5 beautiful months

Just as I had intended to journal my pregnancy I’ve failed at journaling the past five months. There are just not enough hours in the day it seems and while I do kick myself for not writing more, I’m also happy to say we’ve been living a full, busy life and these to boys of mine keep me on my toes.

Parker is over 5 months old now. Where has the time gone? I cannot believe in just a few short weeks we’ll hit the 6 month mark - half way through the first year. I’m so excited to watch him grow, to see who he becomes. But I’m sad at the thought that with that I'll be losing my baby. I look at photos of Caden from 3 years ago and its like a different person - Caden the sweet little happy, pudgy, always smiling baby is such a different person than Caden the always on the go, rambunctious, but still sweet and happy little boy. I can’t even really call Caden a toddler anymore - even looking at our family/maternity photos from October shock me to see how much he has grown. And I know that I’m going to blink and 3 year will have passed and Parker will be where Caden is and Caden will be 6 - I try so hard to remember it all, to get it all down, and maybe that’s why I love scrapping so much.


………..

Parker is amazing. He has been everything I’ve ever dreamed for all those months trying, for all those months pregnant. I hold him and still can’t get over the fact that he is here, that he is mine.
He is such a smiley baby. Parker first started smiling at us at just 2.5 weeks old. My first thought was that it was too early but there is truly no mistaking who his sweet, gummy grins are intended for. Every morning since has brought me those big, beautifully,grins and a bad morning can never be had when greeted by that. He is a very vocal baby, too - he has been talking to us since he was about a month and he loves to go on and on. I love when we go anywhere and he just sits in his car seat in the backseat and goes on and on stopping only to blow a raspberry or two.

I’ve loved breastfeeding Parker these past 5+ months. From the first moment I put him to my breast, Parker has had a text book perfect latch. I love watching him nurse and after having no photos of Caden nursing, we’ve made sure to take plenty of Parker. It’s a beautiful relationship. Parker has always been eager about eating, too, shaking his head and latching on with enthusiasm as a newborn, and he still has enthusiasm when it comes time to eat. He loves to hold my finger while he is eating and to pop off for the occasional glance up and big smile.

Parker is developing beautifully, he laughs, rolls, scoots… he started rolling when he was between 2 and 3 months and rolls both ways with ease. He is starting to sit up a little bit and can do so unsupported for a few seconds at a time - then something usually catches his eye and over he goes. He can sit up with his base supported for quite some time. He loves to jump in his jumperoo and play with the elephant the Easter bunny brought him. He isn’t crawling but he is definitely mobile and rolls and scoots to where he needs to go.

Parker is without a doubt a Momma’s boy. When Momma is around that’s usually all he wants though he does tolerate others for a short time. He even started reaching for me about a month ago. While it would be nice to give my arms a break sometimes, or eat with both hands… I love when those sweet little arms reach out to me. And I don’t like him being passed around large crowds, so its nice that within minutes he is usually back in my arms where he belongs. We baby wear and that has worked out beautifully for us as well. Parker loves snuggling in the sling and the beco.
As much as he loves his Momma, Parker is also over the moon about his Daddy and big brother, too. He is always interested in what his big brother is doing and is always looking to his Daddy with big gummy grins. Those grins make our world turn and Parker loves to share them with us.

He has grown so much in these 5 months, we have all grown as a family. He is just beautiful. Every month on the 11th I take a quick photo, and those can be found here.

…….

Caden is doing great! He loves his role as a big brother and truly loves Parker, and Parker loves him. I remember when we were in the hospital there were times that Parker was only happy if he was being snuggled by his big brother, and there were times when Caden was hurting or upset and just wanted to snuggle his little buddy. Caden is recovering nicely from the surgeries - the scars will always remain but he has fully recovered otherwise. It amazing watching him these days - he is learning and changing before our eyes but even as he gets bigger and becomes more independent he is still our sweet little boy who loves snuggles in the morning, kisses all day long, and really is all of our dreams realized. Both of our boys are. I am unbelievably blessed.

Life with two has been easier than I expected and we transitioned easily from the start. Challenges have still presented themselves, but I couldn’t have hoped for things to go better than they have. Even so there are times I feel guilty I don’t have all the time I once did for Caden, and there are times I feel guilty that Parker will never have the one on one time that Caden did for all those years. But there isn’t a whole lot anyone can do about that - its just the logistics beyond the first. But in trade off, Parker benefits from having a big brother who things the world of him, to learn from, to love and be loved by.
Caden hasn’t had much one on one time with Steve and I since the baby has been born so we’re taking him out for a night just him. My mother-in-law is watching Parker for a few hours so we can take Caden out to Dinner and to see Toy Story 3 - and possibly a surprise along the way.

………..

In other family happenings, we’ve decided to take the boys to Disney World in September and are so unbelievably excited about this. While we’re aware that obviously Parker isn’t going to remember or get much out of this, it will be fun for us, memories, and Caden will. And after the March we had, I think we all deserve a little Disney Magic. We were hoping to do a vacation around fall when Parker was first born - When Caden was 10mo we went on a cruise and it was so, so easy to travel with a baby. Those plans were put on hold when the medical bills started rolling in but eventually things fell into place and as I’ve learned tomorrow isn’t promised, my children will only be this little for so long, so go to Disney today. And yes, we will go back again when the kids are older so it isn’t like this is a once in a lifetime thing for them. This will be all my boys, Steve included, first trip to the world. This will be my 5th but its been over 10 years since I’ve last been - and I can’t wait.

I apologize this post is all over the place but between 2 boys and the dog getting a full thought out is an accomplishment in itself. Plus there is so much to say and such limited time to say it. As always I hope to start writing more as so many thing touched on here are topics in themselves, but for now I'll go snuggle my sweet little boys, and end with this.....