Action Shots

Paul has been rolling regularly for almost five days now. The challenge is that he can roll from his back to his front, but has no clue how to reverse the process. This poses a slight problem. I used to be able to leave him on his back in the living room while I went to change Luke's diaper. Today I came back to him screaming in frustration while eating the carpet. No good. I think the saucer or his infant seat will be his new hang out while I do quick Luke things. I decided to get Paul in action today, so here he is in all his glory. I also took some pics of Luke driving his car. I love his imagination.

He's so fast that I couldn't even get a shot of him flat on his back!

He does all his own stunts.

When Mommy is right here, I'm a very happy boy.

Luke's car even has a steering wheel. It's also proof that I folded the laundry.

NOT the Christmas Card Pic

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we took the opportunity to do a family photo shoot in an effort to capture the picture for our Christmas card this year. Have you ever tried to get a two-year old and a four-month old to look the same direction at the same time and maybe even possibly smile? This is the definition of insanity. I can't even begin to describe all the hilarious shots that resulted. I will share one of them with you, along with my personal commentary.


Could we look any sillier? Baby Paul is doing his Elvis sneer combined with utterly confused look. Luke says, "Talk to the hand." Not exactly the Merry Christmas message I wanted to send out this year. I promise you all that the actual shot is much warmer and friendlier. :-) But this one makes me laugh.

Thanksgiving and a Milestone

We celebrated Thanksgiving at my mom's place with my sister, her husband and our nephew. They came all the way from the east coast! It was such fun to see all three boys together for the first time. Uncle Ed had never met either Luke or Paul. He was quite smitten with Baby Paul. Who wouldn't be? He just smiles and smiles. Luke did an awesome job behaving well. We were thrilled. He shared with cousin Joey and didn't play rough with either of the small guys. Here are just a few shots from the first evening we were all together.

All three cousins together at last.

Joey and Paul giving big cousin hugs.

More cuteness from Joey and Paul. Luke couldn't sit still that long.

In other news, Paul rolled over for the first time today! He went from his back to his front via his left side while holding a yellow foam letter R. I'm pretty sure he was trying to communicate the concept that roll starts with the letter R. Genius. ;-)

Playing Catch-up

I fell off the blog-0-sphere for a few weeks there and now feel the need to play catch up a bit, hence the double-post day. We are currently looking forward to Thanksgiving at my mom's house with my sister and brother-in-law and nephew who are coming all the way from the east coast. I am so excited about having all the grandsons together in the same place. My sister's comment about Luke's behavior concerning an additional grandchild at Oma's house is totally warranted. I have no idea how he will respond to this newbie. I can tell you that the first time Oma spent more attention on Paul than Luke deemed necessary, there was an outburst from the two-year-old corner. Oh dear. It might be a long weekend. Perhaps we will be able to convince Luke that sharing Oma isn't such a bad thing.

Regardless, here are the cute pictures I took of my boys today.

Paul is totally checking out the Baby in the Mirror. This has become one of his favorite activities.

Blissfully unaware

Such a Good Sport

Baby Paul is quite amazing. He continues to need his nebulizer treatments about every other day, but he is such a sweetie about it. Sometimes he even falls asleep during it. He totally looks like some sort of alien experiment, but he's still cute. It's the cheeks. :-)

Down One

Our friends, Bob and Liza, are expecting their second child in about a month. They have a two-year-old who is exactly six days older than Luke. Liza thought it would be a good idea to see what life is like with two kids, so she and Bob borrowed Baby Paul today. We dropped him off with our best wishes for success! Luke hasn't really asked about Paul and I have the feeling it would take him a few weeks to wonder about his whereabouts. Oh dear. Fortunately for all of us, we will be reacquiring the baby later this afternoon. Daddy and I are both missing him! And Luke has had enough of a vacation. Although this picture was taken last weekend, I think it perfectly summarizes how Luke is feeling today. A little too gleeful, but terribly cute.

Four Months Old Today

Baby Paul is four months old today. I know for sure that he weighs over 17 pounds. I don't have any of his other stats, but he certainly is adorable. Here he is posing in the chair with Sprout the Bear. He's getting better at smiling for the camera. In health news, Paul is doing really well on his breathing treatments. We have been able to cut back to only once or twice a day. His coughing tends to accompany his spitting up. We are pretty sure he's not actually aspirating the fluid because of his fairly clear chest x-ray. He will be seeing the pediatric gastroenterologist on December 4th to see if we can do a little more for his reflux. All prayers are appreciated. He's such a sweet little guy. We are praying that all his health issues will be resolved according to God's perfect will.

Solid Food

Last Friday evening while we sat around the dinner table eating, Baby Paul showed extreme interest in each and every bite being taken. He's been joining us from the high chair for dinner and we figured it was a good time to try some solid food. I totally expected the kid to push the majority of the food back out at us. Not so. Paul loves to eat. He took three or four big bites and then decided to finish off the bottle. He's an eater, folks. Here are the pics to prove it.

Paul opens up for the next bite.

Yum!

I'm stuffed. :-)

Just Pictures

Luke reads to Paul and Oma this past Friday.

Paul is figuring out how his hands work.

Brothers in the Bath

Our Little Pumpkins on Halloween

Crazy Daze

What an adventure we had these past few days. Monday morning Luke's cough, which started the week before as a nighttime thing, extended into the day. He coughed all morning, went to sleep and woke up with a fever. I called the pediatrician and got us an appointment for 5:30 pm. For the record, that's a pretty insane hour to be leaving the house with two in diapers. Daddy was in Orlando on business, so we were blessed to have Grandma come with us. Hugely blessed. Luke's oxygen levels weren't what the doctor wanted so he got nebulized. Meanwhile Baby Paul was sitting on Grandma's lap, wheezing away and the fabulous Dr. Frank decided it was time to do two for the price of one. Paul was nebulized as well. Paul's wheeze got better. Luke's oxygen levels didn't. Dr. Frank sent us on our way to the emergency room for a chest x-ray. We arrived a little after 7 pm and stayed until 12:30 am. Luke's chest x-ray showed slight traces of fluid in his lungs. That combined with an ear infection, about which I was completely unaware, earned Luke a prescription for antibiotics. He also got a new inhaler and "puffer."

I seriously don't have time to go into all the details of the next four days, but basically Baby Paul got his own chest x-ray and ended up being prescribed two different inhalants. The saga continued this week as the doctor decided it was time to see a specialist. More details to come. Paul is crying in the swing next to me, letting me know that he is WAY more important than this silly blog!