On February 28, our little family of three became a family of four. We welcomed Augustus Aeron at 3:53pm, weighing in at a sizeable 8lbs 10.5oz, and measuring 21.5 inches long. It was love at first sight for all of us, but particularly Arjen. As soon as he was set at my side, he flashed the biggest smile and reached out to very gently touch his little brother. I couldn't have been a prouder mom.
Arjen's first introduction to his brother Gus
Getting to hold Gus right away, and have him stay in the room with us was such a treat after our premie experience with Arjen. Perhaps Gus will be our patient child, since he waited until just 5 days before his due date to arrive.
As I'm sure all new parents do, I've been spending more time than I can count, just staring at my boys, admiring them, and of course checking to see how they resemble each other and their parents. A side by side comparison (I guess top to bottom technically - I still can't figure out how to get pictures side by side):
Arjen, 1 day old
Gus, 1 day old
So now we've been home just over a week with our family of four and two dogs. The dogs have been interested in Gus, but are still too preoccupied with avoiding Arjen as best they can. Pole-dog does a good enough job. I think Dito has given up though, or else he is so craving love and attention that he'll take it whenever he can get it, even if it means letting Arjen sit on him, lay on him, grab his hair, you name it. The boy loves his dogs, that's for sure.
Enjoying a lounge with Dito on a warm winter's day
I think it's safe to say we've settled into our routine for now. We're all happy to have Andrew home for a few weeks after he's spent the past year traveling to LA every week. Arjen continues to love his new title of "big brother", and when you ask him about it, he'll point to his wrist - one of the nurses at the hospital gave him an ID band that said big brother, and he still asks to wear it sometimes. He expresses concern for Gus when crying, and laughs when Gus makes newborn sounds or flails his limbs. I'm pretty confident at this point, that everyone who told me having kids this close in age is a wonderful thing, knew what they were talking about. Lets just hope Andrew and I can gracefully manage to navigate the looming "terrible two's", lots more diapers, and lots less sleep for a bit until we get to that stage where the boys are best of friends. The signs are clear though:
Big Bro in charge of navigating the hospital hallway
Hi Gus Gus!
Teaching his lil' bro all about dinosaurs
So I now have two kids to keep tabs on, update a blog about (modern day baby book!), and learn from. It's been an incredible 17 months so far with Arjen, and Gus has only improved our family by joining us. He so far has a very mild temperament, and I can already see him observing and absorbing the world around him. Welcome to the family Gus Gus!!
Dito was getting a little much needed grooming this past weekend. Arjen was so excited to help out that he needed both brushes! The kid definitely loves his dogs, and good thing Dito is so patient with him. I think Dito loves the extra attention he's been getting lately.
Yesterday, I found Arjen entertaining himself in the living room with his guitar. He's recently taken to sitting in his rocking chair to rock out on his guitar. This was the first time I ever heard him howl along!
Wednesdays are our weekly visit night with Aunt Shannon and Aunt Casey. Arjen was already outside with Casey when Shannon arrived, and I couldn't resist the temptation to get them all on candid camera...
(be warned...the volume gets a lot louder as they approach the window!)
We had a good rainstorm a couple of months ago, so figured Arjen would need a pair of rainboots. For Christmas, he then also got a fancy rain slicker. Then for the past month, both have been collecting dust. Now we finally got another rain storm, and Arjen had some fun showing us just how well he could use his rain gear!
Last weekend we had Arjen baptized at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Livermore, CA. Pastor Mueller married Andrew and me almost five years ago! And this year he baptized our first born. Casey honored us by being Arjen's godmother. Adam honored us by being the godfather, and Cherie stood in for him since Minnesota was a little too far away for him to be there in person.
After church, then of course we had to get home for some football! If only the game that afternoon was as good as the service that morning...
So Arjen is 15 months old now, my favorite age so far I think! This little guy is also not so little anymore! From 12 months to 15, he shot up like a weed, to the point that people will ask me if he's two! He now weighs just over 25 lbs (50th percentile), and is 33" long (90th+ percentile!). Just 3 months ago it was the reverse...50th for height and 90th for weight. Guess that's what you call a growth spurt.
Some of his current faves and proud momma moments:
- the kid definitely loves to be outside. He likes raking, sweeping, "riding" his bike, chasing the dogs, watering the yard...any excuse to be outside and he'll take it!
- he is using more sign language; the big three are eat, more, and please...go figure
- the pediatrician asked if he has any words. Ask me and well, yeah, he has an entire vocab! To the untrained ear though, it still mostly sounds like baby babble, but "ba" can be baby, banana, balloon, pretty much anything that starts with a 'b'. "Da" can be Dad or dog. I'm finally getting "mama!" We're hearing "dis" for "this", and "uh" for up, "wuh" for woof, and of course there's "buh" for "bye" which almost always comes with a 30 sec delay (i.e. you're out the door before he says bye). He just doesn't cease to amaze us!
- to communicate more complex things, he'll grab you by the finger and take you to where he wants you to be...often times this leads to the back door, then he'll point to the door knob as in "duh, of course I want you to take me outside!"
- he loves climbing on things, particularly into a big chair so he can "lounge" (for all of 15 seconds before he then gets down, just so he can do it all over again)
- he still loves the remote, the iphone, anything tech-y
So in the spirit of our "grown up toddler" we've been trying to get out to take him more places. The other weekend, we went to check out the Little Farm at Tilden park. Hidden Gem! You take lettuce or celery there, and can wander around freely to feed the various animals. The cows intimidated Arjen a bit, but he definitely seemed to enjoy feeding the goat!
The reaction to the goat taking his food. All smiles!
On the way home from the Little Farm, we had to stop at the Steam Train, I mean, the kid was dressed appropriately for not just the farm, but conducting a train too!
Walking Gma Cherie down the path
Yeah, so hard to say whether he really liked it or not, but there wasn't any crying, however, no super excitement either! Perhaps next time he'll enjoy it as much as mom and dad!
A couple recent videos of Arjen for your viewing pleasure:
Having fun playing the organ with GGma Clarice. Gma Eileen and Gpa Dave were in town watching Arjen while mom and dad went out on a real live date! Fun was had by all, but perhaps Arjen and GGma had the most fun...
...and we're not sure what possessed him to grab GGma's hand to push the buttons, but ever since this day, Arjen has figured that if he wants something done and either he can't, or shouldn't, do it himself, if he gets an adult to push the button then everyone is happy!
Back at home, a pirate ship found it's way into the dining room...
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