Brothers

One of the most common questions I get is: "So how is Alan doing with his little brother?"

Well, for the most part I'd say he's doing very well. We've had lots of help and lots of people to play with him and I think that has made the adjustment easier. As James is still pretty little and sleeps a lot, I still have time to play with Alan. And he gets frustrated that he doesn't get all the attention and wants me to "Put James down. Play Alan!" But he is also a big helper too. Funniest thing of all is how he copies him. He copies everyone right now, but he loves to be doing whatever James is doing. I took some pics the other day to document their playings together.

James joining Alan in his crib after nap time.

I took this picture of James laying on the blanket and then took James into the kitchen, only to come back and find...

this.  Nothing like a soft rattle to entertain a 2 year old. :)

Alan  wanted to join James for some tummy time.  I made some comment about how James was eating his arm and he must think it tasted good...

And pretty soon, here is Alan eating his arm too.  It is just hilarious.

Best of all was later that night in the bathtub.  James was awake and happy during Alan's bath time, so I put them in together.  I put James' infant tub in the regular tub with Alan, and he was apparently fascinated by it.  I bathed James first, then got him out and dressed.  When I went back in the bathroom, Alan was just laying in the infant tub "relaxin" as he says.  As huge as he is with his arms and legs hanging out, I about died.  Luckily he's listened to me so far, and not climbed in the infant swing.

Anyway, here's one last shot of our little guy that gets bigger every day...

Michael and Sarah's Wedding

A couple of weeks ago Scott and Alan went out to Utah for Michael's wedding.  Mama and Baby James didn't get to go, as James was too little to travel.  We were so sad to have to miss the sealing, but are thrilled that Michael and Sarah are moving here to Boston!  It will be sooooo nice to have family nearby once again.

Scott should probably be the one blogging about this, as he was there, but I'll put up a few of the pictures that I thought were cute, and let him add his two cents later. :) 

The last couple of weeks...

Well, we have had a busy couple of weeks! Grandma and Grandpa Robertson came to visit the day before I went into labor and stayed for about a week, and Uncle Michael visited for a day during that time as well.  Then Grandma and Grandpa Foulk and Megan came up for a few days. Scott and Alan left this morning for Michael's wedding in Utah, and I finally have a few minutes to put up some pictures of our last crazy couple of weeks. (sidenote... it is AMAZING how much you can get done without a 2 year old in the house!) I figure I best get this up before my mom, grandma, and brothers come up today, and we visit them next week! Such a busy and family filled month! Within one month's time, Alan will have gotten to see each of his grandparents twice! (my mom 3 times!) Anyway, we are very blessed to have such wonderful family and we love spending time with all of them. Here are some pictures to prove it!

We went with Grandma and Grandpa Robertson to a splash park near our house on the 101 degree day that sent me into labor!  Alan has been wary of too much splash all year, but has finally overcome his fear.  He now comes home absolutely soaking wet.

Then... labor/delivery.  I really feel like it was a pretty normal birth.  We went in  about 11:00 Friday night and James was born around 9 the next morning.  I got an epidural in the middle of the night, mostly because I was going to get one eventually, and I was exhausted and wanted to sleep.  I forgot that it is still hard to sleep when you can't move at all and have a million things hooked up to you and going off every 5 minutes.  Oh well.  I had to wait quite a while for the doctors to come and let me start pushing, (shift changes, etc) but because of the epidural, no big deal.  It actually turned out to be a blessing because by the time they got around to me, my doctor was on call and there.  I was so relieved to see him.  Pushing this 10+lbs guy was by far the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done, but in the end... no cutting or tearing!  I was shocked and credit my doctor for working me through that.  It has led to a much smoother recovery.

Grandma and Grandpa helped ease the transition for Alan.  They took him to the park almost every day, and he loves to throw rocks in the water.

Alan also got to visit the Children's Museum with "Grandma-pa" Robertson.   This is Alan's way of shortening the whole Grandma and Grandpa thing.

We also got to celebrate Grandpa Robertson's birthday with him!  How fun! 

And here's baby James after a bath.  Apparently it wore him out. :)

New babies = no cooking/cleaning = pizza = happy 2 year old

Such a sweet little guy :)

A pretty proud Aunt "Meyneg"  We can say Meg just fine, but when we try to say Megan, it comes out Meyneg.

Alan loves picking the fruits and veggies from our garden, and we are just glad that we got some!  Our first successful attempt at gardening.  It turns out dirt and a yard give better results than Wymount patios.

Loving being held by Grandma

Waiting for ice cream.  Not the least bit excited.

Sticking out that tongue

Such a big helper

My Mom, Dad, Scott and Megan got to go to a Redsox game!

They ended up losing, but it sounded like they had a great time anyway!

And this is what James is doing right now.  The best part. :)