Hugging. Viv.

For the longest time Nathan would have a noticeable pause between words. He's now talking much more, smoothly, for lack of a better word, and I find myself missing the stilted speech that felt so unique.

Anyway, for the first few weeks Nathan still said, "Kissing. Viv. and Hugging. Viv."  He pretty much only ever calls her "Viv" and we have a feeling she won't be called Vivian much in this house. He's been super huggy and kissy the last week or so, somewhat surprisingly. He's a little overly enthusiastic when trying to give her a pacifier, but she puts up with it well. Whoever said that girls are more nurturing than boys hasn't met Nathan.

Some of you may have seen the picture we got during her newborn photos of him kissing her head (I'll post them all together when we get them from the photographer) but the most hilarious part of that was how much we had to cajole and encourage him (bribery with Goldfish cackers that he RARELY gets) to get just that shot. Now, I have the hardest time discouraging him when he wants to hug, kiss, pat Viv even while she's in the middle of a nap. How can you bring yourself tell a toddler not to kiss his baby sister??? More often than not in photos it looks more like he's trying to smother her though, so I'll have to get a video.

This boy

I can't get enough of this kid. People keep asking how Nathan is dealing with Vivian, and I have to say, he's doing pretty great. There have definitely been a few moments where Vivian is fussing and he doesn't love the fact that she's getting my attention, but more often than not, her fussing prompts him to say, "Viv's crying, hug her" or "Viv's crying, pat her, Mom." Such a sweet boy.

I would say one of Nathan's defining characteristics is his love of goofiness. He's constantly ready to tease, joke, and generally be silly. Nonsense is the best sense for this kid. In the middle of a meltdown if you start coming up with wild reasons why he may be upset, 70% of the time he'll start laughing and we can restore balance. Thus, dinosaurs have slept in his bed, birds are stealing his shoes, and baby mice have gotten under his shirt.

Also, he, like every other child I've known, loves putting on his parents shoes and has recently expanded into our clothes when I'm folding laundry. 

Fun with drills, phones, and grills

pretty sure he was kissing the drill here

Not a one time thing

Girls with the Non

A few weeks ago we needed some emergency care from Mom. She had Leah for a bit that day too and the girls were all cuddling while Nathan napped. They're all sweet as can be together. I'm still pretty certain that Viv and Leah resemble each other. It may just be because I think Leah is beautiful, (smart, funny, and kind as well) and I'm hopeful. 

Someone is starting to lose it

Vivian at 3 weeks

Kay was nice enough to come with me to Viv's 3 week checkup. Usually it's 2 weeks, but because of her tongue we got a little off schedule. The good news is she's growing like a weed! In 10 days she gained more than a pound (average is around an ounce/day, so there's no question she's getting enough). They are also claiming that she is now 22 inches (2.5 inches in 3 weeks?!?)... The height measurement is always a suspicious one to me. Their lay down on paper method just generally seems unreliable. That said, at least she's heading in the right direction! 

Weight: 8lbs 13oz (62nd %)

Height: 22 inches (97th %) - eh, this one is hard to believe

Head: 14 inches (50th %)

Also, these two are pretty cute together.

Nanny and Pop Pop meet Viv!

Brian is in Florida at a conference this week so we (I) am overjoyed to have Kay and Brian in town to help with the babes. VERY overjoyed. Nathan is LOVING the attention (one would almost think he's been getting less of it than normal lately - ahem) and Vivian has them eating out of her (very large) hand. 

The last day or two Nathan's also been showing Vivian more love than he has in the last two weeks combined. She's getting lots of hugs and kisses. He's gone through affectionate spurts with Baby E before too, so this isn't totally unheard of, but when they are both my kids I find it especially endearing. I found myself tearing up looking at the pictures when they uploaded. I blame it on the hormones. The ones of the two of them don't always show Vivian off to her best advantage, but dang if I don't just swoon over them together. 

holding hands, cue Mom's tears

Chilling with Pop Pop

"Open up like this, Viv!"

He requested the small bath from Nanny

Adapting

There are burp cloths and blankets everywhere, but I got my picture with the two kids!

The boys have been making lots of trips to the multiple parks around our house for the last few months, and as I got bigger and more uncomfortable, I was joining them less and less. For the first time in awhile, I joined them with Viv in tow.

Have I mentioned that Nathan has been spending lots of time with Brian lately? Brian's been getting really good at incorporating Nathan in everyday tasks. I loved watching them yesterday mowing the lawn. The lower bar was the perfect height for Nathan, and from watching them, you would swear he was really putting his back into it. With the welcoming of Spring Nathan had started complaining about itchy eyes and nose, and it was really getting in the way of smooth bedtimes. We started giving him Claritin every day which only took about 2 weeks to kick in (ugh). His nose was especially "itchy" again last night though, so we're thinking that he may have inherited Papa's allergy to grass.