Just me and Koen

Today I dropped Kai off at gramma's house for a sleepover. I have 24 hours with just one kid!! Freedom! I took Koen shopping and then we went for a walk. Koen is still an easy kid and is having a lot more awake time during the day. His transition from awake time to sleeping is not going as well (during the day) as he is so gassy but still, not a lot of crying going on! I'm trying to not let him cry because then he starts coughing (his cold) and then about once a day he vomits up his entire feed. Sleeping with this guy beside me is stressful. His night time breathing is the worst (due to his cold) and I keep worrying he's going to choke on his mucus or something. Gary passes out in 2 seconds and hears nothing:) We see the doctor again tomorrow to make sure his jaundice is okay and I'm going to get him to check his lungs again. Again, I cannot believe how easy he is. I'm sort of grieving Kai's newborn stage in the sense that it was so tough and I was miserable with his neediness. I guess that by experiencing his high needs, I can appreciate Koen's easy going nature so much more.

(I think we need to get him some new sunglasses...Gary thinks these ones are ridiculous. They just make me giggle).

So, the transition to two has been way easier than I thought. The main problem has been that everyone has been sick. Therefore, Kai has been WAY more irritable than normal. He still isn't really eating or drinking enough but he does play like he used to so that is good. I feel really good, just congested and coughing still. Gary's good too. Getting the kids dressed and fed in the morning is way easier than I thought it would be. Even getting out of the house, way easier than I thought! Yippee!!! Last night while feeding Koen I was thinking about hiking and camping with these 2 boys and I'm SO looking forward to it (in 2 years from now!!!):) I will be starting potty training with Kai on Feb. 3rd when he is exactly 2.5 years old. He asked to wear underwear for an hour the other day and did fine with it. I know he is more than ready and changing his diapers seems a little ridiculous at this stage. We signed Kai up for a sports class through the community center and yesterday was his first day. They sort of played soccer...what do you expect from a bunch of 2-3 year olds? Glad he could run around, he LOVED it.

(This guy loves tummy time!)

Thank you to everyone who brought us meals. We have been so blessed...we had food for 2 weeks made for us. Awesome. Gary made a couple meals this weekend so the leftovers should tide us over for a day or two. I'm not feeling in the mood to start cooking yet:)

Okay, this part below is a little weird but I'm really trying to document as much of this as I can because I want to remember all the stuff that happened during this time:)

This is my belly the night before the C-section. I had gained 35lbs all together. You would think that once you deliver a 9.5lb baby and a huge placenta etc that you would lose a lot of weight. NOpe. When i came home from the hospital, i had lost a total of 5lbs. They had pumped me up with lots of fluids I guess and my milk had come in.

Now, this picture was taken exactly 2 weeks post partum so that I can remember/appreciate the transition. I didn't take it because I'm proud of myself of anything, I just think its interesting what your body does. Your uterus increases its volume 1000X so it takes a whole lot of contractions (induced by breastfeeding) to get it back to its normal size. Someone looked at me yesterday and asked me when i was due. Hmmmm. As of this picture, I have 11lbs left to go. If I want to be pre-Kai weight, I've got 18lbs to go. Wow, that sounds like a lot. I can't wait to start some serious exercising! I just want to wear my regular jeans...

I'm so pumped for tonight....`House' season premiere!!! Woohoo!! Gary and I have been snuggling on the couch each night watching tv and he massages my feet. It's so nice to have that downtime together. There is nothing that I love more than a foot massage. Did I tell you that through the last trimester of my pregnancy, every Wed night was foot massage night? It was very, very nice.