I am battling right now and a little overactive let down, breastfeeding has been going well.  He makes the cutest 'O' face when he is relaxed. He pees all over daddy during diaper changes and can reach pretty impressive distances (like the coffee table.) He does not like his carseat. He is our first baby to spit up pretty regularly, and him and I both typically smell like old milk. He has been rather fussy during certain parts of the day, but it seems to be related to gas and I've been tweaking my diet and working on milk flow in order to help. Overall, he is a very gentle, cuddly and chill baby when he's content.

Sleep at night is hit or miss. One night this week he went 5 straight hours, nursed, and then back down for another 3-- a pretty solid night of sleep for all of us! But other nights it is mainly 2 and 3 hour stretches with some lengthy wake up times in between. Ryan and I sleep with Hayes most nights in the playroom downstairs on our futon. Sounds crazy, but we honestly can't stand the idea of Evie waking up because its 100 times worse if she wakes up in the middle of the night than if Hayes does. We are hoping that once he is out of his newborn fussy phase we can get back to sleeping in our bed regularly. I think our necks and backs will thank us.

The best part about baby two is knowing everything is a phase. Even though everything is a little more difficult right now, it's reassuring to know that at the end of the day the crying, sleep depravation and insanity will pass (and lead to another new, challenging phase of course.)

On another note, Evie will be 2 in just a couple of weeks. She's such a fun girl these days and talks up a storm. Some favorite things she saying and doing include:

"Whatchu doin?
"I can do it."(Very independent)
"It's not dark outside" (Likes to make the correlation between bedtime and daytime.)
"Good nap" (A lot of the time this is the first thing she will say when I go into get her from a nap, or even first thing in the morning.)
"Mommy all done showering?" (Without fail, whenever I get out of the shower she yells this up the stairs, repeatedly.)
"What's dat?" (To everything)
"Daddy, take dat" (Telling Ryan to take Hayes from me when I hold him.)
Quoting anything and everything from Daniel Tiger. "Grrrific"
Singing ABCs, Daniel Tiger songs, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Jesus Loves me
Reading her children bible stories. She will go through every page asking, "Dat Jesus?"
"Thats so cute" when looking at Hayes' clothes or feet.
Hovering over Hayes and saying in a high pitched voice, "Awww, Hi baby. It's OK baby."
Loves: puzzles, reading Bible stories, Daniel Tiger, coloring and crafts, singing, helping with everything

Blue eyed boy, I love you so

Brave girl did great wearing her cast for 3 weeks!

Leg is better, time to play!

This face, I could stare all day. 

I think she's a lot like her daddy.

He's the sweetest