James and Megan

One of the questions I am getting a lot these days is, "How does James like his baby sister?"  My first answer is always that he loves her...usually.  When she cries really hard he gets upset and cries too.  When he would rather have the attention of someone who is holding her, whether it's me, Matt, Gigi, Heidi, or whoever else, he's not her biggest fan.  But usually, he loves her.  He asks to hold her at least once a day.  Sometimes when she starts crying he says, "that's my baby crynin again."  He alerts me every time she cries or spits up.  When she cries and I don't immediately respond he finds a pacifier and gives it to her.  One of the sweetest moments is when he is going to bed and remembers he hasn't given her a kiss goodnight.  He has to find her and kiss her before going to bed.  A few minutes ago he found a giraffe toy in her room.  He brought it into the living room holding it to his chest while rocking and shushing it.  He made sure it was secure in Megan's bouncy chair before going outside to play with daddy.  He remains the sweetest little boy on the face of the Earth.  And I see a glimmer of hope that through all the challenges we will survive this.

Weights

Just a quick update.  When we left the hospital on April 10, Megan weighed 6 lbs 7 oz.  At her appointment 2 days later she was already back to 6 lbs 14 oz.  We had her 2 week appointment yesterday and she weighed in at 7 lbs 2 oz.  She's eating well, gaining weight, and overall doing very well.  Still settling into breastfeeding.  It comes with its challenges, but we're getting good advice and getting better every day.  This girl is so strong.  She started lifting her head day one.  She's already trying to roll over.  And check out her tummy time workout:

Is it any wonder her name means strength?  Yes, I'm a little biased, but who wouldn't brag on this little cutie??

My little Easter bunny

I'm sure everyone has heard by now, but here is the official post:

Megan Isabel Wall was born on Sunday, April 8 (her due date and Easter Sunday) at 9:59am.  She weighed 6 lbs 14.5 oz and was 19 in long.  That's almost 2 lbs less than James weighed at birth.  She is absolutely perfect.  They kept us for 48 hours after birth to watch her for any signs of Group B Strep.  She had no issues, so we came home on Tuesday.  The worst part of the experience for me was of course the needles.  It took 5 tries to get the IV in and 2 times to get the epidural right.  Once we got that done, everything else went smoothly.

Her name:  Matt picked the name Megan which means "strength".  Isabel was my Gran-Gran's (my father's grandmother) middle name.  Isabel means "God's promise".

James loves her already.  He wanted to hold her in the hospital right away and he asks to hold her several times a day.  Every time I let him hold her he tells me to take a picture.  As long as the camera stays close by, I have a feeling we'll have a lot of sibling pictures.  He was so excited when we got home and couldn't tear himself away from her side.  He seemed a little upset with me though.  He didn't want to have anything to do with me.  We're doing better now though.

We had her first appointment with her doctor yesterday.  She lost 7 oz before leaving the hospital and she has already gained it all back.  I guess I'm doing something right.  She is a very good baby.  When she's awake, she's usually content to sit and look around.  She sleeps great right now.  Most times I have to wake her up to eat.

I can't believe she's finally here.  I have to keep reminding myself I had a baby a few days ago.  Matt is staying home to take care of us this week and Gigi will be coming next week.

Big Boy Bed!

On leap day, James got a big boy bed.  We ordered it from Amazon.com.  It's a toddler bed, so the mattress is the same size as the crib, but it's lower to the ground and he can get out of it himself.  His crib will convert into a toddler bed, but we didn't want to buy another crib for baby sister.  I took the crib apart and put the new bed together myself, at 8 months pregnant by the way.  James helped.  He put the screws in the holes for me.  Not always the right screw in the right hole, but we got it figured out.  As soon as I got the mattress on it he laid down on it and started kicking his feet saying "I like a new bed! I like a new bed!"  Then I got the sheet on it and he laid down with his night-night, told me to turn off the light, and started pretending to snore.  Too cute.  That night he was so excited to get in his new bed until he realized he had to stay there.  He got up about 4-5 times before going to sleep.  Not bad for the first night, I think.  Tonight he didn't get up once.  He occasionally wakes up very early in the morning and comes to my bed.  But it's better than him screaming until I go get him.  And the morning is much better because he can get up when he wants and doesn't have to wake us up first.  Usually he comes to the side of my bed and says "Mommy, get up!"  Today I woke up at 7:something to tiny fingers tickling my neck.  He refused to leave me alone until I got up.  I tried to get him to leave me alone and pester his father, but he said "Daddy's sleeping."  I have taught him to respect his father's sleep, but not mine.  Probably because I'm not usually sleeping while he's awake.

I want...

Woke up this morning at 6:45 to "I WANNA POTTY!!!"  Our boy is talking and communicating very well.  "I want" sentences are coming out everywhere.  "I want to read a book."  "I want to come in."  "I want to do dat." (this one I hear every day.)  "I want a kiss."  "I want to shoot a deer."  He also enjoys saying the alphabet.  He got an alphabet game that goes on the fridge yesterday.  He loves it.  He recognizes the letter "O".  He names several others on his own, but can't recognize them.

We are also working a little on the potty.  Trying not to push it yet.  Just getting him used to it and letting him learn how.

His favorite things right now...trains of course, tractors, talking about hunting, Gigi and Gpa, presents, animals of all kinds, books.

Virginia

We're in Virginia now.  Very long drive coming up here.  Seemed longer than last time because James didn't sleep very well.  We did have a DVD player for him which was a big big help.  Thank you Biles family!!  We went to see Grandma Wall for lunch today.  Find some pictures here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/112839565689445992474/November2011

Stayed tuned for more pictures and possibly a couple stories from Virginia!!

Who are you and what have you done with my son?!

I found myself asking James this question yesterday.  I'm not complaining.  Far from it.  Our biggest struggle with this child has been food.  Everyone should know that.  He didn't like to eat.  There was a very short list of things he would eat willingly.  In the last week or two we have added to that list meatballs, cheeseburger, sausage, grilled/baked chicken, rice, cantaloupe, apple slices, and that's just off the top of my head.  AMAZING!!!  A switch has been flipped somewhere in his brain.  I am trying to not get my hopes up too high because I'm afraid this is a stage and he'll go back to his old ways.  But I'm loving this as long as it lasts.  The strategies that never worked are now working.  I'm really hoping this lasts, but don't be too surprised if I'm back on in a couple days saying it's all back to normal.  Whatever just happened, "Thank you, Lord!"